Lineage of Kuru Dynasty - Vishnu Purana Part-31

In the lineage of Kuru, there occurred a King Prateep. He had three sons- Devapi, Shantanu and Vahlik. Devapi had taken an abode in the forest in his childhood. Hence Shantanu came to become a king after their father Prateep.

Once in the kingdom of King Shantanu, there was no rainfall for twelve years. Perplexed by the continuous drought-like situation, Shantanu consulted learned Brahmins. Brahmins informed him that he had no genuine right on the kingdom, which in fact belonged to his brother Devapi.

They also told him that as long as Devapi was not fallen from his supreme position, the drought would continue. Alternatively, handing over the kingdom to Devapi might also result in the end of the drought. Then Shantanu's minister Ashmasari appointed certain Brahmins who always spoke in anti-Vedas ways. Their continuous preaching disinclined Devapi's mind from Vedas. 

On the other hand one day, King Shantanu proceeded towards the forest along with Brahmins and his courtiers to hand over the kingdom to Devapi. There the Brahmins tried to convince Devapi to accept the onus of the kingdom. They were sighting anecdotes from the Vedas to corroborate their argument. But Devapi criticised Vedas and spoke in anti-religious ways. At that Brahmins instructed the king to return to the kingdom, as there was no use to convince Devapi. They also assured Shantanu that since Devapi had been disinclined from Vedas, he had lost his right to the kingdom and the famine would also come to an end.

Shantanu's younger brother Vahlik had a son Somadutta. Bhuri, Bhurishrava and Shalya were the sons of Somadutta. In later course Shantanu got married to Ganga and had a son Bhisma. From his second wife Satyavati, Shantanu had two sons- Chitrangad and Vichitraveerya. 

Chitrangad was killed by a Gandharva whereas younger Vichitraveerya was married to the princesses of Kashi, Ambika and Ambalika. He was so busy in carnal pleasures with his two wives that soon he contracted tuberculosis and died. Despite their indulgence in carnal pleasures, Ambika and Ambalika could not bear a child from Vichitraveerya. Hence in order to continue their lineage, Satyavati inspired Ambika and Ambalika to appear naked before Veda Vyasa and beget a child. Since Ambika closed her eyes while she appeared naked before Veda Vyasa, she begot a blind son, Dhritarashtra. Similarly, Ambalika grew pale when she appeared naked before Veda Vyasa. Hence she begot a son Pandu who was congenitally afflicted with jaundice. Not satisfied by the outcome, Satyavati once again persuaded Ambika and Ambalika to appear naked before Veda Vyasa. But the queens sent a maidservant Vinita before Veda Vyasa. Vinita appeared naked before Veda Vyasa without any fear or shyness. Hence she begot an extremely wise son Vidura. In later course Dhritarashtra got married to Gandhari, the princess of Kandahar whereas Pandu received two wives Kunti, the daughter of Shoorsen and Madri, the princess of Madra. Dhritarashtra had one hundred sons and a daughter Dushala. Duryodhan was the eldest among the one hundred sons of Dhritarashtra. Pandu on the other hand had five sons among whom Yudhisthira was the eldest.

All the five sons of Pandu were born with the help of five gods- Dharma, Vayu, Indra and Ashwini Kumars because Pandu was carrying a curse that he would die if he ever tried to copulate. Pandu's five sons- Yudhisthira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakul and Sahadev came to be known as Pandavas. 

Five Pandavas were married to Draupadi, the daughter of Panchal King Drupad. From Draupadi each of the Pandavas had a son. Their names were Prativindya from Yudhisthira, Shrutsen from Bhima, Shrutkirti from Arjuna, Shrutaneek from Nakul and Shrutkarma from Sahadev. Besides them Yudhisthira had a son Devak from Yaudheyi. From Hidimba, Bhima had a son Ghatotkachch and from Kashi a son Sarvak. From Vijaya, Sahadev had a son Suhotra whereas from Renumati, Nakul had a son Nirmitra. Arjuna was the most prowessive among the Pandavas. Apart from Draupadi he had three more wives- Ulupi who belonged to the Nagas, Chitrangada, the princess of Manipur and Subhadra, the sister of Lord Krishna. From these three wives Arjuna had three sons-Iravan from Ulupi, Vabhruvahan from Chitrangada and Abhimanyu from Subhadra. 

In the battle of Mahabharata all these sons of the Pandavas fought valiantly and sacrificed their lives. It was Abhimanyu's son Parikshit who continued the lineage of Pandavas and ruled the earth till right now.

Lineage of Puru Dynasty - Vishnu Purana Part-30

The lineage of Puru grew as Puru, Janmejaya, Prachinvan, Praveer, Manasyu, Abhayad, Sudayu, Bahugat, Sanyati, Ahamyati, Raudrashva. Raudrashva had ten sons among whom Riteshu was the most prominent. Riteshu had three sons among whom Apratirath was most prominent. 

