Vena and Pṛthu: Origin of Kingship

This is the account of how kingship began, told by Bhīshma to Yudhishṭhira in the Śānti Parva, Chapter 59 (the Sūtrādhyāya). Yudhishṭhira asked about the origin of kingship. Bhīshma traced it from Brahmā’s making of the nītiśāstra (the science of government), through Bhagavān Vishṇu’s choice of Virajasa as the first king, down the line Virajasa, Kīrtimān, Kardama, Anaṅga, Atibala, Vena and Pṛthu. The account covers Vena’s adharma, his death at the hands of the ṛshis, the birth of the Nishādas and Mlecchas from his left thigh, the birth of Pṛthu from his right arm, Pṛthu’s coronation as the first righteous king, and the origin of the names pṛthivī and rājan.

From order to chaos

In the first Kṛtayuga there was no kingship. There was no rājā (king) and no daṇḍa (punishment), and no one to punish a wrongdoer. People ruled themselves through dharma alone. But this order did not last. A slow fall set in:

Jñāna-lopa: knowledge grew dim in people’s minds.
Moha: confusion and delusion arose.
Lobha: greed began to work.
Kāma: desires multiplied.
Rāga: strong attachment followed.

As attachment grew, people took what was not theirs: other men’s wives, forbidden foods, and other people’s words and goods. The Veda fell out of use and dharma collapsed.

The devas were afraid, because without yajña they received no havis (offerings) and were growing weak. They went to Brahmā. Brahmā calmed them and composed the great nītiśāstra. It had 100,000 chapters and held all four purushārthas (the aims of life: dharma, artha, kāma and moksha) and all the vidyās (branches of knowledge) needed to rule and guard the world.

The nītiśāstra is made shorter

Human life and power were growing smaller through the yugas, so great beings made the nītiśāstra shorter in turn.

Śiva received the first work and shortened it into the Vaiśālāksha, of 10,000 chapters.
Indra received the Vaiśālāksha and shortened it into the Bāhudantaka, of 5,000 chapters.
Bṛhaspati shortened it further into the Bārhaspatya, of 3,000 chapters.
Śukrācārya shortened it further, to 1,000 chapters.

All four versions hold the same main subjects: the four vidyās (trayī, ānvīkshikī, vārtā and daṇḍanīti), the saptāṅga (the seven limbs of a kingdom), the theory of the maṇḍala (the circle of neighbouring states), spies, the army, the care of the treasury, and all the other sciences of government.

Virajasa, the first of the line

The devas asked Vishṇu-Nārāyaṇa to appoint someone among men to rule the world. Vishṇu made from his mind a shining being named Virajasa. Virajasa was by nature drawn to vairāgya (turning away from the world), and he refused to rule. His son Kīrtimān also refused the world. Kīrtimān’s son Kardama did great tapas (austerity). Kardama’s son Anaṅga, also called Aṅga, was righteous and a protector of the people. Anaṅga’s son Atibala gained a great kingdom but in time became a slave of his senses.

The whole line is: Vishṇu, Virajasa, Kīrtimān, Kardama, Anaṅga, Atibala.

Vena the unrighteous king

Atibala’s son was Vena. His mother was Sunīthā, the daughter born from the mind of Mṛtyu (Death). Because of his mother’s line, Vena leaned toward adharma from birth. He gave up the righteous rule of his fathers and fell into greed, passion and injustice. He troubled his people and the brāhmaṇas. He would not allow yajñas. He declared himself the highest object of worship, above all the devas and ṛshis.

The ṛshis saw the world being ruined by Vena’s rule. They could not bring him back by advice. They took blades of kuśa grass, charged them with mantras, and used them as weapons, and with these they slew Vena. The king who had been set to protect dharma and the world was killed by the brāhmaṇas whose protection was his first duty.

The Nishādas from the left thigh

After Vena was slain, the ṛshis churned his body to bring out whatever divine power was left in it. From the left thigh they drew out a being who was short, dark-skinned, red-eyed and black-haired. The ṛshis said to him, “Nishīda” (“Sit down”), and he sat. From him came the Nishāda people, hunters and forest dwellers who lived in the mountains and forests. The Mlecchas, who are outside the varṇa system, also arose in great numbers from this churning of the left side of Vena’s body. All the pāpa (sin) of Vena’s wrong deeds went into these beings.

Pṛthu from the right arm

Then the ṛshis churned the right arm of Vena’s body. From it came a being of blazing light, like a second Indra. He was born wearing a kavaca (armour) and carrying a khaḍga (sword), bāṇas (arrows) and a dhanu (bow). He knew the Vedas and Vedāṅgas, and daṇḍanīti had entered him whole. This was Pṛthu, son of Vena. He folded his hands before the ṛshis and asked to be told his duty.

The ṛshis and devas said to him:

“Act by the dharma set down in the śāstra. Never turn away from it. Protect the world. Never give way to your senses. Take a vow to protect the Veda. Say: ‘I shall never use daṇḍa on brāhmaṇas. I shall guard all the worlds from saṅkara (the mixing of the varṇas). I shall uphold righteousness. I shall put down unrighteousness.'”

Pṛthu made these vows with all sincerity. The devas and ṛshis then consecrated him as the first rightful king.

The coronation and the origin of names

At Pṛthu’s abhisheka (anointing), Lakshmī herself appeared. She had come out of Vishṇu’s forehead. The account says that Vishṇu’s forehead made a golden lotus, and from it Lakshmī was born. She became the wife of Dharma, and Dharma gave birth to Artha. So Dharma, Artha and Lakshmī were all set firmly in the kingdom under Pṛthu.

Pṛthu was given Śukrācārya as his purohita (household priest). The Vālakhilyas and the Sārasvata gaṇa were his ministers. Garga was his jyotisha-paṇḍita (scholar of the stars). So the great ṛshi Garga was Pṛthu’s court astronomer.

Two names of great weight are explained next.

Pṛthivī. During Vena’s evil rule great pits had formed, when Bhūmī swallowed all the seeds. Pṛthu used the tip of his bow to level the whole earth and fill in these pits, and he made it fit to live on. For this the earth was named pṛthivī after him. Before that, the earth was very uneven. Pṛthu made it smooth, and the mountains that were moved grew into a different form.
Rājan (king). Pṛthu rañjayati (“delights”) his subjects, the prajā, and so he became known as rājā. The word rājan comes from the root meaning “to please” or “to delight”. The king is one who brings rañjana (joy and satisfaction) to all beings.

Sūtas (bards) and Māgadhas (singers of praise) appeared at Pṛthu’s coronation to praise the king’s qualities. Pṛthu gave the Sūta the Anūpa country, and the Māgadha the Magadha country. In this way the work of the bards was set up in the kingdom.

From the time of his coronation Pṛthu’s kingdom was free of all trouble. There was no old age, no famine, no distress of mind, no sickness of body, no danger from snakes or thieves, and no one harmed another. The oceans stood still at his will, and the mountains opened to let him pass. Bhūmī gave him seventeen kinds of crops of her own accord.

Vishṇu and the office of king

Bhīshma ended the account with the divine basis of kingship:

“Vishṇu enters the king through the king’s tapas and makes the king a part of himself. This is why the world bows to the king as it bows to a deva. It is not because the king is greater than all men, for he is not greater in body or in mind. It is because Vishṇu has approved the office and entered it. A king who rules by dharma is Vishṇu’s representative on earth, and for this reason the world obeys him. A king who turns away from dharma, like Vena, loses this divine support and is destroyed.”

Sources

Mahābhārata, Śānti Parva (Rājadharmānuśāsana Parva), Chapter 59