Avīkṣita

Avīkṣita was the son of Mahārāja Karandhama and his queen Vīrā, the daughter of Vīryacandra. Born under highly auspicious celestial configurations, he grew to become a warrior of extraordinary prowess, surpassing even the devas in various qualities. His life was marked by exceptional valor in battle, a fierce commitment to personal honor, a prolonged refusal to marry, and ultimately, a union with the gandharva princess Bhāminī, who had been born as the daughter of King Viśāla due to a curse. From their union was born Marutta, a son destined to become a cakravartī and the foremost among the kings of the earth.

Birth and Auspicious Horoscope

At the svayaṃvara of the daughters of Vīryacandra, the śubhavrata princess named Vīrā chose Mahārāja Karandhama as her husband. From their union, a son named Avīkṣita was born. Upon the birth of the child, the king summoned the daivajñas and asked them whether his son had been born under a praśasta nakṣatra and an auspicious lagna, whether śobhana grahas were viewing the janma, and whether the dṛṣṭi of any duṣṭa grahas had fallen upon the boy. The daivajñas assured the king that the child had been born in a praśasta muhūrta, praśasta nakṣatra, and praśasta lagna.

They further declared that the boy was born as one of mahāvīrya, mahābhāga, and mahābala, and that he would become a mahārāja. Bṛhaspati, the Guru of the devas, and Śukra were positioned in the saptama and were viewing the janma lagna. Candra was viewing from the caturtha, and Budha, situated in the ekādaśa sthāna, was also casting a favorable gaze. The dṛṣṭi of Savitṛ, Bhauma, and Śanaiścara had not fallen upon the child. They pronounced him dhanya, destined to be endowed with sarva kalyāṇa sampatti. Because the king had repeatedly used the word “avaikṣata,” meaning “viewed,” the daivajñas declared that his name would become famous as Avīkṣita.

Education and Unmatched Qualities

Avīkṣita became a veda-vedāṅga pāraga and acquired the complete knowledge of astra-vidyās from the son of Kaṇva. In his qualities, the rājaputra surpassed the Aśvinīkumāras in rūpa, Vācaspati in buddhi, Candra in kānti, Sūrya in tejas, the ocean in dhairya, and the earth in sahiṣṇutva. Among all men, no śūra was found to be his equal in śaurya.

The Svayaṃvaras and Seizure of Princesses

Seven princesses chose Avīkṣita in their respective svayaṃvaras: Varā, the daughter of Hemadharma; Gaurī, the daughter of Suveda; Subhadrā, the daughter of Bali; Nibhā, the daughter of Vīrabhadra; Līlāvatī, the daughter of Vīra; Mānyavatī, the daughter of Bhīma; and Kumudvatī, the daughter of Dambha. Whichever rājakanyās did not welcome him at their svayaṃvaras, the vīra rājaputra seized them by force. Relying on his own vīrya, that balavān and baloddhata warrior defeated kings and their pitṛkulas. On one occasion, he seized the daughter of King Viśāla, the ruler of the city of Viśāla. Though she had not chosen him out of her own icchā, he defeated all the assembled kings and took the beautiful Vaiśālinī by force, as one proud of his strength takes from others.

The Wrath of the Defeated Kings

All the kings who had been defeated many times by Avīkṣita gathered in great distress and spoke among themselves in agitation. They lamented that such vañcanā before so many balāśālī kings of the same varṇa was intolerable. They questioned the honor of their births, declaring that a true kṣatriya is one who protects those being struck by the durmadas, while others bear the title in vain. They urged each other not to let the stutis performed by the sūtas, māgadhas, and vandis be hollow, and to make them true by destroying the ari. They reminded each other that they were born in viśiṣṭa kulas, that death comes to all, and that none becomes amara without war. They proclaimed that pauruṣa must never be abandoned by those whose profession is śastra. Filled with amarṣa, those kings rose with their āyudhas. Some mounted rathas, some elephants and horses, and others, overcome by fury, approached on foot.

The Great Battle and Defeat of Avīkṣita

A fierce saṅgrāma erupted between the many kings and rājaputras on one side and the solitary Avīkṣita on the other. Holding astra-śakti, gadā, and bāṇas, all those warriors fought against him, and Avīkṣita fought alone against them all. That balavān and astra-jña nṛpanandana struck them with hundreds of ugra-bāṇas, and they in turn cut his bāṇas with sharp bāṇas of their own. Avīkṣita cut the arms of some and the heads of others, split the hearts of some, and struck others on the chest. He destroyed the trunks of elephants, the heads of horses, the horses of some rathas, and the sārathis of others. He shattered the falling bāṇas of the enemies into pieces. Through hasta-lāghava, he broke the bows of some. Some whose kavacas he cut died, and some wounded padātis abandoned the raṇa-sthala.

