Srimad-Bhagavatam: Canto 9: “Liberation”
by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Chapter Two
The Dynasties of the Sons of Manu
SB9.2Summary
This Second Chapter describes the dynasties of the sons of Manu, headed by Karusa.
After Sudyumna accepted the order of vanaprastha and departed for the forest, Vaivasvata Manu, being desirous of sons, worshiped the Supreme Personality of Godhead and consequently begot ten sons like Maharaja Iksvaku, all of whom were like their father. One of these sons, Prsadhra, was engaged in the duty of protecting cows at night with a sword in his hand. Following the order of his spiritual master, he would stand in this way for the entire night. Once, in the darkness of night, a tiger seized a cow from the cowshed, and when Prsadhra came to know this, he took a sword in his hand and followed the tiger. Unfortunately, when he finally approached the tiger, he could not distinguish between the cow and the tiger in the dark, and thus he killed the cow. Because of this, his spiritual master cursed him to take birth in a sudra family, but Prsadhra practiced mystic yoga, and in bhakti-yoga he worshiped the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Then he voluntarily entered a blazing forest fire, thus relinquishing his material body and going back home, back to Godhead.
Kavi, the youngest son of Manu, was a great devotee of the Supreme Personality of Godhead from his very childhood. From Manu’s son known as Karusa, a sect of ksatriyas known as Karusas was generated. Manu also had a son known as Dhrsta, from whom another sect of ksatriyas was generated, but although they were born of one who had the qualities of a ksatriya, they became brahmanas. From Nrga, another son of Manu, came the sons and grandsons known as Sumati, Bhutajyoti and Vasu. From Vasu, in succession, came Pratika, and from him came Oghavan. Descending in order from the seminal dynasty of Narisyanta, another son of Manu, were Citrasena, Rksa, Midhvan, Purna, Indrasena, Vitihotra, Satyasrava, Urusrava, Devadatta and Agnivesya. From the ksatriya known as Agnivesya came the celebrated brahmana dynasty known as Agnivesyayana. From the seminal dynasty of Dista, another son of Manu, came Nabhaga, and from him in succession came Bhalandana, Vatsapriti, Pramsu, Pramati, Khanitra, Caksusa, Vivimsati, Rambha, Khaninetra, Karandhama, Aviksit, Marutta, Dama, Rajyavardhana, Sudhrti, Nara, Kevala, Dhundhuman, Vegavan, Budha and Trnabindu. In this way, many sons and grandsons were born in this dynasty. From Trnabindu came a daughter named Ilavila, from whom Kuvera took birth. Trnabindu also had three sons, named Visala, Sunyabandhu and Dhumraketu. The son of Visala was Hemacandra, his son was Dhumraksa, and his son was Samyama. The sons of Samyama were Devaja and Krsasva. Krsasva’s son, Somadatta, performed an Asvamedha sacrifice, and by worshiping the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Visnu, he achieved the supreme perfection of going back home, back to Godhead. SB9.2.1 TEXT 1 sri-suka uvaca evam gate ’tha sudyumne manur vaivasvatah sute putra-kamas tapas tepe yamunayam satam samah SYNONYMS sri-sukah uvaca—Sri Sukadeva Gosvami said; evam—thus; gate—had accepted the order of vanaprastha; atha—thereafter; sudyumne—when Sudyumna; manuh vaivasvatah—Vaivasvata Manu, known as Sraddhadeva; sute—his son; putra-kamah—desiring to get sons; tapah tepe—executed severe austerities; yamunayam—on the bank of the Yamuna; satam samah—for one hundred years. TRANSLATION 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. SB9.2.2 TEXT 2 tato ’yajan manur devam apatyartham harim prabhum iksvaku-purvajan putran lebhe sva-sadrsan dasa SYNONYMS tatah—thereafter; ayajat—worshiped; manuh—Vaivasvata Manu; devam—unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead; apatya-artham—with a desire to get sons; harim—unto Hari, the Supreme Personality of Godhead; prabhum—the Lord; iksvaku-purva-jan—of whom the eldest was named Iksvaku; putran—sons; lebhe—got; sva-sadrsan—exactly like himself; dasa—ten. TRANSLATION 