The Turvasu dynasty (), Druhyu dynasty () and the Anu dynasty () are the names of three legendary

cadet branches In history and heraldry, a cadet branch consists of the male-line descendants of a monarch's or patriarch's younger sons ( cadets). In the ruling dynasties and noble families of much of Europe and Asia, the family's major assets— realm, title ...

of the

Lunar dynasty The Lunar dynasty (IAST: Candravaṃśa) is a legendary principal house of the Kshatriyas varna, or warrior–ruling caste mentioned in the ancient Indian texts. This legendary dynasty was said to be descended from moon-related deities (''Som ...

Hindu literature Hindu texts are manuscripts and voluminous historical literature which are related to any of the diverse traditions within Hinduism. A few of these texts are shared across these traditions and they are broadly considered Hindu scriptures. These ...

, featured in the

Puranas Purana (; sa, , '; literally meaning "ancient, old"Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of Literature (1995 Edition), Article on Puranas, , page 915) is a vast genre of Indian literature about a wide range of topics, particularly about legends an ...

and the epics

Ramayana The ''Rāmāyana'' (; sa, रामायणम्, ) is a Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epic composed over a period of nearly a millennium, with scholars' estimates for the earliest stage of the text ranging from the 8th ...

and

Mahabharata The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; sa, महाभारतम्, ', ) is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India in Hinduism, the other being the ''Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the struggle between two groups of cousins in the Kuruk ...

Legend

According to

Hindu mythology Hindu mythology is the body of myths and literature attributed to, and espoused by, the adherents of the Hindu religion, found in Hindu texts such as the Vedic literature, epics like ''Mahabharata'' and ''Ramayana'', the Puranas, and reg ...

, King Yayati surreptitiously married the

daitya According to ancient scriptures, the daityas (Sanskrit: दैत्य) are a race of asuras, descending from Kashyapa and his wife, Diti. Prominent members of this race include Hiranyaksha, Hiranyakashipu, and Mahabali, all of whom overran the ...

princess and his wife Devayani's maid, Sharmistha, after she begged him to bear her children. When Devayani learnt of her husband's infidelity to her, she hastened to inform her father, the sage

Shukra Shukra (Sanskrit: शुक्र, IAST: ) is a Sanskrit word that means "clear" or "bright". It also has other meanings, such as the name of an ancient lineage of sages who counselled Asuras in Vedic history. In medieval mythology and Hindu as ...

. Angered, Shukra cursed his son-in-law with premature old age and infirmity. When Yayati begged him to temper the curse, the sage consented, allowing him to exchange its consequences with one of his sons. Yayati asked each of his sons to bear the curse for a time, and all of them refused, except his youngest, Puru. After a thousand years of enjoying the sensual company of his wives, Yayati named Puru his heir and retired to the forest. The

Vishnu Purana The Vishnu Purana (IAST:, sa, विष्णुपुराण) is one of the eighteen Puranas#Mahapuranas, Mahapuranas, a genre of ancient and medieval texts of Hinduism. It is an important Pancharatra text in the Vaishnavism literature c ...

states that owing to the fact that they had refused to accept their father's curse, Turvasu, Druhyu, and Anu received smaller regions of Yayati's domains to rule for themselves.

Genealogy

Turvasu, Druhyu, and Anu are all described to be the sons of King

Yayati Yayāti ( sa, ययाति, translit=Yayāti), is a king in Hindu tradition. He is described to be a Chandravamsha king. He is regarded to be the progenitor of the races of the Yadavas and the Pandavas. He is considered in some texts to ...

. Turvasu is stated to be the king's second son from his first wife,

Devayani Devayani ( sa, देवयानी, translit=Devayānī) is a character in Hindu literature. She is described to be the daughter of Shukra, the acharya (preceptor) of the asuras, and his wife Jayanti, the daughter of Indra. She marries K ...

, while Druhyu and Anu are his first and second sons from his second wife,

Sharmishtha Sharmishtha () is a princess in Hindu mythology. She is described to be the daughter of the daitya king Vrishaparvan. She becomes the second wife of Yayati, due to which she becomes an ancestor of the Pandavas and the Kauravas. She is feature ...

Yadu This is a list of ancient Indo-Aryan peoples and tribes that are mentioned in the literature of Indic religions. From the second or first millennium BCE, ancient Indo-Aryan peoples and tribes turned into most of the population in the northern p ...

, the first son of Yayati from Devayani, went on to form a cadet branch named the Yaduvamsha due to being stripped of his heirdom, while

Puru Puru refer to: *Puru (Vedic tribe), a tribe, or a confederation of tribes, mentioned many times in the Rigveda *King Puru, a Hindu king in the Rigveda and Mahabharata *King Porus, a king of northwest India in the time of Alexander the Great *Puru ( ...

, his youngest son from Sharmishtha and eventual heir, continued the main line of the Lunar dynasty, which later also came to be known as Puruvamsha. The

Harivamsha The ''Harivamsa'' ( , literally "the genealogy of Hari") is an important work of Sanskrit literature, containing 16,374 shlokas, mostly in the '' anustubh'' metre. The text is also known as the ''Harivamsa Purana.'' This text is believed to ...

offers descriptions of the descendants and successors of Turvasu, Druhyu, and Anu:

Turvasu dynasty

* Turvasu * Vahni * Gobhānu * Trishānu * Karandhama * Marutta * Sammatā (Daughter of Marutta; She married Samvarta, a descendant of Puru, extinguishing the male line of Turvasu) * Duhshanta * Sharutthāma * Ākrīda * Pāndya, Kerala, Kola, and Chola

Druhyu dynasty

* Druhyu * Babhrusena * Angārasetu * Gāndhāra

Anu dynasty

* Anu * Dharma * Dhrita * Duduha * Prachetas * Suchetas

References

External links

Mahabharata

The Dynasties of The sons of King Yayati
{{Authority control Lunar dynasty Mahabharata Ramayana