When Avīkṣita had thus agitated the entire rājamaṇḍala, the defeated armies fled. Only seven hundred vīras, considering their kula and śaurya and being ashamed to retreat, stood in the raṇa-kṣetra, resolved to attain death rather than flee. The rājaputra, being extremely kruddha, approached them and fought in a yathā-vihita dharmayuddha. But when the mahābalaśālī Avīkṣita set about cutting their astras and kavacas, those narendraputras, whose faces were wet with sweat, abandoned dharma and began to fight the dharma-yodha with adharma. Some tormented him with bāṇas. One cut his bow, another cut his dhvaja and threw it to the earth. Some killed his horses, others broke his ratha. Others struck his back with śastra-āghātas.

When his bow broke, the nṛpanandana became ati-kruddha and took up a shield and sword, but one vīra cut that as well. When the shield and sword were in pieces, Avīkṣita, expert in gadā-yuddha, took a gadā, but another great vīra with hasta-lāghava cut that too with a kṣura. Afterward, all those kings who had turned away from dharmayuddha surrounded him. Many wounded him with thousands and hundreds of bāṇas. The solitary rājaputra, thus wounded by so many, became vihvala and fell upon the earth. The rājaputras then bound him. Having conquered him in adharmayuddha, all those kings entered Vaidiśa-pura along with King Viśāla.

The Captive Prince and the Princess Who Would Not Choose

Having bound and brought the rājaputra, the victorious kings placed the svayaṃvara-kanyā and the captive prince before King Viśāla. Her father and the purohitas repeatedly urged the kanyā to choose whomsoever she desired among all the assembled kings. But the kanyā did not wish to choose anyone among them. King Viśāla then asked the daivajñas regarding the matter of her vivāha. Because such a vighnotpādaka yuddha had occurred on that day, he asked them to find another superior day for the vivāha. The daivajñas reflected upon the matter and, knowing the vṛttānta, with pained hearts, told the king that a good day endowed with a praśasta lagna would come soon, and that there was no necessity for vivāha at that time, as such a mahā-vighna had appeared.

Karandhama and Vīrā Hear the News

Mahārāja Karandhama, his wife Vīrā, and other kings received word that the rājaputra had been bound. Hearing that he had been captured through adharmayuddha, the king sat with his sāmanta kings and meditated for a long time. Among his counselors, opinions were divided. Some declared that all those kings who had united against a single vīra through adharmayuddha were vadhya. Others urged the king to immediately prepare the army and bind the duṣṭa King Viśāla and all the allied kings. Still others argued that the rājaputra had himself abandoned dharma by seizing by force the kanyā who had not desired him, and that all the kings had therefore joined together to bind him.

The Speech of Vīrā

Vīrā, who was born in a vīra lineage, was a vīra-patnī, and was a vīra-mātā, heard these deliberations and spoke with praharṣa before her husband and the assembled kings. She declared that whatever kanyās her kalyāṇa-aspaḍa son had taken by force after defeating all kings was a superior act, and that the kings had therefore bound the solitary rājaputra through adharmayuddha. She declared that no harm came to her son from this, and that this itself was puruṣārtha. She said that like a lion who desires to kill while under the power of krodha, a man joined with adharma cannot calculate nīti. She reminded them that her son had taken many kanyās meant for svayaṃvara before many honored kings, and that there is much difference between birth in a kṣatriyakula and the base, human-like act of begging.

She further declared that kṣatriya groups show their strength and take even before the strong, and that even if someone binds a dhārmika king with iron chains, he does not accept being subdued with cowardice. Having shown vīratva before and then being naturally subdued, she considered it ślāghya. She reminded them that their ancestors had also destroyed enemies and taken the land, sons, and other wealth of kings, and that even if there were astra-āghātas upon their heads, it was ślāghya. Kings who take and gather land, son, wealth, and wife from only the righteous gain gaurava through it. She urged them to become ready for yuddha immediately, to mount the rathas, and to decorate the elephants and horses along with the sārathis. She declared that śūras attain great parākrama even in a small yuddha and attain satisfaction in the end, and that just as the sun destroys darkness spread across the directions, those śūras who shine having conquered all enemies through bala and vīrya are the true śūras.

