Chapter-3: Some Important Rulers

CHAPTER-3
SOME IMPORTANT RULERS :

The following is a list, in chronological order, of some of the prominent monarchs
of the dynasty;
Manu or Vaivasvata Manu: the king of all mankind and the first human being on Earth.
(According to Hindu belief there are 14 Manvantaras; in each, Manu rules.) Vaivasvata Manu
was the seventh Manu. Manu is referred to as a Rajan (King) in the Shatapatha Brahmana
scripture. He had nine sons, Vena, Dhrishnu, Narishyan, Nabhaga, Ikshvaku, Karusha, Saryati,
Prishadhru, Nabhagarishta and one daughter, Ila, who was married to Budha of the Lunar
Dynasty. He left the kingdom to the eldest male of the next generation, Ikshvaku.
Ikshvaku: the first prominent monarch of this dynasty, giving the dynasty its another name the
Ikshvaku dynasty. Ikshvaku had a hundred son and his eldest, Vikukshi a.k.a Sasada became the
King of Ayodhya. Sasada appointed Vashishtha as his preceptor. Sasada was a direct ancestor of
Rama.
Nimi: The twelfth son of Ikshvaku. He founded the city of Vaijayanta and performed a great
sacrifice lasting for five thousand years. Vashishtha told him to wait as he himself was busy with
Indra's sacrifice. So Nimi appointed Gautama as his priest and completed the sacrifice.
Vashishtha was enraged and cursed Nimi to lose his body. Nimi also cursed Vashishtha to lose
his body. Vashishtha acquired a new body from Varuna. Nimi was content in his astral form and
wished to see the world through the eyes of his subjects. Since then humans can blink their eyes
and the period of time taken to blink an eye is called Nimisha.
Mithi: Son of Nimi. He was born when the sages churned Nimi's lifeless body. Since he was
born when Nimi was out of his body (Vi=Without, Deha=Body), Mithi was also called Videha
and named the entire country Videha. Mithi renamed the city of Vaijayanta into Mithila. Hence
Mithi became the direct ancestor of Sita.
Kakuthstha: The son of Vikukshi a.k.a Sasada and grandson of Ikshvaku. His old name was
Puranjaya. Infused with Vishnu's divine prowess, Puranjaya defeated all the Daityas and Asuras
while riding on the shoulders of Indra, who was in the form of a white humped bull. Since then,
his descendants, including Rama and Lakshmana are called Kakuthsthas.
Mahabhisha: A king of Ayodhya who performed a thousand Ashwamedhas and a hundred
Rajasuyas and ascended heaven. He was cursed to be reborn on earth for insolently looking at
the goddess Ganga when the winds blew her clothes away, exposing her. Mahabhisha was reborn
as Shantanu, King of Hastinapura. Shantanu married Ganga and sired the mighty Bhishma, the
most powerful warrior of all time.
Mandhata: The son of Yuvanaswa. He was conceived when his father, Yuvanaswa
mistakenly drank sacred water and became pregnant. The divine Aswini twins performed a
Caesarean on Yuvanaswa and Mandhata was born. After being suckled with divine milk from
Indra's hand, Mandhata grew up to be a twenty foot tall twelve year boy in twelve days. He
acquired the Vedas and Celestial weapons by mere thought. Mandhata single handedly
conquered the whole world in one day and performed a century of Ashwamedha sacrifices and
hundred Rajasuyas and charity. He conquered the three worlds. He vanquished Indra in battle.
Mandhata was so powerful he wielded the Ajagava bow and could control the rains at his will.
He had three sons and fifty daughters. Mandhata's daughters fell in love with the extremely
handsome sage Saubhari and gave him many sons and grandsons. Ravana once challenged
Mandhata to a duel and he was about to wield the Pashupatastra on Mandhata when the Rishi
Pulatsya stopped and ended the fight. The great king was eventually slain when Lavana, the
cousin of Ravana, indiscriminately used the Trident of Shiva and reduced Mandhata and his
army to ashes.
Sagara: Ayodhya was once conquered by Mlecchas and drove away its ruler, Bahu to the
forests. Bahu perished due to old age and his younger queen was pregnant. Jealous, the elder
queen, before dying, gave the junior queen poison and delayed the birth by seven years. Through
the power of the Sage Aurva of Bhrigu's race, the queen gave birth to a baby born with poison in
his hand. Hence his name was Sagara (born with poison). Aurva took Sagara as his disciple and
trained him in scriptures and weapons. When Sagara learnt his origins from his mother, he
