ADI
PARV MAHABHARAT BOOK 1 CHAPTER 57
Adi
Parv, Mahabharat / Mahabharat Book I Chapter 57 : English
SECTION
LXIII
(Adivansavataran Parv continued)
Uparichar
Vasu, conquered kingdom of Chedi and his sons planted kingdoms and
towns
![](Ancestry_of_Kuru.jpg)
Ancestry
of Kuru as per Bhagavat Puran
"Vaisampayan said, 'There was a king of the name of Uparichara.
That monarch was devoted to virtue. He was very much addicted also
to hunting. That king of the Paurav race, called also Vasu, conquered
the excellent and delightful kingdom of Chedi under instructions
from Indra. Some time after, the king gave up the use of arms and,
dwelling in a secluded retreat, practised the most severe austerities.
The gods with Indra at their head once approached the monarch during
this period, believing that he [p. 124] sought the headship of the
gods, by those severe austerities of his. The celestials, becoming
objects of his sight, by soft speeches succeeded in winning him
away from his ascetic austerities.'
"The
gods said, 'O lord of the earth, thou shouldst take care so that
virtue may not sustain a diminution on earth! Protected by thee,
virtue itself will in return protect the universe.' And Indra said,
'O king, protect virtue on earth attentively and rigidly. Being
virtuous, thou shalt, for all time, behold (in after life) many
sacred regions. And though I am of Heaven, and thou art of earth,
yet art thou my friend and dear to me. And, O king of men, dwell
thou in that region on earth which is delightful, and aboundeth
in animals, is sacred, full of wealth and corn, is well-protected
like heaven, which is of agreeable climate, graced with every object
of enjoyment, and blessed with fertility. And, O monarch of Chedi,
this thy dominion is full of riches, of gems and precious stones,
and containeth, besides, much mineral wealth. The cities and towns
of this region are all devoted to virtue; the people are honest
and contented; they never lie even in jest. Sons never divide their
wealth with their fathers and are ever mindful of the welfare of
their parents. Lean cattle are never yoked to the plough or the
cart or engaged in carrying merchandise; on the other hand, they
are well-fed and fattened. In Chedi the four orders are always engaged
in their respective vocations. Let nothing be unknown to thee that
happens in the three worlds. I shall give thee a crystal car such
as the celestials alone are capable of carrying the car through
mid air. Thou alone, of all mortals on earth, riding on that best
of cars, shall course through mid-air like a celestial endued with
a physical frame. I shall also give thee a triumphal garland of
unfading lotuses, with which on, in battle, thou shall not be wounded
by weapons. And, O king, this blessed and incomparable garland,
widely known on earth as Indra's garland, shall be thy distinctive
badge.
"The
slayer of Vritra (Indra) also gave the king, for his gratification,
a bamboo pole for protecting the honest and the peaceful. After
the expiry of a year, the king planted it in the ground for the
purpose of worshipping the giver thereof, viz., Sakra. From that
time forth, O monarch, all kings, following Vasu's example, began
to plant a pole for the celebration of Indra's worship. After erecting
the pole they decked it with golden cloth and scents and garlands
and various ornaments. And the god Vasava is worshipped in due form
with such garlands and ornaments. And the god, for the gratification
of the illustrious Vasu, assuming the form of a swan, came himself
to accept the worship thus offered. And the god, beholding the auspicious
worship thus made by Vasu, that first of monarchs, was delighted,
and said unto him, 'Those men, and kings also, who will worship
me and joyously observe this festival of mine like the king of Chedi,
shall have glory and victory for their countries and kingdom. Their
cities also shall expand and be ever in joy.' [p. 125] "King
Vasu] was thus blessed by the gratified Maghavat, the high-souled
chief of the gods. Indeed, those men who cause this festivity of
Sakra to be observed with gifts of land, of gems and precious stones,
become the respected of the world. And king Vasu, the lord of Chedis
bestowing boons and performing great sacrifices and observing the
festivity of Sakra, was much respected by Indra. And from Chedi
he ruled the whole world virtuously. And for the gratification of
Indra, Vasu, the lord of the Chedis, observed the festivity of Indra.
"And
Vasu had five sons of great energy and immeasurable prowess. And
the emperor installed his sons as governors of various provinces.
"And
his son Vrihadratha was installed in Magadha and was known by the
name of Maharatha.
Another son of his was Pratyagraha;
and another, Kusamva, who was also called Manivahana.
