CHANDRA
VANSH
Chandravansh,
Chandravanshi is one of the types of Kshatriyas. James Tod places
it in the list of Thirty Six Royal Races.
History
:
Ram Sarup Joon writes that...When Aryans came to India They called
themselves the descendants of Manu and remembered the tragedy of
the flood. They came to India in two groups. Their strength cannot
be ascertained. One of those advanced straight through the northern
plains and founded the town of Ayodhya. The leader of this group
was Ikshwaku, who had eight brothers and one sister named Ahalya
(or Ela). On arrival at Ayodhya this group clashed with the original
inhabitants and drove them down South. The other group settled down
on the banks of River Ganga in the area around Haridwar, and stayed
there for many generations. The leader of this group was Buddh (not
to be confused with Buddh who founded Buddhist Religion). Buddh
married Ikshvaku’s sister Ahalya. In his Dynasty were Pandwa
etc (not of Mahabharat age/epic). His son was Nahak and his son
Yayati, father of Jats.
Historians of the Rajput period have called the Ikshwaku group as
Surya Vanshi and the Buddha group as Chandra Vanshi, corresponding
to the Sun and Moon. Their origin has been linked with Brahma the
creator of the universe. The following genealogical tree was drawn
out.
Brahma
10 manasputra are Angiras, Atri, Bhrigu, Kratu, Mareechi, Narad,
Pulatsya, Pulah, Vashishth and Daksh.
Mareechi
had a son Kashyap, Kashyap had a son Vivaswan, Visvaswan had a son
Manu and many had a son named Ishvku.
![](300px-Genealogy_of_Chandravansha1.jpg)
Ikshwaku
Buddh :
The names included in this table, above Ikshwaku and Buddh are just
synonyms of the Sun, Moon and Planets.
Krishna
was born in Chandravansh. Several Kshatriya communities/clans claim
descent from Chandra. One of Brahma's son was Adi, whose son was
Chandra (Som), from whom started Chandravansh.
Thakur Deshraj writes that those who follow the Lunar calendar for
time calculation are Chandravanshi kshatriyas.
According
to the historian 'Ram Lal Hala' the word Jat is derived from word
'Yat'. There was a king named 'Yat' or Yata in Chandravanshi clan
who was ancestor of Lord Krishna. The Jats are descendants of King
Yat. 'Yat' later changed to 'Jat'.
Krishna
belonged to this branch of the Chandravanshi of Vrishnis from whom
he got the name Varshneya.
The
Scythian writer Abul Gazi has called himself a Chandravanshi Jat.
He also writes that the mother of Scythian community was the daughter
of Aila or Ailya Devi.
According
to Thakur Deshraj, The Chandravanshi Aryans of India had habitations
in Iran which were known as Jatali. He has referred General Cunningham
who has mentioned the presence of Yayati Vanshi Jats in Jatali.
Yayati was son of Nahusha. This province got the name Jatali being
the habitation of Jats. The language of these Jats is Jadgali (alternate
names, Jatgali, Jatki, Jat).
Maharaja
Bhoj was son of Druhyu, the Chandravanshi Jatvansh King Yayati.
Jat
clans from Chandravansh :
Atri, Aulakh , Badgujar, Ball, Bhoja, Bochalya, Budhwar, Chandar,
Chandawat, Chandel, Chhina, Dahiya, Daral, Gorya, Jakhar, Janjua,
Mahla, Malla, Narwar, Nauhwar, Pandav, Parihar, Poras, Punaria Purwar,
Rathi, Rathor, Salial, Salkalan, Siag, Sinsinwar, Sogaria, Sohal,
Solanki, Tokas, Virdi,
Lunar
races in Bhagavat Puran :
![](Yayati_Ancestry1.jpg)
Ancestry
of Yayati as per Bhagavat Puran
![](Pururava_Ancestry1.jpg)
Pururava
Ancestry as per Bhagavat Puran
Atri
→ Chandra → Buddh → Pururava → Ayu →
Nahush → Yayati
Reference : A study of the Bhagavat Puran; or, Esoteric Hinduism
by Purnendu Narayana Sinha, Benares,1901
Bhagavat Puran Skandh IX Chapter 14 tells us about Chandravansh
or Lunar races as under :
Som
(the Moon) was born out of the eyes of Atri. He carried off Tara,
the wife of Brihaspati (Jupiter). Brihaspati asked for his wife
several times, but Som would not give her up. Sukra (Venus) was
not on good terms with Brihaspati. So he took the side of Som, with
his disciples, the Asurs. Shiv with his Bhuts took the side of Brihaspati.
