ब्रह्मदत्त

यन्त्रोपारोपितकोशांशः

कल्पद्रुमः

पृष्ठभागोऽयं यन्त्रेण केनचित् काले काले मार्जयित्वा यथास्रोतः परिवर्तयिष्यते। तेन मा भूदत्र शोधनसम्भ्रमः। सज्जनैः मूलमेव शोध्यताम्।

ब्रह्मदत्तः, पुं, इक्ष्वाकुवंशीयराजविशेषः । तत्- पर्य्यायः । ब्रह्मसूनुः २ । इति हेमचन्द्रः । ३ । ३५८ ॥ (यथा महाभारते । २ । ८ । २० । “ब्रह्मदत्तस्त्रिगर्त्तश्च राजोपरिचरस्तथा ॥” स्वनामख्यातो नीपपुत्त्रः । यथा, भागवते । ९ । २१ । २५ । पारस्य तनयो नीपस्तस्य पुत्त्रशतं त्वभूत् । स कृत्व्यां शुककन्यायां ब्रह्मदत्तमजीजनत् ॥” ब्रह्मणा दत्त इति विग्रहे वाच्यलिङ्गः । यथा, रामायणे । ३ । १८ । ३८ । “अमोघा इषवश्चेमे ब्रह्मदत्ताः सुतेजसः । दत्ता मह्यं महेन्द्रेण तूणौ चाक्षयसायकौ ॥”)

वाचस्पत्यम्

पृष्ठभागोऽयं यन्त्रेण केनचित् काले काले मार्जयित्वा यथास्रोतः परिवर्तयिष्यते। तेन मा भूदत्र शोधनसम्भ्रमः। सज्जनैः मूलमेव शोध्यताम्।

ब्र(व्र)ह्मदत्त¦ इक्षाकुवंश्ये नृपभेदे

२ त॰।

२ हिरण्यगर्भेणदत्ते त्रि॰

४ त॰।

३ विप्राय दत्ते त्रि॰।

४ शुकदेवस्य कन्यायांकृत्वीसमाख्यायां अणुहस्य पुत्रभेदे पु॰ तत्कथा हरिवं॰

११ अ॰ दृश्या।

शब्दसागरः

पृष्ठभागोऽयं यन्त्रेण केनचित् काले काले मार्जयित्वा यथास्रोतः परिवर्तयिष्यते। तेन मा भूदत्र शोधनसम्भ्रमः। सज्जनैः मूलमेव शोध्यताम्।

ब्रह्मदत्त¦ m. (-त्तः) One of the sovereigns of the race of Ikshwa4ku enumerated by the Jains. E. ब्रह्म by or to BRAHMA4, दत्त given.

Monier-Williams

पृष्ठभागोऽयं यन्त्रेण केनचित् काले काले मार्जयित्वा यथास्रोतः परिवर्तयिष्यते। तेन मा भूदत्र शोधनसम्भ्रमः। सज्जनैः मूलमेव शोध्यताम्।

ब्रह्मदत्त/ ब्रह्म--दत्त mfn. given by ब्रह्मTA1r.

ब्रह्मदत्त/ ब्रह्म--दत्त mfn. -ggiven by ब्रह्माMBh. R.

ब्रह्मदत्त/ ब्रह्म--दत्त m. N. of various men(See. नडा-दि)

ब्रह्मदत्त/ ब्रह्म--दत्त m. of a man with the patr. चैकितानेयS3Br.

ब्रह्मदत्त/ ब्रह्म--दत्त m. of a king( pl. his descendants) MBh.

ब्रह्मदत्त/ ब्रह्म--दत्त m. of a prince of the पञ्चालs in काम्पिल्यib. R. etc.

ब्रह्मदत्त/ ब्रह्म--दत्त m. of a king of the साल्वs Hariv.

ब्रह्मदत्त/ ब्रह्म--दत्त m. of a prince in वाराणसीKatha1s.

ब्रह्मदत्त/ ब्रह्म--दत्त m. of a prince in श्रावस्तीBuddh.

ब्रह्मदत्त/ ब्रह्म--दत्त m. (See. MWB. 420 , 1 ) of a prince in चम्पाib.

ब्रह्मदत्त/ ब्रह्म--दत्त m. of a prince in कुसुम-पुरib.

ब्रह्मदत्त/ ब्रह्म--दत्त m. of the 12th चक्र-वर्तिन्in भारतL.

ब्रह्मदत्त/ ब्रह्म--दत्त m. of a Brahman Hariv. Pan5cat.

ब्रह्मदत्त/ ब्रह्म--दत्त m. of a merchant Katha1s.

ब्रह्मदत्त/ ब्रह्म--दत्त m. of the father of कृष्ण-दत्तCat.

ब्रह्मदत्त/ ब्रह्म--दत्त m. of sev. authors ib.

