Bhishmaka (), also called Hiranyaroman, is the king of

Vidarbha Vidarbha (Pronunciation: �id̪əɾbʱə is a geographical region in the east of the Indian state of Maharashtra and a proposed state of central India, comprising the state's Amravati and Nagpur divisions. Amravati Division's former name is Be ...

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Indian religion or '' dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global p ...

. He is the father of the goddess

Rukmini Rukmini ( sa, रुक्मिणी, , ) is a Hindu goddess and the first queen and chief wife of Krishna. In Vaishnava tradition, she is described as Krishna's principal queen in Dvaraka, as well as the chief of his wives. She is an in ...

, the chief wife of the god

Krishna Krishna (; sa, कृष्ण ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme god in his own right. He is the god of protection, compassion, tenderness, and love; and is on ...

and an incarnation of the goddess

Lakshmi Lakshmi (; , sometimes spelled Laxmi, ), also known as Shri (, ), is one of the principal goddesses in Hinduism. She is the goddess of wealth, fortune, power, beauty, fertility and prosperity, and associated with '' Maya'' ("Illusion"). A ...

Legend

Skanda Purana

The

Skanda Purana The ''Skanda Purana'' (IAST: Skanda Purāṇa) is the largest '' Mukyapurana'', a genre of eighteen Hindu religious texts. The text contains over 81,000 verses, and is of Kaumara literature, titled after Skanda, a son of Shiva and Parvati, w ...

describes Bhishmaka to be a wealthy and powerful monarch. At the time of the birth of Rukmini, the text describes a celestial voice instructing him to marry his daughter to a four-armed one ( Caturbhujā) who had been born on earth. After eight years, he betroths his daughter to

Shishupala Shishupala ( sa, शिशुपाल, lit. ''protector of children'', IAST: ''Śiśupāla''; sometimes spelt Sisupala) was the king of the Chedi kingdom, and an antagonist in the Mahabharata. He was the son of King Damaghosha and Srutashubha, ...

upon the insistence of the latter's father, Damaghosha, who tells him that Caturbhujā was an epithet of his son. Krishna and

Balarama Balarama ( Sanskrit: बलराम, IAST: ''Balarāma'') is a Hindu god and the elder brother of Krishna. He is particularly significant in the Jagannath tradition, as one of the triad deities. He is also known as Haladhara, Halayudha, Bala ...

are invited to the betrothal ceremony by Bhishmaka, upon which Krishna elopes with his daughter after they fall in love with each other.

Harivamsha

In the Harivamsha, when the king Bhishmaka's eldest son

Rukmi Rukmi ( sa, रुक्मी) is the ruler of Vidarbha according to the epic Mahabharata. He was the son of King Bhishmaka and the elder brother of Rukmini. The Harivamsa mentions that Rukmi was trained in the arts of warfare by the Kimpurush ...

chooses to marry his sister Rukmini off to suitors through a

svayamvara Svayamvara ( sa, स्वयंवर, svayaṃvara, translit-std=IAST), in ancient India, was a method of marriage in which a woman chose a man as her husband from a group of suitors. In this context, in Sanskrit means 'self' and means ' ...

ceremony, the king opposes Rukmi's decision, regarding it to be bad conduct on his part. When the king grants an audience to Krishna, he begs the god's forgiveness for this folly, upon which the latter agrees with his opinion, revealing that the bride was in fact Lakshmi, the goddess of prosperity. He assures the king that this was no sin on his part. Bhishmaka offers many exultations of Krishna before the god's departure.

References

{{reflist Mythological Indian monarchs Vidarbha Characters in the Bhagavata Purana Characters in the Mahabharata People related to Krishna