8 The origin of yadav dynasty upto king vasudev

ORIGIN

Today Yadavs constitutes 20% of India’s population and over 3% of world population-in terms of sheer numbers this translate to 20 crores or 200 millions. Yadav’s are the largest race in the history of the whole world. Out of 223 countries in whole world, there are only 4 countries including India with over 200 million population. It has been truly said that yadav’s are not merely a community but a “nation” in themselves.

Creation

The Supreme Personality of Godhead is the source of everything. There is no one neither equal to Him nor greater than Him. He expands Himself as Maha Vishnu. When Maha Vishnu exhales then unlimited universes are created from the pours of His body and when He inhales then all the Universes are destroyed. Maha Vishnu exhales and inhales once at every one lifetime of a Bramha (100 years of Bramha ji= 311 trillion 40 billion earthly years). Bramha ji life consists of 100 years. 12 hours of Bramha ji consists of 4 billion 320 million earthly years. Then Maha Visnu’s expansion is Garbodakshayi Vishnu. Garbodakshayi Vishnu’s expansion is Ksirodakshayi Vishnu. Lord Bramha is born from the Lotus flower which sprouted from the navel of Garbodakshayi Vishnu. When we speak of Hindu concept of trinity of Bramha, Vishnu and Mahesh- the Vishnu referred here indicates Garbodakshayi Vishnu, who is an expansion of expansion of Shri Krishna.
 Bramha ji from his consciousness or mind created many sons including Lord Siva, Narada Muni, Four Kumaras, Bhrigu Muni, Kratu, Pulaha, Vasistha, Angira, Pulastya, Marichi and Atri. Marichi produced Kashyap from his dhyan or prayers. Bramhaji was not pleased by the rate of slow growth of mankind. Thereby, he ordered his son Prajapati to marry Aditi. This new pair gave us Vivashwan or Surya. Later, the love between Surya and Surenu gave us Suryavanshi Manu. In Suryavansha, Lord Shri Rama appeared in Treta Yuga.

 The Birth of Yaduvansha

 

Som (the Moon God) was born from Atri and Atri was born from Bramha’s mind. So all Yadav’s are Somvanshi or Chandravanshi. From the start of Somvansh/Chandravansh to Shree Krishna, there were 46 generations of kings, all listed below. The dates etc. are discussed at end of generation 46, i.e. Shree Krishna's. In Sata Yuga a person’s maximum life span was 100,000 years. In Treta Yujga a person’s maximum life span was 10,000 years. In Dvapar Yuga a person’s maximum life span was 1,000 years. In Kali yuga a person’s maximum life span is around 100 years. Sata Yuga lasted for 17,28,000 years. Treta Yuga lasted for 12,96,000 years. Dvapar Yuga lasted for 8,64,000 years and Kali Yuga will last for 4,32,000 years. The moment Lord Krishna finished His lila on this earth planet, Dvapara yug ended and Kali Yuga started. So around 5,100 years of Kaliyuga have passed and there is more 4,26,900 years of Kali Yuga is remaining . After the end of Kali yuga again Sata yuga will start.
 The dynasty of Moon (Som or Chandra)

1. Som, Somvansh/Chandravansh

2. Buddh

(Atri was one of Bramha's seven sons who married Bhadra. He later went on to conceive a son named Som. Som was very attractive young man and eloped with Rishi Brahaspti's wife, Tara. Som and Tara gave birth to Buddh (not Lord Buddha) during the absence of Rishi Brahaspti.)

3. Pururuva or Yela

PURURAVA & URVASHI

According to Bhagavat, son of Som and grandson of Atri, Rishi Buddh came to Bharat-khand for offering prayers and relieves his remorse. Suryavanshi Manu's daughter Ila fell in love with Buddh. They together conceived a son named Pururuva. Later, he became a chakravarti samrat or a great king. The Pururuva dynasty was called "Yela", derived from mother, Ila. Pururuva established the city of Prayag which later became the capital of his kingdom. Prayag was later named after him and till date it is refered as Yelahabad (Allahabad-Muslims started pronouncing like this in later centuries). During the times of King Pururuva, King Indra's enemy Danavraj Keshi used to rule Hiranyapur. King Pururuva helped Indra in defeating Keshi. Indra, in courtesy, offered Pururuva an apsara, called Urvashi, as a gift. This pair gave birth to six sons, eldest being Ayu, followed by Amavasu, Visvasu, Ritayu, Satayu and Ayutuyu. After sixty years of being together with Pururuva, Urvashi returned to the heavens.