Purana index

पृष्ठभागोऽयं यन्त्रेण केनचित् काले काले मार्जयित्वा यथास्रोतः परिवर्तयिष्यते। तेन मा भूदत्र शोधनसम्भ्रमः। सज्जनैः मूलमेव शोध्यताम्।

(I)--the son of नीप and कृत्वी daughter of शुक; a Yogi; wife Go and son विष्वक्सेन; फलकम्:F1:  भा. IX. २१. २५; M. १५. १०.फलकम्:/F king of साल्व (s.v.); फलकम्:F2:  भा. X. ५२. ११[8].फलकम्:/F killed by कृष्ण. फलकम्:F3:  Ib. X. ५२ [५६(v)8].फलकम्:/F

(II)--the son of अणुह and कीर्तिमती. Br. III. 8. ९४; १०. ८२; ७४. २६८; M. ४९. ५७; वा. ७०. ८६; ७३. ३१; ९९. १८०; Vi. IV. १९. ४५-6.

(III)--the son of विभ्राज, the पाञ्चाल king; in previous birth पितृवर्ति (s.v.), a son of कौशिक; his queen Sannati, daughter of Devala, being in one of her previous births the cow of Garga, was killed by कौशिक's sons during a famine; was anointed the पाञ्चाल king, and his two brothers in his previous birth, became his ministers; [page२-507+ २९] both king and queen once visited the pleasure garden and were taken by surprise at the sight of the love quarrels between two ants who were husband and wife; the wife accused the husband of taking pieces of मोदक (sweet- meat) to a neighbouring lady-love, an ant; the husband confessed that it was offered so thinking that she was her- self, his own wife and that he would behave more carefully in future; B. understood this as he could follow the language of all insects by divine grace; when Sannati thought that the king laughed at her and took it seriously, he took a vow for seven days and at the sight of Sudaridra, the Brahmana, remembered his past and became a Siddha him- self having anointed his son विश्वक्षेन on the throne. M. २०. २३-38; २१. १६, २४-35.

Purana Encyclopedia

पृष्ठभागोऽयं यन्त्रेण केनचित् काले काले मार्जयित्वा यथास्रोतः परिवर्तयिष्यते। तेन मा भूदत्र शोधनसम्भ्रमः। सज्जनैः मूलमेव शोध्यताम्।

BRAHMADATTA I : A famous king of Kāṁpilyapura.

1) Birth. Brahmadatta was born in the family of Bṛhatkṣatra who was a scion of the Solar dynasty. Bṛhatkṣatra begot Suhotra, Suhotra begot Hasti, Hasti begot Ajamīdha, Ajamīdha begot Bṛhadiṣu, Bṛhadiṣu begot Bṛhaddhanus, Bṛhaddhanus begot Bṛhaddharmā, Bṛhaddharmā begot Satyajit, Satyajit begot Viśvajit, Viśvajit begot Senājit and Senājit begot Rucira, Rucira begot Pṛthusena, Pṛthusena begot Nīpa, Nīpa begot Para, Para begot Pṛthu, Pṛthu begot Sukṛta, Sukṛta be- got Vibhrāja, Vibhrāja begot Aṇuha, and Aṇuha mar- ried Kṛtvī, the daughter of hermit Śukra. Brahmadatta was born to Aṇuha by Kṛtvī.

2) Previous birth and kingship. In Padmapurāṇa, Part III, Chapter 10, there is a story stating how the seven sons of Kauśika, a hermit, became fishermen by a curse and how they got absolution and attainment of heaven by offering oblations to the manes. The story is given below. Brahmadatta was the rebirth of Pitṛvartti, one of those seven sons.

In days of old there was a hermit named Kauśika in Kurukṣetra. His seven sons, Śvarūpa, Krodhana, Hiṁsra, Piśuna, Kavi, Vāgduṣṭa and Pitṛvartti were studying under Garga, a teacher. Their deeds were as bad as their names indicated. Their father died. The sons were in want. There was no rain anywhere in the world. These brothers had taken the milking cow of their teacher Garga to the forest for grazing. They decided to kill the cow of their teacher. The youngest of them said, “If we kill the cow we can use it as offerings to the manes, and the sin will not be visited on us.” The elder brothers agreed to it. Accordingly Pitṛvartti killed the cow and began sacrifice to the manes. Two of the elder brothers were detailed to give oblations to the devas, and three of them to offer oblations to the manes. One was detailed to be the guest and himself as the sacrificer. Thus remembering the manes the sacrifice was completed with the neces- sary rituals. In short, those seven hermits got divine power and became daring wicked men and ate the cow of their teacher. They told the teacher that the cow was eaten by a leopard and gave him the calf.

