Kāñcanīpura

Kāñcanīpura was a city of great beauty and great danger. Mountains surrounded it, strong walls defended it, and poison serpents guarded it. Only nāgakanyās (serpent-women) lived in it, and one other woman, Sulocanā. The Kalki Purāṇa tells how Bhagavān Kalki entered the city alone, freed Sulocanā, and made Mahāmati its king.

Description

  • Defences. The city was ringed by mountain ranges (giridurgas) and by walls that could not be broken (durga-koṭas). Poison serpents (visha-sarpas) guarded every road and approach.
  • Inside the city. In spite of its fearsome defences, the inside was beautiful. It was decorated with jewel-work (maṇi-maya) and golden murals and ornaments (kāñchana-chitra). Sandalwood (harichandana) trees lined every avenue.
  • People. No human beings lived there. Its only inhabitants were nāgakanyās. Their poisonous nature made the city deadly to any human who entered to meet them.

The voice from the sky

Bhagavān Kalki came with his army. They broke through the outer serpent defences and reached the city gates. Then an ākāśavāṇī (a divine voice from the sky) stopped them. It said: “Only Kalki alone may enter this city. If anyone other than him enters, the vishakanyā’s gaze will kill them all instantly.”

Only the avatāra, whose gaze was amṛta (nectar), could safely meet the vishakanyā (poison-eyed woman), whose gaze was visha (poison).

Sulocanā in the city

Sulocanā was the wife of the gandharva Chitragīva. A ṛshi on Gandhamādana mountain had cursed her because she mocked him. As her punishment she received a poisonous gaze. She was shut in Kāñcanīpura, cut off from her husband and from every living being. Every warrior who had tried to reach her before had been killed by her gaze.

Bhagavān Kalki freed her with his gaze of amṛta. The city, which had been a prison under a curse, became a freed place under a new ruler.

After her release

Sulocanā went up to the loka (world) of her husband. Then Bhagavān Kalki made Mahāmati king of Kāñcanīpura. The Kalki Purāṇa gives the line of kings that followed:

  1. Mahāmati
  2. Amarsha
  3. Sāhasra
  4. Asi
  5. the Bṛhannala kings

From the Bṛhannala line, Mannu was later made king of Ayodhyā. In this way Kāñcanīpura is the source of the line of kings of Ayodhyā in the Kṛtayuga.

Sources

  • Kalki Purāṇa, Tritīyāmśa, Chapter 14