The Vrishni Dynasty: Sri Krishna’s lineage

One day King Revanta, a great friend of Indra, went to Vaikunth riding Indra’s horse Ucchayhsravas.

Here, Mahalaxmi was sitting at Lord Vishnu’s feet. When she saw the beautiful and handsome Revanta, she got attracted to him and her attention was seduced away from Vishnu. Seeing this, Vishnu got angry and laid a curse on her; she would have to be born as a mare on Earth. Mahalaxmi, realising her folly, agonisingly begged Vishnu to free her of the curse. Lord Vishnu, taking pity, consoled her that she would have to undergo the curse, albeit only till she gave birth to a son. Further, Lord Vishnu then blessed Mahalaxmi saying that the son born to her would be equal in glory to Lord Vishnu himself.

Mahalaxmi came to Earth as a mare and started penance at the confluence of the rivers Kalindi and Tamasa. She meditated on Lord Shiva. One day Lord Shiva appeared to her and asked her what she wanted. Mahalaxmi explained how Lord Vishnu had cursed her and the only way for her to be free from this curse was to give birth to a son. She asked Lord Shiva to find her a worthy match. Lord Shiva promised to help her.

Shiva went to Vaikunth and sent Vishnu down to earth as a horse. So Mahavishnu and Mahalaxmi lived together as horse and mare. A son was born to them whom they left at the banks of the confluence and returned to Vaikunth. Since the boy was born from the union of a horse and a mare, he was known as Haihaya.

Satyajit, the great grandson of Yayati was doing penance at the confluence of the two rivers too. He wanted to obtain a child. One night a vidyadhara named Champak, accompanied by a vidyadhari named Madalsa, seeing the helpless infant and recognizing him as the son of Vishnu and Mahalaxmi, picked him up and placed him near to where Satyajit was performing his austerities.

Indra appeared to Satyajit and asked him to look after the boy. Satyajit was very pleased to receive the child and took him to his palace and brought him up as his own son. When Ekavira (named by Satyajit) came of age, he was crowned as king. Satyajit, along with his queen, then went away into the forest to lead the life of a hermit.

One day Ekavira was enjoying himself at the banks of River Ganga when he happened to observe a beautiful damsel weeping. Ekavira went to her and asked her the reason for her grief. She explained that she was a very close friend of Yashovati. Yashovati was the daughter of the neighbouring king Raviua and his queen Rukmarekha. They had obtained Yashovati after having performed the putra kamesty yagna. The damsel described how Yashovati and she had grown up together and had been best friends. A demon by the name of Kalaketu had kidnapped Yashovati and had taken her to Patala (the underworld). King Ekavira decided to help her and went into the Patala, defeated the demon, and brought Yashovati back. She then became his queen. Yashovati gave birth to Kartaviryarjuna. He became the founder the Vrishni dynasty in which Sri Krishna was born.

The scriptures tell us that any event that happens in life is a combination of three forces. These are the active, passive, and neutralising or (in Sanskrit) rajas, tamas, and satva respectively. In today’s story, we can see how initially there were only two forces and how then the third force manifested.

Vishnu represents sat or truth and his energy (or Mahalaxmi) is satva or the quality of truth. She is born out of Vishnu and to fulfil the needs of worldly manifestations, her attention has to be seduced away from Vishnu and this is done when she is attracted to the king Revanta. Thus, Vishnu curses her to be born as a mare. She was born where the two rivers Tamasa (or passive force) and Kalindi (or active force) met. A horse is the symbol of time. Her being born as a feminine horse depicts that the third force or satva is beyond the laws of time.

An interesting aspect of this story is that it shows to us that there are no straight lines in existence. Whatever we say to another person always comes back to us in some form or the other and none is free from this law. Lord Vishnu cursed Mahalaxmi to be born as a mare but eventually he had to come as a horse too to provide her company.

Satyajit means one who has conquered Sat or truth. After the experience of truth comes the knowledge of how to apply and spread that truth in the world. The Vidyadhara and Vidyadhari are the bearers of knowledge. They bring the child of Vishnu and Mahalaxmi to Satyajit. This is symbolic of the fruit of truth being borne to the world by knowledge. Satyajit looks after this child and makes him king. His new name is Ekavira or a string of pearls, so from him a great lineage of kings is born.

For truth to spread, the child must marry Yashovati or fame, who has been held by the demon Kalaketu, or time. Fame grows with time. So it has to be freed from the demon of time. This demon lies in our unconscious minds or patala. Fame does not mean that we become famous but that the fragrance of our essence or truth spreads like a perfume. Our unconscious minds are dark and are full of patterns or samskaras that bind and blind us. Here, Ekavira goes into the unconscious and frees fame from these patterns.

Then only is a great lineage of kings born, all having fame and prosperity; the epitome being Sri Krishna.

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