The Ichwaku and Ela Arya were essentially the two branches of Suryavansh and Somvansh who established the mid regions of Kaushalya (Ayodhya), Pryag, Mathura, Kashi and Kanyakubj. Manu's Ichwaku built Ayodhya, Pururuva's eldest son Ayu, built Mathura while the youngest, Amavasu, built Kanyakubj. Finally, Pururuva's grandson built Kashi.

4. King Ayu

King Pururuva's & Urvashi (apsara from heavenly Planet-swargaloka) son, Ayu was the fourth Somvanshi. The tree is as follows:
King Ayu married King Sarvbhanu's (Rahu) daughter Prabha. Yuvraj Nahush was their eldest son. Kshtravardh, Rambh, Rajji and Adena were their other four sons. As mentioned before, King Ayu established the city of Mathura on the banks of Yamuna River. In times to come, Prayag was considered to be the Yadav's mainland and Mathura was the capital for many generations during their rule. The Tartars from Mid-Asia considered Ayu to be their forefather. In their local language "Ayu" was considered plural of Chandrama (moon) and was considered a symbolic representation of God. Tartar's "Ayu", Chineese "Yu" and Puranas' "Ayu" are all synonyms of Indu or Chandrama (moon). New castes kept emerging and Ayus kept fading as the time Yadav progressed.

5. King Nahush

The prince of King Ayu. He married queen Vraja. They had six sons, Princes Yati, Yayati, Samati, Ayati, Viyati and Kriti along with a Princess, Ruchi, who later married Aapnavan- the son of Chayavan rishi and Sukanya.
 In the 10th war with Devasurs, King Indra killed the Trishira bramhin. He was condemned for killing a bramhin and as a result, Indra escaped heaven and took hiding in an unknown place. During his absence, the kings of heaven chose King Nahush to take care of their kingdom. Unfortunately, one day, King Nahush got attracted towards Indra's queen, Sachi ( Indrani ) and in a rush to reach her, ordered the Bramhins to take his paliki to Sachi. This request infuriated the bramhins since they cursed the King and got him removed from his position as a King of heaven.

6. King Yayati

The eldest Prince of King Nahush. The eldest son of Nahus, Yati was very religious by nature. He forgoed his birthright to rule the kingdom by his pure will and opted for bhakti instead. The second son of Nahush, Yayati became the king in place of Yati. King Yayati had two wives. One was Devyani, the daughter of Danav guru, Sukracharya and the other was Sharmishtha, the daughter of Danav King. Devyani was the mother of Princes Yadu and Turvasu whereas Sharmishta was the mother of Druhu, Anu and Puru. All of the Princes earned good names and fame during time of Rig Veda and were jointly called as Panchjanya.

 

