Chapter Two
The Dynasties of the Sons of Manu
1. Sukadeva Gosvami said: Thereafter, when his son Sudyumna had thus gone to the forest to accept the order of vanaprastha, Vaivasvata Manu [Sraddhadeva], being desirous of getting more sons, performed severe austerities on the bank of the Yamuna for one hundred years.
2. Then, because of this desire for sons, the Manu known as Sraddhadeva worshiped the Supreme Lord, the Personality of Godhead, the Lord of the demigods. Thus he got ten sons exactly like himself. Among them all, Iksvaku was the eldest.
3. Among these sons, Prsadhra, following the order of his spiritual master, was engaged as a protector of cows. He would stand all night with a sword to give the cows protection.
4. Once at night, while it was raining, a tiger entered the land of the cowshed. Upon seeing the tiger, all the cows, who were lying down, got up in fear and scattered here and there on the land.
5-6. When the very strong tiger seized the cow, the cow screamed in distress and fear, and Prsadhra, hearing the screaming, immediately followed the sound. He took up his sword, but because the stars were covered by clouds, he mistook the cow for the tiger and mistakenly cut off the cows’ head with great force.
7. Because the tiger’s ear had been cut by the edge of the sword, the tiger was very afraid, and it fled from that place, while bleeding on the street.
8. In the morning, when Prsadhra, who was quite able to subdue his enemy, saw that he had killed the cow although at night he thought he had killed the tiger, he was very unhappy.
9. Although Prsadhra had committed the sin unknowingly, his family priest, Vasistha, cursed him, saying, “In your next life you shall not be able to become a ksatriya. Instead, you shall take birth as a sudra because of killing the cow.”
10. When the hero Prsadhra was thus cursed by his spiritual master, he accepted the curse with folded hands. Then, having controlled his senses, he took the vow of brahmacarya, which is approved by all great sages.
11-13. Thereafter, Prsadhra gained relief from all responsibilities, became peaceful in mind, and established control over all his senses. Being unaffected by material conditions, being pleased with whatever was available by the grace of the Lord to maintain body and soul together, and being equal toward everyone, he gave full attention to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vasudeva, who is the transcendental Supersoul, free from material contamination. Thus Prsadhra, fully satisfied in pure knowledge, always keeping his mind on the Supreme Personality of Godhead, achieved pure devotional service to the Lord and began traveling all over the world, without affection for material activities, as if he were deaf, dumb and blind.
14. With this attitude, Prsadhra became a great saint, and when he entered the forest and saw a blazing forest fire, he took this opportunity to burn his body in the fire. Thus he achieved the transcendental, spiritual world.
15. Being reluctant to accept material enjoyment, Manu’s youngest son, whose name was Kavi, gave up the kingdom before attaining full youth. Accompanied by his friends, he went to the forest, always thinking of the self-effulgent Supreme Personality of Godhead within the core of his heart. Thus he attained perfection.
16. From Karusa, another son of Manu, came the Karusa dynasty, a family of ksatriyas. The Karusa ksatriyas were the kings of the northern direction. They were celebrated protectors of brahminical culture and were all firmly religious.
17. From the son of Manu named Dhrsta came a ksatriya caste called Dharsta, whose members achieved the position of brahmanas in this world. Then, from the son of Manu named Nrga came Sumati. From Sumati came Bhutajyoti, and from Bhutajyoti came Vasu.
18. The son of Vasu was Pratika, whose son was Oghavan. Oghavan’s son was also known as Oghavan, and his daughter was Oghavati. Sudarsana married that daughter.
19. From Narisyanta came a son named Citrasena and from him a son named Rksa. From Rksa came Midhvan, from Midhvan came Purna, and from Purna came Indrasena.
20. From Indrasena came Vitihotra, from Vitihotra came Satyasrava, from Satyasrava came the son named Urusrava, and from Urusrava came Devadatta.
21. From Devadatta came a son known as Agnivesya, who was the fire-god Agni himself. This son, who was a celebrated saint, was well known as Kanina and Jatukarnya.
22. O King, from Agnivesya came a brahminical dynasty known as Agnivesyayana. Now that I have described the descendants of Narisyanta, let me describe the descendants of Dista. Please hear from me.
23-24. Dista had a son by the name Nabhaga. This Nabhaga, who was different from the Nabhaga described later, became a vaisya by occupational duty. The son of Nabhaga was known as Bhalandana, the son of Bhalandana was Vatsapriti, and his son was Pramsu. Pramsu’s son was Pramati, Pramati’s son was Khanitra, Khanitra’s son was Caksusa, and his son was Vivimsati.
25. The son of Vivimsati was Rambha, whose son was the great and religious King Khaninetra. O King, the son of Khaninetra was King Karandhama.
26. From Karandhama came a son named Aviksit, and from Aviksit a son named Marutta, who was the emperor. The great mystic Samvarta, the son of Angira, engaged Marutta in performing a sacrifice [yajna].
27. The sacrificial paraphernalia of King Marutta was extremely beautiful, for everything was made of gold. Indeed, no other sacrifice could compare to his.
28. In that sacrifice, King Indra became intoxicated by drinking a large quantity of soma-rasa. The brahmanas received ample contributions, and therefore they were satisfied. For that sacrifice, the various demigods who control the winds offered foodstuffs, and the Visvedevas were members of the assembly.
29. Marutta’s son was Dama, Dama’s son was Rajyavardhana, Rajyavardhana’s son was Sudhrti, and his son was Nara.
30. The son of Nara was Kevala, and his son was Dhundhuman, whose son was Vegavan. Vegavan’s son was Budha, and Budha’s son was Trnabindu, who became the king of this earth.
31. The best of the Apsaras, the highly qualified girl named Alambusa, accepted the similarly qualified Trnabindu as her husband. She gave birth to a few sons and a daughter known as Ilavila.
32. After the great saint Visrava, the master of mystic yoga, received absolute knowledge from his father, he begot in the womb of Ilavila the greatly celebrated son known as Kuvera, the giver of money.
33. Trnabindu had three sons, named Visala, Sunyabandhu and Dhumraketu. Among these three, Visala created a dynasty and constructed a palace called Vaisali.
34. The son of Visala was known as Hemacandra, his son was Dhumraksa, and his son was Samyama, whose sons were Devaja and Krsasva.
35-36. The son of Krsasva was Somadatta, who performed asvamedha sacrifices and thus satisfied the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Visnu. By worshiping the Supreme Lord, he achieved the most exalted post, a residence on the planet to which great mystic yogis are elevated. The son of Somadatta was Sumati, whose son was Janamejaya. All these kings appearing in the dynasty of Visala properly maintained the celebrated position of King Trnabindu.