The War of Liberation and Avīkṣita’s Refusal

Excited by the words of his wife, King Karandhama prepared the army to fight the enemies of his son. A saṅgara then began between King Karandhama and King Viśāla and the allied kings while Avīkṣita remained bound. After three days of yuddha, the kings allied with Viśāla were defeated. King Viśāla then approached Karandhama with arghya in his hand to worship him. Karandhama was worshiped by King Viśāla, and Avīkṣita was freed from bondage. Through prīti, Karandhama stayed there happily that night.

Afterward, King Viśāla brought his kanyā. Before his father, Avīkṣita spoke thus: he declared that the kanyā before whom he had been defeated by enemies could never be accepted by him, and that he would not accept any kanyā at all. He asked Viśāla to give his daughter to someone else who had never been insulted by enemies and who possessed akhaṇḍita yaśas and vīrya. He said that like an abala who has cowardice, he had been defeated by enemies, and therefore he had no mānuṣatva. He stated that there was no difference between himself and the kanyā, for freedom is always dependent on man, while female groups are always dependent on others, and for a man who is dependent, there is no manuṣyatva. He asked how he could show his previously seen face to her before whom he had been defeated by all the kings.

The Princess Speaks Her Heart

King Viśāla, hearing these words, spoke to his daughter, telling her that she had heard the words of the mahātma and that she should choose someone else as a husband if she was pleased to do so, or that out of affection, he would find a suitable one for her. The kanyā replied that Avīkṣita, while staying on the dharma-mārga, had fought alone against many and had not been defeated in a yuddha that was harmful to vīrya. She said that the manner in which he alone had stood in the yuddha like a lion had specially illuminated his śaurya. He had not fought in just one raṇa-kṣetra but had defeated the entire rājamaṇḍala many times and illuminated his desired parākrama. The many kings had defeated him through adharma behavior while he was performing dharmayuddha, and there was no cause for shame in that. She declared that she was not drawn merely by his rūpa, but that his śaurya, parākrama, and dhairya had stolen her heart. She asked her father to pray to this mahānubhāva for her sake, declaring that none other than Avīkṣita could be her husband.

King Viśāla conveyed her words to Avīkṣita, saying that everything his daughter had spoken was appropriate, that no prince equal to him was seen upon the pṛthvī, and asking him to accept the kanyā and sanctify his kula. The rājaputra refused again, saying he would not accept her or any other kanyā, and that he considered himself as a woman. Karandhama also spoke to his son, urging him to accept the kanyā because the beautiful daughter of King Viśāla possessed firm affection for him. Avīkṣita replied that never before had he broken his father’s order and asked his father to order him only that which the father himself was capable of doing. King Viśāla, knowing the fixed buddhi of the rājaputra, spoke in agitation to his kanyā and told her to turn her mind away from him and quickly choose one of the many other rājaputras. The kanyā declared that if Avīkṣita did not desire her, other than tapas, none else would be her husband in that birth.

The Kanyā’s Tapas and the Message of the Devas

Afterward, Karandhama, along with King Viśāla, went to his city after three days. After the father and other kings told many ancient examples, Avīkṣita also returned to the capital. The daughter of Viśāla, taking permission from her relatives, went to the forest. With vairāgya, she began to perform tapas while being nirāhāra. After three months of being nirāhāra, the pulse in her body began to tremble. Having become emaciated, she became extremely sorrowful.

With extremely weak limbs and being near death, the rājaputra kanyā, lacking enthusiasm, became determined to abandon her life. Knowing that she was firm in her resolve, all the devas sent a devadūta to her. The messenger came and told her not to abandon her very rare body. He declared that she would become the mother of a cakravartī king, whose son, having destroyed the enemy lineage, would enjoy the earth of seven islands for a long time through unhindered influence. The enemies of the devas, Tarujit and the cruel Ayaḥśaṅkha, would attain destruction through that son before the devas. And that son would perform six thousand yajñas of various kinds, including vājimedha, along with abundant dakṣiṇas.

Seeing the devadūta staying in the sky, wearing a divine garland and ointment, the rājaputrī spoke with a sweet voice. She acknowledged that he was truly a devadūta from svargaloka, but asked how, without a husband, a son could be born to her. She declared that she had made a pratijñā before her father that none other than Avīkṣita could be her husband, and that even Avīkṣita, though asked by her father and his father and prayed to by her, had not desired her. The devadūta told her that without doubt a son would be born to her, and urged her not to commit adharma by abandoning her life. He told her to stay in the forest and nourish her emaciated body, and that through the influence of her tapas, all would become auspicious for her. Having spoken, the devadūta departed. Afterward, the rājaputrī began to nourish her body daily.

