Chapter Twenty-two
The Descendants of Ajamidha
1. Sukadeva Gosvami said: O King, the son of Divodasa was Mitrayu, and from Mitrayu came four sons, named Cyavana, Sudasa, Sahadeva and Somaka. Somaka was the father of Jantu.
2. Somaka had one hundred sons, of whom the youngest was Prsata. From Prsata was born King Drupada, who was opulent in all supremacy.
3. From Maharaja Drupada, Draupadi was born. Maharaja Drupada also had many sons, headed by Dhrstadyumna. From Dhrstadyumna came a son named Dhrstaketu. All these personalities are known as descendants of Bharmyasva or as the dynasty of Pancala.
4-5. Another son of Ajamidha was known as Rksa. From Rksa came a son named Samvarana, and from Samvarana through the womb of his wife, Tapati, the daughter of the sun-god, came Kuru, the King of Kuruksetra. Kuru had four sons—Pariksi, Sudhanu, Jahnu and Nisadha. From Sudhanu, Suhotra was born, and from Suhotra, Cyavana. From Cyavana, Krti was born.
6. The son of Krti was Uparicara Vasu, and among his sons, headed by Brhadratha, were Kusamba, Matsya, Pratyagra and Cedipa. All the sons of Uparicara Vasu became rulers of the Cedi state.
7. From Brhadratha, Kusagra was born; from Kusagra, Rsabha; and from Rsabha, Satyahita. The son of Satyahita was Puspavan, and the son of Puspavan was Jahu.
8. Through the womb of another wife, Brhadratha begot two halves of a son. When the mother saw those two halves she rejected them, but later a she-demon named Jara playfully joined them and said, “Come to life, come to life!” Thus the son named Jarasandha was born.
9. From Jarasandha came a son named Sahadeva; from Sahadeva, Somapi; and from Somapi, Srutasrava. The son of Kuru called Pariksi had no sons, but the son of Kuru called Jahnu had a son named Suratha.
10. From Suratha came a son named Viduratha, from whom Sarvabhauma was born. From Sarvabhauma came Jayasena; from Jayasena, Radhika; and from Radhika, Ayutayu.
11. From Ayutayu came a son named Akrodhana, and his son was Devatithi. The son of Devatithi was Rksa, the son of Rksa was Dilipa, and the son of Dilipa was Pratipa.
12-13. The sons of Pratipa were Devapi, Santanu and Bahlika. Devapi left the kingdom of his father and went to the forest, and therefore Santanu became the king. Santanu, who in his previous birth was known as Mahabhisa, had the ability to transform anyone from old age to youth simply by touching that person with his hands.
14-15. Because the King was able to make everyone happy for sense gratification, primarily by the touch of his hand, his name was Santanu. Once, when there was no rainfall in the kingdom for twelve years and the King consulted his learned brahminical advisors, they said, “You are faulty for enjoying the property of your elder brother. For the elevation of your kingdom and home, you should return the kingdom to him.”
16-17. When the brahmanas said this, Maharaja Santanu went to the forest and requested his elder brother Devapi to take charge of the kingdom, for it is the duty of a king to maintain his subjects. Previously, however, Santanu’s minister Asvavara had instigated some brahmanas to induce Devapi to transgress the injunctions of the Vedas and thus make himself unfit for the post of ruler. The brahmanas deviated Devapi from the path of the Vedic principles, and therefore when asked by Santanu he did not agree to accept the post of ruler. On the contrary, he blasphemed the Vedic principles and therefore became fallen. Under the circumstances, Santanu again became the king, and Indra, being pleased, showered rains. Devapi later took to the path of mystic yoga to control his mind and senses and went to the village named Kalapagrama, where he is still living.
18-19. After the dynasty of the moon-god comes to an end in this age of Kali, Devapi, in the beginning of the next Satya-yuga, will reestablish the Soma dynasty in this world. From Bahlika [the brother of Santanu] came a son named Somadatta, who had three sons, named Bhuri, Bhurisrava and Sala. From Santanu, through the womb of his wife named Ganga, came Bhisma, the exalted, self-realized devotee and learned scholar.
20. Bhismadeva was the foremost of all warriors. When he defeated Lord Parasurama in a fight, Lord Parasurama was very satisfied with him. By the semen of Santanu in the womb of Satyavati, the daughter of a fisherman, Citrangada took birth.
21-24. Citrangada, of whom Vicitravirya was the younger brother, was killed by a Gandharva who was also named Citrangada. Satyavati, before her marriage to Santanu, gave birth to the master authority of the Vedas, Vyasadeva, known as Krishna Dvaipayana, who was begotten by Parasara Muni. From Vyasadeva, I [Sukadeva Gosvami] was born, and from him I studied this great work of literature, Srimad-Bhagavatam. The incarnation of Godhead Vedavyasa, rejecting his disciples, headed by Paila, instructed Srimad-Bhagavatam to me because I was free from all material desires. After Ambika and Ambalika, the two daughters of Kasiraja, were taken away by force, Vicitravirya married them, but because he was too attached to these two wives, he had a heart attack and died of tuberculosis.
