Anshuman () is a king of the

Suryavamsha The Solar dynasty (IAST: Suryavaṃśa or Ravivaṃśa in Sanskrit) or the Ikshvaku dynasty was founded by the legendary king Ikshvaku.Geography of Rigvedic India, M.L. Bhargava, Lucknow 1964, pp. 15-18, 46-49, 92-98, 100-/1, 136 The dynasty is ...

dynasty in

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 po ...

. The son of

Asamanja Asamanjasa (), also rendered Asamanja, is the eldest son of King Sagara and one of his two queens, Keshini, in Hindu literature. Legend Ramayana The birth of Asamanjasa is described in the Ramayana. King Sagara of the Suryavamsha dynas ...

sa, Anshuman becomes the king of

Ayodhya Ayodhya (; ) is a city situated on the banks of holy river Saryu in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Ayodhya, also known as Saketa, is an ancient city of India, the birthplace of Rama and setting of the great epic Ramayana. Ayodhy ...

after the death of his grandfather,

King Sagara Sagara () is a king of the Suryavamsha dynasty in Hinduism. The son of Bahuka, he ruled the city of Ayodhya, with two wives, and 60,001 sons. Legend Birth Sagara was born to Bāhuka, and his wife, Yadavi, at the ashrama of Sage Aurva, ...

. Anshuman's grandson,

Bhagiratha Bhagiratha (Sanskrit: भगीरथ, ''Bhagīratha'') is a legendary king of the Ikshvaku dynasty in Hindu literature. He is best known for his legend of bringing the sacred river Ganges, personified as the Hindu river goddess Ganga, from he ...

, brings the flow of the

Ganges The Ganges ( ) (in India: Ganga ( ); in Bangladesh: Padma ( )). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international river to which India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China are the riparian states." is ...

down from

heaven Heaven or the heavens, is a common religious cosmological or transcendent supernatural place where beings such as deities, angels, souls, saints, or venerated ancestors are said to originate, be enthroned, or reside. According to the bel ...

Legend

Quest

When King Sagara performs the ashvamedha yajna, Indra steals the sacrificial horse. Sagara asks his 60,000 sons, including Amshuman's father, Asamanjasa, to go and fetch it. The sons venture to the netherworld, and find the horse tied beside the meditating Sage

Kapila Kapila ( sa, कपिल), also referred to as Cakradhanus, is a sage in Hindu tradition. According to Bhagavata Purana, he is the son of the sage Kardama and Devahuti, the daughter of the Svayambhuva Manu. Kardama had nine daughters, who w ...

. The sons create a great din upon their discovery, disturbing the penance of the sage. As a consequence, Kapila burns them to ashes with his fiery eyes. When Sagara's sons do not return, he requests his grandson, Amshuman, to go and look for them.

Discovery

Amshuman follows the path that his father and uncles took to

Patala In Indian religions, Patala (Sanskrit: पाताल, IAST: pātāla, lit. ''that which is below the feet''), denotes the subterranean realms of the universe – which are located under the earthly dimension. Patala is often translated as und ...

. There, he sees Sage Kapila and the horse. He approaches him respectfully, and asks about the whereabouts of his family members. Upon being told that they were burnt to ashes, he becomes inconsolable, since his father and uncles would now be unable to attain heaven, due to the proper funeral rituals not having been performed. Kapila tells Amshuman that only his yet unborn grandson, Bhagiratha, could bring the Ganges down from Svarga. Amshuman reports these unfortunate tidings to Sagara, who becomes grieved. King Sagara could not find a solution to bring the river Ganga to the earth, and ultimately dies after ruling his kingdom for 30 thousand years. As per primogeniture, the people and ministers then installed Amshuman as their king. Amshuman would be succeeded by his son, Dilipa.

References

{{HinduMythology Characters in Hindu mythology Characters in the Mahabharata Solar dynasty