Vaishampayana Describes King Duhshanta's Virtuous Rule
In response to the king's request, Vaishampayana begins not with a birth, but with a reign. He describes Duhshanta, the founder-king, and the ideal, prosperous, and perfectly dharmic world he ruled.
Vaishampayana began where the lineage truly took hold of the earth. "O best of the Bharata lineage!" he said to Janamejaya. "The founder of the Pourava dynasty was the valorous Duhshanta."
He first established the sheer scale of Duhshanta's power. This was not a petty chieftain. He was a chakravartin, a universal monarch. "The victorious one protected the entire earth up to its four limits and was the lord of the four quarters of the earth and also regions that are in the middle of the ocean." His dominion extended even over the lands of the mlecchas (those beyond the traditional social order), populated by the four varnas (social classes), in territories beyond the gem-filled oceans.
But Vaishampayana’s emphasis was not on conquest alone. It was on the quality of life under Duhshanta's rule — a golden age invoked as the standard against which all other times would be measured.
"During this king’s rule," the sage said, "there was no mixture of castes and no performer of evil deeds." The social order was intact and pure. The burdens of survival were lifted: "No one needed to plough the land. No one needed to mine the earth." The people were not driven by need or greed. "O tiger among men! Everyone was devoted to dharma and everyone acted in accordance with the norms of righteous conduct."
Fear, the constant companion of ordinary eras, was absent. "O son! While he was the ruler of the land, there was no fear from thieves and no fear from famines. While he was the ruler of the land, there was no fear from disease." The four varnas performed their svadharma (own duty) not for reward, but as their natural state. "All the four varnas took pleasure in undertaking their own duties, without an eye to the fruits of the action." They knew their king was their sure shield. "Depending upon him as a protector of the earth, they confronted no fear from anywhere."
Nature itself cooperated in this harmony. "Parjanya (the rain god) showered down rain at the appropriate time and the crops were succulent. The earth abounded with great stores of riches then."
Having painted the world Duhshanta governed, Vaishampayana then painted the man himself. He was in the prime of youth, his prowess "extraordinary." His body was so mighty it "was capable of withstanding the vajra (Indra's thunderbolt)." His strength was mythic: "He could have raised up and carried in his arms Mandara, the mountain used to churn the ocean, with all its woods and forests." He was a master of every form of combat — archery, the club, all weapons, whether fighting from an elephant or a horse.
His virtues matched his strength. "He was like Vishnu in his strength and like the sun in his radiance. He was like the ocean in his equanimity and like the earth in his tolerance." And this paragon was loved. "The great king was loved by all his subjects, in cities and in the country. Everyone abided by dharma."
With this portrait complete — of the king and the perfect world he sustained — the ground was prepared. The specific story of how this ideal king secured his lineage could now begin.