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. SB9.2.3 TEXT 3 prsadhras tu manoh putro go-palo guruna krtah palayam asa ga yatto ratryam virasana-vratah SYNONYMS prsadhrah tu—among them, Prsadhra; manoh—of Manu; putrah—the son; go-palah—herding cows; guruna—by the order of his spiritual master; krtah—having been engaged; palayam asa—he protected; gah—cows; yattah—so engaged; ratryam—at night; virasana-vratah—taking the vow of virasana, standing with a sword. TRANSLATION 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. PURPORT One who becomes virasana takes the vow to stand all night with a sword to give protection to the cows. Because Prsadhra was engaged in this way, it is to be understood that he had no dynasty. We can further understand from this vow accepted by Prsadhra how essential it is to protect the cows. Some son of a ksatriya would take this vow to protect the cows from ferocious animals, even at night. What then is to be said of sending cows to slaughterhouses? This is the most sinful activity in human society. SB9.2.4 TEXT 4 ekada pravisad gostham sardulo nisi varsati sayana gava utthaya bhitas ta babhramur vraje SYNONYMS ekada—once upon a time; pravisat—entered; gostham—the land of the cowshed; sardulah—a tiger; nisi—at night; varsati—while it was raining; sayanah—lying down; gavah—cows; utthaya—getting up; bhitah—fearing; tah—all of them; babhramuh—scattered here and there; vraje—in the land surrounding the cowshed. TRANSLATION 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. SB9.2.5-6 TEXTS 5–6 ekam jagraha balavan sa cukrosa bhayatura tasyas tu kranditam srutva prsadhro ’nusasara ha khadgam adaya tarasa pralinodu-gane nisi ajanann acchinod babhroh sirah sardula-sankaya SYNONYMS ekam—one of the cows; jagraha—seized; balavan—the strong tiger; sa—that cow; cukrosa—began to cry; bhaya-atura—in distress and fear; tasyah—of her; tu—but; kranditam—the screaming; srutva—hearing; prsadhrah—Prsadhra; anusasara ha—followed; khadgam—sword; adaya—taking; tarasa—very hastily; pralina-udu-gane—when the stars were covered by clouds; nisi—at night; ajanan—without knowledge; acchinot—cut off; babhroh—of the cow; sirah—the head; sardula-sankaya—mistaking it for the head of the tiger. TRANSLATION 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. SB9.2.7 TEXT 7 vyaghro ’pi vrkna-sravano nistrimsagrahatas tatah niscakrama bhrsam bhito raktam pathi samutsrjan SYNONYMS vyaghrah—the tiger; api—also; vrkna-sravanah—its ear being cut off; nistrimsa-agra-ahatah—because of being cut by the tip of the sword; tatah—thereafter; niscakrama—fled (from that place); bhrsam—very much; bhitah—being afraid; raktam—blood; pathi—on the road; samutsrjan—discharging. TRANSLATION 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. SB9.2.8 TEXT 8 manyamano hatam vyaghram prsadhrah para-vira-ha adraksit sva-hatam babhrum vyustayam nisi duhkhitah SYNONYMS manyamanah—thinking that; hatam—has been killed; vyaghram—the tiger; prsadhrah—Manu’s son Prsadhra; para-vira-ha—although quite able to punish the enemy; adraksit—saw; sva-hatam—had been killed by him; babhrum—the cow; vyustayam nisi—when the night had passed (in the morning); duhkhitah—became very much unhappy. TRANSLATION 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. SB9.2.9 TEXT 9 tam sasapa kulacaryah krtagasam akamatah na ksatra-bandhuh sudras tvam karmana bhavitamuna SYNONYMS tam—him (Prsadhra); sasapa—cursed; kula-acaryah—the family priest, Vasistha; krta-agasam—because of committing the great sin of killing a cow; akamatah—although he did not want to do it; na—not; ksatra-bandhuh—the family member of a ksatriya; sudrah tvam—you have behaved like a sudra; karmana—therefore by your fruitive reaction; bhavita—you shall become a sudra; amuna—because of killing the cow. TRANSLATION 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.” PURPORT It appears that Vasistha was not free from tamo-guna, the mode of ignorance. As the family priest or spiritual master of Prsadhra, Vasistha should have taken Prsadhra’s offense very lightly, but instead Vasistha cursed him to become a sudra. It is the