Jyāmagha and Śaibya

Jyāmagha was a king of the Kroshṭu line of the Yadu family, which belongs to the Candra vaṃśa (the Moon dynasty). He and his wife Śaibya had no child. This narrative tells how Jyāmagha brought home a captured girl, called her Śaibya’s daughter-in-law, and how that word came true.

The Kroshṭu line and Jyāmagha’s leaving

The Kroshṭu line was a branch of the Yadu dynasty. Kroshṭu, a son of Yadu, founded it. Several generations later came Śaśabindu, a great cakravartī (emperor) who ruled all seven dvīpas (continents). He had more than ten thousand sons.

Further down the line came Rukmeshu, Pṛthurukmā, Jyāmagha, Parigha and Hari. These are the five sons of Rukmakavaca. Jyāmagha could not keep his place among his strong brothers, so he left and had to seek his fortune elsewhere. The Brahmāṇḍa Mahā Purāṇa tells this in Madhyama Bhāga, Chapter 70.

Jyāmagha’s wanderings

Jyāmagha travelled with a small following. He went past the river Narmadā, through the land of Mekhala and the forest of Mṛkikāvana, and at last to the region of the Ṛkshavanta mountain. His wife Śaibya was with him. She was a woman of strong character, and she had stayed with him through all his wandering.

After these years the two still had no children. Jyāmagha was afraid for his own name and for the future of the Kroshṭu line through him.

The captured girl

On his way, Jyāmagha fought battles with the local rulers. In one of these he captured a young girl of the region. She was brought to his camp as a prize of victory. Jyāmagha wished to keep her and take her into his household.

Śaibya, however, was fiercely jealous and would not allow a second woman in the house. When Jyāmagha came to the camp with the girl, Śaibya faced him.

“This is your daughter-in-law”

Śaibya asked, “Who is this woman you have brought?”

Jyāmagha knew he could not present the girl as a new wife. He answered boldly: “This, my dear, is your daughter-in-law, the wife meant for our future son.”

Śaibya was astonished, because they had no son. But Jyāmagha spoke with such confidence and conviction that she came to accept his word. The Purāṇa says that his declaration was in truth a quiet saṅkalpa (a firm resolve) that the devas would honour.

Śaibya’s tapas and the birth of Vidarbha

Śaibya now accepted the girl as her daughter-in-law. She performed fierce tapas (austerity) to win a son who could marry her. She was already old, but the ṛshis blessed her. By the power of her tapas she conceived and, in her old age, bore a son. His name was Vidarbha.

When Vidarbha grew up, he was given in marriage to the girl whom Jyāmagha had brought. In this way Jyāmagha’s impossible words came true. The girl had waited to become the daughter-in-law of Śaibya.

Vidarbha’s descendants

Vidarbha and his wife had several sons and a daughter. His descendants founded the kingdom of Vidarbha, the rich region of central India. The Caidya and Kaikaya lines also trace their beginning to branches of this Kroshṭu and Vidarbha line.

King Bhīshmaka of Vidarbha came from this line. His daughter Rukmiṇī became the chief wife of Kṛshṇa. So Jyāmagha and Śaibya became, in the end, the ancestors of the union of Kṛshṇa and Rukmiṇī.

Sources

• Brahmāṇḍa Mahā Purāṇa, Madhyama Bhāga, Chapter 70
• Vishṇu Mahā Purāṇa, Chaturdhāmsa, Chapter 12