Devāpi and Maru

Devāpi and Maru are two figures of the Candravaṃśa (Lunar line) and the Sūryavaṃśa (Solar line). The Bhāgavata says they live in Kalāpa village, kept alive by yogic power, until the end of Kali Yuga. When Bhagavān Kalki appears and the new Kṛtayuga begins, they will come out and restore the Vedic varṇāśrama dharma as it was in the previous golden age.

Who they are

Devāpi is the elder brother of Śantanu of the Candravaṃśa. Śantanu became king of Hastināpura, while Devāpi gave up the kingdom and went to the forest. He belongs to the same lineage as the Pāṇḍavas and Kauravas.

Maru is a king of the Ikshvāku line of the Sūryavaṃśa. He carries on the Solar dynasty. Some sources spell his name Marut.

This is told in the 12th skandha, Chapter 2, of the Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa.

Their life in Kalāpa village

Śuka Mahārshi tells Parīkshit that, at the time of his speaking, Devāpi and Maru are living in Kalāpa village (Kalāpa-grāma). Both have great yogaśakti (yogic power). They have kept themselves alive through yoga over vast ages and wait in Kalāpa. The Bhāgavata gives this in the 12th skandha, Chapter 2.

Their part in the renewal of the Kṛtayuga

When Kali Yuga ends, Bhagavān Kalki will be born in Śambhala village as the son of the brāhmaṇa Vishṇuyaśas. He will destroy the mleccha rulers and cleanse the earth. Devāpi and Maru will then receive instruction from Śrī Kalki himself.

After this upadeśa (teaching), the two will leave Kalāpa village and go to Āryāvarta. There they will restore the varṇāśrama dharma, the fourfold order of society and the four stages of life, exactly as it was in the previous Kṛtayuga. They will carry the living memory and power of the earlier golden age through the dark time of Kali Yuga, and keep it whole for the new cycle.

The Bhāgavata describes the end of Kali Yuga as a time when dharma has fallen to a quarter of its first measure, the Vedic order has been broken up, brāhmaṇas go without the sacred thread and kings behave like robbers.

Devāpi and Maru in the Kalki Purāṇa

The Tritīyāṃśa of the Kalki Purāṇa gives more detail about Kalki’s meeting with Devāpi and Maru. Kalki finished the campaign at Kīkaṭapura and defeated the rākshasī Kuṭhodarī. He then went to the sacred ghāṭs of Haridvāra. There the assembled ṛshis received him. Devāpi and Maru also met him, coming to him in the later part of his digvijaya (campaign of conquest).

The Kalki Purāṇa says that both of them had married before the digvijaya was complete. Kalki received them formally at Haridvāra and gave them his upadeśa. He then placed in their charge the rule of the earth in the new Kṛtayuga.

At this meeting the full line of the Solar and Lunar dynasties was recited. The Sūryavaṃśa runs from Manu through Ikshvāku to Rāma. The Candravaṃśa runs through the Bharata and Paurava lines. The recitation tied the ancient past, through Maru of the Sūryavaṃśa and Devāpi of the Candravaṃśa, to the new cycle.

After Kalki rose to Vaikuṇṭha, Maru and Devāpi ruled the earth as they had been charged, through the long ages of the new Kṛtayuga.

Sources

• Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, 12th Skandha, Chapter 2
• Kalki Purāṇa, Tritīyāṃśa, Chapters 3–5, 19