Bṛhadaśva

Bṛhadaśva was a king of the Ikshvāku dynasty. He appears in the Dhundhumāra Upākhyāna (the account of Dhundhumāra) in the Vana Parva of the Mahābhārata. He was the son of Śrāvasta, the founder of Śrāvastī, and the father of Kuvalāśva.

The ṛshi Uttaṅka asked him for protection from the asura Dhundhu, who lay buried in the sand. Bṛhadaśva had already given the kingdom to his son and was getting ready to enter vānaprastha (the forest stage of life). He sent Uttaṅka to Kuvalāśva instead. He said that Bhagavān Vishṇu had shown that Kuvalāśva was meant for this task.

His place in the Ikshvāku line

The Mahābhārata gives the descent of the Ikshvāku dynasty down to Bṛhadaśva in this order:

Ikshvāku → Śaśāda → Kakutstha → Anenī → Pṛthu → Viśvagaśva → Adri → Yuvanāśva → Śrāva → Śrāvasta → Bṛhadaśva → Kuvalāśva

Śrāvasta was the king who founded Śrāvastīpurī, the great city named after him. Among the Ikshvāku kings, Bṛhadaśva is called a mahāparākramavān (a king of great and unmatched strength), one whom no enemy could defeat.

Giving up the kingdom

Bṛhadaśva crowned his son Kuvalāśva as king. Kuvalāśva was brave, good and self-controlled in every way. Then Bṛhadaśva entered vānaprastha. He left the kingdom in his son’s able hands and went toward the forest to practise tapas (austerity). This follows the way of āśrama-dharma (the duties of the stages of life). After raising a worthy heir in the gṛhastha (householder) stage, the king moved on to the forest stage.

The meeting with Uttaṅka

Bṛhadaśva was getting ready to leave when Uttaṅka Maharshi came to him. Uttaṅka told him of the torment the asura Dhundhu was causing. Dhundhu lay buried in the sand desert called Ujjalaka, near Uttaṅka’s āśrama. Once each year he breathed out terrible fire and smoke for seven days. This made the whole region unfit to live in. Uttaṅka asked Bṛhadaśva to stay and put an end to the danger.

Bṛhadaśva was moved by the plea of Uttaṅka. Yet he sent the ṛshi to his son Kuvalāśva. He explained that Bhagavān Vishṇu himself had shown that Kuvalāśva was the one meant to slay Dhundhu. He said that the yogabala (yoga power) of Bhagavān Vishṇu would enter Kuvalāśva for this task. In this way Bṛhadaśva was the link between the plea of Uttaṅka and the rise of the hero Kuvalāśva.

Sources

• Mahābhārata, Vana Parva, Chapters 201–204