Ākūti

Ākūti · ā-kūti, “intention, purpose”

Dakshiṇā has other meanings too: see all meanings of Dakshiṇā. Suyajña has other meanings too: see all meanings of Suyajña.

Ākūti was the first named of the three daughters of Svāyambhuva Manu and Śatarūpā, the sister of Devahūti and Prasūti and of the kings Priyavrata and Uttānapāda. Her father gave her in marriage to Ruci Prajāpati on the condition that her first son would be handed over to him. In her, Śrī Mahāvishṇu himself took avatāra as Yajña, and Lakshmī Devī, by a portion of herself, was born as her daughter Dakshiṇā. The Bhāgavata Purāṇa names her each time it tells of the Yajña avatāra, the seventh in its list, who protected the Svāyambhuva manvantara.

Her birth and marriage

To Svāyambhuva Manu, by Śatarūpā, were born two sons, Priyavrata and Uttānapāda, and three daughters, Ākūti, Devahūti and Prasūti: five children in all. Manu gave Ākūti in marriage to Ruci Prajāpati, Devahūti to Kardama and Prasūti to Daksha, and by their offspring the whole world was filled.

Maitreya Maharshi, telling Vidura the line of Svāyambhuva Manu, says that Manu gave Ākūti to Ruci with the consent of Śatarūpā Devī, and on one condition: the first son born to Ākūti was to be handed over by her to her father. This is called the putrikā-dharma. Manu made the marriage so, Maitreya says, though he already had his two sons Priyavrata and Uttānapāda.

Source: Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 3, Chapter 12; Skandha 4, Chapter 1

Her children: Yajña and Dakshiṇā

Ruci Prajāpati, revered, had brahmavarcas (the radiance of Brahman) through meditation on the supreme Parameśvara. To him, in Ākūti, were born one boy and one girl. The boy was Śrī Mahāvishṇu himself, who took avatāra as the child named Yajña, who stands for the yajña taught in the Veda. Lakshmī Devī never leaves Vishṇu, and so, by a portion of herself, she was born as the girl named Dakshiṇā, who stands for the wealth the yajamāna gives to the ṛtvijas in a yajña.

Svāyambhuva Manu, greatly pleased, brought Yajña, the son of his daughter Ākūti, to his own house, and the child lit up everything around him with his radiance. Ruci Prajāpati kept the girl Dakshiṇā and raised her himself. Later Yajña married Dakshiṇā, and twelve sons were born to them.

Source: Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 4, Chapter 1

Ākūti in the accounts of the avatāras

Sūta, counting the avatāras of Śrī Hari, says that in the seventh he was born as Yajña to Ruci Prajāpati in Ākūti, and, with his sons, the deva-gaṇas beginning with the Yāmas, protected the Svāyambhuva manvantara. Brahmā, telling Nārada the avatāras, says that Parameśvara was born as the son of Ruci Prajāpati in Ākūti and became famous as Suyajña; he married Dakshiṇā, begot in her the devatās called the Suyamas, became their master (adhīśvara) and removed the troubles of the three worlds.

Śuka, telling Parīkshit of the first manvantara, says that Svāyambhuva Manu had two daughters, Ākūti and Devahūti, and that in them Bhagavān Vishṇu was born as a son and taught dharma and jñāna; the two teachers he names are Bhagavān Kapila and Bhagavān Yajña.

Source: Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 1, Chapter 3; Skandha 2, Chapter 7; Skandha 8, Chapter 1

Sources

• Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 1, Chapter 3; Skandha 2, Chapter 7; Skandha 3, Chapter 12; Skandha 4, Chapter 1; Skandha 8, Chapter 1