Soma and Surya

Canto Nine documents the lineages of Surya and Soma, or the kings who descend from the sun-god and moon-god respectively. Chapters 1-13 describe the Surya Vamsa, within which Lord Rama appeared. Chapters 14-24 describe the Soma Vamsa, within which Lord Krishna appeared.

“The Yadu dynasty belonged to the family descending from Soma, the moon- god. Although the planetary systems are so arranged that the sun comes first, before the moon, Pariksit Maharaja gave more respect to the dynasty of the moon-god, the soma-vamsa, because in the Yadava dynasty, descending from the moon, Krishna had appeared. There are two different ksatriya families of the royal order, one descending from the king of the moon planet and the other descending from the king of the sun. When the Supreme Personality of Godhead appears, He generally appears in a ksatriya family because He comes to establish religious principles and the life of righteousness. According to the Vedic system, the ksatriya family is the protector of the human race. When the Supreme Personality of Godhead appeared as Lord Ramacandra, He appeared in the surya-vamsa, the family descending from the sun-god, and when He appeared as Lord Krishna, He did so in the Yadu dynasty, or yadu-vamsa, whose descent was from the moon-god.” (SB 10.1.1)