King Yayati, in order to please his senses ordered Yadu to exchange his youth with him. Yadu and the other three sons refused their father's request except the youngest son, Puru. Rishi Ushna Bhargav, using the youth sciences transformed the youth of a son into a father and vice-versa. King Yayati, unpleased with Yadu, took away his birthright to rule and gave it to Prince Puru instead. Prince Puru was married to Princess Pausthi. Before the youth exchange with his father, his sons were called Pauravs. The Paurav dynasty was carried forward by Kuru and the Kuru descendants, Kaurav and Pandav, carried forward Kuru dynasty. On the other hand, Yadu's dynasty was called "Yaduvanshi".
King Yayati distributed his kingdom amongst his five sons. Prince Puru received the great Prayag, the capital, situated between southern regions of Ganges and Yamuna; Prince Yadu received the south western teritories which included Charmvati (chambal ), Vetravati ( Betva ) and Shuktimati ( Keyn ). Prince Druhu received western regions of Yamuna; Prince Anu got the city of Kanyakubj and Prince Turvasu received the south eastern teritories of Riva. The Druhu and Anu dynasty captured Punjab and North-Western frontier states as well in later times. However, they just did not stop here and continued their expansion into west, outside the Bharatvarsh. This resulted in their gradual disappearance from Bharat itself. However, they carried Bharat's culture, civilization and customs into western countries. The Baktryiya Yunani who were also known as 'Yavan', were Anu's dynasty. Later on, the Turvasu dynasty also drifted from Bharatvarsh. Only Yadu and Puru dynasty remained in Bharat and completely transformed the face of Bharatvarsh in time to come.
Yadu and Puru dynasty remained the central point of source of Bharat Varshs history. King Puru was great grandfather of King Dushyant and had a son named Bharat. It is from Bharat that the country got its name and came to be known as Bharatvarsh. King Kuru was born during King Puru's time, whose offspring’s were Kaurav and Pandav. These were the same renowned Kaurav and Pandavs who fought the epic battle of Mahabharat. The dynasty of king Yadu - Andhak, Vrasni and Bhoj, under the leadership of Shree Krishna, helped the Pandavs win the battle.
As mentioned earlier, King Yayati helped the Devgans during the battle with Devasurs. The pleased Indra had offered Yayati a divya-charriot as a gift for his help. Many centuries later, Jarasandh got the same charriot as a privilege of being Janmeyjaya, son of King Kuru. However, Shree Krishna obtained the same later on by power.

King Yayati became tired of ruling the vast territories from Prayag to Mid-States. Therefore, during his older days, he took off to the forests and eventually became a monk.

7. King Yadu and Yaduvansh

The prince of King Yayati, Yadu was a self respecting and a very established ruler. He had four sons. They were: Prince Sashtrajeet, Kroshta, Nal and Ripu. The kings between Rishi Buddh and Yayati were known as Somvanshi. As mentioned before, Yadu had officially lost the title to govern by his father's command since he had refused to exchange his youth with his father. Thereby, he could not have carried on the same dynasty, called Somvanshi. Notably, the only remaining dynasty of King Puru was entitled to be known as Somvanshi. Thereby King Yadu ordered that the future generations of his would be known as "Yadu" or "Yadav" and the dynasty would be known as "Yaduvanshi". The generations of Yadu had an unprecedented growth and got divided into two branches. King Sashtrajeet's generation came to be known as "Haihai Yadav" occupying the northern regions whereas the King Kroshta's generation became to be known as "Kroshta Yadav' occupying southern regions. King Haihai was Satajeet's son and Sashtrajeet's grandson. King Sashtrajeet instituted a new state and a new dynasty and offered the same, by his own will and against his birth right, to be taken care of by his younger brother Kroshta. Thereby, Kroshta officially became the heer of King Yadu.

Consequently, the generations of King Puru, Paurav or Puruvanshi were the only ones to be known as Somvanshi. The Aryas who established the businesses in Kathiavad regions from Kurushetra, Surseni, Indrapasth etc, continued this approach of economy in later times as well.

Thereby, Kathiavad became the business center for Vrashni Yadav's and in vedic times it was recorded that these Yadav traveled many distances using sea etc.  Some excerpts are as follows:

Rig Veda: 6.45.1 ya anayat paravatah suniti turvashu yadu'm. Indrasya sah nah yuvam sakha.
Rig Veda: 1.174.9;6.10.12. pra yat samudram ati shur parshi paraya turvasha yadu swasti.
Rig Veda: 4.30.17, ut tya turvashayadu asnatara sachipati-ah. Indra vidwan aparayat.
Rig Veda: 8.7.18, yen av-ah turvasam yadu'm yen kadvam dhansptam. Raye su tasya dhemahi.
Rig Veda: 8.6.46, satam aham tirindarey sahastram pasharba dadey. Radhati yadvanam. ( Tirindra got Yadav's money ( dhan) due to help from Indra )

