Chapter 20 - The lineages of the Kauravas and Pāṇḍavas

The glorious Parāśara:

Parīkṣit had four sons: Janamejaya, Śrutasena, Ugrasena and Bhīmasena. 1 Janhu Janamejaya had a son named Suratha. 2 His son was Vidūratha. Vidūratha’s son was Sārvabhauma. Sārvabhauma’s son was Jayasena. His son was Ārādhita. His son was Ayutāyu. Ayutāyu’s son was Akrodhana. His son was Devātithi. His son was Ṛkṣa. 3 Ṛkṣa’s son was Bhīmasena. His son was Dilīpa. Dilīpa’s son was Pratīpa. He had three sons, called Devāpi, Śāṃtanu and Bāhlīka. Devāpi retired to the forest while still a child 4 so Śāṃtanu became the king. In all the world, they sing this verse about him:

‘Each old man he touches with his hands grows young again and discovers perfect peace (śānti). That’s why he’s called Śāṃtanu.’ 5

No rain fell in Śāṃtanu’s kingdom for twelve years. 6 Seeing the destruction of his entire realm, the king asked the brahmins, ‘What’s caused this drought in our kingdom? What have I done wrong?’ They replied, ‘You’re enjoying this earth, which really belongs to your elder brother, as you married before he did.’ Hearing this, the king asked them what he should do. They replied, ‘As long as Devāpi doesn’t surrender to faults such as heresy, he’ll remain fit to rule. You should therefore abdicate in his favour.’ At this, the chief minister, Aśmasārin, made contact with some ascetics in that same forest who taught doctrines contrary to Vedic tradition. 7 These ascetics then set that honest prince’s mind on a path that led away from the Vedas. 8

King Śāṃtanu, smarting at the criticism of his early marriage, sent the brahmins to the forest ahead of him, then proceeded there himself to confer the kingdom on his elder brother. On reaching Devāpi’s ashram, they all assembled before the prince. The brahmins then explained to Devāpi that Vedic doctrine required the first-born son to rule the kingdom. Devāpi, however, offered them many rejoinders, but his reasoning was rife with ideas that ran counter to the Vedas. The brahmins then said to Śāṃtanu, ‘Come, your majesty. There’s no point in persisting with this. The drought will soon be over. This man is an apostate who disparages the timeless Vedic teachings. When an older brother has fallen, it’s not unlawful for his younger brother to marry first.’ Hearing this, Śāṃtanu returned to the capital and ruled the kingdom. As soon as Devāpi was compromised by uttering words that were inconsistent with the Vedas, the rain god, Parjanya, sent down showers to nourish all the crops.

Bāhlīka’s son was Somadatta. 9 Somadatta had three sons, named Bhūri, Bhūriśravas and Śalya. Śāṃtanu’s son with the river goddess Gaṅgā was Bhīṣma of noble repute, who understood the import of all the scriptures. Śāṃtanu also had two sons with Satyavatī, Citrāṅgada and Vicitravīrya. Citrāṅgada was killed while young in battle with a gandharva who had the same name as himself. Vicitravīrya married two daughters of the king of Kāśī, Ambikā and Ambālikā. He wore himself out while enjoying intercourse with them, contracted consumption and died. At the direction of Satyavatī, her son Kṛṣṇa-Dvaipāyana, believing that a mother’s word must never be disobeyed, had two sons with Vivitravīrya’s widow—namely, Dhṛtrāṣṭra and Pāṇḍu. He had another son, Vidura, with a serving-girl who had been thrust upon him. 10

Dhṛtarāṣṭra had a hundred sons, among the foremost of whom were Duryodhana and Duḥśāsana. Pāṇḍu was unable to sire children himself because he had been cursed by a deer in the forest. His senior wife Kuntī consequently conceived Yudhiṣṭhira, Bhīma and Arjuna with the deities Dharma, Vāyu and Indra, while his younger wife Mādrī conceived Nakula and Sahadeva with the Aśvins, giving Pāṇḍu five sons in all. These five each had a son with Draupadī: Yudhiṣṭhira had Prativindhya, Bhīmasena had Śrutasoma, Arjuna had Śrutakīrti, Nakula had Śatānika and Sahadeva had Śrutakarman.

The Pāṇḍavas also had other sons, as follows: Yudhiṣṭhira had a son, Devaka, with Yaudheyī. Bhīmasena had a son, Ghaṭotkaca, with Hiḍimbā. Bhīmasena had a son, Sarvatraga, with Kāśī. Sahadeva had a son with Vijayā, named Suhotra. Nakula had a son, Niramitra, with Kareṇamatī. 11 Arjuna had a son named Irāvant with Ulūpī, the nāga’s daughter. With the daughter of the king of Maṇipura, Arjuna had a son named Babhruvāhana, whom his maternal grandfather adopted as his own son. 12 With Subhadrā, Arjuna had a son, Abhimanyu, who, with his great strength and prowess, destroyed all his enemies’ chariots even though he was just a lad. Abhimanyu and Uttarā had a son, Parīkṣit, who, while still in the womb, was burned to ashes by the Brahmāstra weapon loosed by Aśvatthāman after all the Kurus had been annihilated. Parīkṣit was restored to life through the intercession of Lord Kṛṣṇa, whose feet are worshipped by every god and demigod and who took human form of his own volition. It is Parīkṣit who rules all the world today in accord with virtue. 13

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