Sagara () is a king of the

Suryavamsha The Solar dynasty or (; ), also called the Ikshvaku dynasty, is a legendary Indian dynasty said to have been founded by Ikshvaku. In Hindu literature, it ruled the Kosala Kingdom, with its capital at Ayodhya, and later at Shravasti. They w ...

dynasty in

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Hypernymy and hyponymy, umbrella term for a range of Indian religions, Indian List of religions and spiritual traditions#Indian religions, religious and spiritual traditions (Sampradaya, ''sampradaya''s) that are unified ...

. The son of Bahuka, he ruled the city of

Ayodhya Ayodhya () is a city situated on the banks of the Sarayu river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ayodhya district as well as the Ayodhya division of Uttar Pradesh, India. Ayodhya became th ...

, with two wives, and 60,001 sons.

Legend

Birth

Saagar was born to Bāhuka, and his wife, Yadavi, at the

ashram An ashram (, ) is a spiritual hermitage or a monastery in Indian religions, not including Buddhism. Etymology The Sanskrit noun is a thematic nominal derivative from the root 'toil' (< Aurva Aurva () is a fierce sage in Hinduism, a member of the Bhargava race. He was born during a bloody feud between the Kshatriyas and the descendants of Bhrigu. He was also the grandfather of Vatsa, after whom the Srivatsa gotra is named. His son is ...

, while seeking refuge in the hermitage from the attacks of Tālajaṅgha, the king of Hehaya. While Yadavi was in the seventh month of her pregnancy, her co-wife administered a poison to her, due to which she remained pregnant for seven years. When Bahuka died in the hermitage, Yadavi was ready to follow him in his funeral

pyre A pyre (; ), also known as a funeral pyre, is a structure, usually made of wood, for burning a body as part of a funeral rite or execution. As a form of cremation, a body is placed upon or under the pyre, which is then set on fire. In discussi ...

, but was prevented by Aurva, who promised her that her child would grow up to become a great and fortunate emperor. Yadavi delivered shortly. As the poison (''gara'') given to her by her co-wife had immobilised her pregnancy,

Aurva Aurva () is a fierce sage in Hinduism, a member of the Bhargava race. He was born during a bloody feud between the Kshatriyas and the descendants of Bhrigu. He was also the grandfather of Vatsa, after whom the Srivatsa gotra is named. His son is ...

named her son Sagara (Sa-with, gara-poison).

Reign

Sage Aurva conducted the

Upanayana ''Upanayana'' () is a Hindu educational sacrament, one of the traditional saṃskāras or rites of passage that marked the acceptance of a student by a preceptor, such as a ''guru'' or ''acharya'', and an individual's initiation into a school in ...

ceremony of Sagara, and taught him the

Vedas FIle:Atharva-Veda samhita page 471 illustration.png, upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the ''Atharvaveda''. The Vedas ( or ; ), sometimes collectively called the Veda, are a large body of relig ...

. Once, Yadavi wept to hear the boy address the sage 'father', and when he enquired her of her sorrow, she told him about his real father and heritage. Sagara sought to win back his birthright. The people of

, who lived in fear of Tālajaṅgha, sought the counsel of

Vasishtha Vasishtha (, ) is one of the oldest and revered Vedic rishis or sages, and one of the Saptarishis (seven great Rishis). Vasishtha is credited as the chief author of Mandala 7 of the ''Rigveda''. Vasishtha and his family are mentioned in Rigve ...

, who advised them to bring Sagara back to reconquer the kingdom. The masses waited outside the ashrama of Aurva for five days to bring their plea to Sagara. With the blessings of the sage, and accompanied by the people, Sagara fought Tālajaṅgha, reconquered his kingdom, and crowned himself as the king.

Children

Sagara had two wives called Sumati and Keshini. As he had no issue for long, Sagara, with his two wives, went to the

Himalayas The Himalayas, or Himalaya ( ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the Earth's highest peaks, including the highest, Mount Everest. More than list of h ...

, and started to perform

tapas Tapas () are appetisers or snacks in Spanish cuisine. They can be combined to make a full meal and are served cold (such as mixed olives and cheese) or hot (such as , which are battered, fried baby squid; or , spicy potatoes). In some bars ...

at the Bhṛguprasravaṇa mountain. After a century of thus, the sage

Bhrigu Bhrigu (, ) is a rishi in Hindu tradition. He is one of the seven great sages, the Saptarshis, and one of the many Prajapatis (the facilitators of creation) created by Brahma. He was the first compiler of predictive astrology and also the aut ...

appeared, and blessed Sagara that one of his wives would give birth to 60,000 sons, and the other to one, who would add to the glory of the dynasty. Sumati chose to bear the 60,000 sons, and Keshini decided to bear the one son. The sons of Sumati are described to be predicted to be unrighteous in character, while the son of Keshini would be righteous. The king and his queens returned to

, and in due course, Keshini delivered one son called Asamañjasa. Sumati gave birth to a lump of flesh, which developed into 60,000 children after being cut into thousands of effulgent pieces by

Shiva Shiva (; , ), also known as Mahadeva (; , , Help:IPA/Sanskrit, ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐh and Hara, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the God in Hinduism, Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions w ...

. Sagara embarked on a triumphal tour with his sons, and started a war of conquest. After conquering the northern regions of the land, he moved towards the south, his object being Māhiṣmatī, the kingdom of the Hehayas. He is stated to have destroyed the realm of his father's usurpers completely in battle.