The Kimicchaka Vrata and Karandhama’s Demand

On a holy day, Avīkṣita’s mother Vīrā called him and told him that she would perform a difficult vrata named Kimicchaka by fasting. His mahātma father had also given permission. She explained that the father, the son, and she herself must be bound by this vrata, and that when Avīkṣita made a pratijñā for it, they would become diligent in every act. Half of the royal treasury would be given in dāna, and that wealth was under the father’s control, for which she had already obtained permission. Whatever was difficult to accomplish and was under her control would be completed by her. And whatever was to be accomplished by bala-parākrama was under Avīkṣita’s control. Whether it was easily accomplished, accomplished with pain, or even impossible, she asked for his consent and told him to declare his desire.

Avīkṣita replied that wealth was under the father’s control and that he had no authority over it. Whatever task could be completed by his body, he was ready to do according to her order. He told his mother to perform the Kimicchaka vrata with a peaceful and satisfied heart if the father, the lord of wealth, gave the order. Afterward, the queen, devoted to restraint, having fasted for the vrata with control over mind, speech, body, and senses, began to worship the groups of treasures, the groups of treasure-protectors, and Lakṣmī Devī with supreme bhakti and according to vidhi.

Meanwhile, Karandhama was addressed by his ministers in the consultation house. They told him that while governing the earth, his age had passed, and that his only son had not accepted a wife. They warned that without a son and without a wife, the earth would seek the refuge of his enemies, and there would be destruction of the lineage, and the śrāddha and tarpaṇa for the pitṛdevatās would be lost. Due to the loss of religious acts, all mahattara fears would occur. They urged him to find a means by which his son would always adopt a buddhi helpful to the pitṛs.

At the same time, the king heard the words of the queen and the purohita spoken to the groups of seekers. The purohita declared that the queen was performing the Kimicchaka vrata and told the seekers to ask for whatever they desired, whatever difficult tasks were to be done. Avīkṣita, hearing the words of the purohita, came to the palace gate and spoke to the seekers, declaring his pratijñā: during the Kimicchaka vrata, whatever tasks were possible through his body, and whatever the seekers desired, he was ready to give. Karandhama, hearing these words, immediately went near his son and declared that he had come as a seeker. Avīkṣita said that whether the thing asked for was possible, difficult, or impossible, he would certainly give it.

The king then asked him to show the face of a grandson sitting in his lap. Avīkṣita replied that he was the only son, that he had adopted brahmacarya, and that therefore he had no son, and asked how he could show the face of a grandson. The king declared that the brahmacarya Avīkṣita had adopted was a cause of sin, and that he must abandon it and grant mukti to his soul from it and show the grandson. Avīkṣita said the task was extremely difficult, that he had abandoned strī-saṃbhoga for the sake of vairāgya, and asked for another order that would not spoil his vairāgya. The king said he had seen Avīkṣita defeating enemies joined with a great army, and that if such a person adopted vairāgya, he would become a fool. He told Avīkṣita to abandon brahmacarya according to his mother’s desire.

When the king would not ask for another desire despite the rājaputra’s many prayers, Avīkṣita spoke again. He said that by agreeing to the main matter of the Kimicchaka with his father, he had fallen into a crisis, and that therefore, becoming shameless, he would accept a wife. He acknowledged that he had been defeated before a woman and had fallen upon the earth, and therefore a woman had become equal to a husband for him. He said the task was very difficult, but he was bound by the bond of truth and would certainly do what his father had said, and told his father to govern the kingdom without worry.

The Rescue in the Forest

One day, the rājaputra was hunting deer, boars, tigers, and lions in the forest. Suddenly, he heard the sound of a woman crying out for protection in a trembling voice filled with fear. Upon hearing that sound, the rājaputra immediately said “fear not” and rode his horse rapidly to the place from where the sound came. There, he found a woman captured by the dānava named Dṛḍhakeśa, lamenting in the solitary forest that she was the wife of Avīkṣita, the son of Karandhama, and that the wicked one was abducting her. She cried out that she was the wife of one before whom all kings, guhyakas, and gandharvas could not stand, and that her husband’s anger was equal to death and his parākrama equal to Indra.