Lineage of Apratirath is as follows- Apratirath, Aileen, Dushyant and Bharata. King Dushyant had fallen in love with Shakuntala, the daughter of sage Vishwamitra and apsara Menaka.

They got married secretly in the forest and after a few days, King Dushyant returned to his kingdom promising Shakuntala that he would call her as soon as he reached his palace. He had given Shakuntala his ring as a memento. But while Shakuntala was crossing the river on her way to the palace, the ring slipped from her finger and was swallowed by a fish. In the absence of the ring, King Dushyant refused to identify Shakuntala. So, she returned to the hermitage of sage Vishwamitra and gave birth to a child who later on became famous as Bharata.

Bharata had been very prowessive since his childhood. His first meeting with King Dushyant was also very dramatical. It is said that once King Dushyant was hunting in the forest and he saw a boy who was counting the teeth of a lion. Impressed by the bravery of the boy, the king enquired about his parentage and reached the hermitage where sage Vishwamitra narrated him the whole story. 

Meanwhile a fisherman had also recovered the ring from the fish and handed it to the king who had thus recalled the whole story. In the hermitage, King Dushyant came to see Shakuntala and he candidly accepted her and his son Bharata. Bharata had three queens and nine children. Since none of the children resembled him in features, he expressed his doubts about their paternity. Fearing the wrath of Bharata, his queens killed all the children. Then with a desire to have a son, Bharata organised a Marutsoma Yagya. As a result he got Bharadwaj as his son. Bharadwaj's second name was Vitath. His lineage grew as follows- Vitath, Manyu.

Manyu had many sons like Brihatkshatra, Mahaveer, Nara, Garg etc. Their lineage grew as follows Nara, Sanskriti, Gurupreeti and Rantidev. Garg had a son Shini who became famous as Gargya and Shainya also. Mahaveer lineage is as follows- Durukshay, Trayyaruni, Pushkarinya and Kapi. In the lineage of Brihatkshatra occurred a king Hasti who founded the city of Hastinapur. Hasti had three sons- Ajmirh, Dwijmirh and Purumirh. Among the sons of Ajmirh were included Panchals and a daughter Ahilya. Ahilya was married to sage Gautam. They had a son Shatanand. Satyaghriti was the son of Shatanand. 

Once Satyaghriti happened to sight the extremely amorous and beautiful apsara Urvashi. Her mere sight was enough to cause the ejaculation of his semen, which fell on a reed and divided into two parts. From these two parts were born a boy Krip and a girl Kripi. King Shantanu discovered Krip and Kripi in the forest and brought them to his palace. In later course, Kripi was married to Dronacharya, the teacher of Kauravas and Pandavas. Ashwatthama was the son of Dronacharya. One of the kings named Kuru in the lineage of Ajmirh established the sacred region of Kurukshetra.

Kroshtu Dynasty - Vishnu Purana Part-29

Lineage of Kroshtu grew as follows- Kroshtu, Dhwajnivan, Swati, Rushanku, Chitrarath, Rashibindu. Rashibindu had one lakh queens and ten lakh sons among whom Prithusharva, Prithukarma, Prithukirti, Prithuyasha, Prithujay and Prithushan were prominent.

 In their lineage later on occurred a king named Jyamadh. He was so dedicated to his wife Shaivya that despite being childless, he did not dare to marry other women because of her fear.

Once, Jyamadh took part in a fierce battle in which he defeated all his enemies. While he was about to return, he heard pitiable cries of a woman. He saw a beautiful young lady who was crying for her protection. Jyamadh was so infatuated by her beauty that he took her to his kingdom. When they reached at the gate of the palace, the king saw that the queen Shaivya was waiting for him along with a big crowd. 

When Shaivya saw a beautiful young lady sitting beside the king on the chariot, she began to shout at him. The horrified king tried to explain that the young lady was his daughter-in-law. The queen shouted even louder that when they did not have a son, whence the daughter-in-law came. But the king explained that he had selected a wife for her would-be son. As the effect of their conversation queen Shaivya soon conceived and gave birth to a son inspite of her advancing age. They named the son as Vidarbh.

Tale of Yayati - Vishnu Purana Part-28

Pururava's son Ayu had been married to Rahu's daughter. They had five sons- Nahush, Kshatravriddh, Rambh, Vraji and Aneyna. Suhotra was the son of Kshatravriddh. He had three sons- Kashya, Kash and Gritsamad. Shaunak was the son of Gritsamad whereas Kasheya was the son of Kashya. Lineage of Kasheya grew as- Kasheya, Rashtra, Dirdhakapa, and Dhanvantari. Dhanvantari's body was free from all the physical faults like ageing and diseases.

Nahush had six sons- Yati, Yayati, Sanyati, Ayati, Viyati and Kriti. Yayati had two wives, Devyani, the daughter of Shukracharya and Sharmishtha, the daughter of Vrishparva. Devyani gave birth to Yadu and Turvasu whereas Sharmishtha gave birth to Druhayu, Anu and Puru. Because of a curse of Shukracharya old age had descended on Yayati prematurely.

