25. The Birth of the Dark One
1 Vaishampāyana said:
Great king. Ānakadundubhi’s beloved first wife was a descendant of Pūru by the name of Rohinī. She was the daughter of Bāhlika, your majesty. 2 She had Rāma as her eldest son, and she also had Shārana and Shatha, Durdama and Damana, Shvabhra, Pindāraka, and Kushīnara, 3 and a girl called Chitrā. Rohinī had nine children. Chitrā was also known as Subhadrā, joy of the Kurus. 4 And Shūra’s famous grandson was born to Vasudeva from Devakī.
Nishatha, a cherished son, was sired by Rāma, upon Revatī. 5 The chariot-warrior Abhimanyu was sired by Prithā’s son Arjuna, upon Subhadrā. And Satyaketu was sired by Akrūra, upon a young woman from Kāshi.
6 Vasudeva’s seven lucky wives had sons who were champions. Pay attention as I name them.*7 Shāntidevā had a pair of sons, Bhoja and Vijaya. Sunāmā had Vrikadeva, and also Gada—both of them were her sons. And the great Agāvaha was born from Vrikadevī, 8 the daughter of the Trigarta king.†
Now then. Shishirāyana, the Trigarta king’s minister, tried to ascertain Gārgya’s sexual potency, but Gārgya didn’t spill any semen. 9 For twelve years he was as imperturbable as black iron. But when Gārgya was then incorrectly maligned as impotent, his anger drove him on: he took a young woman from a herding station and had sex with her. 10 Gopālī, a celestial nymph who had taken the form of a cowherd woman, bore Gārgya’s unrestrainable and unbeatable child.
11 He was the mighty king named Kālayavana. He was born from a human woman—Gārgya’s wife—on the orders of trident-wielding Shiva. The horses that transported him in battle had bodies whose front halves were those of bulls. 12 As a boy he grew up in the palace of the childless Yavana king, your majesty, and so he became Kālayavana, the Dark Yavana.
13 King Kālayavana, wanting a war, interrogated the main brahmins, and Lord Nārada told him about the Vrishni and Andhaka people. 14 So he marched on Mathurā with an army of soldiers, and sent a messenger into the headquarters of the Vrishnis and Andhakas. 15 Because of the danger posed by Jarāsandha,* the Vrishnis and Andhakas, taking their lead from wise Krishna, assembled and took counsel. 16 They all came to a decision: they settled on flight. Paying their respects to trident-wielding Shiva, they left delightful Mathurā behind, preferring to settle in Kushasthalī Dvāravatī, the City of the Gates.
17 This chapter is called the Birth of the Dark One. An honest person who restrains their senses and has it recited on full-moon days becomes wise, happy, and free of debt.
26. The Offspring of Jyāmagha
1 Vaishampāyana said:
That same Kroshtu had a son who was renowned as Vrijinīvat the Sinful. They were more fond of Vrijinīvat’s son Svāhi, who was supreme among those who make offerings to the gods with the call of svāhā. 2 The son of Svāhi was King Rushadgu, an expert orator, who performed great rites of various kinds and gave generously to the priests. 3 Rushadgu was really wishing for a hundred children, the utmost in progeny, but as a result of his brilliant deeds he got his son Chitraratha. 4 Chitraratha’s son was Shashabindu, who followed the noble example of the royal seers: he was a hero, and a ritual patron who gave generously to the priests.
5 The king born from Shashabindu was the much-famed Prithushravas Far-Famed. People who know the old stories praise Prithushravas’s son Antara, 6 and Antara’s son was Suyajnya Good-Rite, and Suyajnya’s son was Ushat the Obedient, the doyen of those who are obedient to the rite in its entirety—their own proper duty.
