Mucukunda

Mucukunda was an ancient king of the solar dynasty (Sūrya-vaṃśa), of the line of Ikṣvāku. He was a rājarṣi (a king who lived like a ṛṣi), a warrior of great strength, true to his word, and fully devoted to Bhagavān Viṣṇu. He helped the devas in their long war against the asuras. As a reward, Indra offered him a vara (a boon) of his choice. Mucukunda was worn out after ages of war. He asked only for sleep that no one could disturb.

He lay down to sleep in a cave. Kālayavana, an asura goaded by Nārada, pursued Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa toward Dvārakā and entered the cave. He kicked the sleeping king. Mucukunda opened his eyes, and his glance, full of tapas (austerity) and divine grace, burned Kālayavana to ash. In this way Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa used Mucukunda’s hidden power to destroy his enemy without fighting himself. Mucukunda then reached mokṣa (liberation) through the darśana (sight) of Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa.

Mucukunda is also known for the strict keeping of Ekādaśī (the eleventh lunar day, sacred to Bhagavān Viṣṇu) in his city. He was the father of Candrabhāgā, whose life of Ekādaśī vows is the heart of the Rāmā Ekādaśī narrative.

Service to the devas

In the Tretā Yuga the asuras kept harassing the devas, and the devas could not find a commander able to face them. They went to Mucukunda and asked him to lead them in battle. He agreed. He fought beside the devas for a very long time, and his courage greatly helped the divine armies.

While he fought, time passed on earth in vast measure. What was a short span among the devas was many human ages on earth. By the time his service to the devas was finished, his family, his kingdom and all those who lived in his time had long since perished. (Padma Mahā Purāṇa, Uttara Khaṇḍa, Chapter 246)

The boon of unbroken sleep

The devas won through Mucukunda’s help. Indra asked him to choose a reward. Mucukunda had been fighting without rest and was deeply tired. He knew that no one from his own time was left alive for him to return to. He asked for one vara. He wished to sleep without being disturbed, and he asked that anyone who broke his sleep be burned to ash by the fire from his eyes.

Indra gave him this vara. Mucukunda went to a cave on earth and lay down to sleep. (Padma Mahā Purāṇa, Uttara Khaṇḍa, Chapter 246)

The destruction of Kālayavana

Kālayavana was an asura and a fierce foreign king. He had besieged Mathurā with an army of thirty million soldiers. Nārada goaded him to pursue Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa toward Dvārakā. Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa used his divine wisdom and did not fight him directly. He led Kālayavana on a chase and slipped into the cave where Mucukunda lay asleep.

Kālayavana saw a figure lying there and thought it was Kṛṣṇa. He kicked the sleeper. Mucukunda opened his eyes, and the first being his gaze fell on was Kālayavana. The power gathered over ages of tapas and divine service burst out of his eyes. Kālayavana was reduced to ash at once. (Padma Mahā Purāṇa, Uttara Khaṇḍa, Chapter 246)

Mokṣa through the darśana of Kṛṣṇa

After Kālayavana’s death, Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa himself appeared before Mucukunda in his divine four-armed form, radiant and beautiful. Mucukunda had woken to the sight of the avatāra (incarnation) of Bhagavān Viṣṇu. He was filled with devotion and wonder. He praised Kṛṣṇa and received his grace.

Through this darśana of Kṛṣṇa, and through the tapas gathered in his long and righteous life of service, Mucukunda attained mokṣa and went to the eternal world of Bhagavān Viṣṇu. (Padma Mahā Purāṇa, Uttara Khaṇḍa, Chapter 246)

Friends among the regents

Mucukunda formed true friendships with Indra, Yama, Varuṇa, Kubera and Vibhīṣaṇa, the chief regents of the three worlds. This put him among the few kings who took part in the order of dharma of the higher worlds as well as on earth. The Padma Mahā Purāṇa calls him a great devotee of Bhagavān Viṣṇu and a king true to his word.

The Ekādaśī rule

Mucukunda kept the Ekādaśī fast in his kingdom without exception. When the tenth day (Daśamī) came, a drum was beaten through the city and it was proclaimed that no one was to eat on the day of Bhagavān Viṣṇu. The rule covered more than people. Elephants, horses and their young ones also had to keep from food and water.

Family

Mucukunda had a daughter named Candrabhāgā. She was given this name because her beauty was like that of the river Candrabhāgā. She was given in marriage to Śobhana, the son of King Candrasena.

Candrabhāgā had kept the Ekādaśī fast faithfully since she passed her eighth year. The rule of her father’s house became her own vow. The Padma Mahā Purāṇa says her lifelong Ekādaśī observance later gave the puṇya (merit) that kept her husband Śobhana’s divine city on the peak of Mandara steady.

Listener to the Kapota teaching

In the Āpaddharma Parva of the Śānti Parva of the Mahābhārata, Mucukunda is the king who hears the story of the pigeon couple (Kapota and Kapotī) and the hunter (Lubdhaka). This is the Kapota-Lubdhaka Upākhyāna. The Bhārgava ṛṣi comes to the king and, in answer to a question about dharma, tells it. It teaches the strict duty to a guest (atithi-dharma) and the dharma of giving up oneself for another. Mucukunda listens with full attention and takes it as a clear example of kingly dharma at its highest.

In the line that carried the sword Asi

The Khaḍgotpatti Kathanam (Chapter 166 of the Śānti Parva) names Mucukunda in the long line of kings who received the divine sword Asi. Brahmā made this weapon, and it passed through kings and ṛṣis down to the Pāṇḍavas.

In this line Mucukunda received the sword through the solar-dynasty succession that follows the Ikṣvāku and Purūravas line. He passed it on to Raghu and the kings after him. He stands in the list with Manu, Ikṣvāku, Yayāti, Bharata son of Duṣyanta, and later Raghu and Śibi.

War against Tāraka

The Kedāra Khaṇḍa shows Mucukunda as a warrior who served the devas in the great war against the asura Tāraka. Tāraka had conquered the three worlds and the devas were scattered. Kārttikeya was not yet ready to lead them as Senāpati (commander). Brave kings such as Mucukunda came forward to fight beside the deva forces. In the first battles his courage held back the asura army and helped keep the deva alliance together until Kārttikeya took command.

Sources

• Padma Mahā Purāṇa, Uttara Khaṇḍa, Chapter 246
• Padma Mahā Purāṇa, Uttara Khaṇḍa, Chapter 60
• Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Māheśvara Khaṇḍa, Kedāra Khaṇḍa, Chapter 28
• Mahābhārata, Śānti Parva, Chapters 143–149 (Kapota-Lubdhaka Upākhyāna)
• Mahābhārata, Śānti Parva, Chapter 166 (Khaḍgotpatti Kathanam)