Yayati then requested his eldest son Yadu to exchange his youth with his old age but Yadu refused. Then Yayati requested each of his sons one by one but all of them refused plainly for the fear of getting old prematurely.

At last Yayati's youngest son Puru gladly accepted his request and gave him his youth. Regaining the youth, Yayati once again indulged in carnal pleasures with both his queens. But everyday his desire for pleasures increased like a fire flared up by ghee. After one thousand years Yayati realised his mistake and decided to expiate for his sin. Thus, Yayati returned Puru his youth and acquired his old age once again. Then crowning Puru as the king, he took an exile to the forest.

YADU VANSH AND TALE OF SAHASTRARJUNA

Yayati's eldest son Yadu had four sons- Sahastrajit, Kroshtu, Nala and Nahush. Sahastrajit had a son Shatajit who had three sons Haihaya, Hehaya and Venuhaya. Lineage of Haihaya grew as- Dharma, Dharmanetra, Kunti, Sahajit, Mahishman, Bhadrashrenya, Durdabh and Dhanak. 

Dhanak had four sons- Kritveerya, Kritagni, Kritdharma and Kritauja. Kritveerya had a prowessive son Arjuna. Arjuna had worshipped Dattatreya and by his blessings acquired one thousand arms. Since then he came to be known as Sahastrarjuna. Dattatreya had blessed him with many other boons like rule of entire earth, fostering of his subjects in religious ways and killing by some human being famous in all the three worlds. At that time, there was no other king equal to Sahastrarjuna in virtues. He ruled the entire earth for eighty-five thousand years.

Once Sahastrarjuna was enjoying his past time on the waters of Narmada when he happened to have an encounter with Ravana, the king of Lanka. Sahastrarjuna captured Ravana easily and imprisoned him at an isolated place in his kingdom. With time ego of SahastrArjuna had crossed all limits. He began to terrorise the sages and other religious people. When his atrocities increased beyond tolerance level, Lord Vishnu took a partial incarnation as Parashurama, the son of sage Jamadagni and Renuka. 

As per the prediction of sage Richeek, Parashurama grew with Kshatriya - like virtues. He had in fact taken incarnation to relieve the earth from the atrocities of egoist kings. Parashurama had received arms training from none other than Lord Shiva. He was very obedient to his father and had beheaded his own mother by the Parashu (axe) that he had received from Lord Shiva at the dictate of his father. In due course Parashurama not only got Ravana released from captivity but also killed Sahastrarjuna.

Sahastrarjuna had one hundred sons among whom Shur, Shursena, Vrishasena, Madhu and Jayadhwaj were prominent. Jayadhwaj had a son Taljunga. Taljunga had one hundred sons among whom Vitihotra and Bharata were prominent. Bharata again had one hundred sons whereas Madhu also had hundred sons among whom Vrishni was prominent. After the name of their forefather Yadu, this clan came to be known as Yaduvansha.

Vishwamitra and Jamadagni - Vishnu Purana Part-27

Pururava had six sons- Ayu, Amavasu, Vishwavasu, Shrutayu, Shatayu and Ayutayu. Amavasu had a son Bhima and Bhima in turn had a son Kanchan. Jahnu was the son of Kanchan's son, Suhotra. At the time of Ganga's descend on earth, when Jahnu saw his hermitage inundated, he drank all her water. He released the Ganges only when the Devrishis prayed him. Since then Ganges also came to be known as Jahnavi, the daughter of Jahnu.

Lineage of Jahnu grew as follows- Jahnu, Sumant, Ajak, Balakashva and Kusha. Kusha had four sons- Kushamb, Kushnam, Adhurtraja and Vasu. Kushamb observed severe penance with a desire to have a son like Indra. Pleased by his penance, Indra himself took birth as his son. He came to be known as Kaushik. Kaushik had a daughter named Satyavati who got married to Richeek. Sage Richeek prepared kheer in two parts- one for his wife Satyavati and another for Satyavati's mother. Instructing Satyavati, he went to the forest.

When Satyavati and her mother were about to eat the kheer, her mother exchanged her part of kheer with that of her daughter saying that her son had to foster the world while the son of the sage had nothing to do with wealth and all that. Satyavati agreed to that and ate that part of kheer, which was reserved for her mother whereas her mother ate Satyavati's part. 

When Richeek returned from the forest, he noticed formidable changes in the body of his wife. He understood that she had eaten her mother's part of the kheer. Angrily the sage predicted that she would have a son who would be Kshatriya-like in virtues whereas her mother would have Brahmin-like son. Satyavati begged pardon and requested the sage to change his prediction saying that the crime was committed by mistake and that she would be happy to have a Kshatriya-like grandson but not a son. At her request the sage changed his prediction.

As per the prediction, Satyavati gave birth to Jamadagni whereas her mother gave birth to Vishwamitra. After giving birth to Jamadagni turned into a river named Kaushiki.

In later course, as a partial incarnation of Lord Vishnu, Parashurama took birth as the son of sage Jamadagni.