The Solar Dynasty

The sun-god, Vivasvana, was the son of Kashyapa and Aditi. He had four wives, Samjna, Rajni, Prabha and Chhaya.

Samjna’s son was Vaivasvata Manu. Rajni’s children were Yama, yamuna and Revanta. Savarni, Shani, Tapati and Vishti were Chhaya’s children and Prabha’s son was Prabhata.

(The names do not tally across the Puranas. For example, in the Markandeya Purana, the sun had only two wives, Samjna and Chhaya. Yama and Yamuna were also the children of Samjna.)

Vaivasvata Manu had nine sons. Their names were Ikshvaku, Nabhaga, Arishta, Karusha and Prishadhra. Manu also had a daughter named Ila, from whom the lunar dynasty originated.

Ikshvaku’s son was Vikukshi and this was the line of Kakutstha. In this line was born Rama, of Ramayana fame.

The names of several kings of the solar dynasty are given. But these we will not reproduce, as they are merely a catalogue of names.

The Lunar Dynasty

Budha was the son of the moon-god Chandra. Budha married Ila and they had a son named Pururava.

Pururava married the apsara Urvashi and they had six sons. One of these sons was Ayu and amongst Ayu’s descendants was a king named Yayati.

Yayati had two wives. The first was Devayani, daughter of Shukracharya, the preceptor of the demons. The second wife was named Sharmishtha and she was the daughter of Vrishaparva, the king of the danavas. Yayati and Devayani had two sons, Yadu and Tursavu. Yayati and Sharmishtha had three sons, Druhya, Anu and Puru. When it became time for Yayati to retire to the forest, he gave puru the bulk of the kingdom and Puru’s descendants came to be known as the Pauravas. Yadu was given some land towards the south-west and his descendants were the Yadavas. Turvasu ruled to the south-east, Druhya to the west and Anu to the north.

One of Yadu’s descendants was the king Kritavirya and Kritavirya’s son became famous as Kartavirya Arjuna. he had a thousand arms and was the most skilled of fighters. He eventually met his death at the hands of Parashurama.