Indra with the Devs also sided with their preceptor. The two
parties engaged in fight. After some days of fight, Angiras informed
Brahma about every thing that transpired. Brahma reproached
Som. So he returned Tara to Brihaspati. Brihaspati found that Tara
had conceived. "Immediately throw out the seed of another man
in my field," cried he. Tara feeling bashful brought forth
at the time a lustrous son, Both Brihaspati and Som desired to have
the son, each saying "it is mine not yours." When they
quarrelled with each other, the Devs and Rishis asked Tara who was
the father of the child. The child reproved his mother for the delay
in answering. Brahma took Tara aside and learned from her that Som
was the father of the son, Som then took the child. Brahma seeing
the deep wisdom Of the child named him Buddh (Mercury).
Buddh
had by Ila one son Pururavs, Narad related his beauty and his virtues
to the Devs in Swarg. Urvasi heard all that and took a fancy for
the king. By the curse of Mitra Varun, she had then a human form.
Both the king and the Apsaras became attached to each other and
they lived as husband and wife. But Urvasi laid down two conditions
of her company with the king (i) that the king was to preserve two
rams, which the Apsaras had brought with her and (2) that the king
was never to expose himself before her except in privacy. Indra
sent the Gandharvs in search of Urvasi. They found her out and took
away her two rams. She had a maternal affection for these animals
and she cried out in despair. The king hurriedly took his arms and
ran after the Gandharvas. They left the rams and fled away. The
king brought them back. But in the hurry, he had forgot to cover
himself and Urvasi left him. The king became disconsolate, and roamed
about in search of her. After some days he found her on the banks
of the Sarasvati with her 5 companions. He entreated her to come
back. She promised to give her company to the king one night every
year and informed him of her delicate state of health.
Urvasi
came after a year, with one son. She advised the king to entreat
the Gandharvs for her hands. The king did so and the Gandharvs became
pleased with him. They gave him one Agni-sthali (pot of fire). The
king took the Agnisthali to be Urvasi and roamed with it in the
forest (The Gandharvs gave him the fire for the performance of sacrifice
necessary for the attainment of Urvasi). The king found out his
mistake at last. He then placed the fire in the forest, went home
and meditated every night on Urvasi. On the approach of Treta, he
was inspired with the three Vedas (Karma-kanda). He then went to
the place of fire and found there one Asvatha tree (the sacred fig)
grown from inside a Sami tree (Sami is the name of a tree said to
contain fire). He decided that the fire must be within the Asvatha
tree. He took two pieces of wood (technically called Arani) from
that tree and produced fire by their friction. He- deemed one piece
to be Urvasi and another piece to be himself and the space between
the two pieces to be his son. By friction, the fire called Jata-vedas
came out (Vedas is wealth, enjoyments in general. Jata is grown.
Jata-vedas is that fire from which enjoyments proceed that which
gratifies all sense-desires. It is the chief fire of the Karm-kanda
of the Vedas).
By the invocation of the three vedas, that fire became three fold.
(Ahavaniya, Garhapatya, and Dakshin are the three fires perpetually
kept in the household.
• Ahavaniya is the eastern fire which represents
the relations of the house holder with the Devs.
• Garhapatya is the sacred fire which the
householder receives from his father and transmits to his descendants
and from which fires for sacrificial purposes are lighted. It represents
household and family duties.
• Dakhin is the southern fire. It represents
all classes of duty to the Pitris).
• The king imagined this threefold fire to
be his son (The son by his offerings sends his father's soul to
Svarga. The sacrificial fire also sends the performer to Swarg).
• With that fire, he performed Yagna desiring
to reach the Lok (plane) of Urvasi. Prior to this in Satya Yug,
Pranav was the only Ved, Narayan was the only Dev, there was only
one fire and only one caste.
• The three Vedas came only from Pururavas,
at the beginning of Treta Yug. The king attained Gandharv Lok by
means of the fire. (In Satya Yug, Satva generally prevailed in men.
There fore they were all fixed in meditation. But in Treta Yug,
Rajas prevailed and by the division of the Vedas, Karma Marg made
its appearance. Sridhara)
The
Lunar races first appeared while the descendants of Ikshvaku were
still flourishing, though on the eve of their decline. They had
immense possibilities of spiritual evolution, and the great Aryan
race seems to be connected with them. The appearance of these races
is almost simultaneous with the first flow of the Ganges. For we
find Jahnu, who swallowed up the Ganges in her first terrestrial
course, is only sixth in the line of descent from Pururavas.
The
Lunar dynasty originated in the union of Tara, the female principle
of Brihaspati (Jupiter), and the Moon. The issue was Buddh (Mercury),
the direct progenitor of the Lunar dynasty.
The
son of Budhh was Pururavas. He married Urvasi, the renowned Dev
nymph. Pururavas had six sons. But we are concerned with only two
of them, Ayus and Vijay. Vijay gave the Adept line of the race and
Ayus, the ordinary humanity.
In
the line of Vijay, we find Jahnu, purified by the assimilation of
Ganga, Visvamitra, pre-eminently the Rishi of the Rig Ved and one
of the seven sages who watch over the destiny of the present Manvantar,
Jamadagni, another of the seven sages of our Manvantar and Parshuram
one of the coming sages of the next Manvantar.
