Janamejaya said: "From you, O brahmin, I have precisely heard the descent of the portions of the gods, danavas, and rakshasas, and also of the gandharvas and apsaras. Now I wish to hear this dynasty of the Kurus from the beginning, as told by you, O brahmin, in the presence of the assembly of brahmarishis." Vaishampayana said: "The founder of the Paurava line was the mighty king named Dushyanta, guardian of the earth to her four ends, O noblest of the Bharatas. That lord of men held all four parts of the earth and the lands girded by the ocean — he was victorious in battles. That destroyer of enemies held all the lands of the mlecchas and forest tribes, stretching to the ocean, that treasure-house, peopled by men of the four classes. While that king ruled, there was no one who mixed the classes, none who tilled the untillable (a violator of established order), not a single man who committed sin. Then people, given over to delight consonant with dharma, attained both dharma and profit, O tiger among men, under that lord of the land. Under that lord of the land there was no fear of thieves, not the slightest fear of hunger, nor fear of disease either. The classes delighted in their own dharmas, not craving even the fruits of sacrificial acts; and relying on that king, they were free from fear."