Ikṣvāku Vaṃśa: The Solar Dynasty

The Ikṣvāku vaṃśa (family line) is the great solar dynasty, also called the Sūrya-vaṃśa, the royal line of the sun. It comes down from Vaivasvata Manu through his eldest son, Ikṣvāku. It is the most celebrated royal family in the Purāṇas and the itihāsas (the Rāmāyaṇa and Mahābhārata). Triśaṅku, Hariścandra, Sagara, Bhagīratha, Raghu, Daśaratha and Śrī Rāma all belonged to it.

The Brahmāṇḍa Purāṇa gives a full family tree, from Ikṣvāku through Rāma and his son Kuśa, down to Bṛhadbala, the last king of the line, who fell in the Mahābhārata war.

The Beginning: From Vaivasvata Manu to Ikṣvāku

The solar dynasty begins with Vaivasvata Manu, the seventh Manu and the son of Vivasvān (Sūrya, the sun). He had ten sons, and the eldest was Ikṣvāku. Ikṣvāku made Ayodhyā his capital and became the first king of the solar line in the Kṛta Yuga. From Ikṣvāku the family split into many branches, but the main royal line runs as follows.

The Main Line

Ikṣvāku → Vikukṣi (also called Śaśāda, “hare-eater”, because he ate the forbidden portion of the meat set aside for a yajña) → Kakutstha (who rode on Indra when Indra took the form of a bull; kakut means “hump”) → Anenā → Pṛthu → Viśvagandha → Yuvanāśva → Śrāvasta (founder of the city of Śrāvastī) → Bṛhadaśva → Kuvalāśva

Kuvalāśva is famous as Dhundhumāra, “the slayer of Dhundhu”. Dhundhu was an asura who lay hidden under a sea of sand, and each morning his fiery breath scorched the world. Kuvalāśva killed him with divine weapons and so earned the name Dhundhumāra.

Māndhātā and Those Who Came After

From Kuvalāśva the line comes down to Māndhātā, one of the most famous cakravartīs (world-emperors). He conquered the three worlds through his tapas (spiritual power) and skill in war. His mother, Bindumatī, gave birth to him in a wondrous way. He had three sons: Purukutsa, Ambarīṣa and Mucukunda. Mucukunda is the great warrior who, when woken from his sleep, burned an asura to ash with the fire of his gaze.

From Purukutsa the main line continues: Purukutsa → Trasaddasyu → … → Anaraṇya. Anaraṇya is remembered for his death at the hands of Rāvaṇa. He was killed in battle against the rākṣasa king, but with his dying breath he cursed Rāvaṇa: “One born in my family will destroy you.”

Triśaṅku and Hariścandra

Satyavrata, also called Triśaṅku, was a great king of this line. Through the tapas of Viśvāmitra, he rose in his own body towards svarga. When the gathered devas refused to let him in, he was left hanging upside down in a starry realm that Viśvāmitra himself created. This is one of the most famous episodes in the story of the Ikṣvākus.

His son Hariścandra is the highest example of truthfulness and honour in all the Purāṇas. To keep his vow of complete truth, he sold his wife, his son and himself into service. In the end the devas restored him.

Sagara and Bhagīratha

Hariścandra → Rohita → … → Sagara. Sagara was the great king whose 60,000 sons dug up the bed of the ocean and were destroyed by Kapila Muni. His grandson Aṃśumān brought back the horse of the Aśvamedha yajña. Three generations later, Bhagīratha performed his matchless tapas that brought Gaṅgā down from svarga to earth, freeing his sixty thousand ancestors.

Raghu and Daśaratha

The line continues: Bhagīratha → Dilīpa → Raghu → Aja → Daśaratha. Raghu was a great conqueror, and because of him the family is also called the Raghu-vaṃśa. Daśaratha was the king of Ayodhyā whose four sons, Rāma, Bharata, Lakṣmaṇa and Śatrughna, were divine avatāras born to carry out the great task of destroying Rāvaṇa.

Rāma and the Line Down to Bṛhadbala

Rāma, the seventh of the Daśāvatāra (the ten avatāras of Viṣṇu), ruled from Ayodhyā in the 24th Tretā Yuga. His sons were Kuśa and Lava. They founded Kuśāvatī (later the Kāśī region) and Śrāvastī respectively.

The Brahmāṇḍa Purāṇa traces the line after Rāma through many generations: Kuśa → Atithi → Niṣadha → Nabha → Puṇḍarīka → Kṣemadhanvā → … → Bṛhadbala. Bṛhadbala was the last Ikṣvāku king to rule. He fell in the Kurukṣetra war of the Mahābhārata, killed by Abhimanyu.

Devāpi and Maru at Kalāpa Village

In another place (Chapter 74) the Purāṇa says that the main Ikṣvāku line ends with Sumitra, a later king. But two members of the solar and lunar dynasties still live on at Kalāpa village in the Himālayas: Devāpi of the Paurava (lunar) line and Maru of the Ikṣvāku line. They remain there in a state of yogic stillness until the end of the Kali Yuga. Then they will come forth to begin the royal lines again in the next Kṛta Yuga.

Vasiṣṭha Tells the Family Line at Citrakūṭa

The Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa of the Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa records a full spoken telling of the Ikṣvāku line by Vasiṣṭha Maharṣi, during the tense meeting at Citrakūṭa. The purohita Jābāli had put forward nāstika arguments (arguments that deny the Vedas and the life beyond). Rāma answered them, and Jābāli was sent away.

Then Vasiṣṭha stepped forward and recited the whole family line of Rāma’s solar dynasty. He began from Brahmā and came down through Marīci, Kaśyapa, Vivasvān, Vaivasvata Manu, Ikṣvāku, Vikukṣi, Kakutstha and the whole long line of the kings of Ayodhyā.

He told it at Citrakūṭa for two reasons: to honour Rāma as the crown of this great line, and to stress the weight of ancestral dharma that stood behind Rāma’s refusal to return from exile. The family line itself supported Rāma’s choice. No king in this whole vaṃśa had ever broken his word or given up his dharma, and Rāma would not be the first.

Sources

• Brahmāṇḍa Mahā Purāṇa, Madhyama Bhāga, Chapter 63
• Brahmāṇḍa Mahā Purāṇa, Madhyama Bhāga, Chapter 74
• Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa, Chapter 110
• Ānanda Rāmāyaṇa, Pūrṇa Kāṇḍa, Chapters 6–7