A Page from Ancient Literature

After a brief but understandable reference to Manvantara, it would be appropriate to speak of the dynasty of Vaivasvata Manu.  

Sage Suta said, “Vaivasvata Manu had nine sons –Ikaswaku, Nabhaga, Dhrist, Sharyati, Narisyanta, Pranshu, Arista,  Karush and Prisandhra, who were equal in heroism and courage to Vaivasvata Manu, the illustrious father.

Prajapati Manu wanted a son, and therefore, with intense desire and strong determination, he organized a great Yajna, a sacrificial religious tradition to propitiate gods with lord Varuna and Mitra. He poured libation and sacrificial fuel on the part of Yajna of Mitra and Varuna in the course of Yajna. A beautiful divine woman bedecked with celestial clothes and heavenly ornaments emerged out of the part of Yajna relating to great deities Mitra and Varuna in which Manu had put libation.  Manu held the staff –a kind of scepter at that time.

 He stopped pouring fuel and called the divine woman of godly attributes as Ela and said, “O virtuous woman of saintly nature, come to me.”

Ela looked at Prajapati Manu, who desired a son, and said words of wisdom that carried spirit of dharma, “O great Manu, I took birth out of the portion of sacrificial Yajna concerning to deities Mitra and Varuna. Therefore, to begin with, I shall go to them. I cannot go against moral laws. Kindly do not violate principles of dharma.”

He further said, “The charming woman Ela said gently and went to deities Mitra and Varuna, folded hands and said softly, “O lords, I emerged out of the portion of Yajna that belonged to you. Now, tell me what should I do and what you want me to do that delights you. You know Prajapati Manu has asked me…he is a man of truth and righteousness, and pursues laws of dharma.”

Sri Suta, the holy man said, “O great Brahmins, when noble deities Mitra and Varuna heard the divine woman, they thought for a while and said, “O alluring divine woman, embodiment of virtues of dharma, piety and devotion, and who wields control over senses, we understand you cherish reverence for truth and the quality delights immensely. O blessed and most fortunate woman, you will become famous as our daughter. In later years, you will transform ‘the self’ into a great son and increase the dynasty of great Manu. The turning into a son will bless you and the great act will make you famous and legendary as Sudyumana in the three worlds. So you will bring contentment, prosperity, happiness and divine joy to the great Prajapati Manu when his great dynasty grows.”

He continued, “She heard fathers, the great lords Mitra and Varuna, paid obeisance with folded hands and returned. On the way, she met Buddha, a son of Soma. He was attracted toward her, and therefore, asked her to stay for some time and expressed feelings of love for her. It was a divine wish and later, the union between Buddha and Ela gave birth to son Pururuva, again a celestial wish, O great Brahmins.”

“After she had given birth to a son, she turned into Sudyumana, a man of courage and wisdom, and afterward, got married and had three sons of dharma and truth –Utkala, Gaya and Vintasva. Utakala got the land of Utkala, Odisa region and made it his capital. Vintasva became the ruler of western region whereas Gaya got land of eastern region and Gaya became the capital, a famous place.”

After a thought, he resumed, “When Prajapati Manu began to enter the area blistering heat of Sun - Surya, he gave a serious thought to the country and divided the kingdom into ten parts. Among the brave sons of Manu, Ikaswaku was the eldest, and therefore, he got the country of Madhya territory, the central region of the vast empire. Sudyumana was a girl at birth so he did not get any land. It was on the advice of sage Vasistha that he got Pratisthanpur –Prayaga, a kingdom once Yayati governed one learns through Srutis.”

“O holy Brahmins, after Sudyumana got his share of kingdom Pratisthanpur, he, the mighty sovereign and man of dharma, gave it to son Pururuva -a son he had given birth as a divine woman Ela. Son of Manu Sudyumana had the characteristics of man and woman –a personification of divine beauty and power and truth and dharma, therefore, they – as Ela and Sudyumana, became famous and distinguished in the world.”

“Other sons Dhrisnu, Ambarisa, and Dandaka were also princes of virtues and courage and they got equal share in the kingdom.  Dandaka forest of divine qualities got its name from Dandaka.  Whoever enters this forest gets liberation from sins and crimes people believe. It purifies sinners and criminals. People adored and worshipped Ela and Sudyumana. They lived a happy and satisfied life, and pursued principles of dharma, and after attaining the objective, the divine women Ela and man Sudyumana went to heavens.”

