HomeRamayanaBala KandaSarga 70Shloka 1.70.39
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Shloka 1.70.39

वंशवर्णनम् तथा विवाहप्रार्थना — Genealogy of the Ikshvaku Line and the Proposal for Marriage

भगीरथात्ककुत्स्थश्च ककुत्स्थस्य रघुस्सुत:।रघोस्तु पुत्रस्तेजस्वी प्रवृद्ध: पुरुषादक:।।1.70.39।।कल्माषपादो ह्यभवत्तस्माज्जातस्तु शंखण:।

bhagīrathāt kakutsthaś ca kakutsthasya raghus sutaḥ | raghōs tu putras tejasvī pravṛddhaḥ puruṣādakaḥ || 1.70.39 || kalmāṣapādo hy abhavat tasmāj jātas tu śaṅkhaṇaḥ |

From Bhagiratha came Kakutstha, and Kakutstha’s son was Raghu. Raghu’s powerful son was Pravṛddha, known as Puruṣādaka; indeed he became Kalmāṣapāda, and from him was born Śaṅkhaṇa.

Bhagiratha begot Kakustha whose son was Raghu. Powerful Pravriddha was Raghu's son. He became Purushadaka (cannibal), on the curse of Vasistha. He grasped water in order to retaliate Vasishta but was prevented by his wife. The water fell on his feet and he came to be known as Kalmashapada (feet polluted with water). Samkhana was born to him.

B
Bhagiratha
K
Kakutstha
R
Raghu
P
Pravṛddha
P
Puruṣādaka
K
Kalmāṣapāda
Ś
Śaṅkhaṇa

The verse warns that deviation from dharma can distort kingship itself; names like Puruṣādaka/Kalmāṣapāda preserve moral memory about the consequences of unrighteous conduct.

The narrator continues the royal genealogy, noting a king associated with a fearful epithet and his successor.

By contrast (through negative example), the virtue emphasized is self-restraint essential to rāja-dharma; its absence is marked by the epithet ‘man-eater’.