About
Andhaka — Son of Anu, Sixth Generation of the Kukura Clan
Andhaka · Andhaka of the Kukura line
Andhaka, son of Anu, is recorded in the Puranic genealogies of the Yadava lineage as the sixth generation of the Kukura sub-clan, descending from Kukura — the founding ancestor of that branch of the Yadava confederation — through the line Kukura, Vahni, Viloma, Kapotaroma, and Anu. He is a distinct individual from the several other figures named Andhaka who appear elsewhere in the Yadava genealogical tradition, most notably Andhaka son of Satvata, who belongs to an earlier and different branch of the Yadu lineage and is the remote ancestor from whom Kukura's own line ultimately descends. The reuse of the name Andhaka across multiple generations and branches of the Yadava tree is a common feature of Puranic dynastic nomenclature and requires careful disambiguation. This Andhaka's principal significance in the textual record is his position as the son of Anu — the figure celebrated in the Bhagavata Purana for his friendship with the Gandharva Tumburu — and as the father of Dundubhi, through whom the Kukura lineage continues toward the prominent later figures of Punarvasu, Ahuka, Ugrasena, and Kamsa.
✦ The Name
Andhaka is a Sanskrit name derived from andha, meaning blind or darkness. As a personal name it carries the literal sense of one associated with blindness or darkness. The name appears multiple times in the Yadava genealogical tradition applied to different individuals in different branches and generations, and also appears in the broader Puranic tradition as the name of an Asura slain by Shiva. Within the Kukura lineage, the name's recurrence — with one Andhaka appearing as an ancestor of Kukura and another as the son of Anu — is a straightforward instance of ancestral name-reuse, which the Puranic texts themselves do not comment upon or distinguish with additional epithets.
✦ Lineage
- Father: Anu — also known as Anaka or Bhava in different Puranic recensions, fifth generation of the Kukura clan and son of Kapotaroma. Anu is the only intermediate figure of the Kukura genealogy whom the Bhagavata Purana singles out for a personal distinction, recording his celebrated friendship with Tumburu, the foremost Gandharva musician of the celestial realms.
- Paternal grandfather: Kapotaroma — fourth generation of the Kukura clan, son of Viloma.
- Paternal great-grandfather: Viloma — third generation of the Kukura clan in the Bhagavata Purana's account, son of Vahni.
- Paternal great-great-grandfather: Vahni — second generation of the Kukura clan, son of Kukura, also identified as Dhrista in the Garuda Purana's parallel account.
- Clan founder (five generations prior): Kukura — the progenitor and naming ancestor of the Kukura branch of the Yadavas, a son of Andhaka son of Satvata, within the broader Yadu lineage descending from Yadu, eldest son of the lunar king Yayati.
- Son: Dundubhi — named in the Bhagavata Purana as the son of Andhaka and the seventh generation of the Kukura clan, through whom the lineage continues toward Avidyota, Punarvasu, and Ahuka.
✦ Disambiguation from Other Figures Named Andhaka
The Puranic tradition records several distinct figures bearing the name Andhaka, and their careful separation is essential for accurate genealogical reading. The most prominent is Andhaka son of Satvata, a major node in the earlier Yadava genealogy who is himself the father of Kukura — the very founder of the clan in which the present Andhaka appears six generations later. There is also Andhaka son of Ugrasena, who appears in the later Mathura narrative context. In the broader Puranic tradition the name Andhaka is further borne by a well-known Asura, the son of Kashyapa and Diti or alternatively of Hiranyaksha in different accounts, who is slain by Shiva and whose story is told in the Shiva Purana, the Matsya Purana, and the Harivamsa. None of these figures is to be confused with Andhaka son of Anu, who is a mortal king of the Kukura sub-clan and whose sole attested role in the primary texts is as a generational link in the Kukura genealogical chain.
✦ Position in the Lineage Leading to Mathura
The full downstream sequence from Andhaka son of Anu, as given by the Bhagavata Purana, runs: Andhaka — Dundubhi — Avidyota — Punarvasu — Ahuka. Ahuka is the figure from whom the royal house most directly associated with Mathura descends in the Puranic and epic narrative. Ahuka's son Ugrasena was the king of Mathura, and Ugrasena's son Kamsa was the adversary of Krishna whose actions set in motion the central narrative of the Bhagavata Purana's tenth skanda. Andhaka son of Anu thus stands four generations before Ahuka and five generations before Ugrasena in the Bhagavata account, placing him at a remove from the narratively prominent figures but firmly within the lineage chain that produces them.
✦ Textual Variants and Inconsistencies
Andhaka son of Anu is attested in the Bhagavata Purana's lineage track for the Kukura clan. The Matsya Purana's alternative track, which diverges from the Bhagavata account at the level of Kapotaroma by naming Taittiri rather than Anu as Kapotaroma's son, does not include this Andhaka in its sequence. The Matsya Purana proceeds through Taittiri — Nala — Daradundubhi — Punarvasu — Ahuka, bypassing the figures of Anu, Andhaka, Dundubhi, and Avidyota entirely before converging with the Bhagavata account at Punarvasu. Andhaka son of Anu is therefore a figure whose existence in the genealogical record depends specifically on the Bhagavata Purana tradition and the recensions that follow it.
✦ References
- Bhagavata Purana, Ninth Skanda, Chapter 24, verse 20: The primary source naming Andhaka as the son of Anu and giving the downstream sequence Andhaka — Dundubhi — Avidyota — Punarvasu — Ahuka within the Kukura clan genealogy.
- Matsya Purana, genealogical section on the Yadava clans: The source presenting the alternative lineage track from Kapotaroma that does not include Andhaka son of Anu, converging with the Bhagavata account only at Punarvasu.
- Harivamsa, Harivamsha Parva, chapters 37–40: Contains broader Yadava genealogical material providing context for the Kukura lineage and the later figures toward whom Andhaka's line leads.
- Vishnu Purana, Book Four, chapters 12–14: A further Puranic genealogy of the Yadu line useful for cross-referencing the generational positions of figures within the Kukura sub-clan and for disambiguating the multiple figures named Andhaka across the Yadava tree.
- Shiva Purana and Matsya Purana, episodes of Andhaka the Asura: Sources for the entirely separate figure of Andhaka the Asura, cited here to establish the distinction between that mythological figure and Andhaka son of Anu of the Kukura clan.
- Puranic Encyclopaedia by Vettam Mani (1975): A modern reference work summarising Puranic genealogical lists and providing entries on the multiple figures named Andhaka, relevant for disambiguation and cross-checking of generational positions within the Kukura lineage.