7 Ushat’s son was Shineyu. He punished his foes. His son was the royal seer King Marutta, 8 and Marutta’s oldest son was Kambalabarhisha. He started out harsh, but he was wise to his future state and went on to practise perfect propriety. 9 Kambalabarhisha was really wishing for a hundred children, but from the one hundred pressings he got his son Rukmakavacha. 10 Rukmakavacha killed one hundred armoured bowmen in battle with sharpened shafts, and scaled the height of success. 11 Rukmakavacha begat Parājit Enemy-Beater, a smasher of enemy braves, and Parājit begat five potent sons: Rukmeshu, Prithurukma, Jyāmagha, Pālita, and Hari.
12 Pālita and Hari were given away to the Videhas by their father. Rukmeshu became king, and Prithurukma was in his service. The two of them exiled Jyāmagha from the kingdom, and he lived in an ashram. 13 But while Jyāmagha was living quietly in the woods, a brahmin reminded him who he was, and then he mounted his chariot and went off to another land with his chariot and standard. 14 All on his own he conquered the bank of the Narmadā, the Narmadā itself, the town of Mrittikāvatī, and Mount Rikshavat. Then he settled in Shuktimatī.
15 Jyāmagha’s wife was Chaitrā, a mature and faithful woman. But the king had no son, and he took no other wife. 16 Then he was victorious in a fight, and he won a young woman as a result. Being apprehensive of his wife, the king introduced the young woman to her as a daughter-in-law.
17 On hearing this, she said to him: But whose daughter-in-law is she?
Nervously, he replied: She’s a wife for your son who’s yet to be born.
18 As a result of the young woman’s fearsome austerities, the lovely Chaitrā, despite being advanced in age, gave birth to Vidarbha for her daughter-in-law. 19 And in due course, upon the daughter-in-law (who was the daughter of a king), Vidarbha begat Kratha and Kaishika, two wise champions skilled in combat.
20 Another son of Vidarbha was Bhīma. His son was Kunti, and Kunti’s son was the glorious Dhrishta, bold in battle. 21 Dhrishta begat three very dutiful champions: Āvanta, Dashārha, and the mighty Vishnuhara. 22 Dashārha’s son was Vyoman the Sky, a learned man known as Jīmūta the Cloud. Jīmūta’s son was Vrikati, and his son was Bhīmaratha, 23 and then Bhīmaratha’s son was Navaratha, and his son was Dasharatha, and his son was Shakuni, 24 and he begat Karambha, and Karambha’s son was King Devarāta, and his son was Devakshatra. And the son of the eminent Devakshatra 25 was like the child of a god. Devakshatra’s son was King Madhu the Sweet, whose speech was really sweet, and who founded the lineage of the Madhus.
26 Then, descendant of Kuru, Madhu begat Purutvat, a supreme person, upon a woman of Vidarbha. Yes, the Mother was born, from Bhadravatī of Vidarbha. 27 The Mother’s wife was a descendant of Ikshvāku, and upon her he begat a son who was endowed with every good (sattva) quality and swelled the fame of the Sātvatas.
28 This chapter is called the Offspring of the Great Jyāmagha. Whoever understands it* attains supreme satisfaction and is sure to have descendants.
27. The Lineage of the Kukuras
1 Vaishampāyana said:
Sired by Satvat the Mother, Kausalyā had sons who were full of goodness (sattva):† Bhajin Bhajamāna the Enjoyer, the divine King Devāvridha, 2 strong-armed Andhaka, and Vrishni the joy of the Yadus. Listen now to their four sets of descendants, in detail.
3 Bhajamāna’s two wives were Srinjaya women, Bāhyakā and Upabāhyakā, and they bore him many sons. 4 Nimi, Kramana, Vishnu, Shūra, and Puranjaya were begotten by Bhajamāna upon Bāhyakā Srinjayī, 5 and Ayutājit, Sahasrājit, Shatājit, and Dāshaka were begotten by Bhajamāna upon Upabāhyakā Srinjayī.
