Manoramā

Manoramā was the senior queen of King Dhruvasandhi of Kośala, whose capital was Ayodhyā. She was the daughter of Vīrasena and the mother of Sudarśana, the central figure of one of the great narratives of the Devī Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa.

When her husband died and her father was killed in battle by Yudhājit, Manoramā fled to the forest with her infant son. She raised him at the āśrama (hermitage) of Bharadvāja. She lived to see Sudarśana restored to the throne of Ayodhyā through the grace of Parādevī, the Supreme Devī.

Background and marriage

Manoramā was the daughter of Vīrasena, a king and an ally of the Kośala house. She married King Dhruvasandhi and became the senior queen of Ayodhyā. She bore him a son named Sudarśana, the rightful heir to the Ikṣvāku throne.

The king’s second wife was Līlāvatī, the daughter of Yudhājit of Ujjayinī. Līlāvatī had a son named Śatrujit. The Devī Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa tells this in Skanda 3, Chapter 14.

Exile and flight to the forest

Dhruvasandhi was killed by a lion. Then Yudhājit, the maternal grandfather of Śatrujit, attacked and killed Vīrasena, Manoramā’s own father. Manoramā was left without royal protection, and her young son’s life was in danger.

She would not give Sudarśana up to an enemy who wanted to destroy him. She took nothing with her and left Ayodhyā at once. Only the retainer Vidallū and a maidservant went with her.

The party crossed the Gaṅgā by boat and travelled through the forest. They reached the āśrama of Bharadvāja Maharṣi. All the way Manoramā was full of grief. She grieved for her dead husband, her killed father, her lost kingdom and the danger to her infant son. Yet she overcame her sorrow with one resolve: her son would live. This is told in Skanda 3, Chapters 14–15.

Life at Bharadvāja’s āśrama

Bharadvāja received Manoramā with compassion. He told her that her son Sudarśana would one day regain his throne. She settled in the āśrama and raised Sudarśana in the forest for many years.

Later Yudhājit came after them with an army, meaning to kill Sudarśana. Manoramā faced him, with the protection of the ṛṣi (seer) standing between her and the king. Bharadvāja rebuked Yudhājit. He compared him to Viśvāmitra and to his useless attack on the āśrama of Vasiṣṭha. The hostile king then withdrew.

Manoramā lived simply in the āśrama and depended on the kindness of the ṛṣis. She was thankful for every day of safety. She wept before Bharadvāja and begged him with joined hands. She appealed to the dharma (duty) of protecting those in distress. The Purāṇa shows her as a true patnīvratā (a wife devoted to her husband), whose one concern was the welfare of her son. This is told in Skanda 3, Chapters 15–17.

Her part at the svayaṃvara

Sudarśana heard the news from Śaśikalā and decided to go to the svayaṃvara (the ceremony where a princess chooses her husband) at Kāśī. Manoramā was afraid. She knew that Yudhājit would be there and might try to kill Sudarśana. She begged her son not to go. She reminded him that she was a helpless widow with an only son, that Yudhājit was powerful and dangerous, and that all the kings gathered there were hostile to him.

Sudarśana answered her with great wisdom of dharma. He calmed her fears. He reminded her that death comes only at its appointed time and cannot be avoided by staying away. He placed everything in the hands of Parādevī and received his mother’s heartfelt blessings.

Manoramā then blessed Sudarśana with the names of all the forms of the Devī: Ambikā, Durgā, Kālī, Vārāhī, Bhairavī, Māṭaṅgī, Śāmbhavī and Tri-bhuvanēśvarī. She went with him to Kāśī. This is told in Skanda 3, Chapter 19.

Her character and her place in the narrative

The Devī Bhāgavata shows Manoramā as a śakti-āśritā, a woman who takes shelter in the Devī’s power. Her strength came from her firm commitment to protecting dharma and her child through the grace of Parādevī. She is a real woman who feels real grief, and she still acts with courage when it is needed.

After the wedding she thanked King Subāhu. He had given his daughter to a penniless exile, even though powerful kings opposed it. She spoke with dignity and deep feeling. When Sudarśana was restored to the throne of Ayodhyā, she was filled with joy and went back into the royal palace where she had once lived as queen. Her return completes a narrative that is driven all through by a mother’s devotion.

Sources

• Devī Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, Skanda 3, Chapters 14–25
• Devī Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, Skanda 3, Chapter 14 (her marriage, her son, the second queen Līlāvatī)
• Devī Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, Skanda 3, Chapters 14–15 (the flight to the forest)
• Devī Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, Skanda 3, Chapters 15–17 (life at Bharadvāja’s āśrama)
• Devī Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, Skanda 3, Chapter 19 (the svayaṃvara at Kāśī)