King Sagara

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King Sagara
SpouseSumati, Bhadra, Keshini
IssueAsamanja
DynastySuryavansha
FatherBahu (Bahuka)
MotherVijayanti (also known as Yashomati)

Sagara was a prominent king of the Suryavansha dynasty in Vidarbha Mahajanapada (may be Assaka Mahajanapada) from the royal lineage of Sivi.[1][2] He is mentioned in Bhagavata Purana.

Sagara was also the younger brother of Ajitanatha (the second tirthankara) and was the second chakravartin of the present avasarpiṇī.[3] mentioned in Jain texts.

Hindu tradition[]

In Hindu Tradition, Sagar (Sanskrit: सगर; IAST: Sagara) is a prominent king of the Suryavansha dynasty in Vidarbha, and the other from royal lineage of Sivi.[4] [5]

According to the Bhagavata Purana, when king Bahuka lost his kingdom due to treachery of his relatives, he along with his wives retired to the forest. Soon the king died, leaving behind only one wife pregnant amongst others. When the pregnant wife was going to burn herself with the dead king, sage Aurva prevented her from doing so. When the co-wives got the news of her pregnancy, they fed her poison. But the child was born with the poison hence named Sagara (Sa-with, gara-poison).

One day King Sagara asked his guru what he did to receive this comfort life of a king? His guru replied that in his previous birth, Sagara was a poor Brahmin, but he had a daughter and he arranged a marriage for his daughter, hence performing kanyadan (Donation or Gift of a Maiden), which is considered to be one of the highest virtues of life. Hearing this Sagara was surprised that he only gave his daughter’s hand in marriage and he gets to enjoy a royal comfort life, hence he decided to do tapa (austerities) to beget 60000 daughters. While doing the tapa, Lord Indra (King of Devas) feared that by performing marriage of 60000 daughters would make Sagara attain Indra’s throne, so he requested Goddess Saraswati, goddess of wisdom, to sit on Sagara’s tongue and when he asks for the boon, change the “putri” (daughter) word into “putra” (son). Saraswati accepted and did this. Hence, Sagara received 60000 sons, instead of daughters.

Years later, King Sagara performed a horse expedition (Ashwamedha yajna) to prove his supremacy. Lord Indra, the leader of the demigods, became fearful over the results of the yajna, so he decided to steal the horse. He left the horse at the ashram of Kapila, who was in deep meditation. King Sagar’s 60,000 sons, and his son Asamanja were then sent to find the horse. When the 60,000 sons found the horse at Kapiladeva’s ashram, they thought he had stolen it. When they prepared to attack the meditating rishi (sage), Kapila opened his eyes. Because the sons of King Sagara had disrespected such a great personality, consequently, fire emanated from their own bodies, and they were immediately burned to ashes.[6]

Excluding the sons that Sagara got from his different wives, those 60000 sons burnt to ashes. Generations later, one of Sagara’s descendant, Bhagiratha felt sad about his forefathers death and he performed tapa to Goddess Ganga to come from the heavens to the earth so that his forefathers could be freed from the world.

Jain Tradition[]

King Sagar’s son Janhu flooding the Naga Kingdom

In Jain tradition, Sagara was younger brother of Lord Ajitanatha (second Tirthankara).[3] He was born to Kshatriya King Sumitra and Queen Vijayanti (Yasomati) of Ikshvaku dynasty in Ayodhya.[3] He was the second Chakravartin ruler of Avasarpiṇī (present half of worldly time cycle as per Jain cosmology) who conquered the world with his seven jewels.[7] His queens were Sumati and Bhadra.[3] He had sixty-thousand sons from his queens, Janhu being the eldest. Janhu flooded the Naga Kingdom with waters of river Ganga. This infuriated the Naga King who burnt all the sons of Sagara in anger. Sagara then place Bhagiratha, his grandson, on throne and left for penance.[8][9]

See also[]

Notes[]

  1. ^ Ikshaku tribe
  2. ^ The Mahabharata translated by Kisari Mohan Ganguli.
  3. ^ a b c d Umakant P. Shah 1987, p. 72.
  4. ^ Ikshaku tribe
  5. ^ The Mahabharata translated by Kisari Mohan Ganguli.
  6. ^ Sons of Sagara Vishnu Purana translated by Horace Hayman Wilson, 1840, Book IV, Chapter IV. p. 378 the gods repaired to the Muni Kapila, who was a portion of Vishńu, free from fault, and endowed with all true wisdom. Having approached him with respect, they said, "O lord, what will become of the world, if these sons of Sagara are permitted to go on in the evil ways which they have learned from Asamanja! Do thou, then, assume a visible form, for the protection of the afflicted universe." "Be satisfied," replied the sage, "in a brief time the sons of Sagara shall be all destroyed."
  7. ^ Jacobi 2015, p. 199.
  8. ^ McKay 2013, p. 151.
  9. ^ von Glasenapp 1999, p. 298.

References[]

  • Jacobi, Hermann (22 July 2015), The Uttarādhyayana Sūtra, Kshetra Books, ISBN 978-1515192145
  • McKay, Alex (16 December 2013), Pilgrimage in Tibet, Routledge, ISBN 978-0-7007-0992-2
  • von Glasenapp, Helmuth (1 January 1999), Jainism: An Indian Religion of Salvation, Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 81-208-1376-6
  • Shah, Umakant P. (1987), Jaina-rūpa-maṇḍana: Jaina iconography, Abhinav Publications, ISBN 81-7017-208-X

Further reading[]

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