Book Iv. Chapter Viii
*
"The Vishnu Purana", translated by Horace Hayman Wilson, [1840],
p. 406
Chap. Viii.
Sons of yus. Line of Kshatravriddha, or kings of K. Former birth of Dhanwantar. Various names of Pratarddana. Greatness of Alarka.
Yus, the eldest son of Purravas, married the daughter of Rhu (or rhu), by whom he had five sons, Nahusha, Kshatravriddha 1, Rambha 2, Raji, and Anenas 3.
The son of Kshatravriddha was Suhotra 4, who had three sons, Ka 5, Lea 6, and Ghritsamada. The son of the last was aunaka 7, who first established the distinctions of the four castes 8. The son of Ka was Kairj 9; his son was Drghatamas 10; his son was Dhanwantari, whose nature was exempt from human infirmities, and who in every existence had been master of universal knowledge. In his past life (or when he was produced by the agitation of the milky sea), Nryana had conferred upon him the boon, that he should subsequently be born in the
p. 407
family of Ksirj, should compose the eightfold system of medical science 11, and should be thereafter entitled to a share of offerings made to the gods. The son of Dhanwantari was Ketumat; his son was Bhmaratha; his son was Divodsa 12; his son was Pratarddana, so
p. 408
named from destroying the race of Bhadrarenya. He had various other appellations, as atrujit, 'the victor over his foes,' from having vanquished all his enemies; Vatsa, or 'child,' from his father's frequently calling him by that name; Ritadhwaja, 'he whose emblem was truth,' being a great observer of veracity; and Kuvalaywa, because he had a horse (awa) called Kuvalaya 13. The son of this prince was Alarka, of whom this verse is sung in the present day; "For sixty thousand and sixty hundred years no other youthful monarch except Alarka, reigned over the earth 14." The son of Alarka was
p. 409
[paragraph continues] Santati 15; his son was Suntha; his son was Suketu; his son was Dharmaketu; his son was Satyaketu; his son was Vibhu; his son was Suvibhu; his son was Sukumra; his son was Dhrishtaketu; his son was Vainahotra; his son was Bharga; his son was Bhargabhmi; from whom also rules for the four castes were promulgated 16. These are the Kya
p. 410
princes, or descendants of Ka 17. We will now enumerate the descendants of Raji.
Footnotes
406:1 Dharmavriddha: Vyu. Vriddhaarman: Matsya. Yajnaarman: Padma.
406:2 Darbha: Agni. Dambha: Padma.
406:3 Vippman: Agni and Matsya. Vidman: Padma. The two last authorities proceed no farther with this line.
406:4 Sunahotra: Vyu, Brhma.
406:5 Kya: Bhgavata.
406:6 Sla: Vyu, Brhma, Hari V.: whose son was rshtisena, father of Charanta; Vyu: of Kayapa; Brhma and Hari V.
406:7 Here is probably an error, for the Vyu, Bhgavata, and Brhma agree in making unaka the son of Ghritsamada, and father of aunaka.
406:8 The expression is 'The originator or causer of the distinctions (or duties) of the four castes.' The commentator, however, understands the expression to signify, that his descendants were of the four castes. So also the Vyu: 'The son of Ghritsamada was unaka, whose son was aunaka. Brahmans, Kshatriyas, Vaiyas, and dras were born in his race; Brahmans by distinguished deeds.' The existence of but one caste in the age of purity, however incompatible with the legend which ascribes the origin of the four tribes to Brahm, is every where admitted. Their separation is assigned to different individuals, whether accurately to any one may be doubted; but the notion indicates that the distinction was of a social or political character.
406:9 Kiya: Brhma.
406:10 Drghatapas: Vyu. Ghritsatamas: Agni. The Bhgavata inserts a Rshtra before this prince, and the Vyu a Dharma after him.