Hearing these words, the rājaputra reflected that it was a wonder for his wife to be in the forest, and that it was without doubt the māyā of the duṣṭa rākṣasas. He resolved that whatever it may be, by going near, he would know the entire cause. Going forward, he saw a kanyā decorated with all ornaments and extremely beautiful, being held captive by Dṛḍhakeśa who held a staff. Avīkṣita told the kanyā to fear not, and addressed the dānava, warning that death was extremely near to him, that during King Karandhama’s governance of the earth none could experience sorrow, and that no duṣṭa person could live under such a king whose pratāpa made all kings bow their heads.

The emaciated woman again cried out that she was the daughter-in-law of Karandhama and the wife of Avīkṣita, and that though she had a protector, she was being taken away by the duṣṭa like one without a protector. Hearing this, the rājaputra reflected again on whether this was truly his wife and his father’s daughter-in-law, and resolved to first release the kanyā and learn all matters afterward, for kṣatriyas bear śastras for the cause of protecting distressed people.

The mahāvīra rājaputra angrily commanded the evil-minded dānava to abandon the woman and flee if he desired to live, or else face certain death. The dānava left the kanyā and, holding a staff, rushed at the rājaputra. He showered bāṇas and covered him. The dānava blocked the bāṇas and threw a staff covered with hundreds of thorns at the rājaputra, but the rājaputra cut it in the middle. The dānava then took a large tree and threw it, but the rājaputra shattered it into pieces the size of sesamum seeds. Thereafter, the dānava threw a rock, but the rājaputra made it fail and fall to the ground through hasta-lāghava. Whatever the dānava threw, Avīkṣita cut it all in the middle with bāṇas. When all the dānava’s astra-śastras were destroyed, Dṛḍhakeśa clenched his fist and rushed at the rājaputra. But the son of Karandhama cut his head with a vetasa-pātra bāṇa and threw it upon the earth.

The Boon of the Devas

Upon the killing of the duṣṭa dānava, all the devas praised Avīkṣita and asked him to choose a boon. The rājaputra, for the sake of accomplishing the dear task of his father, asked for a mahāvīryavān son. The devas told him that in the womb of the kanyā he had protected, a powerful son who would be a cakravartī would be born to him. The rājaputra explained that he had asked for a son because he was bound by the bond of truth before his father, but that having been previously defeated in the raṇa-sthala, he had abandoned the desire to accept a wife. He said that as soon as he had abandoned the daughter of King Viśāla, that kanyā had also abandoned association with any other man except him. He asked how, having abandoned the kanyā of Viśāla, he could accept another woman.

The devas then revealed the truth: the kanyā he had always praised was this very woman, the daughter of King Viśāla, the one who had adopted tapas for his sake. From her womb, a son who was a vīra, the accomplisher of seven islands, the performer of thousands of yajñas, and a cakravartī would be born. Having spoken, the devas vanished.

The Kanyā’s Account

The rājaputra then asked his wife to tell him how this event had come to pass. She told him that when he had left her, she had entered the forest having abandoned her relatives with extreme sorrow. By performing tapas, her body became extremely emaciated, and she desired to abandon her body. At that same time, a devadūta came and prevented her, telling her that a powerful cakravartī son would be born to her, that the son would kill the asuras and attain the prīti of the devas, and ordering her not to abandon her life according to the command of the devas. Having been prevented, she did not abandon her life in the hope that she would meet Avīkṣita.

One day, she went to the river Gaṅgā and descended into the water to bathe. At that moment, an old nāga-king pulled her and took her to Rasātala. When she reached Rasātala, thousands of nāgas, nāgapatnīs, and nāgakumāras stood before her. Some began to worship her. The nāgas and nāgapatnīs prayed to her with humility, asking her to show grace and to prevent her future son if he ever tried to kill them, even if the nāgas committed an offense toward him. When they prayed thus, she agreed. They then decorated her with divine ornaments of Pātāla, with beautiful gandhas, clothes, and flowers. The old nāga-king brought her back to the world of men and returned to his own world. She became a beautiful woman endowed with kānti and rūpa as before.

Seeing her thus decorated and beautiful, the duṣṭa Dṛḍhakeśa captured and tried to abduct her. She told the rājaputra that she had been released through his arm-strength, and prayed to him to accept her, declaring that there was no other king on the earth who was a guṇavān equal to him.

