Chandravansha

The Chandravansha (Lunar dynasty) descends from Soma, the Moon, son of Rishi Atri. Soma's son Budha married Ila, daughter of Manu, and their son Pururavas founded the line. It is the line of Nahusha, Yayati, Puru and Yadu, and so of the Kauravas and Pandavas and of Krishna's Yadavas. Yaduvanshi and Bhati families, and those who give Somadatta as their gotra, trace their descent to it.

The Shatapatha Brahmana names Pururavas as the son of Budha and Ila, and Yayati as his great-grandson. Yayati's five sons, Yadu, Turvasu, Druhyu, Anu and Puru, seem to be the names of five Vedic peoples. The Rigveda [10.95] has the dialogue of Pururavas and Urvashi.

The main branches, as the Vishnu Purana [IV.6-20] gives them:

• The Kashi line. Pururavas's son Ayu has five sons: Nahusha, Kshatravriddha, Rambha, Raji and Anenas. Kshatravriddha's son Suhotra has sons Kasha, Lesha and Ghritsamada. From Kasha come Kashiraja, Dirghatamas, Dhanvantari, Ketumat, Bhimaratha, Divodasa and Pratardana [IV.8]. Ghritsamada's son is Shaunaka.
• Yayati's five lines. Nahusha's son Yayati has Yadu and Turvasu by Devayani, and Druhyu, Anu and Puru by Sharmishtha. Usanas curses him with old age, and only Puru agrees to take it; Yayati gives Puru his youth and makes him king [IV.10].
• Yadu. His line is the Yadavas. Through Haihaya it reaches Kartavirya Arjuna, and through Madhu and Vrishni it gives the Madhavas and Vrishnis, the family of Krishna [IV.11].
• Turvasu. His line runs through Vahni, Gobhanu, Traishamba and Karandhama to Marutta, who has no son and adopts Dushyanta of the Puru line, so that the two merge [IV.16]. Some other Puranas continue it to the southern peoples.
• Druhyu. His line runs to Gandhara, the country named after one of his descendants [IV.17]. The Brahma and Hari Puranas place Gandhara's successors under Anu.
• Anu. His line includes Usinara and Shivi, whose sons give names to peoples of the north-west, and Bali, whose sons Anga, Vanga, Kalinga, Suhma and Pundra give their names to five countries. Karna's foster-father Adhiratha belongs to the Anga line [IV.18].
• Puru. His line runs through Dushyanta and Bharata to Hastin, who founds Hastinapur, and to Hastin's son Ajamidha. From Ajamidha come the Kanva line, the Panchalas, and Riksha, whose descendant is Kuru. After Kuru come Pratipa and his sons Devapi, Shantanu and Bahlika, and then Bhishma, Vichitravirya, Dhritarashtra, Pandu, the Kauravas, the Pandavas, Abhimanyu and Parikshit [IV.19-20].

Several Brahmin families arose in the line. The Vishnu Purana says the Kanvayana Brahmins descend from Medhatithi, son of Kanva, in Ajamidha's line; that the Maudgalya Brahmins descend from Mudgala, one of the five Panchala brothers; that the Gargyas and Sainyas, Kshatriyas by birth, became Brahmins; that Kapi became a Brahmin; and that Shaunaka is a son of Ghritsamada.

Many Rajput clans place themselves in this line, in two groups. The Yaduvanshis include the Bhatis of Jaisalmer, the Jadauns, and the Samma clans, Chudasama and Jadeja. The Jadeja origin is disputed: some scholars hold that they were Hindu branches of the Samma dynasty of Sindh, and others that the Sammas were a pastoral community from which the Jadejas arose. The Puruvanshis include the Tomars (Tanwars), who name Arjuna among their forebears, the Chandels, and the Katochs. The Chandel origin tale has the Moon visit Hemavati, daughter of a priest, and their son is the progenitor Chandravarma. Romila Thapar describes this as a mythical lunar descent, and the dynasty is also linked to the Gond country of central India. The Katochs trace themselves to the Trigarta kings of the Mahabharata. Yadav communities, among them the Ahirs, also claim descent from Yadu and Krishna. The Ahir adoption of the Yadav name dates to the late 19th and early 20th centuries, under the influence of the Arya Samaj. These are claims of descent held by the clans. Historians such as Dirk Kolff and Cynthia Talbot read Rajput genealogies as built to support power and Kshatriya standing, many of them in the 16th and 17th centuries.

1. Soma, son of Atri: the Moon is born of Rishi Atri and becomes the ancestor of the line.
2. Budha and Ila: Soma's son Budha (Mercury) marries Ila, daughter of Manu, joining the Lunar and Solar lines.
3. Pururavas and Urvashi: their son Pururavas, the first king of the line, and his love for the apsara Urvashi.
4. Ayu and his five sons: Pururavas's son Ayu is the father of Nahusha and of the Kashi line.
5. Yayati's sons: Yayati's sons Yadu and Puru found the Yadava and Paurava branches. Puru gives up his youth for his father and becomes king.
6. Kartavirya Arjuna: a thousand-armed king of the Haihaya branch of the Yadavas, killed by Parashurama [Vishnu Purana IV.11].
7. Hastin founds Hastinapur: the seat of the Kurus and of the Mahabharata.
8. The Mahabharata: the Kauravas and Pandavas, both of Puru's line, and Krishna of Yadu's.

• Hastinapura and Mathura: the seats of the Puru and Yadu lines.
• Prayaga and Kashi: Prayaga, where Ila rules in the Mahabharata, and Kashi, the seat of the Kashi branch.
• A moonlit river