Ekavīra
Ekavīra founded the Haihaya dynasty. His mother was Lakshmī Devī and his father was Bhagavān Vishṇu. Both had taken the form of horses. Lakshmī had been put under a śāpa (a curse) by Bhagavān Vishṇu to become a horse. Later, at the urging of Bhagavān Śiva, Bhagavān Vishṇu took horse form to join her. Ekavīra was born of their union.
King Turvasu, also called Harivarmā, took the child as his son. Ekavīra grew into a mighty warrior. He killed the dānava Kālaketu to save the princess Ekāvalī, and he married her. Through his son Kṛtavīrya and his grandson Kārtavīryārjuna, the Haihaya line became very famous in the Purāṇas.
The curse on Lakshmī
The birth of Ekavīra begins with an event in Vaikuṇṭha. Revanta, the son of Sūrya, came to Vaikuṇṭha riding the splendid divine horse Uccaiḥśravas. This horse had risen from the ocean at the Samudramanthana, the churning of the ocean, so he was a brother of Lakshmī.
Lakshmī saw the horse and was taken by its beauty. She gazed at it in wonder and did not hear Bhagavān Vishṇu call her name again and again.
Bhagavān Vishṇu saw that his own consort was so lost in looking at a horse that she would not answer him. He was displeased. He said, “Since you let your mind be taken by this horse right in my presence, you yourself shall become a horse and wander the earth!”
Lakshmī was shocked and full of grief. She bowed down before Bhagavān Vishṇu and begged him to take back the śāpa or at least to limit it. He made his words softer. When she had borne a son equal to him in qualities, she would be free of the śāpa and could go back to Vaikuṇṭha.
Lakshmī came down to the earth as a mare. She settled at the meeting of the rivers Kālindī and Tamasā. There she performed tapas (austerity) to Bhagavān Śiva for a thousand divine years. She meditated on his form as Pañcānana (five-faced), Trilocana (three-eyed) and Daśabhuja (ten-armed).
The part of Bhagavān Śiva and the union with Lakshmī
Bhagavān Śiva was pleased with Lakshmī’s tapas. He appeared before her on Nandī, with Pārvatī and the pramathas. He told her that her husband, Bhagavān Vishṇu, was the true object of her ārādhanā (worship), and that she should go to him. He also promised that, at his own urging, Bhagavān Vishṇu would come to her. Bhagavān Śiva sent his messenger Citrarūpa to Vaikuṇṭha to call Bhagavān Vishṇu.
Citrarūpa gave Bhagavān Śiva’s message. It said that Lakshmī was grieving and performing tapas on the river bank. Bhagavān Vishṇu accepted the call. He took the form of a magnificent horse and went to where Lakshmī was waiting. The two divine horses came together at the Kālindī and Tamasā saṅgama (meeting of rivers). Ekavīra was conceived and born from this union.
After the birth, Bhagavān Vishṇu took his own form again. He told Lakshmī to give the child to King Harivarmā, also named Turvasu, the son of Yayāti. The king had been doing tapas at that very tīrtha (holy place) for a son. Bhagavān Vishṇu and Lakshmī then went back to Vaikuṇṭha together.
Adoption by Turvasu
King Harivarmā, called Turvasu, of the line of Yayāti, had done tapas at the tīrtha for a hundred years. He prayed to Bhagavān Vishṇu for a son. Bhagavān Vishṇu sent him to the place where the baby Ekavīra lay.
The king came and found the shining child, as lovely as the deva of love. The baby was playing with his toe in his mouth. The king lifted him up with tears of joy and carried him home.
The child was received with great celebration. The proper saṃskāras (rites of passage) were done, and the king named him Ekavīra. He grew up learning the Vedas, the dharmaśāstras and dhanurveda (the science of archery and weapons).
When Ekavīra came of age, his father performed the rāja-abhisheka (royal anointing) and gave him the kingdom. The king then went to the forest with his wife to do tapas, and in the end he reached svarga (heaven).
The rescue of Ekāvalī
Ekavīra was riding along the Gaṅgā when he met a young woman weeping. She was Yaśovatī, the daughter of a minister, and the companion of the princess Ekāvalī. She told him her story.
Ekāvalī was the daughter of King Raibhya. He had performed a yajña to Devī and received Ekāvalī as a daughter born from the sacrificial fire. So she was agni-jātā (born of fire). Her father had meant her for Ekavīra himself, and he had made this known.
One day Ekāvalī was playing on the bank of the Gaṅgā with her companions. The dānava Kālaketu, a powerful being, came with an army and carried Ekāvalī away to his fortress deep underground. Only Yaśovatī got away. In a dream a vision of Devī Yogeśvarī guided her to find Ekavīra on the bank of the Gaṅgā.
Yaśovatī told what Devī Yogeśvarī had said to her in the dream:
“Go to the Gaṅgā. Ekavīra will come there. He is a mighty hero, and Dattātreya has given him the great Mahāvidyā, the mantra of Yogeśvarī. He has worshipped me with complete devotion. He can kill the dānava and free Ekāvalī.”
At that moment the ṛshi Dattātreya arrived. Ekavīra received from him the Śrī Yogeśvarī Mahāmantra, the great mantra of Devī Yogeśvarī. With this mantra, and guided by Yaśovatī, Ekavīra marched with an army to Kālaketu’s fortress underground. In the battle he struck Kālaketu with his mace and killed him. The remaining rākshasas ran away in fear.
Yaśovatī was joined again with Ekāvalī, and they came to where Ekavīra was resting. He took both women to Ekāvalī’s father, King Raibhya. Raibhya gave his daughter to Ekavīra in marriage. The wedding was held with great ceremony. Both Ekāvalī and Yaśovatī joined Ekavīra’s household.
The Haihaya line
Kṛtavīrya was born to Ekavīra and Ekāvalī. Kṛtavīrya’s son was Kārtavīryārjuna, the thousand-armed king. He is one of the most famous rulers of ancient times. He was known for his devotion to Dattātreya and for his great reign. The Haihaya kings who came after him were the ones who later fought the Bhārgava dynasty.
Sources
- Devī Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, Skanda 6, Chapters 17–18
- Devī Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, Skanda 6, Chapters 18–19
- Devī Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, Skanda 6, Chapters 19–21
- Devī Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, Skanda 6, Chapter 22
- Devī Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, Skanda 6, Chapter 23