In course of time they all died and were born again as wild men in Daśapura. But because of their offerings to the manes they had retained memory of their previous births. So they fasted in holy baths and discarded their lives before the people. They were born again as deer in the mount of Kālañjara. Because of the power of knowledge and the penance and fast they discarded the body of deer in Prapatana and got rebirth as Cakravāka (ruddy goose) in the lake called Mānasa- saras. In this birth their names were Sumanas, Kusuma, Vasu, Citradarśi, Sudarśi, Jñāta and Jñānapāraga, names suitable to their character. Those seven loving brothers were saints by virtue of their harmony with the Supreme spirit. But owing to mental disturbance three of them lost their attainments. Seeing the plea- sures that King Aṇuha of Pāñcāla was enjoying by his wealth, vehicles, big army and beautiful women one of the Cakravākas, Pitṛvartti, the devoted Brāh- maṇa, who being loyal to his father had performed sacrifice and given offerings to the manes, desired to become a king. The other two brothers seeing the wealth, glory and power of the two ministers, wished to become ministers. Thus Pitṛvartti was born as the son of Aṇuha with the name Brahmadatta and the other two were born as Puṇḍarīka and Subālaka, sons of the two ministers. Brahmadatta was anointed as King of Pāñcāla in the great city of Kāṁpilya. The King loved his father. He was mighty and powerful. He was regular in performing sacrifices and giving offerings to the manes. He had the attainment of harmony with the supreme spirit. He understood the thought and speech of birds and animals. He married Sannati, the daughter of Sudeva (Devala); she was in her former birth the cow of Garga.

Once as the King was walking in the garden with his wife, he saw two ants. The minute creatures, who were husband and wife were engaged in a petty quar- rel. The male one, with loving words, pacified the female one, who instantly came close to her husband and they became happy. The King felt amazed at this conversation of the ants, and he laughed. Because of the attainments of his previous lives, he had the power to understand the language of animals, birds, etc. Seeing the King laughing without any reason the queen Sannati asked him why he laughed. She said that there was no reason whatsoever for the king to laugh just then. The King replied, “Oh, beautiful one! just now there was a quarrel between a female and a male ant. I heard it, That is why I laughed. There is no other reason.” The queen did not believe the King. She thought that the King had been scoffing her. She asked him how he came to understand the language of such creatures. The King could not answer her question. He fasted for seven days. On the seventh day Brahmā appeared before him and told him, “The King will know everything from the words of a Brāhmin, whom he would meet when he goes to walk in the streets.”

Brahmadatta returned to the palace and spent the night there. Next morning he started with his wife and ministers, for a walk. When they left the palace they saw an old Brahmin coming towards them. Seeing the king the Brāhmin recited a verse:

“Brāhmaṇas in Kurukṣetra
which seven as wild men in Daśapura?
Stags in Kālañjara, ruddy geese in Mānasa,
Then, are we, now living here”.


When the King heard this verse the memory of his former births revived and he fell down in a swoon.

There is a reason why the old Brāhmin recited the verse. The Ruddy geese mentioned before took their next birth as sons of a poor Brāhmin in the same city. They had the memory of their previous births. They were called Dhṛtimān, Sarvadarśi, Vidyācandra and Tapodhika, names suitable to their character. The Brahmin boys decided to go for penance to attain su- preme bliss. Then the poor father asked them, “My dear sons, what is this? You are going away leaving your poor and aged father. Is that dutiful? The sons replied, “We will tell you a way to earn wealth. You recite to the King, to-morrow morning this verse, which we will teach you now. You will get plenty of wealth.” The boys taught their father this verse and then they went to the forest. Their father, the old Brahmin, came to the gate of the palace at Kāṁpilya. The King was Brahmadatta.

There is another story how Brahmadatta became the King of this place. Long ago Aṇuha, the King of Pāñcāla did penance before Brahmā, who appeared before the King and asked him what he desired. The King made his request that he might have a son who should be a mighty hero, a learned man, a great hermit and who could understand the language of all living creatures. Brahmā granted him boon and thus Brahmadatta was born to Aṇuha. It was before this Brahmadatta that the Brāhmaṇa recited his verse and it was that King who swooned and fell down.

The two ministers were Subālaka the son of Bābhravya who was the author of the Kāmaśāstra and Puṇḍarīka the son of Pāñcāla who propagated the science of medicine. They also remembered about their former births and also fell down unconscious. When they recovered the King Brahmadatta and the minister Subala and Puṇḍarīka bemoaned the loss of powers they had attained before by devotion, meditation, penance and sacrifice. They cried, “Fate has made us desirous of the objects of our senses and we have lost our harmony with the Supreme Spirit.” They repeated the cry again and again and they spoke about the blessings obtained by offering oblation to their manes. Brahma- datta gave the old Brāhmaṇa plenty of wealth and several villages and sent him fully satisfied. Then he anointed his capable and fully qualified son Viṣvaksena as King and with his retinue retired to Mānasa-saras for penance.