Future kings pursued principles of truth and righteousness -an age it was when mortal could visit land of Brahma, and one knows how Kadudmi –Raivata went to Brahma to hold consultation.

“It is also interesting to know the fate of future kings of this dynasty. Narisyanta had a son Shaka. King Ambarisa was son of Nabhaga. Dhrista was the founder of Dharstaka Ksatriyas, who were always excited at the thought of war, loved to fight with enthusiasm and a sense of sacrifice, and were invariably irrepressible. Sons of Karusa attained fame called Karusas and the idea of war always fascinated them. The son of Pransu appeared as Prajapati. Sharyati had twins –one son Anarta and a daughter Sukanya. Sukanya was married to sage Chyavana. Raiva was son of Anarta. He got the kingdom of Anarta with a famous capital at Dwaraka also called Kusthali. Raivata, a great soul and devotee of religious values was son of Raiva. Raivata had another name Kakudmi. He was the eldest son of Raiva, and therefore, he got the kingdom of Dwaraka.”

“O brahmins, it will surprise you all when you come to know that Kakudmi went to Brahmaloka with an objective. He wanted to find out a suitable match for his daughter and so had to consult Brahma. He was the first man from earth, who arrived at Brahmloka, the land of Brahma. He stayed for some time and heard the divine music the celestial musicians Gandharavas, joyfully presented before Brahma for amusement and delight. A few moments he spent in Brahmloka proved disastrous. Many Yugas had passed on earth during those few moments, and many dynasties had come, governed and become part of history known or unknown. When Brahma learnt about his problem, the lord told him that many Yugas had passed. Now, Dwaraka was under the control of Yadavas, and they had changed its name to Dwarvati. If it was possible, Kakudmi could marry his daughter Raivati to Baldeva -Balarama.”

“O holy men, Dwarvati had many doors. The town looked beautiful and attracted the people. Yadavas who belonged to the dynasties of Bhoj, Vrisni and Andhaka and others under the direction and authority of Vasudeva protected the prosperous and well-guarded town. Raivata came to know what had happened to the kingdom as many Yugas had come and gone into oblivion. He learnt everything, analyzed the situation and after a deep thought decided to marry off his daughter to Baldeva. Thereafter, he went to the top ridge of mountain Meru and underwent fierce tapasya while great soul Baldeva and Raivati lived a peaceful marital life and roamed about in the kingdom free from anxieties.”

He continued, “O Brahmins, an interesting development took place on earth. I will again re-emphasis it briefly what I narrated earlier. In Brahmloka, hunger, thirst, death etc. do not influence life and existence of human beings. When they had gone to the land of Brahma, many ages had passed and, many enemies, evil forces and wicked Raksasasa had attacked and destroyed Dwaraka. They killed or slaughtered brothers of the king in the violent battle. A few of them chose to run away and so escaped to different directions. They were intelligent and brave, and therefore, later, they turned into acknowledged Ksatriyas…you know about the nine sons of Vaivasvata Manu. It also reminds of Prisdhana, who had killed a cow of his guru and because of the curse of guru, he had become Sudra.

Once Manu sneezed, one learns and son Ikaswaku took birth. Vikuksi, a man of courage and heroism was eldest son of Ikaswaku, and was of religious attributes and later, Vikuksi became the king of Ayodhya, and had many sons, the eldest being Sakuni. 

All the five hundred sons were powerful and protected the northern part of the kingdom. Sasada was the guardian of southern countries, which were more than fifty. On one important occasion, Ikaswaku asked son Vikuksi to bring flesh of rabbits so that he could perform Sraddhas. He killed many rabbits but before the Sraddhas, he ate part of the rabbits’ meat and so committed a sin, and as such, he got the name of Sasada. On the advice of sage Vasistha, Ikaswaku exiled him.

However, after the death of Ikaswaku, Sasada became the king, whom powerful king Kakutstha succeeded. In the dynasty, one learns about Anenas, his son, and Prithu, a son of Anenas.