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Solar dynasty

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Solar dynasty or the Ikshvaku dynasty was founded by the legendary king Ikshvaku.[1] The dynasty is also known as Sūryavaṁśa ("Solar dynasty" or "Descendants of the Sun") and along with Lunar dynasty comprises one of the main lineages of the Kshatriya Varna. Rama belonged to the Ikshavaku dynasty and Krishna belonged to the Lunar Dynasty.[2] The first Tirthankar of Jainism, Rishabhdeva himself was King Ikshvaku, according to Jain texts; However, according the Hindu texts, King Ikshavaku is different from Rishabhdeva, and Rishabhadeva was one of his lineal descendants. Further, 21 Tirthankars of Jainism were born in this dynasty.[3][4] According to Buddhist texts and tradition, Gautama Buddha descended from this dynasty. Many later kings of the Indian subcontinent claimed to be of Suryavanshi descent.

House of Ikshvaku
Suryavansha
CountryKingdom of Kosala, Kingdom of Kashi, Nishadha Kingdom
FounderIkshvaku
Final rulerSumitra[5]
Style(s)Chakravartin, Raja of Kosala
Deposition362 BCE
Cadet branches

The important personalities belonging to this royal house are Mandhatri, Muchukunda, Ambarisha, Bharata Chakravartin, Bahubali, Harishchandra, Dilīpa, Sagara,[6] Raghu, Rama and Pasenadi. Both the Hindu Puranas and the Buddhist texts include Shuddodhana, Gautama Buddha, and Rahula in their accounts of the Ikshvaku dynasty but, according to the Buddhist texts, Mahasammata, an ancestor of Ikshvaku who was elected by the people as the first king of the present era, was the founder of this dynasty.[7]

Origins

Suryavansha or Solar Dynasty is the one of the two major legendary Kshatriya dynasties found in Hindu Puranic and epic literature, the other being Chandravansha or the Lunar Dynasty. According to Harivamsa, Ikshvaku is considered the primogenitor of the dynasty of, and was granted the kingdom of Aryavarta by his father Vaivasvata Manu. Manu settled down in the Aryavarta region after he survived the great flood. A. K. Mozumdar states that Manu is the one who built a city on the Sarayu and called it Ayodhya meaning the 'invincible city'. This city served as the capital of many kings from the solar dynasty and is also the birthplace of Rama an avatar of Vishnu.[8]

Some Hindu texts suggest Rishi Marichi, one of the seven sages and first human creations of Brahma as the progenitor of the dynasty. Marichi's eldest son Kashyapa is said to have settled down in Kashmir (Kashyapa-Meru or Kashyameru). He also contributed to the verses of the Vedas. Later, Vivasvan son of Kashyapa and Aditi, famously known as the Hindu god Surya married Saranyu who was the daughter of Vishvakarman, the architect of devas. He had many children but Manu was given the responsibility of building the civilization and as a result it formed a dynasty that was named 'Suryavansh' or the solar dynasty. Manu is also the progenitor of the Lunar Dynasty because he married his daughter Ila to Budha, the son of Chandra or the moon god and the couple gave birth to the magnanimous King Pururavas who became the first king of the Chandravansh or the Lunar dynasty.[9]

Deposition

After the death of the powerful king Prasenjit and disappearance of his successor Virudhaka after defeating the Shakyas, the kingdom of Kosala declined. King Sumitra was the last Suryavanshi ruler, who was defeated by the powerful emperor Mahapadma Nanda of Magadha in 362 BCE. However, he wasn't killed, and fled to Rohtas, located in present-day Bihar.[10]

In Bhagavata Purana

Ikshvaku and his ancestor Manu are also mentioned in the Bhagavata Purana (Canto 9, Chapter 1),

योऽसौ सत्यव्रतो नाम राजर्षिर्द्रविडेश्वर: ।
ज्ञानं योऽतीतकल्पान्ते लेभे पुरुषसेवया ॥

स वै विवस्वत: पुत्रो मनुरासीदिति श्रुतम् ।
त्वत्तस्तस्य सुता:प्रोक्ता इक्ष्वाकुप्रमुखा नृपा: ॥

yo ’sau satyavrato nāma
rājarṣir draviḍeśvaraḥ
jñānaṁ yo ’tīta-kalpānte
lebhe puruṣa-sevayā

sa vai vivasvataḥ putro
manur āsīd iti śrutam
tvattas tasya sutāḥ proktā
ikṣvāku-pramukhā nṛpāḥ

Satyavrata, the saintly king of Draviḍadeśa received spiritual knowledge at the end of the last millennium by the grace of the Supreme.

He became known as Vaivasvata Manu, the son of Vivasvān.

In the next manvantara [period of Manu], I will have received this knowledge from you.

I also understand that such kings as Ikṣvāku were his sons, as you have already explained.