8. King Kroshta

After King Yadu, his second son, prince Kroshta acquired the kingdom and became the first Yaduvanshi ruler. His generations became to be known as "Kroshta Yadav"

9. King Vrajnivan or Vrajpita

10. King Swahi King after Kroshta

11. King Ushnak ( a.k.a Roosdrig, Roosdrug, Unkas )

12. King Chitrarath: King after Ushnak

13. King Sashibindu-

A powerful King after King Chitrarath. In Sashibindu's leadership, the Kroshta Yadavs won the states from King Puru's dynasty in addition to some part of land from his brother Druhu's estates. He was from the same timeline as King Mandhata, the great grand father of king Dashrath and Ram. Shashibindu's daughter, Bindumati was married to Mandhata, however, they were great enemies. King Mandhata won the Kanyakubj from Anu's dynasty along with parts of land from Pauravs and Druhavs. The King of Druhavs, Gandhar, fled to what is now known as Afganistan and took shelter there. Later on, this same place was named Gandhar. Sashibindu, in an endless mode to acquire more land, created several problems in the states of Pauravs, Anuvs and Druhavs , resulting in higly unstable states. Therefore, all the lands from the generations of King Yayati and his second wife, Queen Sharmistha:Puru, Anu and Druhu - were acquired by King Sahibindu and King Mandhata. Due to the rise of Kroshta Yadav King Sashibindu, - the Haihai Yadavs had a wrong impact on society as well. Under the leadership of King Arjun Kirtivirya ( Sahastrabahu ), the Haihai Yadavs forced the Bhargav Bramhins of Narmada River to leave Kanyakubj and attain shelter in Ayodhya.

Hahai Yadav King named Arjuna (not Pandava Arjuna), had thousand arms. He had propitiated Lord Dattatreya and has secured from his boons which made him invincible. But Arjuna misused his powers and became a merciless Tyrant.

To end his Tyrant and all such evil Kshatriyas, Lord Vishnu came to earth as Parashurama, the youngest son of Sage Jamadagni and his wife Renuka. He had four brothers. Parashurama was very powerful and was unparallel in austerity as well as in strength. Though a Brahmin son Parashurama had inordinate love for weapons and his favorite weapon was the Axe. Sage Jamadagni had an Ashrama in the forests where he educated his sons and his disciples.

Once when Parashurama & his brothers were away , Arjuna entered Jamadagni's Ashrama . Jamadagni and Renuka were alone in the Ashrama at that time. Jamadagni greeted him and offered him with delicious dishes and with the tasty milk of his cow Kamadhenu and her calf .The king pondered, "How did the sage get such a large quantity of food in this small Ashrama?"

He later on learnt that it was because of Kamadhenu. He than thought to himself that " If Kamadhenu can feed so many people in such a short time then I must possess her."

After the meals he took rest for a while and at the time of departure he ordered his men to seize the cow & her calf & take them to the Capital.  

The Haihai took the Kamdhenu cow of Rishi Jamdagni by force. This was the primary cause of the enimity between Haihai Yadavs and Bramhins. Under the leadership of Parshuram, son of the Rishi Jamdagni, the Bramhins attacked the Kshatriyas twenty one times.

Every time, the kshatriyas lost. Therefore, they accepted the defeat as their ill fate and the Bramhins over took the ruling. During the Bramhin ruling, the Vaishyas and Sudras became troublesome broke away from the established caste system. Teasing and harassing Bramhin ladies became a normal act. Due to the lack of peace and law and order, the high caste society became highly sensitive and unstable from the lower caste. During these tough times, by the advise of Rishi Kashyap and other Rishis, King Vidurth – a Puruvanshi - overtook the ruling and brought back the peace to the Bramhins from the lower caste.

14. King Bhoj
15. King Prithushrava
16. King Dhamraa
17. King Ushna
18. King Ruchak
19. King Jyamagh
20. King Vidharbh

Established the southern state of Vidharbh. He had three sons named Krath, Kaushik and Rompad. One of the decendants of Rompad was called Chedi. He established the states of Chedi, which is now known as Chanderi.