duty of a family priest not to curse a disciple but to give him relief through the performance of some sort of atonement. Vasistha, however, did just the opposite. Therefore Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura says that he was durmati; in other words, his intelligence was not very good. SB9.2.10 TEXT 10 evam saptas tu guruna pratyagrhnat krtanjalih adharayad vratam vira urdhva-reta muni-priyam SYNONYMS evam—in this way; saptah—having been cursed; tu—but; guruna—by his spiritual master; pratyagrhnat—he (Prsadhra) accepted; krta-anjalih—with folded hands; adharayat—took up, assumed; vratam—the vow of brahmacarya; virah—that hero; urdhva-retah—having controlled his senses; muni-priyam—which is approved by the great sages. TRANSLATION 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. SB9.2.11-13 TEXTS 11–13 vasudeve bhagavati sarvatmani pare ’male ekantitvam gato bhaktya sarva-bhuta-suhrt samah vimukta-sangah santatma samyatakso ’parigrahah yad-rcchayopapannena kalpayan vrttim atmanah atmany atmanam adhaya jnana-trptah samahitah vicacara mahim etam jadandha-badhirakrtih SYNONYMS vasudeve—unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead; bhagavati—unto the Lord; sarva-atmani—unto the Supersoul; pare—unto the Transcendence; amale—unto the Supreme person, who is without material contamination; ekantitvam—rendering devotional service without diversion; gatah—being situated in that position; bhaktya—because of pure devotion; sarva-bhuta-suhrt samah—because of being a devotee, friendly and equal to everyone; vimukta-sangah—without material contamination; santa-atma—a peaceful attitude; samyata—self-controlled; aksah—the vision of whom; aparigrahah—without accepting any charity from anyone else; yat-rcchaya—by the grace of the Lord; upapannena—by whatever was available for bodily necessities; kalpayan—in this way arranging; vrttim—the necessities of the body; atmanah—for the benefit of the soul; atmani—within the mind; atmanam—the Supreme Soul, the Personality of Godhead; adhaya—keeping always; jnana-trptah—fully satisfied in transcendental knowledge; samahitah—always in trance; vicacara—traveled all over; mahim—the earth; etam—this; jada—dumb; andha—blind; badhira—deaf; akrtih—appearing as if. TRANSLATION 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. SB9.2.14 TEXT 14 evam vrtto vanam gatva drstva davagnim utthitam tenopayukta-karano brahma prapa param munih SYNONYMS evam vrttah—being situated in such an order of life; vanam—to the forest; gatva—after going; drstva—when he saw; dava-agnim—a forest fire; utthitam—existing there; tena—by that (fire); upayukta-karanah—engaging all the senses of the body by burning; brahma—transcendence; prapa—he achieved; param—the ultimate goal; munih—as a great saintly person. TRANSLATION 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. PURPORT The Lord says in Bhagavad-gita (4.9): janma karma ca me divyam “One who knows the transcendental nature of My appearance and activities does not, upon leaving the body, take his birth again in this material world, but attains My eternal abode, O Arjuna.” Prsadhra, because of his karma, was cursed to take his next birth as a sudra, but because he took to saintly life, specifically concentrating his mind always upon the Supreme Personality of Godhead, he became a pure devotee. Immediately after giving up his body in the fire, he reached the spiritual world, as mentioned in Bhagavad-gita (mam eti), as a result of his devotional situation. Devotional service performed by thinking of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is so powerful that although Prsadhra was cursed he avoided the terrible consequence of becoming a sudra and instead returned home, back to Godhead. As stated in Brahma-samhita (5.54): yas tv indra-gopam athavendram aho sva-karma- Those who engage in devotional service are unaffected by the results of their material activities. Otherwise, everyone, from the smallest microbe up to the King of heaven, Indra, is subject to the laws of karma. A pure devotee, being always engaged in the service