And the two others were Mavella, and
Yadu of great prowess and invincible in battle.
"These, O monarch, were the sons of that royal sage of mighty
energy. And the five sons of Vasu planted kingdoms and towns after
their own names and founded separate dynasties that lasted for long
ages.
"And
when king Vasu took his seat in that crystal car, with the gift
of Indra, and coursed through the sky, he was approached by Gandharvas
and Apsaras (the celestial singers and dancers). And as he coursed
through the upper regions, he was called Uparichara. And by his
capital flowed a river called Suktimati. And that river was once
attacked by a life-endued mountain called Kolahala maddened by lust.
And Vasu, beholding the foul attempt, struck the mountain with his
foot. And by the indentation caused by Vasu's stamp, the river came
out (of the embraces of Kolahala). But the mountain begat on the
river two children that were twins. And the river, grateful to Vasu
for his having set her free from Kolahala's embraces, gave them
both to Vasu. And the son was made the generalissimo to his forces
by Vasu, that best of royal sages and giver of wealth and punisher
of enemies. And the daughter called Girika, was wedded by Vasu.
'And
Girika, the wife of Vasu, after her menstrual course, purifying
herself by a bath, represented her state unto her lord. But that
very day the Pitris of Vasu came unto that best of monarchs and
foremost of wise men, and asked him to slay deer (for their Sraddha).
And the king, thinking that the command of the Pitris should not
be disobeyed, went a-hunting thinking of Girika alone who was gifted
with great beauty and like unto another Sri herself. And the season
being the spring, the woods within which the king was roaming, had
become delightful like unto the gardens of the king of the Gandharvas
himself.
There
were Asokas and Champakas and Chutas and Atimuktas in abundance:
and there were Punnagas and Karnikaras and Vakulas and Divya Patalas
and Patalas and Narikelas and Chandanas and Arjunas and similar
other beautiful and sacred trees resplendent with fragrant flowers
and sweet fruits. And the whole forest was maddened by the sweet
notes of the kokila and echoed [p. 126] with the hum of maddened
bees. And the king became possessed with desire, and he saw not
his wife before him. Maddened by desire he was roaming hither and
thither, when he saw a beautiful Asoka decked with dense foliage,
its branches covered with flowers. And the king sat at his ease
in the shade of that tree. And excited by the fragrance of the season
and the charming odours of the flowers around, and excited also
by the delicious breeze, the king could not keep his mind away from
the thought of the beautiful Girika. And beholding that a swift
hawk was resting very near to him, the king, acquainted with the
subtle truths of Dharma and Artha, went unto him and said, 'Amiable
one, carry thou this seed (semen) for my wife Girika and give it
unto her. Her season hath arrived.'
"The
hawk, swift of speed, took it from the king and rapidly coursed
through the air. While thus passing, the hawk was seen by another
of his species. Thinking that the first one was carrying meat, the
second one flew at him. The two fought with each other in the sky
with their beaks. While they were fighting, the seed fell into the
waters of the Yamuna. And in those waters dwelt an Apsara of the
higher rank, known by the name of Adrika, transformed by a Brahmana's
curse into a fish. As soon as Vasu's seed fell into the water from
the claws of the hawk, Adrika rapidly approached and swallowed it
at once. That fish was, some time after, caught by the fishermen.
And it was the tenth month of the fish's having swallowed the seed.
From the stomach of that fish came out a male and a female child
of human form. The fishermen wondered much, and wending unto king
Uparichara (for they were his subjects) told him all. They said,
'O king, these two beings of human shape have been found in the
body of a fish!' The male child amongst the two was taken by Uparichara.
That child afterwards became the virtuous and truthful monarch Matsya.
"After
the birth of the twins, the Apsara herself became freed from her
curse. For she had been told before by the illustrious one (who
had cursed her) that she would, while living in her piscatorial
form, give birth to two children of human shape and then would be
freed from the curse. Then, according to these words, having given
birth to the two children, and been killed by the fishermen, she
left her fish-form and assumed her own celestial shape. The Apsara
then rose up on the path trodden by the Siddhas, the Rishis and
the Charanas.
Birth
of Satyavati: "The fish-smelling daughter (Matsyagandhi) of
the Apsara in her piscatorial form was then given by the king unto
the fishermen, saying, 'Let this one be thy daughter.' That girl
was known by the name of Satyavati. And gifted with great beauty
and possessed of every virtue, she of agreeable smiles, owing to
contact with fishermen, was for some time of the fishy smell. Wishing
to serve her (foster) father she plied a boat on the waters of the
Yamuna.
