Āṅgarishṭha
Āṅgarishṭha was a king who appears in the Kāmandaka-Āṅgarishṭha Saṃvāda (the talk between Kāmandaka and Āṅgarishṭha) in the Śānti Parva of the Mahābhārata, Chapter 123. He went to the ṛshi Kāmandaka to ask about the root of the trivarga (the three aims of life: dharma, artha and kāma) and how they are related. He also asked how a king can make good his wrong when he has done adharma under the pull of kāma-moha (blind desire). The account notes that he broke the rule of proper manners. He sat down before the ṛshi without first offering abhivādana (the respectful greeting).
In the Kāmandaka-Āṅgarishṭha Saṃvāda
Āṅgarishṭha came and sat before the ṛshi Kāmandaka and began to question him straight away. He did not use the usual greeting (abhivādana) or namaskāra first. This was a samayaparyāya, a setting aside of proper conduct.
He asked two kinds of questions:
- A question on the root of dharma, artha and kāma and how they relate.
- A practical question. When a king, overcome by kāma-moha, has committed pāpa (sin), what is the way of prāyaścitta (atonement)? And when a person does adharma thinking it is dharma, how should the king act?
Kāmandaka answered that kāma destroys both dharma and artha. He told what follows when a king yields to it. He then gave a fivefold path of atonement:
- Veda-sevā (service of the Vedas)
- brāhmaṇa-pūjā (honour paid to brāhmaṇas)
- japa (repeating a mantra)
- satsaṅga (the company of good people)
- satkāra (respectful treatment of others) with gentle speech
Sources
- Mahābhārata, Śānti Parva, Rājadharmānuśāsana Parva, Chapter 123