became enraged and nearly exterminated the Mlecchas from Ayodhya. He married two wives
and acquired 60,001 sons from the grace of Mahadeva, who turned out to be violent and cruel.
Sagara performed hundred Ashwamedhas. When the sacrifical horse was stolen, the wicked
60,000 sons of Sagara dug up massive tracts of the earth, which filled with he first oceans
(Sagara); and massacred many people in the process. They were eventually reduced to ashes by
Sage Kapila. Only the kind hearted Amshumantha, the sole grandson of Sagara who was alone
worthy of being king succeeded in pacifying Kapila and brought back the horse. Amshumantha's
grandson, Bhagiratha succeeded in washing those sins of his forefathers.
Bhagiratha: Sagara's great-grandson, after performing strenuous penances for a thousand years,
at last succeeded in bringing Ganges down from Heaven. When she flowed over the remains of
his ancestors, their souls were redeemed, and the ocean was refilled. Ganges bears the name
"Bhagirathi", in honour of his deed. Bhagiratha conquered the world, observed strict vows,
performed many prestigious sacrifices and gave so many elephants, horses, chariots, servants,
cattle and gold to the Brahmanas. For his pious acts, Bhagiratha went to the Brahmaloka after his
death.
Raghu: He was a legendary king and the great grandfather of Rama. As a youth, Raghu was
guarding the sacrifical horse for his father's hundredth Ashwamedha Yagna. Indra, the King of
the Gods feared that Raghu's father would become more powerful than him upon the completion
of the sacrifice, and stealthily stole the horse. Raghu was enraged and the two engaged in a duel,
where Raghu thwarted all of Indra's attacks. Indra hurled his Vajra (thunderbolt) at Raghu and
knocked him senseless. Raghu quickly jumped back on to his feet, but Indra had run away out of
fear. Raghu's father was proud of his son's valor and crowned him king. Raghu conquered the
world and was so powerful, even the gods feared his prowess in battle.
Aja: Raghu's son, Aja conquered the world when the kings began to rebel against Raghu. Aja
acquired a divine spear from a Gandharva which could put entire armies to sleep. He won
princess Indumati's hand in marriage at a Swayamvara and defeated all the kings who opposed
the union. Aja sired Dasharatha.
Dasaratha: Originally born as Nemi, Dasaratha received his name as his chariot could easily
maneuver in every direction and ascend the sky at will. Dasaratha could hit archery targets just
by listening to the sound, but he accidentally slew a poor boy named Shravan. Shravan's blind
parents cursed Dasaratha that he would die in grief when his son departed from him. Dasaratha
conquered the world and performed Ashwamedha and Putrakameshthi Yagnas. He ruled for
60,000 years.
Rama: He is considered the seventh Avatar of the god Vishnu. He is worshiped by every Hindu.
Many Hindus include his name in either their first or last name. Rama acquired celestial weapons
from the Brahmarshi Vishwamitra and slew the Rakshasa King Ravana (who was dreaded by the
gods) in battle. Rama's story before he became king of Ayodhya is recounted in the Ramayana.
After slaying Ravana, Rama acquired a boon of invincibility from Brahma. After he ascended the
throne, he performed the Ashwamedha Yajna. Bharata, his younger brother, won the country of
the Gandharvas and settled there. Rama's other brother, Shatrughna slew Lavana and founded the
kingdom of Mathura. Rama became a powerful World Emperor and performed a hundred
Ashwamedha Yagnas, many Gomedhas, Agnishtomas, Vajapeyas, Atiratras and a Jaruthya
Yagna. He ruled for 11,000 years and his reign was the most perfect one of all time.
Lava and Kusha: They were the twin sons of Rama and his wife Sita. Lava ruled south Kosala
while Kusha ruled north Kosala, including Ayodhya. Kusha married "Nagkanya" "Kumuddhati",
sister of Kumuda.
Śuddhodana, leader of the Shakya Ganarajya at Kapilavastu. His son was Siddhartha Shakya,
founder of Buddhism and came to be known as Gautam Buddha.
Sumitra: He was the last king of Ayodhya from solar dynasty. In the fourth century BC,
emperor Mahapadma Nanda of the Nanda Dynasty forced Sumitra to leave Ayodhya and ended
the dynasty's rule.

Chapter-3: Some Important Rulers

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Chapter-3: Some Important Rulers

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

CHAPTER-3

SOME IMPORTANT RULERS :

You might also like