Death of the Sagarputras

According to the

Vishnu Purana The Vishnu Purana () is one of the eighteen Mahapuranas, a genre of ancient and medieval texts of Hinduism. It is an important Pancharatra text in the Vaishnavism literature corpus. The manuscripts of ''Vishnu Purana'' have survived into ...

, King Sagara performed the

ashvamedha The Ashvamedha () was a horse sacrifice ritual followed by the Śrauta tradition of Vedic religion. It was used by ancient Indian kings to prove their imperial sovereignty: a horse accompanied by the king's warriors would be released to wander ...

yajna In Hinduism, ''Yajna'' or ''Yagna'' (, Help:IPA/Sanskrit, ɐd͡ʒɲə ) also known as Hawan, is a ritual done in front of a sacred fire, often with mantras. Yajna has been a Vedas, Vedic tradition, described in a layer of Vedic literature ...

to establish his suzerainty of the earth.

Indra Indra (; ) is the Hindu god of weather, considered the king of the Deva (Hinduism), Devas and Svarga in Hinduism. He is associated with the sky, lightning, weather, thunder, storms, rains, river flows, and war. volumes Indra is the m ...

, the king of the devas, grew fearful over the results of the yajna, and so he decided to steal the sacrificial horse near a mountain. He left the horse at

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 u ...

near the sage Kapila, who was engaged in a deep meditation. King Sagara’s 60,000 sons, and his son Asamañjasa, collectively known as the ''Sagarputras'' (Sons of Sagara) were commanded to find the horse. When the 60,000 sons circled the Ashtadiggajas and found the horse grazing near the sage, they made a great hubbub. When the furious sage opened his eyes to glare at them, they were immediately burned to ashes. Generations later, one of Sagara’s descendants,

Bhagiratha Bhagiratha (, ) is a legendary king of the Ikshvaku dynasty in Hindu Literature, Hindu literature. He is best known for his legend of bringing the sacred river Ganges, personified as the Hinduism, Hindu river goddess Ganges in Hinduism, Ganga, f ...

, undertook the task of freeing the souls of his ancestors from Patala. He pursued this task by performing

to the goddess

Ganga 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 which goes through India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China." is a trans-boundary riv ...

, and succeeded in causing her to descend from

Svarga Svarga (, ), also known as Swarga, Indraloka and Svargaloka, is the celestial abode of the devas in Hinduism. Svarga is one of the seven higher lokas ( esoteric planes) in Hindu cosmology. Svarga is often translated as heaven, though it is reg ...

upon the earth as the river

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 which goes through India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China." is a trans-boundary rive ...

, and performing the funeral rites for the 60,000 perished sons at Patala.

Abdication

After the death of his sons, Sagara abdicated the throne of Ayodhya, anointing

Amshuman Amshuman () is a king of the Suryavamsha dynasty in Hinduism. The son of Asamanjasa, Amshuman becomes the king of Ayodhya after the death of his grandfather, King Sagara. Amshuman's grandson, Bhagiratha, brings the flow of the Ganges down fr ...

, the son of Asamañjasa, as his successor. He retired to the ashrama of Aurva, and started to perform a penance to cause the

to descend upon his son's ashes.

Jainism

In Jain tradition, Sagara was younger brother of Lord

Ajitanatha Ajitanatha (lit. invincible) was the second ''tirthankara'' of the present age, ''avasarpini'' (half time cycle) according to Jainism. He was born to king Jitashatru and Queen Vijaya at Ayodhya in the Ikshvaku dynasty. He was a liberated soul ...

(second

Tirthankara In Jainism, a ''Tirthankara'' (; ) is a saviour and supreme preacher of the ''Dharma (Jainism), dharma'' (righteous path). The word ''tirthankara'' signifies the founder of a ''Tirtha (Jainism), tirtha'', a fordable passage across ''Saṃsā ...

). He was born to ''

Kshatriya Kshatriya () (from Sanskrit ''kṣatra'', "rule, authority"; also called Rajanya) is one of the four varnas (social orders) of Hindu society and is associated with the warrior aristocracy. The Sanskrit term ''kṣatriyaḥ'' is used in the con ...

'' King Jitashatru and Queen Vijayanti (Yasomati) of

Ikshvaku dynasty The Solar dynasty or (; ), also called the Ikshvaku dynasty, is a legendary Indian dynasty said to have been founded by Ikshvaku. In Hindu literature, it ruled the Kosala Kingdom, with its capital at Ayodhya, and later at Shravasti. They ...

. He was the second

Chakravartin A ''chakravarti'' (, ) is an ideal (or idealized) universal ruler, in the history, and religion of India. The concept is present in Indian subcontinent cultural traditions, narrative myths and lore. There are three types of chakravarti: ''c ...

ruler of

Avasarpiṇī ''Avasarpiṇī'' (), is the descending half of the cosmic time cycle in Jainism and the one in which the world is said to be at present. According to Jain texts the ''Avasarpiṇī'' is marked by a decline in goodness and religion. The ascen ...

(present half of worldly time cycle as per

Jain cosmology Jain cosmology is the description of the shape and functioning of the Universe (''loka'') and its constituents (such as living beings, matter, space, time etc.) according to Jainism. Jain cosmology considers the universe as an uncreated entity t ...

) who conquered the world with his seven jewels. His queens were Sumati and Bhadra. He had sixty-thousand sons from his queens, Janhu being the eldest. Janhu flooded the Naga Kingdom with waters of river

. This infuriated the Naga King who burnt all the sons of Sagara in anger. Sagara then place

, his grandson, on throne and left for penance.

Notes

References

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