Mithilā is the city and kingdom of the Janaka kings. It lies in what is now northern Bihar. The first Janaka, a son of Nimi Mahārāja, founded it, and it takes its name from his unusual birth by churning. Mithilā became the great centre of royal knowledge of the Self (ātmajñāna) and of Vedic learning in the ancient world. It is also the birthplace of Sītādevī, who appeared in the furrow of King Sīradhvaja’s ploughing.

Origin and foundation

Nimi Mahārāja, the son of Ikshvāku, gave up his body after he and Vasishṭha had cursed each other (śāpa). The ṛtvijs (priests) of his unfinished satra-yāga then churned his preserved body. A son was born from the churning, and he received three names that match his birth.

Janaka: the name he is known by as a king of this line.
Vaideha: born of the videhā, the one without a body.
Mithila: born of the churning (mathana).

This son was the first Janaka and was also called Mithila. He founded the city that bears his name, Mithilā. His dynasty ruled from this city, and it became the great centre of royal wisdom.

Source: Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, 9th Skanda, Chapter 13.

The Mithilā dynasty

The Bhāgavata gives the line of Mithilā’s kings from the first Janaka: Udāvasu, Nandivardhana, Suketu, Devarāta, Bṛhadratha, Mahāvīrya, Sudṛti, Dhṛshṭaketu, Haryaśva, Maru, Pratīpaka, Kṛtiratha, Devamīḍha, Viśruta, Mahādhṛti, Kṛtirāta, Mahāromu, Svarṇaromu, Hrasvaromu, and last Sīradhvaja.

Sīradhvaja got his name because Sītādevī appeared in the furrow while he was ploughing the earth for a yāga. She was a daughter born of the earth itself. “Sīradhvaja” means “one whose fame is carried by the plough.”

Among Sīradhvaja’s heirs, Kṛtadhvaja was known for his steady devotion to knowledge of the Self. His son Keśidhvaja was a supreme ātmajñānī. His talk with Khāṇḍikya, a son of the other branch of the family, who followed karma, is a well-known episode of Mithilā.

Source: Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, 9th Skanda, Chapter 13.

The character of the Mithilā line

The whole Mithilā dynasty was marked by a rare quality. Though they were householders (gṛhasthas) and rulers, they were free from rāga and dvesha, attraction and dislike. This came through the grace of their royal teachers, ṛshis such as Yājñavalkya. They carried all the duties of kingship together with an inner life of calm balance. This is the special mark of Mithilā in the Purāṇas.

Nimi Mahārāja said that those who meditate on Śrī Hari do not want a physical body, because they dread its end. This spirit lived on in the thinking of his descendants.

Source: Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, 9th Skanda, Chapter 13.

The Nimi vaṃśa in the Brahmāṇḍa Purāṇa

The Brahmāṇḍa Mahā Purāṇa (Madhyama Bhāga, Chapter 64) records the Nimi vaṃśa on its own. It tells of Nimi’s mutual śāpa with Vasishṭha, the keeping of Nimi’s body in oils, the araṇi-manthana (churning with fire-sticks) by the ṛtvijs, and the birth of Mithī from the churning. Mithī named himself after this unique birth, and the city he founded was called Mithila.

The Brahmāṇḍa gives a full list of the kings of the Janaka dynasty, from the first Janaka (Mithī, also called Vaideha) down to Kṛti, the last king it names. It names Sīradhvaja Janaka as the king who ploughed the earth for a yāga and found Sītādevī in the furrow. It explains his name as “one whose fame is proclaimed by the plough (sīra).”

Mithilā in the Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Bāla Kāṇḍa

How Rāma came to Mithilā

The Bāla Kāṇḍa shows Mithilā as the great city to which Viśvāmitra led Rāma and Lakshmaṇa. This was after the rākshasas who disturbed his yajña had been destroyed and Ahalyā had been freed. They crossed the Śoṇa, Gaṅgā and Śarāyū rivers and came near the kingdom of Sīradhvaja Janaka, the kingdom of Videha, whose capital was Mithilā. (Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Bāla Kāṇḍa, Chapters 47–48)

The city as described

When Rāma and Lakshmaṇa came near Mithilā with the ṛshi Viśvāmitra, the city was a grand and thriving capital. It had fine gardens, well-planned streets and a large, rich population. It was the capital of the Videha kingdom, the land of the Janaka dynasty, who had ruled from this city since the first Janaka founded it. The city was crowded and splendid. In the royal enclosure was the great bow of Śiva, the Śiva Dhanus, the divine bow that Janaka had received as a sacred inheritance. It was the basis of the condition of Sītā’s svayaṃvara. (Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Bāla Kāṇḍa, Chapters 66–67)

The place of the great svayaṃvara

Mithilā is the setting of the great events of Chapters 66–73 of the Bāla Kāṇḍa.

