Janamejaya of the Āpaddharma Parva

Janamejaya, simply known as Janamejaya, Sanskrit: जनमेजय, Telugu: జనమేజయుడు, Hindi: जनमेजय.

Janamejaya, a son of Parīkshit, is a king in the Āpaddharma Parva of the Śānti Parva of the Mahābhārata. He is not the famous Janamejaya who held the snake yajña. He killed a brāhmaṇa without knowing it. This is called brahmahatyā (the killing of a brāhmaṇa). The brāhmaṇas of his court and his own purohita (royal priest) cast him out.

After years of wandering and tapas (austerity), he found the great ṛshi Indrota of the Śaunaka line. Indrota guided him through a full course of cleansing and an Aśvamedha yajña. Janamejaya was then declared clean and went back to his kingdom.

Who he is

The Mahābhārata has two figures called Janamejaya in the Pārikshita line:

1. Janamejaya the snake-yajña king. He is the well-known son of Parīkshit who held the Sarpa-satra to avenge his father’s death from the bite of Takshaka. He is the one who hears the whole Mahābhārata.
2. Janamejaya of the Āpaddharma Parva. He is also called a son of Parīkshit. His account in the Āpaddharma Parva is a teaching on cleansing from brahmahatyā.

The Mahābhārata, Śānti Parva, Chapter 150, tells this.

The brahmahatyā

The text says the killing was unwitting, not planned. In the dharmaśāstra tradition the stain of brahmahatyā attaches whatever the intent. The killing of a brāhmaṇa, even by accident, makes a dosha (fault) of the gravest kind.

The results came at once. The brāhmaṇas of his court would not keep company with him. His purohita refused to do rites for him or to advise him on cleansing. He was cut off from the rites of his kingdom. He could not act as a king with proper ritual support, and he could not begin the cleansing without a qualified guide.

The Mahābhārata, Śānti Parva, Chapter 150, tells this.

Years of wandering

Cast out of his place, Janamejaya spent years wandering in forests and at tīrthas (holy places), doing tapas. He looked for a brāhmaṇa with enough authority and kindness to take up his case. Lesser brāhmaṇas turned him away again and again, because they would not be linked with brahmahatyā. He had to live like a beggar and keep up tapas without the support of his kingdom.

The Mahābhārata, Śānti Parva, Chapter 150, tells this.

The meeting with Indrota

His wandering brought him to the āśrama of Indrota, a ṛshi of the Śaunaka gotra with great stored tapas. Indrota first rebuked him sharply and named the full weight of brahmahatyā without making it smaller. Janamejaya bore this without anger.

Then Indrota gave him the whole path of cleansing:

• five purifying acts: yajña, dāna (giving), dayā (kindness), study of the Veda, and satya (truth);
• a round of tīrthas, which takes in Kurukshetra, Sarasvatī, Mānasa Saras, Pushkara and Prabhāsa;
• bathing with the Aghamarshaṇa mantra;
• last, an Aśvamedha with Indrota as the officiating ṛtvik (priest).

After he had completed this path, Janamejaya was declared clean and went back to his kingdom.

The Mahābhārata, Śānti Parva, Chapters 150–152, tells this.

Sources

• Mahābhārata, Śānti Parva, Āpaddharma Parva, Chapters 150–152