Mahabharata – 133

by 

Sankar Mukherjee

&

Dr Ramesh Chandra Mukhopadhyaya
                                   Aadivamsavatarana Parva

Janamejaya  expressed his desire to hear the histories of those kings who descended from Puru,from the great sage Vaisampayna at the snake sacrifice at Kurushkhetra.

Puru had by his wife Paushti had three sons. Pravira, Iswara, and Raudraswa, all of whom were mighty charioteers. Amongst them, Pravira was made the king of the dynasty. Pravira had by his wife Suraseni a son named Manasyu. And he had eyes like lotus.He conquered the whole earth,bounded by the four seas. And Manasyu by  his wife Sauviri had three sons, named Sakta, Sahanan, and Vagmi. The third son of Puru Raudraswa had the ten sons by the apsara Misrakesi.They were all great bowmen, intelligent and virtuous. And they all grew up into heroes, performing numerous sacrifices in honour of the gods. And they all had sons, learned in all branches of knowledge and ever devoted to virtue.They were Richeyu, Kakseyu,Krikanesu, Sthandileyu, Vaneyum, Jaleyu, Tejeyu, Satyeyu, Dharmeyu & Sannateyu. Amongst them all, Richeyu was like Indra. He became the king of the whole earth and was known by the names  Anadhrishti & Anagavanu. And Anadhristi had a son by the name of Matinara who became a famous and virtuous king and performed the Rajasuya and the horse-sacrifice. And Matinara had four sons of immeasurable prowess, by name Tansu, Mahan,Atiratha,and Druhyu. Amongst them, Tansu of great prowess became the king of Puru's line.And he conquered the whole earth and acquired great fame and splendour. And Tansu had a son of great prowess named Ilina. And he became the foremost of all conquerors and brought the whole world under his kingdom.And Ilina had five sons by his wife Rathantari. Dushmanta was the eldest. And, Dushmanta, the great warrior became the king. And Dushmanta had by his wife Sakuntala an intelligent son named Bharata. He had another son Janamejaya by his wife Lakshna. Bharata became the king. And Bharata gave his name to the race of which he was the founder. And it is from him that the fame of that dynasty spread far & wide.

Janamejaya said that he was keen to listen to the birth story of Bharata.

The mighty warrior king Dushmanta used to rule the four directions of the globe --- east, west, north & south. He also ruled the countries near the seas. During the time of king Dushmanta, there was no unlawful marriage. They were never engaged in sinful act, or in agriculture or in mining. During the rule of king Dushmanta all his subjects earned wealth by virtuous act. During the regime of Dushmanta there was no one who suffered from disease. There was no case  of  burglary. As there was no calamity, nobody used to perform worship of gods for mitigation of sufferings. All the castes used to perform their own duties & used to live in peace pleasure without any fear under the rule of the king. Cloud used to pour rain in time. Agricultural products were tasty. The earth was filled with all types of gems.Cow & other animals were enough.The strange mighty Dushmanta with thunder like body could hold the mountain Mandara with its water & forest by his arms.He was master of four types of club war & weapons. He was well acquainted in riding horse & elephant. He was like Visnu in prowess, in spirit he was like Sun, in tolerence he was like the earth & in patience he was like the sea.He was dear to all. Therefore his subjects were very pleased with him. He used to rule the country virtuously keeping everybody pleased.