Sahasrānīka

Sahasrānīka is the king of Kauśāmbī in the Cakratīrtha māhātmya (account of the greatness of a holy place) of the Setu Māhātmya in the Skanda Mahā Purāṇa. He is Vidhūma, a vasu, reborn. Brahmā cursed Vidhūma with a śāpa (a curse) to fall into mortal life. His queen Mṛgāvatī is the apsarā Alambusā reborn. Their son Udayana was born in an unusual way. All three reached mokṣa (liberation) by bathing at Cakratīrtha in the Setu-kṣetra.

Previous life as Vidhūma

In his earlier life Sahasrānīka was a celestial being, a vasu named Vidhūma. Brahmā cursed him to fall from his vasu nature and to be born in the mortal world, bound by pāpa (sin). This śāpa led to his birth as king of Kauśāmbī.

Queen Mṛgāvatī

The apsarā Alambusā was a divine dancer of the celestial realms. She too had come under a śāpa, and she was reborn as Mṛgāvatī, the queen of Sahasrānīka.

Birth of Udayana

Their son Udayana was born in an unusual way. Queen Mṛgāvatī breathed in the fragrant smoke of burning sandalwood (candana-dhūpa), and she became pregnant. So Udayana was born through sandalwood incense.

Liberation at Cakratīrtha

Sahasrānīka, Mṛgāvatī and Udayana all reached freedom from birth and death by bathing in Cakratīrtha in the Setu-kṣetra. This tīrtha (holy place) was made sacred when the Sudarśana Cakra destroyed Durgamu. Its power dissolved the karma these three royal beings had gathered, and it gave them back their original divine nature.

Sources

• Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Brahma Khaṇḍa, Setu Māhātmya, Chapter 5