of the Lord, is exempt from these laws. SB9.2.15 TEXT 15 kavih kaniyan visayesu nihsprho visrjya rajyam saha bandhubhir vanam nivesya citte purusam sva-rocisam vivesa kaisora-vayah param gatah SYNONYMS kavih—another son, known as Kavi; kaniyan—who was the youngest; visayesu—in material enjoyments; nihsprhah—being without attachment; visrjya—after giving up; rajyam—his father’s property, the kingdom; saha bandhubhih—accompanied by friends; vanam—the forest; nivesya—keeping always; citte—within the core of the heart; purusam—the Supreme Person; sva-rocisam—self-effulgent; vivesa—entered; kaisora-vayah—a young man not fully in youth; param—the transcendental world; gatah—entered. TRANSLATION 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. SB9.2.16 TEXT 16 karusan manavad asan karusah ksatra-jatayah uttara-patha-goptaro brahmanya dharma-vatsalah SYNONYMS karusat—from Karusa; manavat—from the son of Manu; asan—there was; karusah—called the Karusas; ksatra-jatayah—a group of ksatriyas; uttara—northern; patha—of the direction; goptarah—kings; brahmanyah—celebrated protectors of the brahminical culture; dharma-vatsalah—extremely religious. TRANSLATION 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. SB9.2.17 TEXT 17 dhrstad dharstam abhut ksatram brahma-bhuyam gatam ksitau nrgasya vamsah sumatir bhutajyotis tato vasuh SYNONYMS dhrstat—from Dhrsta, another son of Manu; dharstam—a caste of the name Dharsta; abhut—was produced; ksatram—belonging to the ksatriya group; brahma-bhuyam—the position of brahmanas; gatam—had achieved; ksitau—on the surface of the world; nrgasya—of Nrga, another son of Manu; vamsah—the dynasty; sumatih—of the name Sumati; bhutajyotih—of the name Bhutajyoti; tatah—thereafter; vasuh—by the name Vasu. TRANSLATION 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. PURPORT Here it is said, ksatram brahma-bhuyam gatam ksitau: although the Dharstas belonged to the ksatriya caste, they were able to convert themselves into brahmanas. This gives clear evidence supporting the following statement by Narada (Bhag. 7.11.35): yasya yal laksanam proktam If the qualities of one group are found in the men of another, those men should be recognized by their qualities, by their symptoms, not by the caste of the family in which they were born. Birth is not at all important; it is one’s qualities that are stressed in all Vedic literature. SB9.2.18 TEXT 18 vasoh pratikas tat-putra oghavan oghavat-pita kanya caughavati nama sudarsana uvaha tam SYNONYMS vasoh—of Vasu; pratikah—named Pratika; tat-putrah—his son; oghavan—named Oghavan; oghavat-pita—who was the father of Oghavan; kanya—his daughter; ca—also; oghavati—Oghavati; nama—by the name; sudarsanah—Sudarsana; uvaha—married; tam—that daughter (Oghavati). TRANSLATION 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. SB9.2.19 TEXT 19 citraseno narisyantad rksas tasya suto ’bhavat tasya midhvams tatah purna indrasenas tu tat-sutah SYNONYMS citrasenah—one named Citrasena; narisyantat—from Narisyanta, another son of Manu; rksah—Rksa; tasya—of Citrasena; sutah—the son; abhavat—became; tasya—of him (Rksa); midhvan—Midhvan; tatah—from him (Midhvan); purnah—Purna; indrasenah—Indrasena; tu—but; tat-sutah—the son of him (Purna). TRANSLATION 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. SB9.2.20 TEXT 20 vitihotras tv indrasenat tasya satyasrava abhut urusravah sutas tasya devadattas tato ’bhavat SYNONYMS vitihotrah—Vitihotra; tu—but; indrasenat—from Indrasena; tasya—of Vitihotra; satyasravah—known by the name Satyasrava; abhut—there was; urusravah—Urusrava; sutah—was the son; tasya—of him (Satyasrava); devadattah—Devadatta; tatah—from Urusrava; abhavat—there was. TRANSLATION From Indrasena came Vitihotra, from Vitihotra came Satyasrava, from Satyasrava came the son named Urusrava, and from Urusrava came Devadatta.
evam yo vetti tattvatah
tyaktva deham punar janma
naiti mam eti so ’rjuna
bandhanurupa-phala-bhajanam atanoti
karmani nirdahati kintu ca bhakti-bhajam
govindam adi-purusam tam aham bhajami
pumso varnabhivyanjakam
yad anyatrapi drsyeta
tat tenaiva vinirdiset