Mitrasaha

Mitrasaha was a king remembered in the Anuśāsana Parva of the Mahābhārata. He offered his own beloved wife, Madayantī, to the great ṛshi (seer) Vasishṭha, and for this he went to svarga (heaven). He appears in the Dāna-Mahima, a list of rājarshis (royal seers) whose great acts of dāna (giving) won them the highest lokas. Some of these gifts went as far as a beloved spouse.

The gift of Madayantī to Vasishṭha

In Bhīshma’s roll-call of kings who set an example in giving, Mitrasaha is remembered for offering his own priya-bhāryā (beloved wife) Madayantī to the great Vasishṭha. By this he reached svarga. (Mahābhārata, Anuśāsana Parva, Chapter 137)

The name Mitrasaha

The name Mitrasaha is also borne, in other strands of Purāṇic and epic tradition, by King Kalmāshapāda of the Ikshvāku line, who is also called Saudāsa. His wife was also named Madayantī, and he is linked with Vasishṭha in the account of the Ikshvāku curse-cycle. The brief verse in the Anuśāsana Parva does not tell that fuller story.

Sources

• Mahābhārata, Anuśāsana Parva, Chapter 137