"While
engaged in this vocation, Satyavati was seen one day by the great
Rishi Parashara, in course of his wanderings. As she was gifted
with great (p. 127) beauty, an object of desire even with an anchorite,
and of graceful smiles, the wise sage, as soon as he beheld her,
desired to have her. And that bull amongst Munis addressed the daughter
of Vasu of celestial beauty and tapering thighs, saying, 'Accept
my embraces, O blessed one!' Satyavati replied, 'O holy one, behold
the Rishis standing on either bank of the river. Seen by them, how
can I grant thy wish?'
"Thus
addressed by her, the ascetic thereupon created a fog (which existed
not before and) which enveloped the whole region in darkness. And
the maiden, beholding the fog that was created by the great Rishi
wondered much. And the helpless one became suffused with the blushes
of bashfulness. And she said, 'O holy one, note that I am a maiden
under the control of my father. O sinless one, by accepting your
embraces my virginity will be sullied. O best of Brahmanas, my virginity
being sullied, how shall I, O Rishi, be able to return home? Indeed,
I shall not then be able to bear life. Reflecting upon all this,
O illustrious one, do that which should be done.' That best of Rishis,
gratified with all she said, replied, "Thou shall remain a
virgin even if thou grantest my wish. And, O timid one, O beauteous
lady, solicit the boon that thou desirest. O thou of fair smiles,
my grace hath never before proved fruitless.' Thus addressed, the
maiden asked for the boon that her body might emit a sweet scent
(instead of the fish-odour that it had). And the illustrious Rishi
thereupon granted that wish of her heart.
"Having
obtained her boon, she became highly pleased, and her season immediately
came. And she accepted the embraces of that Rishi of wonderful deeds.
And she thenceforth became known among men by the name of Gandhavati
(the sweet-scented one). And men could perceive her scent from the
distance of a yojana. And for this she was known by another name
which was Yojanagandha (one who scatters her scent for a yojana
all around). And the illustrious Parasara, after this, went to his
own asylum.
"And
Satyavati gratified with having obtained the excellent boon in consequence
of which she became sweet-scented and her virginity remained unsullied
conceived through Parasara's embraces. And she brought forth the
very day, on an island in the Yamuna, the child begot upon her by
Parasara and gifted with great energy. And the child, with the permission
of his mother, set his mind on asceticism. And he went away saying,
'As soon as thou rememberest me when occasion comes, I shall appear
unto thee.'
"And
it was thus that Vyasa was born of Satyavati through Par
asara.
And because he was born in an island, he was called Dwaipayana (Dwaipa
or island born). And the learned Dwaipayana, beholding that virtue
is destined to become lame by one leg each yuga (she having four
legs in all) and that the period of life and the strength of men
followed the yugas, and moved by the desire of obtaining the favour
of Brahman and the Brahmanas, arranged the Vedas. And for this he
came to be called Vyasa (the arranger or compiler).
The
boon-giving great one then taught Sumanta, Jaimini, Paila, his son
Suka, and Vaisampayana, the Vedas having the Mahabharata for their
fifth. And the compilation of the Bharata was published by him through
them separately.
"Then
Bhishma, of great energy and fame and of immeasurable splendour,
and sprung from the component parts of the Vasus, was born in the
womb of Ganga through king Santanu. And there was a Rishi of the
name of Animandavya of great fame. And he was conversant with the
interpretations of the Vedas, was illustrious, gifted with great
energy, and of great reputation. And, accused of theft, though innocent,
the old Rishi was impaled. He thereupon summoned Dharma and told
him these words, 'In my childhood I had pierced a little fly on
a blade of grass, O Dharma! I recollect that one sin: but I cannot
call to mind any other. I have, however, since practised penances
a thousandfold. Hath not that one sin been conquered by this my
asceticism? And because the killing of a Brahmana is more heinous
than that of any other living thing, therefore, hast thou, O Dharma,
been sinful. Thou shalt, therefore, be born on earth in the Sudra
order.' And for that curse Dharma was born a Sudra in the form of
the learned Vidura of pure body who was perfectly sinless. And the
Suta was born of Kunti in her maidenhood through Surya. And he came
out of his mother's womb with a natural coat of mail and face brightened
by ear-rings. And Vishnu himself, of world-wide fame, and worshipped
of all the worlds, was born of Devaki through Vasudeva, for the
benefit of the three worlds. He is without birth and death, of radiant
splendour, the Creator of the universe and the Lord of all! Indeed,
he who is the invisible cause of all, who knoweth no deterioration,
who is the all-pervading soul, the centre round which everything
moveth, the substance in which the three attributes of Sattwa, Rajas
and Tamas co-inhere, the universal soul, the immutable, the material
out of which hath been created this universe, the Creator himself,
the controlling lord, the invisible dweller in every object, progenitor
of this universe of five elements, who is united with the six high
attributes, is the Pranava or Om of the Vedas, is infinite, incapable
of being moved by any force save his own will, illustrious, the
embodiment of the mode of life called Sannyasa, who floated on the
waters before the creation, who is the source whence hath sprung
this mighty frame, who is the great combiner, the uncreate, the
invisible essence of all, the great immutable, bereft of those attributes
that are knowable by the senses, who is the universe itself, without
beginning, birth, and decay,--is possessed of infinite wealth, that
Grandsire of all creatures, became incarnate in the race of the
Andhaka-Vrishnis for the increase of virtue.