6 King Devāvridha was a patron of rites, and he engaged in long austerities. He was determined to have a son endowed with every virtue, 7 and so he kept himself under control, and kept himself clean in the water of the River Parnāshā. And since he was always bathing, the river became fond of him. 8 Because of her good nature, that excellent river came to share the king’s objective. Full of consideration, she thought to herself: 9 He hasn’t found the woman to have such a son. So come on, I’ll be his partner myself.
10 So she became a young woman with a superb figure, and she wooed the king, and the king desired her, 11 and in the tenth month that best of rivers gave birth to a son begotten by King Devāvridha: Babhru, who was endowed with every virtue.
12 In connection with the genealogy, those who know the old stories famously sing in praise of the great Devāvridha’s virtues: 13 Whether we were close by or far away, we used to see the famous king
as if he were just in front of us. Babhru was the most excellent of men, and Devāvridha was on a par with the gods. 14 Seven thousand and sixty-six men attained immortality through dying in battle against Devāvridha’s son Babhru.
15 Babhru was a generous master, a patron of rites. He was wise, devout, and equipped with a mighty arsenal, and his descendants are the numerous Bhojas of Mrittikāvatī.
16 Andhaka* begat four sons upon a Kāshi princess: Kukura, Bhajamāna, Shami, and Kambalabarhisha. 17 Kukura’s son was Dhrishnu, and then Dhrishnu’s son was Kapotaroman, and his son was Taittiri, who in turn begat Vasu, and then Vasu’s son was Abhijit. 18 As for Abhijit, he had twins, Āhuka and Āhukī. They were famous. They were supreme among the famous.
19 Here they quote these lyrics about Āhuka: 20 Āhuka was a large man, but he was as sprightly as a colt. The first time he visited somewhere, he would do so without his eighty-shield entourage all dressed in white. 21 Everyone who was close to the Bhoja had lots of sons, and gave away a hundred cows, and wielded a hundred thousand weapons, and performed pure deeds, and was a patron of rites. 22 It was gladly acknowledged that the Bhoja had ten thousand elephants in the eastern quarter with girdles of silver and gold, 23 and the same number of thousands in the northern quarter as well. They were decorated with small bells, and each one obeyed a different Bhoja prince.
24 As for his sister Āhukī, the Andhakas gave her away to the Avantis.
25 Āhuka’s two sons, Devaka the Divine and Ugrasena Fierce-Army, were born from a Kāshi princess, and they were like the sons of a god. 26 Devaka had four godlike sons: Devavat, Upadeva, Sudeva, and Devarakshita. And there were also seven daughters. He gave them away to Vasudeva: 27 Devakī and Shāntidevā, Sudevā and Devarakshitā, Vrikadevī and Upadevī, and Sunāmā the seventh.†
28 Ugrasena had nine sons. Of these Kamsa was born first, and then came Nyagrodha and Sunāman, Kanku and Shanku, Subhūmi, Rāshtrapāla, Sutanu, and prosperous Anādhrishti. 29 And they had five sisters: Kamsā and Kamsavatī, Sutanū and Rāshtrapālī, and the lovely Kankā.
30 I’ve given details of Ugrasena and his children, who were descended from Kukura. 31 This chapter is called the Lineage of the Almighty Kukuras, and a person who thinks about it is blessed with descendants and a long lineage of their own.
28. The False Suspicion against Krishna
1 Vaishampāyana said:
Now then. Bhajamāna’s son* was the eminent warrior (ratha) Vidūratha, and Vidūratha’s son was valiant Rājādhideva. 2 Rājādhideva’s sons were manly in the extreme: the mighty pair Datta and Atidatta, plus Shonāshva and Shvetavāhana, 3 Shamin and Dandasharman, and Dattashatru, and Shatrujit the Foe-Conqueror. And they had two sisters, Shravanā and Shravishthā.†
4 Shamin’s son was Pratikshatra, Pratikshatra’s son was Svayambhoja, and Svayambhoja’s son was Hridika. 5 His sons were all formidably enterprising: Kritavarman was the first of them, Shatadhanvan was among them, 6 and there were Devānta and Narānta, Vaitarana the healer, Sudānta and Adhidānta, and Kīnāsha, and Dāma and Dambhaka. 7 The wise Kambalabarhisha was Devānta’s son, as were the pair, brave Asamaujas and Nāsamaujas. 8 Nāsamaujas gave to the sonless Asamaujas his sons Sudamshtra, Suchāru, and Krishna.
