Who are these people from the Mahabharata?

Question

"The sons of Div were Brihadbhanu, Chakshus, Atma Vibhavasu, Savita, Richika, Arka, Bhanu, Asavaha, and Ravi. Of these Vivaswans of old, Mahya was the youngest whose son was Deva-vrata."

What is a Vivaswan?
Who is Div?

Any information on any of the characters from the passages would be much appreciated. Thank you!

Answer 1

The generation of Devas, in brief, was thirty-three thousand, thirty-three hundred and thirty-three. The sons of Div were Brihadbhanu, Chakshus, Atma Vibhavasu, Savita, Richika, Arka, Bhanu, Asavaha, and Ravi. Of these Vivaswans of old, Mahya was the youngest whose son was Deva-vrata. The latter had for his son, Su-vrata who, we learn, had three sons,--Dasa-jyoti, Sata-jyoti, and Sahasra-jyoti, each of them producing numerous offspring. The illustrious Dasa-jyoti had ten thousand, Sata-jyoti ten times that number, and Sahasra-jyoti ten times the number of Sata-jyoti's offspring. From these are descended the family of the Kurus, of the Yadus, and of Bharata; the family of Yayati and of Ikshwaku; also of all the Rajarshis. Numerous also were the generations produced, and very abundant were the creatures and their places of abode. The mystery which is threefold--the Vedas, Yoga, and Vijnana Dharma, Artha, and Kama--also various books upon the subject of Dharma, Artha, and Kama; also rules for the conduct of mankind; also histories and discourses with various srutis; all of which having been seen by the Rishi Vyasa are here in due order mentioned as a specimen of the book.

Vivaswan, the Sun-God, is Brahma. The Sun-god, also called "Surya Narayan", refers to the god Narayan of the sun dynasty. The sun dynasty is the golden age or satyug, just as the moon dynasty is the silver age or treta. Surya in this context does not mean the planet "sun", it means the sun-dynasty or the golden age.

DIV - is one of the Devas.

Answer 2

Grt Question?
i go with Grandmother to say that till i saw ur question i thought i knew a lot on the Mahabharath.

any way after going through my text, i can conclude the following.

in the beggining of the Adi parva we learn the story of Devayani the daughter of Sukracharya and her Love Yuyutsu.
yuyutsu also had an affair with another girl.

totally Yuyutsu had 6 sons starting with Kuru.


Vivaswan is the name of the grandson of kuru who got the oppurtunity to rule as his brother went to become an asetic.

I couldnt find the name Div any where.

but as far as i Know, Devavrat was the original name of Bheeshmacahrya.

and Arka-Bhanu is a single name.

If u can say the place where you got the passage, it would be much more helpful to decode.

Answer 3

You quote from and english translation of the Sanskit Hindu epic The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, ADI PARVA SECTION I (link below). That section is described by the last link as "Introduction, birth and upbringing of the princes."

The text has existed in written form for about 2000 documented years. Similar to the Bible, it is more a library than a single book, and includes as part the Bhagavad Gita which is probably the most known Hindu book for westerners.

"The innermost narrative kernel of the Mahabharata tells the story of two sets of paternal first cousins--the five sons of the deceased king Pandu [pronounced PAAN-doo] (the five Pandavas [said as PAAN-da-va-s]) and the one hundred sons of blind King Dhritarashtra [Dhri-ta-RAASH-tra] (the 100 hundred Dhartarashtras [Dhaar-ta-RAASH-tras])--who became bitter rivals, and opposed each other in war for possession of the ancestral Bharata [BHAR-a-ta] kingdom with its capital in the "City of the Elephant," Hastinapura [HAAS-ti-na-pu-ra], on the Ganga river in north central India. What is dramatically interesting within this simple opposition is the large number of individual agendas the many characters pursue, and the numerous personal conflicts, ethical puzzles, subplots, and plot twists that give the story a strikingly powerful development. " from an overview of the complex and character-filled tale in the second link. Study resources are the third.

The section you quote is an introduction which includes a geneology which numbers "thirty-three thousand, thirty-three hundred and thirty-three" generations; mystic and metaphoric, clearly, to establish the source of the work and characters in it.

I regret I am unable to find a trustworthy description of Div or Vivaswan, and suggest you contact an authority on the Sanskrit text.

Answer 4

Vivaswans are like the Yadavas. I don't know, how well you know hinduism and i don't know how to explain to you what vivaswans are. Div is the son of Manu. Also, they are not of Aryan descent. Aryans are persians.

They were a populace that came after the Yadavas and Dravidians. Aryans are light skinned people with coloured eyes, whereas Dravidians are dark skinned people with black or deep brown eyes. India was invaded by the Aryans and they drove the Dravidians towards the South which is why north Indians are light skinned people.

I cannot agree with what Sahar has said.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manu_(Hinduism)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yadavas

Answer 5

Sorry. till I read your question, I believed that I know a lot on the Mahabharata.

Answer 6

Mahabhartans?

Answer 7

All hero characters are Old Aryans ancestors of 70% Pakistani and 30% Indian population and villains and servants are locals black in color and weak in body.

Answer 8

these were the kings and maharishis.

Answer 9

Please make it clear

Answer 10

http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m01/m01002.htm
http://www.mahabharataonline.com/translation/mahabharata_01002.php
http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Mahabharata,_Book_1:_Adi_Parva/Introduction/Section_1
http://www.globusz.com/ebooks/Mahabharata/00000012.htm
http://infomotions.com/etexts/gutenberg/dirs/1/5/4/7/15474/15474.htm