Nīla of Māhiṣmatī
Nīla was the king of Māhiṣmatī, the great southern city on the Narmadā. He refused to submit when Sahadeva came south to win kings for Yudhiṣṭhira’s Rājasūya. Agni himself guarded the city. Any army that came with hostile aim was met with fire. When Sahadeva’s army came, fires broke out by themselves and threatened to destroy it. The fires stopped only when Sahadeva pleased Agni with offerings. Nīla then agreed to send tribute. So Māhiṣmatī gave way through a settlement with Agni, and not through conquest by arms.
The fires of Māhiṣmatī
Sahadeva was leading the southern digvijaya (the march to bring kings under Yudhiṣṭhira’s rule) for the Rājasūya. When he reached Māhiṣmatī on the Narmadā, he met an obstacle unlike any other on the whole march. The city would not submit. When his forces tried to move forward, fires broke out that no one could control, and they threatened to burn the whole army.
The Mahābhārata says that this guard came from Agni, who had a special bond with Māhiṣmatī. The account links it to the great king Kārtavīrya Arjuna, who had ruled Māhiṣmatī in an earlier age and whose tie to Agni was part of the city’s sacred ground. (Mahābhārata, Sabhā Parva, Chapter 31)
Sahadeva pleases Agni
Sahadeva performed the proper rites. He made offerings to Agni and pleased him with mantras and with the materials of the rite (dravya). Agni was pleased by the right approach and gave way, and the fires died down. Nīla saw how the obstacle had been settled. He agreed to accept Yudhiṣṭhira’s rule and to send tribute for the Rājasūya. (Mahābhārata, Sabhā Parva, Chapter 31)
Joining the Kaurava side
Nīla had given tribute to Yudhiṣṭhira’s Rājasūya, but when war drew near he sided with the Kauravas. The Udyoga Parva, Chapter 19, lists him among the kings who gave one akṣauhiṇī (a full division of an army) to Duryodhana. The strong army of Māhiṣmatī thus joined the Kaurava force of eleven akṣauhiṇīs, set against the seven akṣauhiṇīs of the Pāṇḍavas. (Mahābhārata, Udyoga Parva, Chapter 19)
Another Nīla, on the Pāṇḍava side
The Bhīṣma Parva names a warrior called Nīla on the Pāṇḍava side in the fighting of Day 8. The Droṇa Parva tells of a king named Nīla allied with the Pāṇḍavas. He was known by his blue chariot, armour, flag and horses. He fought with great fury against the Kaurava army and was in the end killed by Aśvatthāmā. This Nīla is a different person from Nīla of Māhiṣmatī, who sided with the Kauravas. (Mahābhārata, Bhīṣma Parva; Mahābhārata, Droṇa Parva)
Sources
- Mahābhārata, Sabhā Parva, Chapter 31
- Mahābhārata, Udyoga Parva, Chapter 19
- Mahābhārata, Bhīṣma Parva, Chapters 43–122
- Mahābhārata, Droṇa Parva