Chapter 14 - The ancestry of Kṛṣṇa’s father, Vasudeva, and his nemesis, Śiśupāla

Parāśara

Anamitra’s son was Śini.^[1] His son was Satyaka. Satyaka’s son was Sātyaki, also known as Yuyudhāna. His son was Asaṅga. His son was Tūṇi. Tūṇi’s son was Yugaṃdhara. These were known collectively as the Śaineyas. 1 Vṛṣṇi was born in the lineage of Anamitra. His son was Śvaphalka, whose prowess has already been described. Śvaphalka’s younger brother was called Citraka. Śvaphalka and Gāndinī’s son was Akrūra. Their other son was Upamadgu. Upamadgu’s sons were Mṛdura, Viśāri, Mejaya, Girikṣatra, Upakṣatra, Śatrughna, Arimardana, Dharmadṛk, Dṛṣṭavarman, Gandhamojavāha and Prativāha. They also had a daughter named Sutārā. Akrūra had two sons, Devavant and Upadeva.

Citraka had many sons, among whom Pṛthu and Vipṛthu were the foremost. 2 Andhaka had four sons, Kukura, Bhajamāna, Śuci and Kambalabarhis. 3 Kukura’s son was Dhṛṣṭa. His son was Kapotaroman. His son was Viloman. His son was Bhava, also known as Candanodaka Dundubhi, a friend of the gandharva Tumburu. His son was Abhijit. His son was Punarvasu. He had a son, Āhuka, and a daughter, Āhukī. 4 Āhuka had two sons, Devaka and Ugrasena. Devaka had four sons, Devavant, Upadeva, Sudeva and Devarakṣita. They had seven sisters, Vṛkadevā, Upadevā, Devarakṣitā, Śrīdevā, Śāntidevā, Sahadevā and Devakī—all of whom were married to Vasudeva.

Ugrasena’s sons were called Kaṃsa, Nyagrodha, Sunāman, Kaṅka, Śaṅku, Subhūmi, Rāṣṭrapāla, Yuddhamuṣṭi and Tuṣṭimant. Ugrasena’s daughters were Kaṃsā, Kaṃsavatī, Sutanu, Rāṣṭrapālī and Kaṅkī. Bhajamāna’s son was Vidūratha. Vidūratha’s son was Śūra. Śūra’s son was Śamin. Śamin’s son was Pratikṣatra. His son was Svayaṃbhoja. His son was Hṛdika. 5 His sons were called Kṛtavarman, Śatadhanu and Devamīḍhuṣa. 6 Devamīḍhuṣa’s son, Śūra, had a wife named Māriṣā. 7 They had ten sons, of whom Vasudeva was the first. As soon as Vasudeva was born, the deities, who could see the future clearly, realised that he was an aspect of Lord Viṣṇu manifesting in the world, and caused divine ānaka and dundubhi drums to be beaten throughout the royal residence. That’s why he was given the name Ānakadundubhi at the time. Vasudeva had nine brothers: Devabhāga, Devaśravas, Anādhṛṣṭi, Karundhaka, Vatsabālaka, Sṛñjaya, Śyāma, Śamīka and Gaṇḍūṣa. His five sisters were Pṛthā, Śrutadevā, Śrutakīrti, Śrutaśravas and Rājādhidevī. 8

Śūra had a friend by the name of Kunti who had no children, so he duly gave Kunti his own daughter, Pṛthā. She was married to Pāṇḍu. Pṛthā conceived three sons, Yudhiṣṭhira, Bhīma and Arjuna, with the deities Dharma, Vāyu and mighty Indra, respectively. Earlier, as a young, unmarried woman, she had a son by the name of Karṇa with the lordly Sun. 9 Pṛthā’s co-wife Mādrī bore two more sons for Pāṇḍu, Nakula and Sahadeva, with the divine Aśvins, Nāsatya and Dasra.^[2]

Vasudeva’s sister Śrutadevā was married to Vṛddhaśarman, a prince of the Kārūṣas. Their son was the great demigod Dantavakra. Śrutakīrti was married to the king of the Kaikeyas. They had five sons, including Saṃtardana, who were also known as Kaikeyas. Rājādhidevī bore the two Avantis, Vinda and Anuvinda. Śrutaśravas was married to Damaghoṣa, the king of the Cedis. She bore Śiśupāla.

In a previous life, Śiśupāla had been the unruly but courageous Daitya king Hiraṇyakaśipu, 10 who was slain by Lord Viṣṇu, preceptor of all the world. Hiraṇyakaśipu was reborn as the ten-headed Rāvaṇa, whose qualities of energy, valour, accomplishment and prowess were unrivalled, and who conquered the three worlds with his regal might. 11 Because Rāvaṇa had been in the presence of the lord so long, and as a result of the merit he acquired in bodily form, he was killed by Lord Viṣṇu in the person of Rāma, descendant of Raghu. Rāvaṇa was then reborn as the overlord of the Cedis, Śiśupāla by name, the son of the Cedi king Damaghoṣa. 12 Appearing in this form, he was even more hostile towards Lord Viṣṇu, who had manifested an aspect of himself in the world as lotus-eyed Kṛṣṇa to ease the burden of the earth. Śiśupāla was slain by the lord, but even so, as his mind had been fully focused on the supreme spirit, he achieved a state of union with the divine. 13 When the lord is pleased, he grants all wishes. Even when displeased, to the extent of striking down an enemy, he may still bestow peerless divinity upon that being. 14

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

Footnotes and references:

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[1]:

Elsewhere, Śini (or Śinī) is said to be Anamitra’s younger brother (4.13.6 above). In any case, Anamitra was the grandfather of Satrājita, who featured in the Syamantaka narrative above.

[2]:

These five sons of Pāṇḍu, the Pāṇḍavas, are the heroes of the Mahābhārata.