407:11 The eight branches of medical science are, 1. alya, extraction of extraneous bodies; 2. alk, treatment of external organic affections: these two constitute surgery: 3. Chikits, administration of medicines, or medical treatment in general; 4. Bhtavidy, treatment of maladies referred to demoniac possession; 5. Kaumrabhritya, midwifery and management of children; 6. Agada, alexipharmacy; 7. Rasyana, alchemical therapeutics; 8. Bajikarana, use of aphrodisiacs. Dhanwantari, according to the Brahma Vaivartta P., was preceded in medical science by treya, Bharadwja, and Charaka: his pupil uruta is the reputed author of a celebrated work still extant. It seems probable that K or Benares was at an early period a celebrated school of medicine.
407:12 Some rather curious legends are connected with this prince in the Vyu and Brhma Purnas, and Hari Vana, and especially in the K Khanda of the Sknda Purna. According to these authorities, iva and Prvat, desirous of occupying K, which Divodsa possessed, sent Nikumbha, one of the Ganas of the former, to lead the prince to the adoption of Buddhist doctrines; in consequence of which he was expelled from the sacred city, and, according to the Vyu, founded another on the banks of the Gomat. We have, however, also some singular, though obscure intimations of some of the political events of this and the succeeding reign. The passage of the Vyu is, 'The king Divodsa, having slain the hundred sons of Bhadrarenya, took possession of his kingdom, which was conquered by that hero. The son of Bhadrarenya, celebrated by the name of Durdama, was spared by Divodsa, as being an infant. Pratarddana was the son of Divodsa by Drishadvat; and by that great prince, desirous of destroying all enmity, (was recovered) that (territory) which had been seized by that young boy (Durdama).' This is not very explicit, and something is wanted to complete the sense. The Brhma P. and Hari V. tell the story twice over, chiefly in the words of the Vyu, but with some additions. In ch. 29. we have, first, the first three lines of the above extract; then comes the story of Benares being deserted; we then have the two next lines; then follow, 'That prince (Durdama) invading his patrimonial possessions, the territory which Divodsa had seized by force was recovered by the gallant son of Bhadhrarenya, Durddama, a warrior desirous, mighty king, p. 408 to effect the destruction of his foes.' Here the victory is ascribed to Durddama, in opposition to what appears to be the sense of the Vyu, and what is undoubtedly that of our text, which says that he was called Pratarddana from destroying the race of Bhadrarenya, and atrujit from vanquishing all his foes. By Vairasya anta, 'the end of hostility or enmity,' is obviously not to be understood here, as M. Langlois has intimated, a friendly pacification, but the end or destruction of all enemies. In the 32d chapter of the Hari Vana we have precisely the same lines, slightly varied as to their order; but they are preceded by this verse; 'The city (that on the Gomati), before the existence of Benares, of Bhadrarenya, a pious prince of the Yadu race: This verse is not in the Brhma P. After giving the rest of the above quotation, except the last line, the passage proceeds, 'The king called Ashtaratha was the son of Bhmaratha; and by him, great king, a warrior desirous of destroying his foes was (the country) recovered, the children (of Durdama) being infants.' According to the same authority, we are here to understand Bhmaratha and Ashtaratha as epithets of Divodsa and Pratarddana. From these scanty and ill-digested notices it appears, that Divodsa, on being expelled from Benares, took some city and district on the Gomati from the family of Bhadrarenya; that Durdama recovered the country, and that Pratarddana again conquered it from his descendants. The alternation concerned apparently only bordering districts, for the princes of Mhshmati and of K continue, in both an earlier and a later series, in undisturbed possession of their capitals and their power.
408:13 The Vyu, Agni, Brhma P., and Hari V. interpose two sons of Pratarddana, Garga or Bharga and Vatsa; and they make Vatsa the father of Alarka, except the Brhma, which has atrujit and Ritadhwaja as two princes following Vatsa.
