Narayanaya namah

Using his knowledge of the three Vedas, Purūrava split the fire into three divisions. He considered this fire to be his son. Desirous of reaching the plane where Urvaśi resided, Purūrava, through the process of fire-ritual invoked and worshipped Lord Srihari, the Supreme Lord who is the Lord of all Yagnas, who is beyond all visible proofs and who is an embodiment of all Devatas.

eka eva purā vedaḥ praṇavaḥ sarva-vāṅmayaḥ

devo nārāyaṇo nānya eko ’gnir varṇa eva ca

Previously, the Omkāra mantra (AUM) was the seed-letter for all words. Such Omkāra itself was the Veda. Lord Narayana was the sole Lord. There is none apart from Him. Fire alone existed. Similarly there was only one class in society.

During beginning of Treta-yuga, Emperor Purūrava created the divisions known as the three Vedas. Through Vedic fire rituals he obtained progeny. He thereafter reached the Gandharva-loka.

With this the fourteenth chapter of the Ninth Canto comes to an end.

Ninth Canto Chapter Fifteen

In this chapter, the stories of Paraśurama and Kārtaviryarjuna are explained.

Maharishi Śuka continued, “Ila’s son Purūrava begot 6 sons Āyu, Śrutāyu, Satyāyu, Raya, Vijaya and Jaya from the womb of Urvaśi.

Śrutāyu’s son was Vasuman. Satyāyu’s son was Śrutanjaya. Raya’s son was Eka. Jaya’s son was Amita. Vijaya’s son was Bhima. Bhima’s son was Kāncana. His son was Hotraka. Hotraka’s son was Jahnu. Jahnu drank all the waters of Ganga. Thereafter in response to the pleas of Bhagiratha, he let Ganga out from his ear.

Jahnu’s son was Puru. His son was Balāhaka whose son was Ajaka. Kuṣa was the son of Ajaka. Kuṣa had four sons Kuṣāmbu, Tanaya, Vasu and Kuṣānābhā. Kuśāmbu’s son was Gādhi. Gādhi’s daughter was Satyavati. Maharishi Rucika asked for Satyavati’s hand in marriage”.

These are important lineages in which some great souls took birth. It is a rule that in such lineages the names of all the ancestors as well as descendants must be narrated. The entire family tree is detailed. Due to extra-ordinary deeds of a person, his ancestors and his descendants obtain salvation. It is purely our merit that we are blessed with the opportunity to listen to these names.

“Gadhi was of the opinion that Rucika was not a suitable husband for his daughter Satyavati. Without expressing his opinion, he said to Rucika, a descendant of Bhrigu, “We belong to the Kuśa dynasty. In order to obtain the hand of my daughter you will have to give thousand fine white horses, which glow like the Moon, in dowry. One ear of each horse should be black in colour”.

Rucika Maharishi instantly grasped the king’s opinion. He immediately approached Varuna and from him obtained the horses per the specifications given by the king. He offered these horses to the king and married his beautiful daughter Satyavati.

A long time passed. One day Satyavati along with her mother approached Maharishi Rucika. Both of them begged to be blessed with a son each. The Maharishi then chanted appropriate mantras and performed appropriate homas, so that his wife would beget a son who would have the radiance of a Brahmana while his mother in law would beget a son who would be filled with Kṣatriya (warrior) traits and who would have the dexterity to rule the kingdom. He prepared the rice oblations for each of them. He then went to bathe.

By the time he returned, Satyavati and her mother had reached the place where the homa was progressing. Satyavati’s mother presumed that the oblation which the Maharishi had set aside for his wife would undoubtedly be superior to the one set aside for her. Hence she asked her daughter to part with her offering. Satyavati agreed to it and gave her share of rice offering to her mother while she ate her mother’s share.

Upon returning, Rucika Maharishi grasped that the two women had interchanged their bowls. He addressed his wife and said, “What have you done? Due to this deed, a son who will be violent in nature and who will take up the sword will be born to you while your brother will be the best among Vedic scholars”.

Satyavati then pleaded with her husband that she did not want her son to take up the sword. She pleased him with her words. Feeling sorry for his wife, Maharishi Rucika relented and said, “Instead of your son, your grandson will take up the sword”.

As predicted by her husband, Maharishi Jamadagni, who was of peaceful nature, was born to Satyavati. For the well-being of the people thereafter Satyavati transformed into River Kauśiki and began to flow.

Maharishi Jamadagni eventually married Renuka, the daughter of Maharishi Renu. Renuka gave birth to sons Vasuman, Vasu-suṣena and others. The youngest among them became famous as Paraśurama who destroyed the entire Haihaya dynasty. He became famous as an incarnation of Lord Srihari. Paraśurama travelled around the globe twenty-one times and ensured that Kshatriyas (warriors) were eliminated completely from earth.

Being predominantly filled with traits of passion (rajas) and ignorance (tamas), the Kastriyas during that era had turned wicked and immoral. Their atrocities towards Vedic scholars were limitless. Although their mistake was not serious, Paraśurama killed them all and thus reduced the burden of Mother Earth”.

Emperor Parikshit then enquired, “Time and again the dynasties of the Kṣatriyas, who lacked sense control, had to be destroyed by the Lord. In this instance, please explain the offense committed by these kśatriyas?”

Maharishi Śuka replied,

“Haihayānām adhipatir arjunaḥ kṣatriyarṣabhaḥ

dattaṁ nārāyaṇāṁśāṁśam ārādhya parikarmabhiḥ

Kārtaviryārjuna, the best among the Kshatriyas, was the ruler for the Haihaya dynasty. He served Lord Dattatreya, an incarnation of Lord Narayana, and worshipped him devotedly. Lord Datta’s grace ensured that he was blessed with a thousand hands. Victory over enemies, absolute sense-control, wealth, radiance, power, renown and strength were obtained by him by the Lord’s grace. Kārtavirya became the master of Yoga. He obtained Anima and other supernatural powers.

Narayana