Those are the noted Andhakas.
9 Gāndhārī and Mādrī were Kroshtu’s two wives.‡ Gāndhārī gave birth to Sumitra Good-Friend, a delight to his friends. 10 Mādrī gave birth to her son Yudhājit, and then to Devamīdhusha, and to the powerful Anamitra No-Enemy, who conquered his enemies.§11 Anamitra’s son was Nighna, and Nighna had two sons, Prasena and Satrājit, who both conquered (jit) enemy armies (senā).
12 At the time when Dvāravatī was being built, Prasena obtained, from the sea, a precious and magical jewel called the Syamantaka. 13 That jewel sprinkled gold across the Vrishni and Andhaka territory. Parjanya rained at the proper time, and there was no fear of disease.
14 Govinda conceived a longing for the Syamantaka jewel, but he didn’t take possession of it. He could have stolen it from Prasena, but he didn’t.
15 Prasena once went out hunting while wearing the Syamantaka, and a forest-dwelling lion killed him in order to get it. 16 Then a mighty king of the bears killed the fleeing lion, took the precious jewel, and went back into its cave.
17 The Vrishnis and Andhakas knew of Krishna’s desire for the jewel, and so after this they all suspected him, because he had a motive for killing Prasena. 18 Under suspicion for a deed he hadn’t done, that soul of propriety resolved to recover the jewel, and he set off into the wild.
19 He found Prasena’s trail and, accompanied by trusty companions, he followed it into the high and rocky Vindhya mountains, where the bears live. 20 As that proud man was trekking along, completely exhausted, he discovered the slain Prasena and his horse, but he couldn’t find the jewel. 21 Then, led by bear tracks, he found, not far from Prasena’s body, the lion that the bear had killed. 22 The tracks then led the Mādhava to the bear’s lair, and coming from inside the bear’s deep cave he heard a woman’s voice.
23 It was coming from a nursemaid, your majesty, who was holding Jāmbavat’s young son, offering him the jewel to play with, and telling him not to cry.
24 The nursemaid said:
A lion killed Prasena, and Jāmbavat killed the lion. Don’t cry, lovely little boy, for this, the Syamantaka, is yours.
25 The words were clear. Armed with his Shārnga bow, Krishna immediately plunged into the cave, and he found Jāmbavat, who lived in the cave. 26 Using only his two arms, Govinda Vāsudeva fought with Jāmbavat, in the cave, for twenty-one days. 27 While Krishna was in the cave, Vasudeva’s retainers went back to Dvāravatī and announced that Krishna was dead. 28 But Vāsudeva vanquished the mighty Jāmbavat. He appropriated the bear king’s prized daughter Jāmbavatī, 29 he took the Syamantaka jewel in order to clear his name, and after pacifying the bear king, he left the cave.
30 Having thus fetched the jewel that would clear his name, lofty Krishna presented it to Satrājit at an assembly of all the Sātvatas. 31 So when Krishna the slayer of his foes was falsely suspected, that’s how he won back the Syamantaka and cleared himself of the crime.
32 Satrājit had ten wives, and they bore him a hundred sons. Three of them are well known: Bhangakāra the eldest, 33 valiant Vātapati the Lord of the Winds, and Upasvāvat. Satrājit also had three daughters, your majesty, who were famous across the world: 34 Satyabhāmā supreme among women, and the disciplined Dridhavratā Firm-Vows, and Padmāvatī. He gave these daughters to Krishna as wives. 35 Bhangakāra begat Sabhāksha and Nāreya, two great men who were endowed with every virtue and famous for it.