408:14 The Vyu, Brhma, and Hari V. repeat this stanza, and add that Alarka enjoyed such protracted existence through the favour of Lopamudr, and that having p. 409 lived till the period at which the curs upon terminated, he killed the Rkshas Kshemaka, by whom it had been occupied after it was abandoned by Divodsa, and caused the city to be reinhabited. The Hari V. agrees as usual with the Brhma, except in the reading of one or two names. It is to be observed, however, that the Agni makes the K princes the descendants of Vitatha, the successor of Bharata. The Brhma P. and Hari V., determined apparently to be right, give the list twice over, deriving it in one place from Kshatravriddha, as in our text, the Vyu, and the Bhgavata; and in another, with the Agni, from Vitatha. The series of the Brhma, however, stops with Lauhi, the son of Alarka, and does not warrant the repetition which the carelessness of the compiler of the Hari Vana has superfluously inserted.
409:15 Several varieties occur, in the series that follows, as the comparative lists will best shew:
Bhgavata.
Brhma.
Vyu.
Agni.
Alarka
Alarka
Alarka
Alarka
Santati
Sannati
Sannati
Dharmaketu
Suntha
Suntha
Suntha
Vibhu
Suketana
Kshema
Suketu
Sukumra
Dharmaketu
Ketumat
Dhrishtaketu
Satyaketu
Satyaketu
Suketu
Venuhotra
Dhrishtaketu
Dharmaketu
Grgya
Sukumra
Satyaketu
Gargabhmi
Vtihotra
Vibhu
Vatsabhmi
Bhrga
Anartta
Bhargabhmi
Sukumra
Dhrishtaketu
Venuhotri
Bharga
Vatsabhmi.
409:16 Our text is clear enough, and so is the Bhgavata, but the Vyu, Brhma, and Hari V. contain additions of rather doubtful import. The former has, 'The son of Venuhotra was the celebrated Grgya; Gargabhmi was the son of Grgya; and Vatsa, of the wise Vatsa: virtuous Brahmans and Kshatriyasp. 410 were the sons of these two.' By the second Vatsa is perhaps meant Vatsabhmi; and the purport of the passage is, that Grgya (or possibly rather Bharga, one of the sons of Pratarddana) and Vatsa were the founders of two races (Bhmi, 'earth,' implying 'source' or founder', who were Kshatriyas by birth, and Brahmans by profession. The Brhma and Hari V., apparently misunderstanding this text, have increased the perplexity. According to them, the son of Venuhotra was Bharga; Vatsabhmi was the son of Vatsa; and Bhargabhmi (Bhrigubhmi, Brhma) was from Bhrgava. 'These sons of Angiras were born in the family of Bhrigu, thousands of great might, Brahmans, Kshatriyas and Vaiyas.' The commentator has, 'Another son of Vatsa, the father of Alarka, is described, Vatsabhmi, &c. From Bhrgava, the brother of Vatsa. (They were) Angirasas from Glava belonging to that family, (and were born) in the family of Bhrigu from the descent of Viwmitra.' The interpretation is not very clear, but it authorizes the notion above expressed, that Vatsa and Bharga, the sons of Pratarddana, are the founders of two races of Kshatriya-Brahmans.
410:17 On the subject of note 12. some farther illustration is derivable from the Mahbhrata, nti P. Dna-dharma. Haryawa the king of the Kis, reigning between the Ganges and the Yamun, or in the Do-ab, was invaded and slain by the Haihayas, a race descended, according to this authority, from aryti, the son of Manu (see p. 358). Sudeva, the son of Haryawa, was also attacked and defeated by the same enemies. Divodsa, his son, built and fortified Benares as a defence against the Haihayas, but in vain, for they took it, and compelled him to fly. He sought refuge with Bharadwja, by whose favour he had a son born to him, Pratardana, who destroyed the Haihayas under their king Vtihavya, and reestablished the kingdom of K. Vtihavya, through the protection of Bhrigu, became a Brahman. The Mahbhrata gives a list of his descendants, which contains several of the names of the Kaya dynasty of the text; thus, Ghritsamada is said to be his son, and the two last of the line are unaka and aunaka. See n. 7.