"And
Satyaki and Kritavarma, conversant with (the use of) weapons possessed
of mighty energy, well-versed in all branches of knowledge, and
obedient to Narayana in everything and competent in the use of weapons,
had their births from Satyaka and Hridika. And the seed of the great
Rishi Bharadwaja of severe penances, kept in a pot, began to develop.
And from that seed came Drona (the pot-born). And from the seed
of Gautam, fallen upon a clump of reeds, were born two that were
twins, the mother of Aswatthaman (called Kripi), and Kripa of great
strength. Then was born Dhrishtadyumna, of the splendour of Agni
himself, from the sacrificial fire. And the mighty hero was born
with bow in hand for the destruction of Drona. And from the sacrificial
altar was born Krishna (Draupadi) resplendent and handsome, of bright
features and excellent beauty. Then was born the disciple of Prahlada,
viz., Nagnajit, and also Suvala. And from Suvala was born a son,
Sakuni, who from the curse of the gods became the slayer of creatures
and the foe of virtue. And unto him was also born a daughter (Gandhari),
the mother of Duryodhana. And both were well-versed in the arts
of acquiring worldly profits. And from Krishna was born, in the
soil of Vichitravirya, Dhritarashtra, the lord of men, and Pandu
of great strength. And from Dwaipayana also born, in the Sudra caste,
the wise and intelligent Vidura, conversant with both religion and
profit, and free from all sins. And unto Pandu by his two wives
were born five sons like the celestials. The eldest of them was
Yudhishthira. And Yudhishthira was born (of the seed) of Dharma
(Yama, the god of justice); and Bhima of the wolf's stomach was
born of Marut (the god of wind), and Dhananjaya, blessed with good
fortune and the first of all wielders of weapons, was born of Indra;
and Nakula and Sahadeva, of handsome features and ever engaged in
the service of their superiors, were born of the twin Aswins. And
unto the wise Dhritarashtra were born a hundred sons, viz., Duryodhana
and others, and another, named Yuyutsu, who was born of a vaisya
woman. And amongst those hundred and one, eleven, viz., Duhsasana,
Duhsaha, Durmarshana, Vikarna, Chitrasena, Vivinsati, Jaya, Satyavrata,
Purumitra, and Yuyutsu by a Vaisya wife, were all Maharathas (great
car-warriors). And Abhimanyu was born of Subhadra, the sister of
Vasudeva through Arjuna, and was, therefore, the grandson of the
illustrious Pandu. And unto the five Pandavas were born five sons
by (their common wife) Panchali. And these princes were all very
handsome and conversant with all branches of knowledge. From Yudhishthira
was born Pritivindhya; from Vrikodara, Sutasoma; from Arjuna, Srutakirti;
from Nakula, Satanika; and from Sahadeva, Srutasena of great prowess;
and Bhima, in the forest begot on Hidimva a son named Ghatotkacha.
And from Drupada was born a daughter Sikhandin who was afterwards
transformed into a male child. Sikhandini was so transformed into
a male by Yaksha named Sthuna from the desire of doing her good.
"In
that great battle of the Kurus came hundreds of thousands of monarchs
for fighting against one another. The names of the innumerable host
I am unable to recount even in ten thousand years. I have named,
however, the principal ones who have been mentioned in this history.'"
Source
:
https://www.jatland.com/
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