Bhalandana

Bhalandana was the son of Nābhāga and the grandson of King Diṣṭa of the solar lineage. Although born to a father who had fallen to vaiśyatva due to marrying a Vaiśya maiden against the counsel of the Ṛṣis, Bhalandana harbored the ambition of protecting the earth as a Kṣatriya. Appointed by his mother to the protection of cattle, he instead sought out the rājarṣi Nīpa in the Himālaya mountains and obtained the jñāna of astras. He then waged a dharma-yuddha against his father’s kinsmen, conquered the ancestral kingdom, and offered it at his father’s feet. When Nābhāga refused the kingdom on grounds of obedience to his own father’s command, and when Nābhāga’s wife Suprabhā revealed the true Kṣatriya origins of the entire family through the account of past curses, Nābhāga still declined to rule. Bhalandana then accepted his father’s final command and ruled the earth righteously, becoming renowned as the Pṛthvīśvara. His account is narrated by Mārkaṇḍeya.

Birth and Early Life

After Nābhāga attained vaiśyatva by marrying a Vaiśya maiden and was directed by the munis in the sabhā to follow the dharma of cattle protection, agriculture, and commerce, he began to perform those duties according to the King’s command. After some time, a son named Bhalandana was born to him. His mother told him to keep protecting the cattle and appointed him to the protection of cattle.

Seeking the Rājarṣi Nīpa

According to his mother’s command, Bhalandana saluted her and went to the rājarṣi named Nīpa, who was a dweller of the Himālaya mountains. Bhalandana went near the rājarṣi, saluted his feet according to the vidhi, and began to speak. He said that his mother had commanded him to become a protector of cattle, but that protecting the earth was his necessary duty. He asked how he could accept the protection of cattle. He further acknowledged that even if he accepted the protection of the earth, the entire kingdom had been occupied by powerful kinsmen. He requested the rājarṣi, by his grace, to command him as to how he might be able to protect the earth, declaring that he would do whatever was commanded.

Obtaining the Astras

The rājarṣi Nīpa then bestowed the entire group of astras upon the mahātmā Bhalandana. Having obtained the jñāna of astras, Bhalandana took the command of the rājarṣi and went to his father’s cousins, Vasurāta and others. He prayed for a portion of the kingdom appropriate to his grandfather.

The Refusal and the Battle

The grandfathers refused Bhalandana, saying that he was a Vaiśya’s son and that protecting the kingdom was not appropriate for him. Bhalandana, having obtained the astras, became enraged and began the battle with Vasurāta and others, raining astras upon them. In that battle, the dharmātmā Bhalandana, only through dharma-yuddha, wounded all the armies with weapons, defeated them, and occupied the earth.

Offering the Kingdom to Nābhāga

Bhalandana thus conquered the enemies and offered the entire kingdom of the earth at the feet of his father. However, Nābhāga did not accept it. He spoke to his son in front of his wife. He told Bhalandana to enjoy the kingdom ruled by their ancestors by himself. He said it was not that he was incapable of protecting the kingdom, but that in the past, although he was under his father’s command, because his father did not agree and he had accepted a Vaiśya maiden, he had attained vaiśyatva and had therefore become ineligible for the enjoyments of the kingdom.

Nābhāga explained that if he now protected the earth by transgressing his father’s command, because of the cause of the vidyā-pratijñā, the King also could not attain puṇyalokas until the time of the pralaya. And for Nābhāga himself, there would be no mokṣa even in a hundred kalpas. He said that for a person who transgresses his father’s commands, it was not appropriate to enjoy the kingdom conquered by another’s strength of arms. He told Bhalandana to rule the kingdom himself or give it back to the kinsmen, declaring that following his father’s command was superior and that ruling the kingdom was not appropriate for him.

The Revelation of Suprabhā

Hearing the words of her husband, his wife named Suprabhā laughed and told Nābhāga to accept the kingdom, which was a giver of prosperity. She declared that he was not a Vaiśya and that she also was not born in a Vaiśya kula. She said he was a Kṣatriya and she too was born in a Kṣatriya kula. She then narrated the full account of how her father Sudeva, formerly a famous king, had been cursed to vaiśyatva by the Bhārgava Pramati for refusing to protect Pramati’s wife when the evil-minded Nala, son of King Dhūmrāśva, attempted to seize her by force. Pramati had later shown grace, declaring that Sudeva would belong to the Vaiśya jātī for a few days, and that whenever any Kṣatriya youth took his daughter by force, Sudeva would again become a Kṣatriya.

Suprabhā then revealed her own origin. She was originally Kṛpāvatī, born from the body of a rājarṣi named Surata in the Gandhamādana mountain, who fainted out of compassion upon seeing a śārikā fall from the mouth of a hawk. A brother of Agastya had cursed her to become a Vaiśya maiden because her companions had angered him. However, the Ṛṣi had also shown grace, declaring that when she was born in a Vaiśya womb and when she appointed her son for the sake of obtaining the kingdom, she would attain jātismaraṇa and, along with her husband, would again become a Kṣatriya woman.

Suprabhā concluded that neither Nābhāga nor her father were truly Vaiśyas. She said that although she was faultless, it was because of her cursed association that Nābhāga had been defiled, and that from that point on he would never be subject to that taint. Having appointed her son Bhalandana for the sake of obtaining the kingdom, the condition of the curse was fulfilled and her jātismaraṇa had been restored.

Nābhāga’s Final Refusal

Despite the revelation of their true Kṣatriya origins, Nābhāga, who was a knower of dharma, heard the words of his wife and son and spoke to them separately. To his wife he said that he had once abandoned the kingdom according to his father’s command and could not take it up again, and asked why she was speaking vain words and taking vain trouble. To his son Bhalandana he said that he would remain in the vaiśya-vṛtti and pay taxes to him. He told Bhalandana to enjoy the entire kingdom, and that if he did not desire it, he could abandon it.

Bhalandana’s Righteous Rule

Prince Bhalandana, having received his father’s command, began to rule the kingdom according to dharma. He married at the appropriate time. On the wheel of the earth, his chariot wheel moved unobstructed. His mind never traveled in the path of adharma, and for that reason all the kings were subject to him. He was performing yajñas according to the vidhi and ruling the kingdom well. Gradually, because his command spread over the earth, he alone became famous as the Pṛthvīśvara, the ruler of enemies.

The Birth of Vatsaprī

Subsequently, a son named Vatsaprī was born to King Bhalandana. That mahātmā surpassed his father in guṇas. In the course of time, Bhalandana became old and went to the forests, and Vatsaprī succeeded him as King.

Source: Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa, Chapter 113