25. Badarayana, Sri Vyasadeva, following the order of his mother, Satyavati, begot three sons, two by the womb of Ambika and Ambalika, the two wives of his brother Vicitravirya, and the third by Vicitravirya’s maidservant. These sons were Dhrtarastra, Pandu and Vidura.
26. Dhrtarastra’s wife, Gandhari, gave birth to one hundred sons and one daughter, O King. The oldest of the sons was Duryodhana, and the daughter’s name was Duhsala.
27-28. Pandu was restrained from sexual life because of having been cursed by a sage, and therefore his three sons Yudhisthira, Bhima and Arjuna were begotten through the womb of his wife, Kunti, by Dharmaraja, by the demigod controlling the wind, and by the demigod controlling the rain. Pandu’s second wife, Madri, gave birth to Nakula and Sahadeva, who were begotten by the two Asvini-kumaras. The five brothers, headed by Yudhisthira, begot five sons through the womb of Draupadi. These five sons were your uncles.
29. From Yudhisthira came a son named Prativindhya, from Bhima a son named Srutasena, from Arjuna a son named Srutakirti, and from Nakula a son named Satanika.
30-31. O King, the son of Sahadeva was Srutakarma. Furthermore, Yudhisthira and his brothers begot other sons in other wives. Yudhisthira begot a son named Devaka through the womb of Pauravi, and Bhimasena begot a son named Ghatotkaca through his wife Hidimba and a son named Sarvagata through his wife Kali. Similarly, Sahadeva had a son named Suhotra through his wife named Vijaya, who was the daughter of the king of the mountains.
32. Nakula begot a son named Naramitra through his wife named Karenumati. Similarly, Arjuna begot a son named Iravan through his wife known as Ulupi, the daughter of the Nagas, and a son named Babhruvahana by the womb of the princess of Manipura. Babhruvahana became the adopted son of the king of Manipura.
33. My dear King Pariksit, your father, Abhimanyu, was born from the womb of Subhadra as the son of Arjuna. He was the conqueror of all atirathas [those who could fight with one thousand charioteers]. From him, by the womb of Uttara, the daughter of Viradraja, you were born.
34. After the Kuru dynasty was annihilated in the Battle of Kuruksetra, you also were about to be destroyed by the brahmastra atomic weapon released by the son of Dronacarya, but by the mercy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna, you were saved from death.
35. My dear King, your four sons—Janamejaya, Srutasena, Bhimasena and Ugrasena—are very powerful. Janamejaya is the eldest.
36. Because of your death by the Taksaka snake, your son Janamejaya will be very angry and will perform a sacrifice to kill all the snakes in the world.
37. After conquering throughout the world and after accepting Tura, the son of Kalasa, as his priest, Janamejaya will perform asvamedha-yajnas, for which he will be known as Turaga-medhasat.
38. The son of Janamejaya known as Satanika will learn from Yajnavalkya the three Vedas and the art of performing ritualistic ceremonies. He will also learn the military art from Krpacarya and the transcendental science from the sage Saunaka.
39. The son of Satanika will be Sahasranika, and from him will come the son named Asvamedhaja. From Asvamedhaja will come AsimaKrishna, and his son will be Nemicakra.
40. When the town of Hastinapura [New Delhi] is inundated by the river, Nemicakra will live in the place known as Kausambi. His son will be celebrated as Citraratha, and the son of Citraratha will be Suciratha.
41. From Suciratha will come the son named Vrstiman, and his son, Susena, will be the emperor of the entire world. The son of Susena will be Sunitha, his son will be Nrcaksu, and from Nrcaksu will come a son named Sukhinala.
42. The son of Sukhinala will be Pariplava, and his son will be Sunaya. From Sunaya will come a son named Medhavi; from Medhavi, Nrpanjaya; from Nrpanjaya, Durva; and from Durva, Timi.
43. From Timi will come Brhadratha; from Brhadratha, Sudasa; and from Sudasa, Satanika. From Satanika will come Durdamana, and from him will come a son named Mahinara.
44-45. The son of Mahinara will be Dandapani, and his son will be Nimi, from whom King Ksemaka will be born. I have now described to you the moon-god’s dynasty, which is the source of brahmanas and ksatriyas and is worshiped by demigods and great saints. In this Kali-yuga, Ksemaka will be the last monarch. Now I shall describe to you the future of the Magadha dynasty. Please listen.
46-48. Sahadeva, the son of Jarasandha, will have a son named Marjari. From Marjari will come Srutasrava; from Srutasrava, Yutayu; and from Yutayu, Niramitra. The son of Niramitra will be Sunaksatra, from Sunaksatra will come Brhatsena, and from Brhatsena, Karmajit. The son of Karmajit will be Sutanjaya, the son of Sutanjaya will be Vipra, and his son will be Suci. The son of Suci will be Ksema, the son of Ksema will be Suvrata, and the son of Suvrata will be Dharmasutra. From Dharmasutra will come Sama; from Sama, Dyumatsena; from Dyumatsena, Sumati; and from Sumati, Subala.
49. From Subala will come Sunitha; from Sunitha, Satyajit; from Satyajit, Visvajit; and from Visvajit, Ripunjaya. All of these personalities will belong to the dynasty of Brhadratha, which will rule the world for one thousand years.
