Kakutstha

Kakutstha · kakud-stha, “the one who stood on the hump”

Kakutstha is a king of the Sūrya vaṃśa (the solar dynasty), born in the line of Ikshvāku, the son of Vaivasvata Manu. The Agni Purāṇa names him as the son of Vikukshi and the grandson of Ikshvāku. From him the line runs on through many kings, and in the account of Śrī Rāma the Agni Purāṇa names him as the ancestor of Raghu, Aja and Daśaratha, in whose house Śrī Mahāvishṇu was born as Rāma. He is also one of the great kings of old who are called on to protect a king at his abhisheka (consecration bath).

The Bhāgavata Purāṇa calls him Purañjaya, the son of Vikukshi (Śaśāda), and tells how he won his three names. When the devas were defeated by the rākshasas at the end of the Kṛta yuga, they chose him as their helper. At the word of Bhagavān Vishṇu, Indra took the form of a great bull to carry him; seated on its hump, filled with the tejas of Bhagavān Vishṇu, he conquered the rākshasas’ city in the west and offered all its wealth to Indra. So he was Purañjaya, “conqueror of the city”, Kakutstha, “the one seated on the hump”, and Indravāha, “the one whose vāhana is Indra”. A rājarshi, he was the father of Anenas.

In the line of Ikshvāku

Agni Deva gives the line of the Sūrya vaṃśa to Vasishṭha. From the lotus of the navel of Mahāvishṇu, Brahmā appeared. Brahmā’s son was Marīci, Marīci’s son was Kaśyapa, and Kaśyapa’s son was Vivasvān, Sūrya. Sūrya’s son was Vaivasvata Manu, and among Manu‘s ten sons was Ikshvāku. To Ikshvāku was born Vikukshi, called “devarāja”. Vikukshi’s son was Kakutstha, and Kakutstha’s son was Suyodhana. After him came Pṛthu, Viśvagaśva, Vāyu, Yuvanāśva, Śrāvanta, Bṛhadaśva and Kuvalāśva, who killed the rākshasa Dhundhu and so was named Dhundhumāra.

Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 273

Ancestor of Śrī Rāma

When Agni Deva begins the Rāmāyaṇa, as Nārada told it to Vālmīki, he first gives Rāma’s line: from Brahmā came Marīci, then Kaśyapa, Sūrya, Vaivasvata Manu and Ikshvāku. In Ikshvāku’s line was born Kakutstha. To Kakutstha was born Raghu, to Raghu Aja, and to Aja Daśaratha. To slay Rāvaṇa and the rest, Śrī Mahāvishṇu made himself fourfold and was born through Daśaratha as Rāma, Bharata, Lakshmaṇa and Śatrughna.

Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 5

Called on at the abhisheka

Among the mantras for the abhisheka of a king, which Pushkara teaches Paraśurāma, the great kings of old are asked to protect the king: “May Pṛthu, Dilīpa, Bharata and Dushyanta, the very mighty Śatrujit, Manu, Kakutstha, Anenā, Yuvanāśva, Jayadratha, Māndhātṛ, Mucukunda and Purūravas protect you.” Pushkara says that these mantras remove all pāpa (sin).

Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 219

Per Bhāgavata Purāṇa

Purañjaya, son of Vikukshi

Śrī Śuka Maharshi, telling King Parīkshit the line of Ikshvāku, says that the son of Vikukshi, who was called Śaśāda, was Purañjaya. He was also called Indravāha and Kakutstha, and these names came from his deeds.

The war with the rākshasas

At the end of the Kṛta yuga there was a war of the devas with the rākshasas that threatened to end the world. In that war the devas were defeated, and they chose the hero Purañjaya as their helper. Purañjaya asked that Indra be his vāhana. At the word of Bhagavān Vishṇu, the Devadeva, the ātmā of the world, Jagannātha, Indra became a great bull.

Wishing to fight, Purañjaya put on armour, took up a bow of the deva-loka and sharp arrows, and sat on the bull at its hump, while the devas praised him. The tejas of Bhagavān Vishṇu, the Pūrṇa, who is beyond prakṛti in the form of the ātmā, made him grow in strength. With the devas he besieged the city of the rākshasas in the western direction.

The battle was a tumult that made the hair of those who watched it stand on end. With his arrows Purañjaya sent the rākshasas who opposed him to Yama. To stand before his arrows was as unbearable for them as to stand before the fire of the pralaya, and the rest avoided him and fled to their own dwelling, Pātāla. The rājarshi Purañjaya conquered the rākshasas’ city, full of riches, and all their wealth, and offered it to Indra, who holds the vajra.

His three names

• Purañjaya, “conqueror of the city”, because he conquered the city of the rākshasas.
• Kakutstha, “the one seated on the hump”, because he sat on the bull’s hump.
• Indravāha, “the one whose vāhana is Indra“, because Indra was his mount.

Purañjaya’s son was Anenas, and the line went on through Pṛthu, Viśvarandhi, Candra and Yuvanāśva.

Source: Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 9, Chapter 6

Remembered in the Earth’s song

In the twelfth skandha the Earth herself sings of the kings and asuras who ruled her and said “mine” to her, and Kakutstha is among them. They showed great mamakāra for her, the Earth says, but they too were of a nature to die, and Kāla made them into ones of whom only the account remains. Śuka adds that he told the accounts of such great men only to teach viveka and vairāgya, for the glory of Śrī Hari is the highest. In the summary of the Purāṇa, the life of “the wise Kakutstha” is named among the accounts of the ninth skandha.

Source: Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 12, Chapters 3, 12

Sources

• Agni Purāṇa, Chapters 5, 219, 273
• Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 9, Chapter 6; Skandha 12, Chapters 3, 12