About
Anashvan — King of Hastinapura, Son of Viduratha
Anashvan · Anasvan · Anaswan
Anashvan is a king of Hastinapura in the Puru branch of the Lunar dynasty, recorded in the genealogical lists of the Mahabharata's Adi Parva. He is the son of Viduratha — who was himself the son of the founding dynastic king Kuru by his wife Shubhangi — and the father of Parikshita I. His name appears consistently across the Epic genealogical traditions, though no independent narrative episode is attached to him in any surviving primary source. His primary significance is genealogical: he occupies a pivotal position in the Kuru king-list as the intermediary between Viduratha and the line that leads through Parikshita I, Bhimasena, Pratisravas, Pratipa, and Shantanu to the generation of Bhishma.
✦ The Name
The name Anashvan is a Sanskrit compound that may be analysed as conveying the sense of one who has no horse, or one who is without vehicles of war — a somewhat unusual name for a royal figure. Some secondary sources render the name as Anasva or Anaswan. No mythological or etymological explanation for the name is provided in any primary text consulted.
✦ Lineage
- Father: Viduratha — king of Hastinapura, son of Kuru (the founding ancestor of the Kuru dynasty and namesake of Kurukshetra) by his wife Shubhangi, princess of the Dasarha clan.
- Mother: Supriya — daughter of the Madhavas, as recorded in the Adi Parva genealogical list.
- Spouse: Amrita — also identified as a daughter of the Madhavas in the same Adi Parva source.
- Son: Parikshita I — the Vedic-period Kuru king attested in the Atharva Veda, Shatapatha Brahmana, and the Mahabharata's own genealogical chapters; father of Bhimasena.
✦ Connection to the Wider Genealogy
Anashvan stands three generations below the dynasty-founder Kuru and five generations above Pratipa, the celebrated king whose three sons — Devapi, Bahlika, and Shantanu — shaped the final pre-war configuration of the Kuru royal house. Through Shantanu's line, Anashvan is a remote direct ancestor of Bhishma, Dhritarashtra, Pandu, and ultimately of all the Pandavas and Kauravas.
✦ References
- Mahabharata, Adi Parva, Chapter 94–95 (Sambhava Parva): Primary genealogical source listing Viduratha, Anashvan, and Parikshita in succession.
- AncientVoice Wikidot, Kuru lineage article: Secondary compilation reproducing the Adi Parva genealogical sequence and confirming Anashvan's position and his parents' and spouse's names.
- Pranasutra (Puru Vamsha Kathana): Sanskrit genealogical text confirming Anashvan as son of Viduratha and father of Parikshita.