"The Vishnu Purana", translated by Horace Hayman Wilson, [1840],
p. 406
Chap. Viii.
Sons of yus. Line of Kshatravriddha, or kings of K. Former birth of Dhanwantar. Various names of Pratarddana. Greatness of Alarka.
Yus, the eldest son of Purravas, married the daughter of Rhu (or rhu), by whom he had five sons, Nahusha, Kshatravriddha 1, Rambha 2, Raji, and Anenas 3.
The son of Kshatravriddha was Suhotra 4, who had three sons, Ka 5, Lea 6, and Ghritsamada. The son of the last was aunaka 7, who first established the distinctions of the four castes 8. The son of Ka was Kairj 9; his son was Drghatamas 10; his son was Dhanwantari, whose nature was exempt from human infirmities, and who in every existence had been master of universal knowledge. In his past life (or when he was produced by the agitation of the milky sea), Nryana had conferred upon him the boon, that he should subsequently be born in the
p. 407
family of Ksirj, should compose the eightfold system of medical science 11, and should be thereafter entitled to a share of offerings made to the gods. The son of Dhanwantari was Ketumat; his son was Bhmaratha; his son was Divodsa 12; his son was Pratarddana, so
p. 408
named from destroying the race of Bhadrarenya. He had various other appellations, as atrujit, 'the victor over his foes,' from having vanquished all his enemies; Vatsa, or 'child,' from his father's frequently calling him by that name; Ritadhwaja, 'he whose emblem was truth,' being a great observer of veracity; and Kuvalaywa, because he had a horse (awa) called Kuvalaya 13. The son of this prince was Alarka, of whom this verse is sung in the present day; "For sixty thousand and sixty hundred years no other youthful monarch except Alarka, reigned over the earth 14." The son of Alarka was
p. 409
[paragraph continues] Santati 15; his son was Suntha; his son was Suketu; his son was Dharmaketu; his son was Satyaketu; his son was Vibhu; his son was Suvibhu; his son was Sukumra; his son was Dhrishtaketu; his son was Vainahotra; his son was Bharga; his son was Bhargabhmi; from whom also rules for the four castes were promulgated 16. These are the Kya
p. 410
princes, or descendants of Ka 17. We will now enumerate the descendants of Raji.
Footnotes
406:1 Dharmavriddha: Vyu. Vriddhaarman: Matsya. Yajnaarman: Padma.
406:2 Darbha: Agni. Dambha: Padma.
406:3 Vippman: Agni and Matsya. Vidman: Padma. The two last authorities proceed no farther with this line.
406:4 Sunahotra: Vyu, Brhma.
406:5 Kya: Bhgavata.
406:6 Sla: Vyu, Brhma, Hari V.: whose son was rshtisena, father of Charanta; Vyu: of Kayapa; Brhma and Hari V.
406:7 Here is probably an error, for the Vyu, Bhgavata, and Brhma agree in making unaka the son of Ghritsamada, and father of aunaka.
406:8 The expression is 'The originator or causer of the distinctions (or duties) of the four castes.' The commentator, however, understands the expression to signify, that his descendants were of the four castes. So also the Vyu: 'The son of Ghritsamada was unaka, whose son was aunaka. Brahmans, Kshatriyas, Vaiyas, and dras were born in his race; Brahmans by distinguished deeds.' The existence of but one caste in the age of purity, however incompatible with the legend which ascribes the origin of the four tribes to Brahm, is every where admitted. Their separation is assigned to different individuals, whether accurately to any one may be doubted; but the notion indicates that the distinction was of a social or political character.
406:9 Kiya: Brhma.
406:10 Drghatapas: Vyu. Ghritsatamas: Agni. The Bhgavata inserts a Rshtra before this prince, and the Vyu a Dharma after him.
