Battle of the Ten Kings (Dasharajna)

01What the hymns say

Three hymns of the seventh Mandala, the Mandala of the Vasishthas, carry the battle: 7.18, 7.33 and 7.83. Sudas stood with the Tritsus and Bharatas. Against him came the Purus, Yadus, Turvashas, Anus and Druhyus, with smaller peoples such as the Bhalanas, Alinas, Pakthas, Shivas and Vishanins. Hymn 7.18 tells how the enemies tried to cut the banks of the Parushni to flood the Bharata side, and how the river instead swept them away. Indra and Varuna are praised for the victory, and Vasishtha for his prayer.

02Vasishtha and Vishvamitra

The third Mandala shows Vishvamitra too as a priest of the Bharatas, leading them across the Vipash and Shutudri, the Beas and the Sutlej. By the time of the battle Vasishtha stands beside Sudas. Tradition reads the change of purohita and the war of the ten kings together, and the rivalry of the two rishis became one of the great kathas of the Itihasa and Puranas. The Bharatas who won here gave their name to the land: Bharatavarsha.