Medhātithi (King of Plaksha-dvīpa)
Medhātithi · medhā-atithi
Śiśira has other meanings too: see all meanings of Śiśira. Dhruva has other meanings too: see all meanings of Dhruva. Kshemaka has other meanings too: see all meanings of Kshemaka. Śiva has other meanings too: see all meanings of Śiva.
Medhātithi is one of the ten sons of Svāyambhuva Manu and the ruler of Plaksha-dvīpa, the first of the dvīpas beyond Jambūdvīpa. His seven sons ruled that dvīpa, and seven boundary mountains bear their names. He is a different person from the ṛshi Medhātithi.
Son of Svāyambhuva Manu
When the munis ask Lomaharshaṇa to tell the manvantaras, the Sūta begins with the first, that of Svāyambhuva Manu, whose saptarshis were the sons of Brahmā: Marīci, Atri, Aṅgiras, Pulaha, Kratu, Pulastya and Vasishṭha. The ten sons of Svāyambhuva were Āgnīdhra, Agnibāhu, Medhya, Medhātithi, Vasu, Jyotishmān, Dyutimān, Havya, Sabala and Putra.
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Chapter 5
Ruler of Plaksha-dvīpa
Lomaharshaṇa tells the munis of the dvīpas beyond Jambūdvīpa. Jambūdvīpa is a lakh of yojanas in extent, and Plaksha-dvīpa is twice that. Its ruler is Medhātithi, and his seven sons ruled the dvīpa: Śāntamaya the eldest, Śiśira, Sukhodaya, Ānanda, Śiva, Kshemaka and Dhruva. By their names there are seven boundary mountains.
There are seven more varsha mountains: Gomoda, Candra, Nārada, Dundubhi, Somaka, Sumanas and Vaibhrāja. In these lovely mountains and in the varshas the people live together with devas and gandharvas. The lands are pure and full of vigour, and the people do not die; without mental pain or illness, they are happy at all times. Seven rivers flow there to the sea, Anutaptā, Śikhā, Vipāśā, Tridivā, Kramu, Amṛtā and Sukṛtā, and they take away pāpa the moment one hears their names. The people always drink their waters, yet the rivers neither decrease nor increase. Small rivers and mountains are there in thousands.
There is no system of yugas there; time always runs as in the Tretā yuga. From Plaksha-dvīpa up to Śāka-dvīpa people live five thousand years, free of disease. Dharma there is of four kinds, by varṇa and āśrama, and the four varṇas are the Āryakas (brāhmaṇas), the Kurus (kshatriyas), the Vivilvas (vaiśyas) and the Bhāvins (śūdras). A plaksha tree, the size of the jambu tree of Jambūdvīpa, stands in the middle of the dvīpa and gives it its name. There Hari, the maker of the world, Sarveśvara, is worshipped in the form of Soma by the Āryakas and the other varṇas. Plaksha-dvīpa is surrounded by the ocean of sugar-cane juice, of the same measure as the dvīpa.
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Chapter 20
Sources
- Brahma Purāṇa, Chapters 5, 20