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When Maitreya asked his question, Parashara answered him. Abhimanyu’s son, he said, had been burned to ash inside the womb by the brahmastra of Ashvatthama, and Lord Krishna, by his own power, had brought that child back to life. This was Parikshit, who at that very hour ruled the whole earth in righteousness. Then the sage went on, “Now I will describe the kings who are still to come.” And as though he were looking clear across the curtain of Time, he told the tale of a dynasty whose story had not yet even begun to happen.
Parikshit’s Line, Down to Kshemaka
Parikshit would father four sons: Janamejaya, Shrutasena, Ugrasena, and Bhimasena. Janamejaya’s son Shatanika would learn the Vedas from Yajnavalkya and the science of weapons from Kripa, then turn away from the objects of the senses; guided by the teaching of Shaunaka, he would grow expert in self-knowledge and attain the state of supreme liberation. His son would be Ashvamedhadatta, and after him Adhisimakrishna, and after him Nichakshu. When the Ganga swept Hastinapura away, this Nichakshu would leave it and settle in Kaushambi.
From him would come, in turn, Ushna, Vichitraratha, Shuchiratha, Vrishnimana, Sushena, Sunitha, Nripa, Chakshu, Sukhavala, Pariplava, Sunaya, Medhavi, Ripunjaya, Mridu, Tigma, Brihadratha, Vasudana, then a second Shatanika, Udayana, Ahinara, Dandapani, Nimitra, and at the last, Kshemaka. This house of Puru, the wellspring of both Brahmanas and Kshatriyas and honored by many royal seers, would reach its end in the Kali age with the reign of king Kshemaka.
The Future Ikshvakus
In the same way, among the Ikshvaku kings yet to come, Brihadbala’s son would be Brihatkshana, and after him Urukshaya, Vatsavyuha, Prativyoma, Divakara, Sahadeva, Brihadashva, Bhanuratha, Pratitashva, Supratika, Marudeva, Sunakshatra, Kinnara, Antariksha, Suparna, Amitrajit, Brihadraja, Dharmi, Kritanjaya, Rananjaya, Sanjaya, Shakya, Shuddhodana, Rahula, Prasenajit, Kshudraka, Kundaka, Suratha, and Sumitra. This house of Ikshvaku would last only as far as king Sumitra, for in the Kali age it too would come to an end after him.
Magadha, the Nandas, and the Mauryas
Now it is the turn of the land of Magadha, whose Brihadratha line counted the mighty Jarasandha at its head. From Jarasandha’s son Sahadeva onward, through Somapi, Shrutashrava, Ayutayu, and the rest, this dynasty would rule Magadha for a thousand years. Its last king would be Ripunjaya, whom his own minister Sunika would kill before anointing his son Pradyota in his place. Pradyota, Balaka, Vishakhayupa, Janaka, and Nandi, these five kings of the Pradyota line, would guard the earth for one hundred thirty-eight years. Then would come the house of Shishunaga: Kakavarna, Kshemadharma, Kshatrauja, Vidhisara, Ajatashatru, Darbhaka, Udayana, Nandivardhana, and Mahanandi; these Shaishunaga kings would reign for three hundred sixty-two years.
From Mahanandi, in the womb of a Shudra woman, would be born a Nanda named Mahapadma, who like a second Parashurama would destroy every last Kshatriya; from then on, kings of Shudra birth would hold power. Mahapadma would command the whole earth under a single sovereign umbrella, and his eight sons, Sumalya and the others, would enjoy the kingdom after him; together they would reign for a hundred years. These nine Nandas would be undone by a Brahmana named Kautilya, and once their line had ended, the Mauryas would possess the earth; it was Kautilya who would anoint Chandragupta. Chandragupta’s son would be Bindusara, then Ashokavardhana, Suyasha, Dasharatha, Sanyuta, Shalishuka, Somasharma, Shatadhanva, and Brihadratha; these ten Maurya kings would rule for one hundred thirty-seven years.
