Text 5]
King Yayāti Regains His Youth
17
TRANSLATION
King Yayāti had four younger brothers, whom he allowed to rule the four directions. Yayāti himself married Devayānī, the daughter of Śukrācārya, and Śarmiṣṭhā, the daughter of Vṛṣaparvā, and ruled the entire earth.
TEXT 5
श्रीराजोवाच
ब्रह्मर्षिर्भगवान् काव्यः क्षत्रबन्धुश्च नाहुषः । राजन्यविप्रयोः कस्माद् विवाहः प्रतिलोमकः ॥ ५ ॥
śrī-rājovāca
brahmarṣir bhagavān kāvyaḥ
kṣatra-bandhuś ca nāhuṣaḥ
rājanya-viprayoḥ kasmād
vivāhaḥ pratilomakaḥ
śrī-rājā uvāca—Mahārāja Parikṣit inquired; brahma-ṛṣiḥ—the best of the brāhmaṇas; bhagavān—very powerful; kāvyaḥ—Śukrācārya; kṣatra-bandhuḥ—belonged to the kṣatriya class; ca—also; nāhuṣaḥ—King Yayāti; rājanya-viprayoḥ—of a brāhmaṇa and a kṣatriya; kasmād—how; vivāhaḥ—a marital relationship; pratilomakaḥ—against the customary regulative principles.
TRANSLATION
Mahārāja Parikṣit said: Śukrācārya was a very powerful brāhmaṇa, and Mahārāja Yayāti was a kṣatriya. Therefore I am curious to know how there occurred this pratiloma marriage between a kṣatriya and a brāhmaṇa.
PURPORT
According to the Vedic system, marriages between kṣatriyas and kṣatriyas or between brāhmaṇas and brāhmaṇas are the general custom. If marriages sometimes take place between different classes, these