Chapter 11 - Yayāti’s son Yadu

Parāśara

I’ll now describe the lineage of Yayāti’s first son, Yadu, in which Lord Viṣṇu revealed an aspect of himself, who has no start or finish and whose immeasurable greatness is always praised in order to obtain each possible reward by all the inhabitants of the universe, including humankind, siddhas, gandharvas, yakṣas, rākṣasas, guhyakas, kimpuruṣas, apsarases, serpents, birds, Daityas, Dānavas, Rudras, Vasus, the Aśvins, Maruts and divine and brahminical sages, who yearn to escape from cyclical existence and who wish for virtue, wealth, love and liberation. 1 There is a verse in this regard:

‘One who hears about the lineage of Yadu, in which the formless highest Absolute known as Viṣṇu appeared, will be freed from all misdeeds.’ 2

The four sons of Yadu were called Sahasrajit, Kroṣṭu, Nala and Raghu. Sahasrajit’s son was Śatajit. His three sons were Haihaya, Hehaya and Veṇuhaya. Haihaya’s son was Dharma. His son was Dharmanetra. His son was Kunti. Kunti’s son was Sāhaṃji. His son was Mahiṣmant. 3 His son was Bhadraśreṇya. His son was Durdama. His son was Dhanaka. Dhanaka’s four sons were Kṛtavīrya, Kṛtāgni, Kṛtadharma and Kṛtaujas. Kṛtavīrya’s son was thousand-armed Arjuna, lord of seven continents. It was he who, having worshipped Dattātreya, an aspect of the lord born in the lineage of Atri, requested and received these boons from him: a thousand arms, the constant practice of virtue, victory over all the world by means of truth, talent to rule with justice, invincibility in the face of enemies and death only at the hands of a person with global fame. 4 He ruled the whole world superbly, including all the continents, and performed ten thousand sacrifices. 5 Even today, this verse is sung about him:

‘Surely no king on earth will follow in Arjuna Kārtavīrya’s footsteps, in terms of sacrifices, generosity, austerity, learning or demeanour.’ 6

During his reign, nothing ever decayed and he ruled for eighty-five thousand years with undiminished health, prosperity, energy and courage. 7 One day, Arjuna Kārttavīrya, having had too much to drink, was swimming and relaxing in the waters of the Narmadā River near the city of Māhiṣmatī. Yet he still managed, without effort, to bind Rāvaṇa like a sacrificial animal, and made him stand in a corner of the city, even though Rāvaṇa had begun his conquest of the world and was filled with arrogance after defeating all the deities, Daityas and gandharva lords. 8

At the end of his reign of eighty-five thousand years, Arjuna Kārttavīrya was slain by Paraśurāma, an aspect of Lord Nārāyaṇa. Of his hundred sons, the five most eminent were Śūra, Śūrasena, Vṛṣaṇa, Madhu and Jayadhvaja. 9 Jayadhvaja’s son was Tālajaṅgha. Tālajaṅgha had a hundred sons who were known as the Tālajaṅghas after him. The eldest one was Vītahotra. Another was Bharata. Bharata had two sons, Vṛṣa and Sujāta. Vṛṣa’s son was Madhu. He had one hundred sons of whom Vṛṣṇi was the foremost and after whom the Vṛṣṇi clan is named. 10 They are also known as Madhus after their ancestor of that name, and Yādavas after Yadu. 11

So ends Chapter Eleven in Book Four of the glorious Viṣṇu Purāṇa.