We
have already mentioned the part taken by Visvamitra and his sons
in the composition of the Vedic Mantras.
Coming
to the line of Ayus, we recognise the forefathers of the Aryan races.
In
the short-lived branch through Kshatra-vriddh, we find the Vedic
Rishi Gritsamad, his son Sunak, the renowned Sounak, Dirghtamas
and Dhanvantari, the promulgator of Ayur-veda.
But
the longest history of the Race is through the descendants of Yayati.
King
Yayati married Devayani, the daughter of Sukra, the presiding Rishi
of the planet Venus, and had by her two sons, Yadu and Turvasu.
Sukra is the son of Bhrigu, the Rishi of Mahar Lok. Devayana, is
the path leading beyond Triloki, after death.
But
the King had also connection with a Danav girl, who brought forth
three sons, Druhyu, Anu and Puru. For his Danav connection, King
Yayati had in youth to undergo the infirmities of age. This evil
was transmitted to Puru, the youngest son of the Danav girl.
The
line of Puru was short-lived. But it is this line that gave some
of the renowned Vedic Rishis, viz. Apratirath, Kanva, Medhatithi
and Piaskanva. Dushmant, the hero of Kalidas's renowned drama also
came of this line. Vishnu incarnated in part as Bharat, son of Dushmant.
Then
there was a revolution. Bharat found that his sons were not like
unto himself. So this direct line of Puru came to an end. What followed
is a little mysterious. Bharat adopted Bharadvaj as his son. Bharadvaj
was begotten by Brihaspati (Jupiter) on the wife of his brother
Utathya named Mamata (Egoism).
Bharadvaja
is one of the seven presiding Rishis of the present Manvantar. His
name is connected with several Mantras of the Rig Ved.
The
great actors in the Kurukshetra battle were the descendants of Bharadvaj.
We find much diversity of spiritual characteristics among them.
The material and spiritual forces were gathered together, in all
possible grades from the Pandavs downward to the sons of Dhritarashtra
and their allies. The poetical genius of the author of the Mahabharat
has called forth characters in the Drama of the Kurukshetra battle,
that stand out in all the details of real life and find a permanent
place in the genealogy of the Lunar dynasty. The study of the racial
account of the line of Bharadvaj becomes therefore extremely difficult.
The
Lunar dynasty will be revived by Devapi, a descendant of Bharadvaj,
who is biding his time at Kalap.
The
early inhabitants of Bengal, Behar and Urishya were the sons of
Anu, the second son of Sarmistha. The famous Karna, one of the heroes
of Kurukshetra, also belonged to this line.
The
eldest son of Sarmistha by Yayati was Druhyu. Prachetas of this
line had one hundred sons, who inhabited the north as Malechs races.
But
the greatest interest attaches to the line of Yadu, the eldest son
of Yayati by Devayani. The early descendants of this line were the
Haihayas, killed by Parshuram and the Taiajanghas, killed by Sagar
- both of the Solar Dynasty.
The Mahabharat has given an importance to the overthrow of these
early Yadu classes as a victory of the Brahmans over the Kshatriyas.
Next to the Brahmans in intelligence were the Kshatriyas. They eagerly
accepted the teachings of Ram, who incarnated as one of them. They
knew Ishwar as higher than the Devs and the Brahmans.
They thought they could profitably employ their time in seeking
after the knowledge of Brahman. This necessarily offended the orthodox
Brahmans, who performed the Vedic sacrifices and had no higher ambition
than to resort to Devlok. The Kshatriyas thus represented a religious
evolution, of which the Upanishads were an outcome. In time, some
Brahmans even became disciples of Kshatriyas. Both Ram and Krishna
incarnated themselves as Kshatriyas. We are to understand that by
Kshatriyas, during this period of Puranic history, is meant seceders
from Vedic Karma Kanda more or less.
The
early seceders, the Haihayas and Talajanghas were put down by the
Brahman Parshuram and by the Kshatriya King Sagar, who espoused
the cause of Vedic Karma Kand and of the Brahmans, represented by
Rishi Aurva of this time.
Parshuram
did not like any meddling with Vedic Karma Kand by persons not perfected
in wisdom. Even Ram had to respect the Vedic Rishis and had to protect
them in the performance of Vedic sacrifices from the attacks of
Asurs and Rakshashs. When Lord Krishna appeared on the scene, the
Asurs still survived; the Vedic Rishis denied offerings to Him,
Vedic Karma had a strong supporter in Jarasandh, there was hypocrisy
in the name of religion, and there were pretensions in various forms.
On the other hand great improvements had been made in the proper
understanding of the realities of life and of the laws of nature.
Intellect overflowed in many channels of thought, and the religious
nature of man found vent in all directions from atheism to religious
devotion.
Source
:
https://www.jatland.com/
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