Page:The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa (1884).djvu/262

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228
MAHABHARATA.

gold coins as the sacrificial fee. It is that Bharata from whom have flowed so many mighty achievements. It is from him that the great race hath sprung called after his name. And all monarchs that have come after him in his race are called after him. And in the Bharata race there have been born many god-like monarchs gifted with great energy, and like unto Brahmā himself. Their numbers cannot be counted. But, O thou of the Bharata race, I shall name the principal ones that were blessed with great good fortune, like unto the gods, and devoted to truth and honesty."

And so ends the seventy-fourth Section in the Sambhava of the Adi Parva.


Section LXXV.
( Sambhava Parva continued. )

Vaisampayana said, "Hear now, as I recite, the recorded genealogy, that is sacred and subservient to religion, profit, and pleasure, of these royal sages: the lord of creation, Daksha; Manu the son of Surya; Bharata; Kuru; Puru; and Ajmida. I shall also recite to thee, O sinless one, the genealogies of the Yadavas and of the Kurus; and of the kings of the Bharata line. These genealogies are sacred and their recitation is a great act of propitiation. That recitation confereth wealth, fame, and long life. And, O sinless one, all those I have named shone in their splendour and were equal unto the great Rishis in energy.

"Pracheta had ten sons who were all devoted to asceticism and possessed every virtue. They burnt of old, by the fire emanating from their mouths, several plants of poisonous properties, and innumerable large trees that had covered the earth and become a source of great discomfort to man. After these ten, was born another named Daksha. It is from Daksha that all creatures have sprung. Therefore is he, O tiger among men, called the Grand-father. And born of Pracheta, the Muni Daksha, uniting himself with Virini, begat a thousand sons of rigid vows, all like himself. And Narada taught these thousand sons of Daksha the excellent philosophy of Sankhya