Sudakshiṇa of Kāmboja
Sudakshiṇa was the king of Kāmboja. He joined the Kaurava alliance before the war at Kurukshetra and brought one akshauhiṇī (a full army unit of chariots, elephants, cavalry and infantry). The Kāmboja kingdom was known for its fine cavalry and horse-warriors. This made Sudakshiṇa an important ally for Duryodhana.
In the Udyoga Parva
Chapter 19 of the Udyoga Parva lists the eleven akshauhiṇī armies that joined the Kaurava side. Sudakshiṇa of Kāmboja is named among the allied kings, each of whom led one akshauhiṇī. The kings named include:
- Bhagadatta of Prāgjyotisha
- Bhūriśravas
- Śalya of Madra
- Kṛtavarman
- Jayadratha of Sindhu-Sauvīra
- Sudakshiṇa of Kāmboja
- Nīla of Māhishmatī
- Vinda and Anuvinda of Avanti
Other kings are named as well.
In the Strī Parva, among the young fallen
In Chapter 20 of the Strī Parva, Gāndhārī turns Kṛshṇa’s eyes to a group of young warriors lying among the dead at Kurukshetra:
Uttara, Abhimanyu, the Kāmboja, Sudakshiṇa, Lakshmaṇa, and other young warriors: see them lying fallen.
Sudakshiṇa’s name stands here next to Abhimanyu and Uttara. He died on the battlefield.
In the Strī Parva, a wife’s grief
Chapter 25 of the Strī Parva begins with Gāndhārī showing Kṛshṇa the fallen king of Kāmboja:
Look at this king of Kāmboja, who should have been resting comfortably on fine woolen blankets. With a neck like a bull’s, he lies in the dust on the bare ground. His hands, anointed with fine sandal-paste, are now drenched in blood-mud.
His wife weeps with pity over those hands:
With fingers shaped like full lotuses, auspicious and beautiful, I am trapped between those hands, and my longing is not satisfied. O King! What fate am I now to find? My kin have perished and I am left alone and wretched.
She trembles and weeps. Her grief shows the sharp contrast between the royal hands of his life and their blood-soaked stillness in death.
Sources
- Mahābhārata, Udyoga Parva, Chapter 19
- Mahābhārata, Strī Parva, Chapters 20, 25