The Revelation of the Gandharva and the Wedding

Avīkṣita, hearing the words of the kanyā, remembered the pratijñā he had made before his father at the time of the Kimicchaka vrata and the words spoken by Karandhama. Seeing that this kanyā had abandoned bhoga solely for his sake, with a mind joined with affection, the rājaputra told her that he had abandoned her after being defeated by enemies, and that now, having conquered the enemy, he had attained her again.

The kanyā asked him to perform the pāṇigrahaṇa with her in that beautiful forest itself, saying that if the association of a desiring woman occurs with a desiring man, it becomes endowed with merit. The rājaputra agreed and said that only fate was the cause, for how strange it was that they, being in different places, had met in one place.

At that very moment, a gandharva named Tanaya arrived along with many other gandharvas and an apsaras. He revealed that the proud woman was his daughter, and that her name was Bhāminī. Due to the curse of Agastya, this kanyā had been born as the daughter of King Viśāla. Tanaya explained that one day, while Bhāminī was playing, she had caused krodha to the maharṣi out of her childhood nature, and for that reason Agastya had cursed her to be born as a human woman. Tanaya had pacified the maharṣi at that time, speaking on behalf of the ignorant girl and asking for grace. The mahāmuni Agastya, having been pacified, declared that knowing her as a girl, he had given only a small curse. For this reason, Bhāminī had been born in the palace of Mahārāja Viśāla with the name Māninī.

Tanaya declared that he had come for her sake and asked the rājaputra to accept his daughter, in whose womb a cakravartī son would be born. Hearing the gandharva’s words, the rājaputra agreed and performed the pāṇigrahaṇa of the kanyā. The gandharva-purohita named Tumburu performed the homa ceremony according to vidhi. The devas and gandharvas performed songs, groups of apsarases danced, clouds showered flowers, and divine drums resounded. Afterward, the gandharvas went along with the mahātma Tanaya to the gandharvaloka, and they took the rājaputra and rājakanyā along with them.

Life in the Gandharvaloka and the Birth of Marutta

In the gandharvaloka, Avīkṣita delighted in the company of Bhāminī, and Bhāminī was similarly happy in the company of Avīkṣita. They roamed together, sometimes in the beautiful forests of the cities, sometimes on the sub-mountains, and at other times by rivers decorated with cranes and swans, in tall beautiful buildings, and in uniquely beautiful pleasure spots, day and night. Groups of munis, gandharvas, and kinnaras gave them the most excellent foods, drinks, ointments, and gifts.

While the mahāvīra rājaputra was roaming with Bhāminī in the gandharvaloka, in the course of time, the kalyāṇī gave birth to a son. As soon as this mahāvīrya son was born, the gandharvas celebrated a great festival. Some performed songs, some sounded the mṛdaṅga, and others played instruments like the flute and vīṇā. Groups of apsarases performed dances, and all the clouds roared with a soft sound while showering a rain of flowers.

As soon as Tanaya remembered him, Tumburu arrived and performed the jātakarma and other rites. All the devas, groups of sinless devarṣis, pannaga-kings from Pātāla such as Śeṣa, Vāsuki, and Takṣaka, groups of kings, principal individuals among devas, asuras, yakṣas, guhyakas, and the forty-nine Marud-devas came. The city of the gandharvas became filled with the arrived ṛṣis, devas, dānavas, pannagas, and munis.

The Naming of Marutta

After performing the jātakarma and other rites, Tumburu performed the svastyayana for the boy with stutis, addressing him as one of mahābala, a great vīra, mahābāhu, and a sārva-bhauma, blessing him to perform lordship over the earth for a long time. He prayed that all the lokapālas including Indra and groups of ṛṣis grant the boy vīrya suitable for the destruction of enemies and all auspiciousness. He invoked the blessings of the Marut winds from all four directions: the eastern Marut to cause kalyāṇa, the southern wind to be favorable, the western Marut to grant great vīrya, and the northern wind to grant excellent strength.

After the svastyayana was completed, an incorporeal ākāśavāṇī spoke, declaring that because the Guru had repeatedly uttered the word “Marutta,” the boy would attain fame on the earth-circle by the name Marutta. The voice declared that all mahīpālas would be bound by his orders, and that this boy would be the head among all kings. Being of mahāvīrya and a cakravartī, he would enjoy the earth-circle of seven islands by surpassing the groups of kings. He would be the best among the lords of the earth and the performers of yajñas, and his śaurya and vīrya would be greater than all the kings upon the earth.

Hearing the words of the ākāśavāṇī, the vipras, gandharvas, and the parents of the boy attained supreme bliss.

Source: Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa, Chapters 119 to 124