407:11 The eight branches of medical science are, 1. alya, extraction of extraneous bodies; 2. alk, treatment of external organic affections: these two constitute surgery: 3. Chikits, administration of medicines, or medical treatment in general; 4. Bhtavidy, treatment of maladies referred to demoniac possession; 5. Kaumrabhritya, midwifery and management of children; 6. Agada, alexipharmacy; 7. Rasyana, alchemical therapeutics; 8. Bajikarana, use of aphrodisiacs. Dhanwantari, according to the Brahma Vaivartta P., was preceded in medical science by treya, Bharadwja, and Charaka: his pupil uruta is the reputed author of a celebrated work still extant. It seems probable that K or Benares was at an early period a celebrated school of medicine.
407:12 Some rather curious legends are connected with this prince in the Vyu and Brhma Purnas, and Hari Vana, and especially in the K Khanda of the Sknda Purna. According to these authorities, iva and Prvat, desirous of occupying K, which Divodsa possessed, sent Nikumbha, one of the Ganas of the former, to lead the prince to the adoption of Buddhist doctrines; in consequence of which he was expelled from the sacred city, and, according to the Vyu, founded another on the banks of the Gomat. We have, however, also some singular, though obscure intimations of some of the political events of this and the succeeding reign. The passage of the Vyu is, 'The king Divodsa, having slain the hundred sons of Bhadrarenya, took possession of his kingdom, which was conquered by that hero. The son of Bhadrarenya, celebrated by the name of Durdama, was spared by Divodsa, as being an infant. Pratarddana was the son of Divodsa by Drishadvat; and by that great prince, desirous of destroying all enmity, (was recovered) that (territory) which had been seized by that young boy (Durdama).' This is not very explicit, and something is wanted to complete the sense. The Brhma P. and Hari V. tell the story twice over, chiefly in the words of the Vyu, but with some additions. In ch. 29. we have, first, the first three lines of the above extract; then comes the story of Benares being deserted; we then have the two next lines; then follow, 'That prince (Durdama) invading his patrimonial possessions, the territory which Divodsa had seized by force was recovered by the gallant son of Bhadhrarenya, Durddama, a warrior desirous, mighty king, p. 408 to effect the destruction of his foes.' Here the victory is ascribed to Durddama, in opposition to what appears to be the sense of the Vyu, and what is undoubtedly that of our text, which says that he was called Pratarddana from destroying the race of Bhadrarenya, and atrujit from vanquishing all his foes. By Vairasya anta, 'the end of hostility or enmity,' is obviously not to be understood here, as M. Langlois has intimated, a friendly pacification, but the end or destruction of all enemies. In the 32d chapter of the Hari Vana we have precisely the same lines, slightly varied as to their order; but they are preceded by this verse; 'The city (that on the Gomati), before the existence of Benares, of Bhadrarenya, a pious prince of the Yadu race: This verse is not in the Brhma P. After giving the rest of the above quotation, except the last line, the passage proceeds, 'The king called Ashtaratha was the son of Bhmaratha; and by him, great king, a warrior desirous of destroying his foes was (the country) recovered, the children (of Durdama) being infants.' According to the same authority, we are here to understand Bhmaratha and Ashtaratha as epithets of Divodsa and Pratarddana. From these scanty and ill-digested notices it appears, that Divodsa, on being expelled from Benares, took some city and district on the Gomati from the family of Bhadrarenya; that Durdama recovered the country, and that Pratarddana again conquered it from his descendants. The alternation concerned apparently only bordering districts, for the princes of Mhshmati and of K continue, in both an earlier and a later series, in undisturbed possession of their capitals and their power.
408:13 The Vyu, Agni, Brhma P., and Hari V. interpose two sons of Pratarddana, Garga or Bharga and Vatsa; and they make Vatsa the father of Alarka, except the Brhma, which has atrujit and Ritadhwaja as two princes following Vatsa.
