Chapter 37 - The race of Manu

[Sanskrit text for this chapter is available]

Sūta said:—

1. Formerly Ikṣvāku was born as the son of Manu through the nose. He had a hundred sons who were liberal in bestowing gifts.

2. Before them O brahmins, there were no kings in Āryāvarta. Of them the eldest was Vikukṣi. He became the king of Ayodhyā.

3-4. Listen to one of his misdeeds. He wanted to perform Śrāddha but before performing the same he ate a rabbit and came to be known as Śaśāda. Abandoned by Ikṣvāku, he entered a forest.

5. When Ikṣvāku passed away he was installed a king at the instance of Vasiṣṭha. He had fifteen sons of whom the chief was Śakuni.

6. They all became kings and protectors of the northern country. Ayodha’s son was the powerful king Kakutstha.

7. Kakutstha’s son was Arinābha. His son was Pṛthu. Pṛthu’s son was Viṣṭarāśva. From him was born Indra the lord of people.

8. Indra’s son was Yuvanāśva, the ruler of Śrāvasta. His son was Śrāvastaka who built Śrāvasti.^[1] Śrāvastaka’s son was Bṛhadaśva.

9. His son was Yuvanāśva and Kuvalāśva was his son. Since he slew Dhundhu he became the excellent king Dhundhumāra.

10-11. Kuvalāśva had hundred sons who were excellent archers. He was entrusted with the kingdom by his father. After transferring the royal glory to the son the king entered the forest. But Uttaṅka prevented him.

Uttaṅka said:—

12-14. Listen. You shall protect the earth virtuously. O king, only when protected by you can the earth be relieved of excitement and sorrow. It does not behove you to go to the forest. There is a Dānava, proud of his strength near my hermitage, in the snow-covered wilderness, full of sea-sand. He is indestructible even to the gods. He has a huge body and is very strong.

15. He stays underground concealed by the sand. The terrible Rākṣasa son of the demon Madhu is Dhundhu by name.

16. He stays there performing a terrible penance for the destruction of the worlds. At the end of every year he exhales terribly.

17. When he exhales, the whole world including mountains, forests and wilderness, quakes. Blazing flames with pink smoke smoulder everywhere.

18. Hence, O king, I cannot stay in my hermitage. O strong one with huge arms ward him off desiring the welfare of the worlds.

19. Let the worlds become happy and peaceful after he had been killed by you. O lord of earth, you alone can slay him.

20. O sinless one, a great boon has been granted to you. Viṣṇu will heighten your splendour by his own splendour.

21. Great virtue accrues from the protection of the subjects. A similar opportunity is wanting in the forest. Let not your mind be directed that way.

22. O leading king, nowhere such a virtue exists as it does in the protection of the subjects. This has been pursued by the saintly kings of yore.

23. Thus requested the saintly king entrusted his son Kuvalāśva with the task of thwarting Dhundhu.

24. “O holy lord, O excellent brahmin, I have already laid aside my weapons. Here is my son who will surely destroy Dhundhu.”

25. Having said thus and instructed his son the king proceeded with penance. Kuvalāśva accompanied by Uttaṅka went to fight with Dhundhu.

26. At the approach of Uttaṅka and for the benefit of the worlds, lord Viṣṇu entered him with his splendour.

27. When the invincible Kuvalāśva started there was a loud shout in the heaven. “This glorious prince will slay Dhundhu.”

28. The gods surrounded him with garlands of flowers. They praised him saying “Be victorious, Be long-lived.”

29. The most excellent among the victorious, the king went there accompanied by his sons. He caused an ocean to be dug in the midst of that vast expanse of sand.

30. O brahminical sage, heightened in strength by the splendour of Viṣṇu he became very brilliant and stronger.

31. O brahmin, the demon Dhundhu was found out, concealed beneath the sand towards the western quarter as the sons of the king dug up the place.

32. He appeared to consume all the worlds out of fury in the fire emerging from his mouth. Water too gushed out from him as from the moon-stone at the moonrise.

33. The hundred sons were scorched and burnt in the fire. O great sage, among them only three survived.

34. O leading brahmin, then the king of great splendour rushed at the very powerful Rākṣasa, the brahmin-slayer Dhundhu.

35. The king quaffed off the gushing water through fiery arrows and quelled the fire through water.

36. After killing the aquatic demon of huge body with his strength, the king requested Uttaṅka to survey his work.

37. O great sage, Uttaṅka granted him boons. He gave him never-ending wealth and invincibility to enemies.

38. He blessed him with interest in virtue, perpetual residence in the heaven and the imperishable world to his sons who were killed in the battle.

39. Three of his sons survived. The eldest of them was Dṛḍhāśva. Haṃsāśva and Kapilāśva were younger princes.

40. Haryaśva was the son of Dṛḍhāśva who was the son of Dhundhumāra. Nikumbha who was always engaged in sacred rites was the son of Haryaśva.

41. Saṃhatāśva an expert in war was the son of Nikumbha. Akṣāśva and Kṛtāśva were the sons of Saṃhatāśva.

42. He had two daughters Haimavatī and Dṛṣadvatī honoured by the good. She was famous in the three worlds. Her son was Prasenajit.

43. Prasenajit had a chaste wife Gaurī.^[2] She was cursed by her husband and turned into the river Bāhudā.

44. His great son was Yuvanāśva, the lord of the earth. Māndhātā famous in the three worlds was Yuvanāśva’s son.

45-46. Śaśabindu’s daughter the chaste Caitrarathī was his wife. She was the eldest sister of ten thousand brothers. Māndhātā begot of her two sons, Purukutsa, the knower of sacred rites and Mucukunda the righteous.

47. Purukutsa’s son was Trayyāruṇi. His son was Satyavrata.

48-50. He was evil-minded. Whenever sacred mantras were recited he put obstacles. After the marriage was celebrated he abducted the brides of others with force, out of lust, delusion, fun or arrogance. He abducted the virgins to satisfy his lust. The king Trayyāruṇi forsook him for such evil practices. Infuriated he called him a disgraceful wretch.

51. When cast-off he asked his father where to go. The king asked him to stay with the outcastes.

52. Cast off by his father the righteous king and protector, the heroic Satyavrata lived with the outcastes.

53. Becoming detached due to the activities of his son, the king Trayyāruṇi forsook everything and went to the forest in order to perform penance to propitiate Śiva.

54. O brahmin sage, due to that sinful misdeed Indra did not rain in his kingdom for twelve years.

55. Viśvāmitra of great penance abandoned his wife in that land and performed extensive penance in the marshy foreshore of the ocean.

56. His wife tied her middle son round her neck and offered him for sale in exchange for a hundred cows in order to sustain the other children.

57. On seeing her offering her own son, tied round her neck, for sale, Satyavrata released him.

58. The mighty Satyabrata sustained him just to satisfy Viśvāmitra and out of human sympathy.

59. Ever since then, that son of sage Viśvāmitra came to be called Gālava because he was tied round the neck. He too performed great penance.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

This celebrated city is situated in the modern gonda district of Uttara Pradesh.

[2]:

Gaurī, wife of king Prasenjit or grandmother of Māndhātā was cursed by her husband and transformed into Bāhudā or Bāhukā or Saitavāhinī, a river of Eastern India. The hermitage of Śaṅkha arid Likhita are said to have been situated on its bank (Mbh. XII. 23. 18-19.)