Raghu

Emperor Raghu was a valorous king of the Ikshvaku dynasty. The name in Sanskrit translates to the fast one, deriving from Raghu's chariot driving abilities. So celebrated were the exploits of Raghu, that his dynasty itself came to be known as the Raghuvamsha or the Raghukula after him. The history of his dynasty is elaborated upon by Kalidasa in his Raghuvamsha. The lineage described in the Raghuvamsha goes thus: Dilip was the father of Raghu, who was the father of Aja, who was the father of Dasaratha, who was the father of Rama.

The warrior Raghu leads a military expedition to Transoxiana. He defeats and subjugates local peoples along the way (presumably on his march through Central Asia) until he reaches the Vankshu or Caksu, the Vedic/Puranic names of the Oxus River. There, Raghu's army battles the Hepthalites, or White Huns, whom the Indians called Hunas and Mlecchas (barbarians). The Hepthalites are defeated, and the Raghuvamsha boasts of "The exploits of Raghu, whose valor expressed itself amongst the husbands of the Huna women, became manifest in the scarlet color of their cheeks."

Raghu was a great donor. It is said that no one returns from his palace empty-handed.

After crossing the Oxus, Raghu and his army encountered the Kambojas, an ancient Iranian people often mentioned in Indian texts. The Kambojas submitted to Raghu and offered him gifts and treasures. Evidently, the Kambojas dwelt in the vicinity of the Pamirs. Kalidasa describes the preponderance of walnut trees in the Oxus country and indeed, this particular region is still known for the cultivation of walnuts.

Raghu's father Dilip was a very pious king, and performed as many as 100 yagnas or sacrificial rituals. Until he did so, only Indra, king of the Gods, had earned that distinction. In a bid to prevent Dileepa from equaling his record, Indra placed many hurdles in the path of the successful completion of the 100th sacrifice, but Raghu was able to prevail over the forces of Indra himself, and the sacrifice was completed successfully.

Raghu is best known today as the great-grandfather of Rama. There are indications that in the classical period, Raghu was a heroic personality of far greater importance that what one would imagine today. The epic composed by the classical poet Kalidasa on the lives of the ancestors of Rama is entitled Raghuvamsha or the "Dynasty of Raghu". Indeed, Rama himself is known by many appellations (such as Raghava, Raghunandan and Raghukula Nayaka), indicative of his belonging to the family of Raghu, which again serves to underscore the great prestige enjoyed by Raghu in the puranic era.

Raghu is also most common Hindu name. Names like Raghunathan(sanjaya), Ch.Raghupathy, Raghupathy, Raghav chandra,Raghuram,Raghavendra, Raaghu etc are few examples. Raghunath L is a notable Person. One adaptation of the name can be found in the forms: Raghoul, Rangun, Ragoblin, Rags, Upsilimama Tumpelerado

Additional details based on two authoritative sources: Valmiki Ramayana and Srimad Bhagavatam Because of the topic Raghuvamsam we started in our Bhagavad Gita discussion group, I took the time to check both Valmiki Ramayanam and Srimad Bhagavatam today. There are some conflicting details in these two texts about Rama's ancestors.

Srimad Bhagavatam Ancestry list:

The ninth canto deals with Vaivasvata Manvantara that we live in. King Parikshith asks Sage Shuka to tell him more about this manvantara and the story begins. It is here that we find the story of Maharaja Ambarisha, a direct descendant in this line. In the 10th adhyaya, Shukacarya tells the story of Rama. Here's he mentions the following lineage, in the very first verse.

Katvanga's son was Dheergabahu and his son was Raghu. The Pruthushrava (conquer of the world) Raghu's son was Maharaja Aja and his son was Dasharatha. Bhagavan Himself was born in his family, assuming the four forms of Rama, Lakshmana, Bharata, and Shatrughna, who were his amshanshas.

Notice that there is no mention here of Dilip, whose story is mentioned very prominently in Kalidasa's Raghuvamsa.

Valmiki Ramayana Ancestry List:

Rama's ancestry is given in the 70th sarga of Balakanda. After Rama has won Sita's hand, by breaking Lord Shiva's bow, King Janaka sends his messengers to Ayodhya to invite Dasharatha and his family to the wedding. The sage Vashista, who is the kulaguru of Dasharatha then describes Rama's lineage, going back to The Supreme Being (Avyakta). From the Avyakta was born Brahma and from Brahma was born Marichi. From Marichi was born Kashyapa and from him was born Vivasvaan (hence Vaisvata Manvantara). Manu's son was Ikshvaku. (Hence the name Ikshvaku vamsam for Rama's family.)

