Dilīpa

Dilīpa was a king of the solar Ikshvāku dynasty. The ṛshi Vasishṭha tells him the whole Uttara Khaṇḍa of the Padma Mahā Purāṇa. The Purāṇa itself says that Dilīpa was born earlier as Śivāśarman, son of the merchant Śarabha of Hastināpura, and was born again as Dilīpa after a śāpa (a curse) from Durvāsa. At the end, Vasishṭha tells Dilīpa that Bhagavān Vishṇu will be born in his Ikshvāku line as Rāma, the son of Daśaratha. So Dilīpa is an ancestor of Rāma. Dilīpa worshipped Vishṇu faithfully until his life ended and reached Vaikuṇṭha.

Who he is in the Padma Purāṇa

The Uttara Khaṇḍa of the Padma Mahā Purāṇa is told as a talk between the ṛshi Vasishṭha and King Dilīpa. In the outer frame, the ṛshi Sūta tells this talk to the ṛshis gathered at Naimishāraṇya. Dilīpa is a righteous Ikshvāku king and a devotee of Vishṇu. He comes to Vasishṭha with questions about Indraprastha, the greatness of tīrthas, the nature of Vishṇu, the avatāras, and right worship. (Padma Mahā Purāṇa, Uttara Khaṇḍa, Chapters 199 onward)

His past birth as Śivāśarman

Vasishṭha tells Dilīpa that in an earlier life he was Śivāśarman, the son of the merchant Śarabha of Hastināpura. He was born by the grace of Pārvatī at Indraprastha, at the Nigamodbodhaka tīrtha. Śivāśarman was a devotee of Vishṇu. Because of a śāpa from Durvāsa in that life, he fell from his place and was born again as Dilīpa. (Padma Mahā Purāṇa, Uttara Khaṇḍa, Chapter 205)

His questions to Vasishṭha

All through the Uttara Khaṇḍa, Dilīpa asks Vasishṭha deep questions about:

  • the greatness and consecration of Indraprastha
  • the power of each tīrtha in it
  • the nature of the different avatāras
  • the right way to worship Vishṇu
  • the meaning of the eight-syllable mantra
  • the classes of Purāṇas
  • why Rudra and Brahmā are not fit to be worshipped by brāhmaṇas
  • Bhṛgu’s test of the three devas

(Padma Mahā Purāṇa, Uttara Khaṇḍa, many chapters)

The mantra lineage

Vasishṭha gave Dilīpa the eight-syllable Nārāyaṇa mantra. It had come down in a direct line from Vishṇu to Brahmā, to Nārada, to Vasishṭha, and then to Dilīpa. The mantra, together with the Vaishṇava initiation rites, was the highest gift of the teaching of the Uttara Khaṇḍa. (Padma Mahā Purāṇa, Uttara Khaṇḍa, Chapter 223)

The words about Rāma

Vasishṭha ends his telling by saying to Dilīpa: “O best of kings, in your dynasty Vishṇu, the supreme and auspicious, will be born as Daśaratha’s son for the good of all people. So the Ikshvākus, among whom lotus-eyed Rāma is born, are honoured even by the devas.” These words make Dilīpa an ancestor of Rāma. (Padma Mahā Purāṇa, Uttara Khaṇḍa, Chapter 254)

His end

After he received all the teachings from Vasishṭha, Dilīpa honoured his teacher with due respect, received the mantra, and worshipped Vishṇu faithfully for the rest of his life. At the proper time Dilīpa reached Vaikuṇṭha, the eternal place of Vishṇu that sants in meditation can reach. (Padma Mahā Purāṇa, Uttara Khaṇḍa, Chapter 255)

The Mahābhārata account: father of Bhagīratha

The Vana Parva of the Mahābhārata (Chapter 109) names a Dilīpa of the Ikshvāku line who was the son of Aṃśumān and the father of Bhagīratha. This Dilīpa was the third generation to do tapas (austerity) for bringing the divine Gaṅgā down to earth. The ashes of Sagara’s sixty thousand sons had been burnt by the glance of the ṛshi Kapila. Gaṅgā’s waters would purify them and set their ātmās (souls) free.

Dilīpa did great tapas all his life, but like his father before him he did not bring Gaṅgā down in his own time. He faithfully passed the aim on to his son Bhagīratha, in whom it was at last fulfilled. (Mahābhārata, Vana Parva, Chapter 109)

The oath at Prabhāsa

Dilīpa was among the great gathering of ṛshis and rājarshis at Prabhāsa when the lotus that Agastya had planted with ceremony was found stolen. To prove his innocence, Dilīpa swore a self-śāpa. He said that whoever took the lotus should reach the loka that a brāhmaṇa reaches who becomes the husband of a śūdra woman in a village with only one well. Indra later confessed to the theft, which he had done to test the dharma of the assembly. (Mahābhārata, Anuśāsana Parva, Chapter 94)

Dilīpa among those who gave up meat

In the teaching on ahiṃsā (non-harm) and meat-eating in the Anuśāsana Parva, Bhīshma names Dilīpa among the great rājarshis who gave up māṃsa (meat), in the bright fortnight of Śrāvaṇa and in the rainy season. By this they reached svarga (heaven) and Brahmaloka. (Mahābhārata, Anuśāsana Parva, Chapter 115)

Sources

  • Padma Mahā Purāṇa, Uttara Khaṇḍa, Chapters 199–255 (including Chapters 205, 223, 254 and 255)
  • Mahābhārata, Vana Parva, Chapter 109
  • Mahābhārata, Anuśāsana Parva, Chapters 94 and 115