644 Srimad-Bhagavatam [Canto 1, Ch. 12
only he attained the higher planetary residence. He is one of those pious
kings whose names are remembered in the morning and evening.

Yayati: The great emperor of the world and the original forefather of all
great nations of the world who belong to the Aryan and Indo-European
stock. He is the son of Maharaja Nahusa, and he became the emperor of
the world due to his elder brother’s becoming a great and liberated saintly
mystic. He ruled over the world for several thousands of years and per-
formed many sacrifices and pious activities recorded in history, although
his early youth was very lustful and full of romantic stories. He fell in love
with Devayani, the most beloved daughter of Sukracarya. Devayani
wished to marry him, but at first he refused to accept her because of her
being a daughter of a brahmana. According to sastras, a brahmana could
marry the daughter of a brahmana. They were very much cautious about
varna-sankara population in the world. Sukracdrya ammended this law of
forbidden marriage and induced Emperor Yayati to accept Devayani.
Devayani had a girl friend named Sarmistha, who also fell in love with the
emperor and thus went with her friend Devayani. Sukracarya forbade
Emperor Yayati to call Sarmistha into his bedroom, but Yayati could not
strictly follow his instruction. He secretly married Sarmistha also and begot
sons by her. When this was known by Devayani, she went to her father and
lodged a complaint. Yayati was much attached to Devayani, and when he
went to his father-in-law’s place to call her, Sukracarya was angry with
him and cursed him to become impotent. Yayati begged his father-in-law
to withdraw his curse, but the sage asked Yayati to ask youthfulness from
his sons and let them become old as the condition of his becoming potent.
He had five sons, two from Devayani and three from Sarmistha. From his
five sons, namely 1) Yadu, 2) Turvasu, 3) Druhyu, 4) Anu, and 5) Puru,
five famous dynasties, namely 1) the Yadu dynasty, 2) the Yavana (Turk)
dynasty, 3) the Bhoja dynasty, 4) the Mleccha dynasty (Greek), and 5)
the Paurava dynasty, all emanated to spread all over the world. He reached
the heavenly planets by dint of his pious acts, but he fell down from there
because of his self-advertisement and criticizing other great souls. After
his fall, his daughter and grandson bestowed upon him their accumulated
virtues, and by the help of his grandson and friend Sibi, he was again
promoted to the heavenly kingdom, becoming one of the assembly
members of Yamaraja, with whom he is staying as a devotee. He performed
more than one thousand different sacrifices, gave in charity very liberally
and was a very influential king. His majestical power was felt all over the
world. His youngest son agreed to award him his youthfulness when he
was troubled with lustful desires, even for one thousand years. Finally he