Vashista then continues to list the descendants of Ikshvaku. Maharaja Pruthu and Trishanku are mentioned. After some additional generations, he mentions Sagara, whose grandson was Anshuman and Dilip was Anshuman's son. According to Vashishta, Dilip's son was Bhagiratha, whose son was Kakutstha (hence Rama is also called Kaakutstha). Raghu was Kakutstha's son. Vashista then mentions several other descendants of Raghu, including Ambarisha.

Ambarisha's son was Nahusha (who was famously cursed by Agasthya) whose son was Yayati (not the one from Mahabharata) whose son was Nabhaga whose son was Aja and from whom was born Dasharatha. He concludes this list by only mentioning Rama and Lakshmana as Dasharatha's son and asks Janaka to offer this two daughters in marriage to the sons of Dasharatha.

In the next sarga, King Janaka bows down to Vashista and recites his lineage. He starts with Maharaja Nimi (hence, Sita is mentioned as Nimeenaam kula deepakam in a famous sthothram supposed to have composed by Hanuman himself on the occasion of Rama's Pattibhishekam). Here he mentions that he is the elder son of Rajarishi Hrusvaromna, who was the son of Swarnaromna, who was the son of Maharomna. Janaka's younger brother was Kushadwaja. He concludes by stating that he would offer Sita's hand to Rama and Urmila's hand to Lakshmana.

In the next sarga, we find Viswamitra addressing them all. He mentions that both these families are so illustrious as to be unthinkable, there is just no comparison. This is a match equal in Dharma and Roopa and Sampada. But, he says, I would like to add something more. Here we have your brother Kushadwaja and he is blessed with two beautiful daughters. Viswamitra then proposes that these two daughters should in turn be offered to Bharata and Shatrughna. Both families will be further blessed by such a union.

King Janaka then immediately agrees to the proposal (*) and says, "Our family would indeed be blessed by this. Let the four princes accept the hand of the four princesses."

I was a bit disappointed to find the discrepancy in the two lists. Perhaps, Shukacharya was being brief (in many places he does mention that he will describe things briefly, in answer to Parikshith's questions).

Lord Rama's descendants:

In the 10th adhyaya of the 9th Canto of Srimad Bhagavatam we find the detailed listing of the descendants of Rama. There are some interesting tidbits here.

It is important to recall that Shukacarya is addressing Parikshith and this occurred at the beginning of Kaliyuga, which lasts for 432,000 years. Krishna was born in Dwapara yuga and went back to Vaikunta (??? or whatever Dhama one chooses to believe in) at the end of that yuga. Kaliyuga started only after He left this earth. Dwaparayuga lasts for 864,000 years. Rama was born in the earlier yuga known as Treta yuga which lasts for 1,296,000 years. With this in mind, let's listen to Shukacarya's narration of Rama's descendants.

Starting with Kusha (let's take him as generation 1), Shukacharya gives the names of 58 generations. The 20th generation was Maru and Shukacarya mentions that through Yogasadhan he attained siddhi and is still living in a village named Kalaapa. This is amazing considering the thousands of years that had elapsed at the time of the conversation between Parikshith and Shukacarya.

After Maru, Shukacarya continues listing 8 more generations. The 28th generation was Bruhatbala. Now, Shukacarya says, "Parikshith, your father Abhimanyu killed Bruhatbala in the war." This too is amazing (**), since it means that the 28th descendant of Lord Rama choose to be on the side of Kauravas during the Mahabharata war instead of joining the Pandavas and Krishna!

Shukacarya continues to list the remaining 30 generations. These are called the descendants of Bruhatbala. It is important to note that Shukacarya is now talking about the future - those descendants of Rama's family who are still to be born, in Kaliyuga. The lineage ends with Sumitra. Shukacarya says that the Ikshvaku lineage will end after Sumitra becomes the king.

But, here's the most interesting tidbit of all. When he mentions Maru, the 20th generation from Rama, Shukacarya also says that Maru will re-establish the Solar dynasty at the end of Kaliyuga.

So, we can conclude that we are now living in Kaliyuga, after Rama's lineage has ended abruptly with Sumitra (the 58th generation). But, Maru is still in the village of Kalaapa and Rama's dynasty will re-emerge when Kaliyuga ends and the next Satya Yuga begins.

Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare.

(*) Note that it is Janaka who speaks on behalf of his younger brother. This is still the tradition in our families to this day. The eldest son in the family also has the duty to perform the wedding of all the children of all the other sons in the family.

(**) Why would a direct descendant of Rama side with the Kauravas instead of being on the side of Krishna and the Pandavas? This is certainly something that we should all think about.

(??) According to Srila Prabhupada, Krishna's abode is the highest, with Rama's abode being below Krishna's and Vaikunta is below both these two abodes. Krishna is The Supreme Being. (Hence also he is not mentioned in Jayadeva's composition, Krishna is not avatara since He is The Supreme. Jayadeva includes Buddha instead of Krishna as one of the avataras.)