Sudasa

THE LIVING ARCHIVE

About Sudasa

The Panchala Chyavana is his father. His son Saudasa is also called Sahadeva in this account, and Somaka follows in the next generation. Sudasa is therefore Somaka’s grandfather in the succession followed here.

AT A GLANCE

Identity & Context

Identity: King
Form: Panchala Royal House
Tradition: Puranic Royal Genealogy

Family & Relationships

ParentChyavana
Chyavana is the parent of Sudasa.
ChildSaudasa
Sudasa is the parent of Saudasa.

IN THE TRADITION

Recorded Context

Before Somaka’s Household

Somaka’s family is remembered for a hundred sons. The youngest, Prishata, becomes the father of Drupada. Through this descent, Sudasa belongs to the ancestry of Draupadi and Dhrishtadyumna rather than to their contemporary circle.

Solar genealogies also contain a father and son called Sudasa and Saudasa. Those rulers belong to another royal family. The ancestry through the Panchala Chyavana and Mitrayu identifies the Sudasa meant here; the Solar king’s curse story is not his biography.

ROLE & ESSENCE

Attributes & Significance

Sudasa belongs to the older ancestry of Drupada’s house. His son and grandson are separate generations, while the broader family remains a Panchala branch of the Paurava line.

Role

Sudasa is a royal ancestor of Panchala, named between Chyavana and Saudasa in the Vishnu Purana. He belongs to the family of Divodasa and Mitrayu.

TRADITION & MEANING

Traditions & Interpretations

Solar genealogies also contain rulers named Sudasa and Saudasa. The Panchala Sudasa belongs instead to the family defined by Chyavana and Mitrayu before him and Somaka farther down the line. These surrounding relationships distinguish the royal namesakes.

The Vishnu Purana gives Chyavana, Sudasa, Saudasa and Somaka as successive generations after Mitrayu. A Bhagavata translation groups Chyavana, Sudasa, Sahadeva and Somaka as Mitrayu’s sons. The succession here follows the Vishnu Purana; the different arrangement is not silently combined with it.