Hindu king, founder of the Yadu dynasty
Yadu
Yadu is a king in Hindu mythology, the eldest son of King Yayati and Devayani. His refusal to give his youth to his father led to the founding of the Yadu line, the Yaduvamsha, a cadet branch of the lunar dynasty.
The myth
According to the Mahabharata and the Puranas, Yadu was the eldest son of King Yayati and his queen Devayani. When Yayati was cursed with premature old age by his father-in-law Shukra, he asked his sons to exchange their youth for his senility. Yadu refused, and his father disinherited him, passing the throne to his half-brother Puru.
Because of this refusal, Yadu did not keep his father's lunar clan. He founded his own branch, the Yaduvamsha, and declared that his descendants would be called Yadus or Yadavas. Accounts differ on his progeny: some tell of four sons, Sastra Yit, Kroshta (or Kharahostes), Nala and Ripu, while the Agni Purana continues the line through his eldest son Sahasrajit, father of Haihaya, Renuhaya and Haya.
In the Vedas, according to Monier-Williams, Yadu is often named alongside Turvasha (or Turvasu). Tradition says that Indra rescued him from a flood.
Legacy
The name survived in the historical Traikutaka dynasty, which claimed descent from Haihaya, and in inscriptions from Tamil Nadu where the Abhiras, according to historian T. Padmaja, mention descendants of the Yadu lineage.
Ancient sources: The Rig Veda lists him among the five Aryan clans, and the Mahabharata, the Puranas and the Agni Purana recount his story.