408:14 The Vyu, Brhma, and Hari V. repeat this stanza, and add that Alarka enjoyed such protracted existence through the favour of Lopamudr, and that having p. 409 lived till the period at which the curs upon terminated, he killed the Rkshas Kshemaka, by whom it had been occupied after it was abandoned by Divodsa, and caused the city to be reinhabited. The Hari V. agrees as usual with the Brhma, except in the reading of one or two names. It is to be observed, however, that the Agni makes the K princes the descendants of Vitatha, the successor of Bharata. The Brhma P. and Hari V., determined apparently to be right, give the list twice over, deriving it in one place from Kshatravriddha, as in our text, the Vyu, and the Bhgavata; and in another, with the Agni, from Vitatha. The series of the Brhma, however, stops with Lauhi, the son of Alarka, and does not warrant the repetition which the carelessness of the compiler of the Hari Vana has superfluously inserted.
409:15 Several varieties occur, in the series that follows, as the comparative lists will best shew:
Bhgavata.
Brhma.
Vyu.
Agni.
Alarka
Alarka
Alarka
Alarka
Santati
Sannati
Sannati
Dharmaketu
Suntha
Suntha
Suntha
Vibhu
Suketana
Kshema
Suketu
Sukumra
Dharmaketu
Ketumat
Dhrishtaketu
Satyaketu
Satyaketu
Suketu
Venuhotra
Dhrishtaketu
Dharmaketu
Grgya
Sukumra
Satyaketu
Gargabhmi
Vtihotra
Vibhu
Vatsabhmi
Bhrga
Anartta
Bhargabhmi
Sukumra
Dhrishtaketu
Venuhotri
Bharga
Vatsabhmi.
409:16 Our text is clear enough, and so is the Bhgavata, but the Vyu, Brhma, and Hari V. contain additions of rather doubtful import. The former has, 'The son of Venuhotra was the celebrated Grgya; Gargabhmi was the son of Grgya; and Vatsa, of the wise Vatsa: virtuous Brahmans and Kshatriyasp. 410 were the sons of these two.' By the second Vatsa is perhaps meant Vatsabhmi; and the purport of the passage is, that Grgya (or possibly rather Bharga, one of the sons of Pratarddana) and Vatsa were the founders of two races (Bhmi, 'earth,' implying 'source' or founder', who were Kshatriyas by birth, and Brahmans by profession. The Brhma and Hari V., apparently misunderstanding this text, have increased the perplexity. According to them, the son of Venuhotra was Bharga; Vatsabhmi was the son of Vatsa; and Bhargabhmi (Bhrigubhmi, Brhma) was from Bhrgava. 'These sons of Angiras were born in the family of Bhrigu, thousands of great might, Brahmans, Kshatriyas and Vaiyas.' The commentator has, 'Another son of Vatsa, the father of Alarka, is described, Vatsabhmi, &c. From Bhrgava, the brother of Vatsa. (They were) Angirasas from Glava belonging to that family, (and were born) in the family of Bhrigu from the descent of Viwmitra.' The interpretation is not very clear, but it authorizes the notion above expressed, that Vatsa and Bharga, the sons of Pratarddana, are the founders of two races of Kshatriya-Brahmans.
410:17 On the subject of note 12. some farther illustration is derivable from the Mahbhrata, nti P. Dna-dharma. Haryawa the king of the Kis, reigning between the Ganges and the Yamun, or in the Do-ab, was invaded and slain by the Haihayas, a race descended, according to this authority, from aryti, the son of Manu (see p. 358). Sudeva, the son of Haryawa, was also attacked and defeated by the same enemies. Divodsa, his son, built and fortified Benares as a defence against the Haihayas, but in vain, for they took it, and compelled him to fly. He sought refuge with Bharadwja, by whose favour he had a son born to him, Pratardana, who destroyed the Haihayas under their king Vtihavya, and reestablished the kingdom of K. Vtihavya, through the protection of Bhrigu, became a Brahman. The Mahbhrata gives a list of his descendants, which contains several of the names of the Kaya dynasty of the text; thus, Ghritsamada is said to be his son, and the two last of the line are unaka and aunaka. See n. 7.
