Keśinī, Virocana and Sudhanvā

Vidura tells this account to Dhṛtarāshṭra in the Vidura-nīti, in Chapter 35 of the Udyoga Parva of the Mahābhārata (the Prajāgara-parvan). Virocana, son of the daitya Prahlāda, and Sudhanvā, son of the ṛshi Aṅgiras, both wished to win the maiden Keśinī at her svayaṃvara (the ceremony in which a maiden chooses her husband). They quarrelled, and Prahlāda himself had to judge between them. He judged with complete truth, though his own son’s life was at stake.

Vidura tells it right after warnings about false speech and unjust conduct. It speaks of the greatness of birth in a brāhmaṇa family, of the binding force of truth even at the cost of one’s child, and of a generous heart.

The svayaṃvara of Keśinī

Keśinī was a maiden of matchless beauty. She held a svayaṃvara to find the most worthy husband. Two suitors came who mattered most. One was Virocana, son of Prahlāda, the great king of the daityas. The other was Sudhanvā, son of the ṛshi Aṅgiras, a brāhmaṇa of deep spiritual attainment.

Virocana arrived first. He was proud of his daitya line and of the great wealth and power of the asura kingdoms, and he made his claim on Keśinī. She asked him a sharp question: “Are the brahma-jñānīs (knowers of Brahman) greater, or are the children of Diti, the daityas?”

Virocana answered with an asura’s pride: “We are the children of Prajāpati himself. The three worlds belong to us. What are devas? What are brāhmaṇas?”

Keśinī neither accepted him nor sent him away. She said: “Let us wait here together. Tomorrow morning Sudhanvā will come. Then I will watch you both together and decide.”

The meeting of the three

The next morning Sudhanvā came to the place of the svayaṃvara. Keśinī rose to greet him. She gave him a seat of honour, brought water to wash his feet, and offered him the honoured articles of pūjā. Sudhanvā accepted this respectful welcome.

Virocana watched all this. He asked Sudhanvā to sit beside him on the same seat, which was a claim to be his equal. Sudhanvā refused outright.

“A father and his son, two brāhmaṇas, two kshatriyas, two elderly vaiśyas, two śūdras — these may share a single seat. No other pairs are allowed.”

Sudhanvā was a brāhmaṇa, and so he could not be counted the equal of a daitya, who belonged to a different station. He also said that his father Aṅgiras was greater than Prahlāda, that he himself was therefore greater than Virocana, and that his mother was greater than Virocana’s mother. Virocana was enraged and disputed this.

The quarrel grew until they staked their very lives (prāṇas) on the outcome. Sudhanvā did not look for outside judges. He proposed: “Let us go to your father Prahlāda. He is a man of dharma, and he will not lie even for his son’s sake.”

Prahlāda’s judgment

The two came before Prahlāda, the great king of the daityas, known for his firm devotion to Vishṇu and his hold on dharma. Virocana told him of the dispute. They had staked their lives and needed a true judgment. Sudhanvā then asked the question that mattered: “Are brāhmaṇas greater, or is this Virocana?”

Prahlāda was in a cruel position. He had only one son, and that son’s life hung on his answer. He first tried to turn the question aside:

“You are both here before me. There is a dispute between you. How can someone like me answer in such a matter?”

Sudhanvā would not take this way out. He reminded Prahlāda: “I ask you to speak truly. Give your son a cow or whatever wealth you wish instead. But when a question of truth comes up, a wise man must say what he truly knows.”

Prahlāda then spoke of the terrible results of false witness.

• Lying about goats and sheep destroys five generations.
• Lying about cattle destroys ten.
• Lying about horses destroys a hundred.
• Lying about men destroys a thousand.
• Lying about land destroys everything, for all time.

With these stakes laid out, Prahlāda could not escape, and he spoke the truth.

“Virocana, Aṅgiras is greater than I. Sudhanvā is greater than you. His mother is greater than your mother. Therefore you have lost to Sudhanvā.”

He finished the judgment with these words: “Sudhanvā, the life of this Virocana is now in your hands.”

Sudhanvā’s generosity

Virocana’s life was now Sudhanvā’s by the judgment, and he could have taken it. Instead he showed at once the quality for which birth in a brāhmaṇa family is most valued, a greatness of heart beyond all counting.

He said to Prahlāda: “I give your son back to you. You spoke truly, and because of that truth you shall have your son back.” Sudhanvā also named one condition. He asked that the maiden Keśinī be formally given to Virocana. The account tells of a rite of washing feet before Sudhanvā in this part of the story.

Why Vidura tells it

Vidura gives the account as a lesson with three teachings.

The greatness of birth in a brāhmaṇa family. Prahlāda was one of the greatest of the daitya kings, a devotee of Vishṇu and a being of great tapas. Yet he openly said that Aṅgiras and his son Sudhanvā were greater than he and his son Virocana. Virocana had claimed greatness from his descent from Prajāpati.

The binding power of truth. Prahlāda had every reason to lie, for his only son’s life was at stake. He did not lie. Vidura points out that a father who lies to save his son destroys his descendants and his whole line across the generations.

The grace of the brāhmaṇa heart. Sudhanvā did not take the life that was his by right. He gave it back. In giving Keśinī to Virocana, he also showed that true knowledge does not hoard its prizes.

Sources

• Mahābhārata, Udyoga Parva, Chapter 35 (Prajāgara-parvan, within the Vidura-nīti)