Sudarśana of Ayodhyā

Sudarśana was the son of Dhruvasandhi, king of Ayodhyā, and his queen Manoramā. He is the main figure of one of the major ākhyānas (narratives) of the Devī Bhāgavata. He was born in the Ikshvāku solar line. As an infant he went into exile, because his father died and a fight over the throne followed. His mother took him to the āśrama of Bharadvāja. There he found the Kāmarāja Bīja, Klīṃ, the one-syllable mantra of Parādevī, and he repeated it all through his childhood and youth. By the grace of Parādevī he won back his kingdom, married Śaśikalā, princess of Kāśī, and sat on the throne of Ayodhyā. Parādevī herself appeared on a lion and destroyed his enemies.

Lineage and birth

Sudarśana was born to Dhruvasandhi, king of Kośala (Ayodhyā). Dhruvasandhi belonged to the Ikshvāku solar dynasty, the same line that later gave the world Śrī Rāmacandra. Sudarśana’s mother was Manoramā, daughter of Vīrasena. Dhruvasandhi’s second queen was Līlāvatī, daughter of Yudhājit of Ujjayinī. She had a son named Śatrujit. Sudarśana was the elder son and the rightful heir.

Early life: exile and the āśrama

Sudarśana was still an infant when a lion killed his father Dhruvasandhi during a hunt. A fight over the succession followed. Manoramā had to flee with her son to Bharadvāja’s āśrama on the Gaṅgā. The family servant Vidallū and a maidservant went with them. At the āśrama Sudarśana lived among ṛshis and tapasvīs (ascetics). He ate simple forest food, played with the children of the ṛshis and learned the Vedic disciplines in a calm and holy place.

Discovery of the Kāmarāja Bīja

The turning point of his life came when he was about five years old. The boys of the āśrama teased him and called him klība (impotent). The sound of the word made Sudarśana say it by instinct in its full mantra form:

Klīṃ

This is the Kāmarāja Bīja, the one-syllable bīja (seed mantra) that is the supreme essence of Parādevī in the Śrī Vidyā tradition. Sudarśana had no teacher and no understanding of it. Yet he took this single syllable as his whole world. He repeated it at play, in study, in sleep, in talk and in meditation, never stopping.

Bharadvāja saw this as a great sūcana (sign) of divine grace. He said that all the good fortune the child would later gain was the fruit of this simple and constant japa of the supreme mantra of Parādevī. At the age of eleven Sudarśana received the upanayana from Bharadvāja. By the power of the bīja alone, he mastered all the Vedas, all the śāstras, dhanurveda (the science of archery) and nītiśāstra (the science of statecraft). The ṛshis of the āśrama told Manoramā that her son would certainly become king.

Vision of Parādevī and the divine weapons

After years of constant japa, Sudarśana saw Parādevī herself. She wore red garments and had a red colour (raktāmbara, raktavarṇa). She rode on Garuḍa and blazed as Kāmakālaśakti, in the Mahāvaishṇavī form. She gave him a divine bow, a full quiver of arrows that never ran out, a kavaca (armour) and a tūṇīra (quiver). With these he could win back his rightful inheritance. The ṛshis of the āśrama who saw the vision said that this prince would surely gain his father’s kingdom.

Marriage to Śaśikalā

Śaśikalā, the princess of Kāśī, had a dream-vision of Parādevī, who told her to marry Sudarśana. Her father Subāhu announced a svayaṃvara. Śaśikalā secretly sent a message to Sudarśana to tell him her decision. Sudarśana trusted fully in the guidance of Parādevī. He came to the svayaṃvara alone, with no army, no treasury and no strong allies. Only his mother was with him, and a chariot given by a friendly Nishāda king.

The assembled kings included his enemies Yudhājit and Śatrujit. In front of them Sudarśana spoke with perfect calm. He said that he depended wholly on Parādevī and had no fear. Śaśikalā refused to enter the svayaṃvara hall to choose among the kings, for she had already chosen Sudarśana in her mind and heart. After long pressure from the family and much debate, her father Subāhu held the wedding in secret with the proper Vedic rites. He gave Sudarśana a rich dowry.

Victory by the grace of Parādevī

The assembled kings learned of the secret wedding and flew into a rage. They blocked the roads and said they would kill Sudarśana and take Śaśikalā by force. Battle began, and Yudhājit and Śatrujit came forward. Sudarśana repeated the Kāmarāja Bīja and gave himself fully to Parādevī. At that moment Parādevī herself appeared on a lion. She blazed with a light not of this world and carried divine weapons. She shot arrows at Yudhājit and Śatrujit and killed them both. The other kings saw this divine appearance. They bowed to the ground and accepted Sudarśana as their ruler.

Sudarśana said to Parādevī:

I was not slain by your enemies; rather, your enemies were slain by your own will. I am only an instrument.

All the kings said: “You are the lord of Ayodhyā. We are your servants.”

Restoration and the pūjā of Parādevī

Sudarśana returned to Ayodhyā. He comforted the grieving mother of Śatrujit. He told her that neither he nor any human being had truly done the deed in the battle, and that only karma and the will of Parādevī had worked. He set up a golden throne for the mūrti of Parādevī in the royal temple of Ayodhyā. He consecrated the mūrti with full Vedic rites. He began the tradition of pūjā of Parādevī across Kośala. Under his rule varṇāśrama dharma worked perfectly, and the whole kingdom flourished. From his reign onward, temples of Parādevī rose in every village of the kingdom.

Teaching of the narrative

The Devī Bhāgavata Purāṇa states that the bīja alone carried Sudarśana from helpless exile to victorious kingship. He repeated it without formal initiation, without understanding and without a set method of meditation.

Sources

• Devī Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, Skanda 3, Chapters 14–25