[11]

In Buddhism

The Buddhist text, Buddhavamsa and Mahavamsa (II, 1-24) traces the origin of the Shakyas to king Okkaka (Pali equivalent to Sanskrit Ikshvaku) and gives their genealogy from Mahasammata, an ancestor of Okkaka. This list comprises the names of a number of prominent kings of the Ikshvaku dynasty, namely, Mandhata and Sagara.[12] The genealogy according to the Mahavamsa is as follows:[13][14]

  1. Okkāka[15]
  2. Okkāmukha
  3. Sivisamjaya
  4. Sihassara
  5. Jayasena
  6. Sihahanu
  7. Suddhodana
  8. Gautama Buddha
  9. Rāhula

In Jainism

Medieval era Indian art depicting King Ikshvaku (Lord Rishabhdeva) imparting the skill of pottery to his people.

The Ikshvaku dynasty has a significant place in Jainism, as twenty-two Tirthankaras were born in this dynasty.[16]

  • Origin
    • Rishabhanatha (son of King Nabhi), the founder of Jainism in the present Avasarpani era (descending half time cycle as per Jain cosmology and Manvantara in hindu cosmology) is said to have founded the Ikshvaku dynasty. The name for the Ikshvaku dynasty comes from the word ikhsu (sugarcane), another name of Rishabhanatha,[17] because he taught people how to extract ikshu-rasa (sugarcane-juice).[18]
    • Bharata Chakravarti (first Chakravartin) and Bahubali (first Kamadeva), sons of Rishabha
    • Arkakirti and Marichi, son of Bharata
  • at the time of Ajitanatha
    • Jitashatru (father of Ajitanatha) and his younger brother Sumitra (father of Sagara)
    • Ajitanatha (the 2nd Tirthankara) and Sagara (2nd Chakravartin)
    • Janhu (eldest son of Sagara), the one who flooded village of Nagas with waters of Ganga leading to turning of sixty thousand sons of Sagara into ashes by Jawalanprabha (emperor of Nagas)
    • Bhagiratha (eldest grandson of Sagara)
  • at the time of Sambhavanatha
  • at the time of Abhinandananatha
  • at the time of Sumatinatha
  • at the time of Padmaprabha
  • at the time of Suparshvanatha
  • at the time of Chandraprabha
  • at the time of Pushpadanta
  • at the time of Shitalanatha
  • at the time of Shreyanasanatha
    • Vishnu (father of Shreyanasanatha)
    • Shreyanasanatha, the 11th Tirthankara
  • at the time of Vasupujya
  • at the time of Vimalanatha
  • at the time of Anantanatha
  • at the time of Dharmanatha
  • at the time of Shantinatha
    • Visvasena (father of Shantinatha)
    • Shantinatha, the 16th Tirthankara and 5th Chakravarti
    • Chakrayudha, son of Shantinatha
    • Kuruchandra, son of Chakrayudha[19]
  • at the time of Kunthunatha
  • at the time of Aranatha
  • at the time of Mallinatha
  • at the time of Munisuvrata (Munisuvrata himself was not from Ikshvaku, but Harivamsa)[20]
  • at the time of Naminatha
  • at the time of Parshvanatha
  • at the time of Mahavira

See also

References

Citations

  1. ^ Geography of Rigvedic India, M.L. Bhargava, Lucknow 1964, pp. 15-18, 46-49, 92-98, 100-/1, 136
  2. ^ Zimmer 1952, p. 218
  3. ^ Jain, Champat Rai (1929). "Riṣabha Deva, the Founder of Jainism".
  4. ^ Zimmer 1952, p. 220
  5. ^ Debroy, Bibek (25 October 2017). The Valmiki Ramayana, Volume 3. ISBN 9789387326286.
  6. ^ Ikshaku tribe The Mahabharata translated by Kisari Mohan Ganguli (1883 -1896), Book 3: Vana Parva: Tirtha-yatra Parva: Section CVI, p. 228 'There was born in the family of the Ikshaku, a ruler of the earth named Sagara, endued with beauty, and strength...".
  7. ^ Malalasekera, G. P. (2007) [1937]. Dictionary of Pāli Proper Names: A-Dh. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass. pp. 461–2. ISBN 978-81-208-3021-9.
  8. ^ A.K.Mazumdar 2008, p. 161.
  9. ^ A.K.Mazumdar 2008, p. 159.
  10. ^ Debroy, Bibek (25 October 2017). The Valmiki Ramayana, Volume 3. ISBN 9789387326286.
  11. ^ "ŚB 9.1.2-3". vedabase.io. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
  12. ^ Law, B.C. (1973). Tribes in Ancient India, Bhandarkar Oriental Series No.4, Poona: Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, p.246
  13. ^ Misra, V.S. (2007). Ancient Indian Dynasties, Mumbai: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, ISBN 81-7276-413-8, p.286
  14. ^ Geiger, Wilhelm (tr.) (1912). "Mahavamsa, Chapter II". Ceylon Government Information Dept., Colombo (in lakdvia.org website). Retrieved 26 October 2009.
  15. ^ "Okkāka". Palikanon. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
  16. ^ Jain 1991, p. 2.
  17. ^ Jain 1991, p. 5.
  18. ^ Shah 2004, p. 15.
  19. ^ Shah, Chandraprakash, Shri Shantinatha, 16th Tirthankara
  20. ^ Jain 1991, p. 161.

Sources

Preceded by
Kulakara (in Jainism)
 Ikshvaku Dynasty Succeeded by
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