3) A bird as his wife when he was King. When Brahma- datta was the King of Kāṁpilyapura a bird named Tapanīyā become his friend. Her head was purple coloured and body black. By and by this bird became his wife. A daughter named Sarvasenā was born to Brahmadatta by his bird-wife. The King had sons by other wives. Tapanīyā would wash her child and place her in the cradle early in the morning and then go to the forest and fly about in the air. She would return in the evening and tell the King news all over the world. It went on like this for a long time.

Once, when there was nobody in the room a prince took Sarvasenā from the cage and choked her to death. Tapanīyā returned and seeing the dead body of her daughter, waited for a long time. Finally she pecked out the eyes of the prince and flew away into the air. (Harivaṁśa, Chapter 20).


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BRAHMADATTA II : Another King who ruled over Kāṁpilya. This King was the son of the hermit Cūli and his wife Somadā, a Gandharva woman whose mother was Ūrmilā. When he was ruling Kāṁpilya, Kuśanābha was the King of Kānyakubja. One hund- red beautiful daughters were born to the King Kuśanābha. One day while they were playing in the jungle Vāyubhagavān (wind-god) saw them and grew lustful. But they did not yield to his request. So he got angry and cursed them and they became hump-backed. The King was very sorry. He presented his hundred hunch-backed daughters to King Brahmadatta, who, by his divine power straightened their backs. When they regained their former form they became the wives of Brahmadatta. This story occurs in Vālmīki Rāmā- yaṇa, Bālakāṇḍa, Sargas 32 & 33.


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BRAHMADATTA III : Mention is made in Mahābhārata, Bhaviṣya Parva, Chapter 104, about another Brahma- datta. He was the King of Sālva. Though he had two wives he had no children. Finally by the grace of Śiva two children were born to them. They were called Haṁsa and Ḍibhaka. (For further information see Ḍibhaka).


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BRAHMADATTA IV : A king who ruled over the coun- try of Kāśi. One night he saw two swans flying in the air. They were of golden colour. There were a num- ber of swans around them. They seemed like two lightnings in the midst of white clouds. Brahmadatta wished to see them again. His desire increased to such an extent that he had desire for nothing else. He consulted his ministers and made a lake. Every crea- ture which seemed beautiful to him was brought to that place. Hearing this those two swans also came there. By and by he tamed them and asked them how they got the golden colour. The swans said thus: “Oh King! you might have heard of the famous moun- tain Mandara, which is the field of games of the Devas (gods). At the time of the churning of the milk sea when this mountain was used as churn-drill, Amṛtaṁ (celestial nectar of immortality) touched this moun- tain. So the flowers, fruits and roots in the vicinity of this mountain got the power of removing death, wrin- kles etc. Candracūḍa also will come to this mountain occasionally to play on the top of it and so it became more glorious than the mount Kailāsa. One day while Mahādeva was playing in those gardens he had to leave on an urgent matter concerning Gods. So he left Pārvatī there and went away. Devī began to walk about in those gardens with pangs of separation. Spring season came. The Gaṇas (servants of Śiva) and the maids of Pārvatī attended on her. One day Maṇi- puṣpeśvara, a Gaṇa, hankered after Candralekhā, daughter of Jayā. She had been engaged in fanning Pārvatī. Both were young and their figures suited each other. Candralekhā reciprocated his love. Under- standing this Piṅgeśvara and Guheśvara, two gaṇas looked at each other and smiled. Seeing this Devī looked round with anger to see what caused them to smile. They squinted their eyes and showed Manipuṣ- pe vara and Candralekhā to Devī. Because of separation she had been much worried, weary and sad. So all these affairs made her angry. She said: “It is good that you behave like this when I am in this plight ! The two are making love. Seeing that, you are laughing. May these two dotards be born on the earth and be- come husband and wife there. Let you two who laughed before me without humility also be born on the earth, first as poor Brāhmaṇas, and then as Brahmarakṣas (demon friends), outcasts, robbers, dogs with tails cut off and finally as various kind of birds.” Thus she cursed the four of gaṇas. Then a gaṇa named Dhūrjaṭa said to Pārvatī: “Devī, this is unfortunate. They have not commited any severe crime.” Devī got angry at him and cursed him too: “May you also be born on the earth as a human be- ing.” After this Jaya the loved maid of Pārvatī reques- ted her for absolution from curse, for all. The Devī said that all of them would get absolution at the place of penance of Brahmā and other gods and would re- turn here. Of these, Candralekhā and her husband and Dhūrjaṭa would be happy on the earth. The two others would lead a miserable life on the earth.” (Kathāsaritsāgara, Padmāvatīlaṁbaka, Taraṅga 1).


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