36 Vrishni* was the son of Madhu’s son Yudhājit. And Vrishni had two sons, Shvaphalka and Chitraka.
37 Shvaphalka married Gāndinī, the daughter of the Kāshi king. She was called Gāndinī because she always gave away cows (gāh). 38 She gave birth to a champion who was said to be wise, Bhārata: the eminent Akrūra, a ritual patron who gave generously to the priests. 39 She also had Upāsanga and Madgu, Mridura and Arimardana, Girikshipa and Upeksha, Shatrughna and Arimejaya, 40 Charmabhrit and Arivarman, Gridhramojas and Nara, Āvāha and Prativāha, and the lovely Sundarā, 41 a famous girl endowed with youth and beauty, who stole the heart of every living being. She became Sāmba’s chief wife and the bearer of his jewels.
42 Sudeva and Upadeva were born to Akrūra from Ugrasena’s graceful daughter, joy of the Kurus. Each of them was as splendid as a god.
43 Chitraka† had sons: Prithu and Viprithu, Ashvasena and Ashvabāhu, Supārshvaka and Gaveshana, 44 Arishtanemi and Ashva, Dharma and Dharmabhrit, Subāhu and Bahubāhu. His daughters were Shravishthā and Shravanā.
45 This chapter is called the False Suspicion against Krishna, and those who voice false suspicions can never touch anyone who knows it.
29. The Displaying of the Syamantaka Jewel
1 Vaishampāyana said:
Krishna had given the precious Syamantaka jewel to Satrājit, but now Akrūra Ba
bhru the Mongoose‡ got hold of it, with the help of Shatadhanvan the Bhoja. 2 For Akrūra had always longed for the irreproachable Satyabhāmā, and for the Syamantaka jewel, and he was looking out for an opportunity. 3 So one night the mighty Shatadhanvan killed Satrājit, took the jewel, and gave it to Akrūra. 4 Akrūra took the gemstone, bull of the Bhāratas, and made a deal. He said to Shatadhanvan: You must not disclose me to lofty Krishna. 5 If Krishna attacks you, we’ll come to your aid. The whole of Dvārakā is now within my power, no doubt about it.
6 Beautiful Satyabhāmā, stricken with grief for her murdered father, mounted a chariot and went to the town of Vāranāvata. 7 Satyabhāmā, grief-stricken, told her husband what Shatadhanvan the Bhoja had done, and burst into tears in front of him.
8 Hari made a water-offering for the burned Pāndavas, and told Sātyaki to arrange urns for the brothers’ bones.*9 Then the glorious Krishna Madhusūdana returned in haste to Dvārakā, and said this to his plough-toting elder brother:
10 A lion killed Prasena, and Shatadhanvan killed Satrājit. That Syamantaka is coming to me. I’m its master, masterful man. 11 So get onto the chariot immediately. Once the mighty Bhoja has been killed, the Syamantaka will belong to the two of us jointly, strong-armed man.
12 Then there was a tumultuous fight between Krishna and the Bhoja.
Shatadhanvan looked out for Akrūra in every direction, 13 but Akrūra treated the Bhoja and Janārdana as if both of them were strangers who might as well die. He went back on his word, and he didn’t go to help Hridika’s son Shatadhanvan, even though he could have done. 14 So the fear-stricken Bhoja decided to flee. He ran a full one hundred yojanas away, on his mare.
15 The Bhoja’s famous mare, your majesty, on whom he fought Krishna, and who ran the hundred yojanas, was named Hridayā. 16 After travelling for a hundred yojanas, Krishna noticed that Hridayā’s speed was dropping and that his chariot was gaining on her, and he began to shoot at Shatadhanvan. 17 Then, Bhārata, in her pain and fatigue, that mare breathed her last.
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