21. King Krath
22. King Kunti or Kriti
23. King Dhrishti
24. King Nivriti
25. King Darshah , whose generations were called as "Darshah Yadav".
26. King Vyom
27. King Bhim
28. King Jimut
29. King Vikriti
30. King Bhimrath
31. King Navrath
32. King Dashrath
33. King Shakuni
34. King Karibhi
35. King Devrat
36. King Devshtra
37. King Madhu

During his rule, Yadavs had become very powerful. The generations of King Madhu, known as "Madhu Yadav" or "Madhav" ruled from the South-Western states of Gujarat to Northern states of Yamuna River.

38. King Kumarvansh (Kuruvashah)
39. King Anu (Anshu)
40. King Puruhotra (Purumitra)
41. King Satvatta

He had six sons named Princes Bhajan, Bhajman, Divya, Devvardh, Andhak, Mahabhoj and Vrashni. The dynasties of Satvatta, Andhak and Vrishni were known as "Satvatta Yadav", "Andhak Mahabhoj Yadav" and "Vrishni Yadav" respectively. King Satvatta was from the same time period as King Ram of Ayodha. After Lord Ram disappeared, the Ayodha Kingdom lost its prestige. In a few generations, the states of Yadavs and Pauravs excelled and took the lead. The Yadavs mainly had four states of which Andhak and Vrishni were most significant. King Andhak's state was in Mathura and had two sons, Prince Kukur and Bhajman. The generations of Kukur were Drashnu, Kapot-Rome, Devatta Viloman, Nal, Abhijit, Punarvasu and Ahuk. Ahuk had two sons, Devak and Ugrasen. Devak's daughter, Devaki was married to King Vasudev and gave us Lord Shree Krishna. Ugrasen, King of Mathura had a son named Kans, who by force, dethroned his father from his kingdom and became the new king. Furthermore, Kans locked his father Ugrasen, cousin sister Devki and Vasudev in jail. The king of Magadh state, Jarasandh was Kans's father in law. Shree Krishna killed Kans and returned the kingdom back to Ugrasen. Later on, Jarasandh was killed by Bhim. King Bhajman's generations included Vidurth, Rajdhidev, Shur, Shodashav, Shami, Pratikshrat, and Hridayak. Hridayak had five sons named Kritvarma, Darvah, Devrath, Shatdhanva and Devgarbh. The eldest son of Hridayak, Prince Kritvarma, in spite of being a Bhojvanshi, took Kauravs side during the great battle of Mahabharat. His younger brother, Shatdhanva killed Shatrajeet, a Vrashni Yadav as well as father of Shree Krishna's Queen Satyabhama. Retroactively, Shree Krishna killed Shatdhanva.

42. King Vrashni-King Vrashni had three sons named Sumitra, Yudhajeet and Devmudh. The generations of Yudhajeet were Satyaki, Prasen and Shatrajeet (killed by Shatd hanva,as mentioned in 41).

43. King Devmudh

44. King Sursen

The father of Prince Vasudev and Princess Pratha. Pratha was an adopted daughter of King Kuntibhoj, and in time to come, she was known as the famous Kunti. Kunti was married to King Pandu with whom she gave three key players of Mahabharat, Princes Yudhishtir, Bhim and Arjun. Madri, the sister of Madradesh King Shalv, was the second wife of King Pandu and gave the remaining two Pandavs, Princes Nakul and Sahdev. The second daughter of King Sursen, named Shrutvata, was the mother of King Shishupal of Chedi state. The second son of King Sursen was Devbhag and his son was Uddhav.

 

45. King Vasudev

Kamsa trying to kill Devaki and Vasudev Maharaj trying to protect her

King Vasudev was brother of Kunti and their father was King Surasen. King Vasudev had two queens. Queen Rohini, mother of Shree Balram and Queen Devaki, mother of Shree Krishna. Queen Rohini was daugther of King Prateep and Sunanda. King Prateep, a Puruvanshi (King Kuru's dynasty) was from Hastinapur. Shree Balram was an avatar of Sheshnag whereas Shree Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He is the source of everything..

 

 

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