Janaka told Viśvāmitra the history of the divine Śiva Dhanus and how many great kings and warriors had come and failed to string it.
Rāma lifted the bow, strung it and broke it with ease. By this he showed that he was the right husband for Sītādevī.
Vasishṭha and Viśvāmitra together announced the wedding, and Janaka sent for Daśaratha at Ayodhyā.
Four weddings were held together: Rāma with Sītā, Lakshmaṇa with Urmilā, Bharata with Māṇḍavī and Śatrughna with Śrutakīrti.
The devas rained flowers on the city, the gandharvas sang, and all the people of Mithilā celebrated with unchecked joy as the daughter of their king was married to the son of Daśaratha.

Source: Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Bāla Kāṇḍa, Chapters 66–73.

Mithilā in the Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa, Bāla Kāṇḍa

The beauty of the city

The Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa describes Mithilā, as Rāma and Lakshmaṇa came near it with Viśvāmitra, as a city of great beauty. Rivers, lakes and ponds lay around it, all full of sweet water, with steps set with gems, the hum of bees among the blossoms and the calls of birds. Houses of many colours, built of stone set with gems, lined well-kept streets, and pleasure gardens decorated all four sides of the city. Even the houses of the ministers and army commanders were as grand as the royal palace. The citizens were beautiful by nature and rich. Even the devas delight in the sight of Janaka’s city and the palace of Sītādevī.

Source: Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa, Bāla Kāṇḍa, Mithilā Nagara Darśanamu.

The first meeting of Rāma and Sītā

Mithilā is the place of the Prathamādarśana, the first meeting of Rāma and Sītā, which the Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa describes with great lyric beauty. On the morning after they came, Rāma and Lakshmaṇa went to Janaka’s garden to gather flowers for pūjā. Sītā came to the same garden with her companions to do the Gaurī pūjā at the shrine of Gaurī by the lake. Nārada had told Sītā long before that she would see Rāma in this flower garden before her wedding.

As Sītā walked, the sound of her anklet bells reached Rāmacandra. He looked up and saw her. The text says he gazed as the cātaka bird gazes at the moon. He said quietly to Lakshmaṇa: “That is Janaka’s daughter, for whom the dhanuryajña is being held. My heart is moved at the sight of her. My right arm trembles with a good sign. Parameśvara alone knows the cause.”

Sītā in her turn looked everywhere for the princes she had heard about. A sakhī (friend) pointed them out from behind the garden hedge. At that moment Rāma and Lakshmaṇa came out of the bower, and Sītā saw them, shining like two moons breaking through cloud. She fixed Rāma’s form in her eyes and stood for a moment with eyes closed, lost in it, until a teasing sakhī woke her.

Source: Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa, Bāla Kāṇḍa, Rāmuḍu Jānakini Cūcuṭa.

Gaurī’s assurance

Inside the shrine, Sītā worshipped Devī Gaurī with great devotion. She prayed that Rāma, just as she had seen him, would become her husband. Devī Gaurī answered with her blessing and assured her of the marriage. Sītā’s heart was filled with certainty.

Source: Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa, Bāla Kāṇḍa, Rāmuḍu Jānakini Cūcuṭa.

The place of the Dhanuryajña

The Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa tells of the breaking of the great bow of Śiva, the Śiva Dhanus Bhaṅga, at Mithilā. All the kings who had come failed to lift the bow. Janaka grieved, and at last he spoke to Lakshmaṇa through the court, which led to Lakshmaṇa’s well-known vow. At Viśvāmitra’s word Rāmacandra rose and walked with the ease of a lordly lion. He lifted the bow as easily as a garland, strung it and broke it in a single moment, with a thunderclap that shook the three worlds. The devas rained flowers on Mithilā. Sītā came forward and put the jayamāla (garland of victory) on Rāma. The city broke out in joy.

Source: Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa, Bāla Kāṇḍa, Dhanus Bhaṅga.

The four weddings

After the bow was broken and the Paraśurāma episode, Mithilā was the place of the great fourfold wedding. Brahmā himself fixed the auspicious godhūli muhūrta (cow-dust hour) in Mārgaśīrsha for the weddings. Daśaratha came with a grand barāt (wedding procession).

The four weddings were Rāma with Sītā, Lakshmaṇa with Ūrmiḷā, Bharata with Māṇḍavī, the daughter of Janaka’s brother Kuśaketu, and Śatrughna with Śrutakīrti. Vasishṭha performed them all together, with the recitation of the Vedas. The city was decorated with gems and lights. The citizens celebrated, and the whole company of devas watched from the sky.

Source: Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa, Bāla Kāṇḍa, Vivāha Mahotsava.

Sources

Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, 9th Skanda, Chapter 13
Brahmāṇḍa Mahā Purāṇa, Madhyama Bhāga, Chapter 64
Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Bāla Kāṇḍa, Chapters 47–48 and 66–73
Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa, Bāla Kāṇḍa: Mithilā Nagara Darśanamu; Rāmuḍu Jānakini Cūcuṭa; Dhanus Bhaṅga; Vivāha Mahotsava