After them, a general named Pushyamitra would kill his own master Brihadratha and take the throne; his sons, Agnimitra and the rest, ten Shunga kings, would last one hundred twelve years. Then the Shunga king Devabhuti would be killed by his minister Vasudeva, who would found the Kanva line: Vasudeva, Bhumitra, Narayana, and Susharma, these four Kanvas, would hold sway for forty-five years. The Kanva king Susharma would be killed by his servant Balipuchchhaka, a man of Andhra birth, who would then enjoy the earth himself; and so thirty Andhrabhritya kings would reign for four hundred fifty-six years.
After them would come seven Abhiras, ten Gardabhilas, sixteen Shakas, eight Yavanas, fourteen Turushkas, thirteen Mundas, and eleven Maunas. In Magadha a king named Vishvasphatika would seat the low castes upon the throne and root out the whole order of Kshatriyas; at Prayaga and Gaya the Magadha and Gupta kings would hold their kingdoms, while over Kosala, Kalinga, Saurashtra, Avanti, Kashmira, and other lands the Vratyas, Mlechchhas, Shudras, and their kind would rule. All these kings would exist within one and the same age: men of little cheer and violent temper, drawn to falsehood and to adharma, willing to kill even women, children, and cows, short-lived and consumed by greed; and they would ruin and debase their own subjects.
The Marks of Kali Yuga and the Avatar of Kalki
As dharma and prosperity wear thin, the world itself will wither along with them. Wealth alone will then confer noble birth, force alone will pass for dharma, mere attraction will be reason enough to marry, and falsehood will become the whole art of success in any dealing. The sacred thread will be the only mark left of a Brahmana, outward costume the only proof of one’s stage of life, and the nerve to speak brazenly the only measure of learning. Crushed under heavy taxes, the people will hide in the caves of the mountains and pass their days on leaves and roots and fruit; no one will live beyond twenty-three years.
When the Shrauta and Smarta observances have all but vanished and only a sliver of the Kali age is left, the Lord who is the soul of all, Vasudeva, will descend as Kalki in the home of Vishnuyasha, the foremost Brahmana of the village of Shambhala. He will destroy every Mlechchha and every wrongdoer and set all people back within their own dharma. Like those who wake at the end of a long night, the children born in that hour will have minds clear as crystal, and they will follow the dharma of the Satya age. When the moon, the sun, and Brihaspati stand together in a single zodiac sign within the Pushya constellation, the Satya age will begin.
Parashara said, “O best of sages, know that from the birth of Parikshit to the anointing of Nanda is a span of one thousand fifty years. On the very day that Lord Vasudeva returned to his own abode, the Kali age arrived; for as long as he had touched this earth with his lotus feet, Kali could find no way in. By human reckoning the Kali age will last three hundred sixty thousand years, and after it will come a Krita age of twelve hundred divine years.”
The Earth’s Laughter
At the last, Parashara sang the song that the Earth herself sings. The Earth says, “How strange it is. These kings are men of intellect, and yet what a delusion holds them, that though they endure no longer than a bubble of foam they place such faith in their own permanence. Beguiled by the thought, ‘step by step we will conquer this whole earth to the very shore of the ocean,’ they never see the death that stands close at their side. The very ground their forefathers left behind, the ground that not even their fathers could carry away with them, this ground, this me, these fools long to conquer; and for my sake father and son and brother fight one another to the death. When kings send envoys to their rivals to say, ‘this earth is mine, give it up at once,’ I laugh long at such fools, and then I pity them too.”
Parashara said, “Whoever hears this song with faith will find his sense of possession melting like snow in the heat of the sun. In this way I have set before you the account of that line of Manu in which a portion of Vishnu, the preserver, has always dwelt; and whoever hears the story of this royal house is freed from every sin of his.”
Source: Vishnu Purana (Gita Press, Gorakhpur)