Trigarta

Trigarta · tri-garta

Trigarta is a kingdom of Bhārata. The Brahma Purāṇa names it in the line of the Yādavas, in the account of the birth of Kālayavana: the daughter of the king of Trigarta set out to test the manhood of Gārgya, the best of munis, and from that test came the birth of Kālayavana, who later marched on Mathurā.

The daughter of the king of Trigarta

Sūta tells the munis the line of Kroshṭu, son of Yadu, down to Vasudeva and his children, and then the birth of Kālayavana. The daughter of the king of Trigarta, the wife of Śiśirāyaṇi, undertook to test the manhood of Gārgya, the best of munis. But his seed was not shed. In the twelfth year the muni, having been mocked, began union with a cowherd maiden. She was an apsaras named Gopālī in the dress of a cowherd woman, and in that guise she bore his embryo, which no other could bear.

In Gārgya’s wife, a human woman, by the command of Bhagavān Śiva, Kālayavana was born, of great strength like a lion. The front of his body was round, and his form was like a lion’s. He grew up in the inner palace of a Yavana king who had no son, and so he was the son of the Yavana and was called Kālayavana. Eager for war, he asked whom he should fight, and Nārada, the devarshi, told him of the Vṛshṇi and Andhaka clans. With an army of an akshauhiṇī he marched on Mathurā and sent a messenger ahead.

Then the Vṛshṇis and Andhakas, with Śrī Kṛshṇa of great mind at their head, took counsel and resolved to withdraw. Honouring the intention of Bhagavān Śiva, who holds the Pināka, they left Mathurā and settled in Kuśasthalī, Dvārakā.

The chapter closes with its phalaśruti: this account, recited at the parvas by one who is pure and has restrained his senses, frees the learned reciter from his debts, and he becomes happy.

Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Chapter 14

Sources

• Brahma Purāṇa, Chapter 14