Udayana

Udayana was the king of Kauśāmbī. He was the son of Sahasrānīka and Mṛgāvatī. He appears in the Cakratīrtha māhātmya in the Setu Māhātmya of the Skanda Mahā Purāṇa. His birth was unusual. His mother breathed in the sweet smoke of burning sandalwood (candana-dhūpa) and conceived through that fragrance.

He, his father Sahasrānīka and his mother Mṛgāvatī were three royal beings who attained moksha (liberation) by bathing at Cakratīrtha in Setu-kshetra.

Divine origin

Udayana’s parents were both divine beings in their earlier lives. His father Sahasrānīka had been the vasu Vidhūma, under a śāpa (a curse) from Brahmā. His mother Mṛgāvatī had been the apsarā Alambusā, who was also cursed into a human birth.

Udayana’s birth was extraordinary. His mother Mṛgāvatī breathed in the fragrant smoke of burning sandalwood incense. Through this she became pregnant and in time gave birth to Udayana.

Moksha at Cakratīrtha

Udayana, with his father Sahasrānīka and his mother Mṛgāvatī, was freed from the cycle of birth and death by bathing at Cakratīrtha in Setu-kshetra. Their karmas (deeds and their results) came from their births, which went back to the first śāpas that brought them to human life. The power of this tīrtha (holy place), made holy by the Sudarśana Cakra, dissolved those karmas. All three were freed together and returned to their original divine nature.

Sources

• Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Brahma Khaṇḍa, Setu Māhātmya, Chapter 5