Sudakṣiṇa of Kāmboja
Sudakṣiṇa was the king of Kāmboja. He joined the Kaurava alliance before the war at Kurukṣetra and brought one akṣauhiṇī (a full army unit of chariots, elephants, cavalry and infantry). The Kāmboja kingdom was known for its fine cavalry and horse-warriors. This made Sudakṣiṇa an important ally for Duryodhana.
In the Udyoga Parva
Chapter 19 of the Udyoga Parva lists the eleven akṣauhiṇī armies that joined the Kaurava side. Sudakṣiṇa of Kāmboja is named among the allied kings, each of whom led one akṣauhiṇī. The kings named include:
- Bhagadatta of Prāgjyotiṣa
- Bhūriśravas
- Śalya of Madra
- Kṛtavarman
- Jayadratha of Sindhu-Sauvīra
- Sudakṣiṇa of Kāmboja
- Nīla of Māhiṣmatī
- Vinda and Anuvinda of Avanti
Other kings are named as well.
In the Strī Parva, among the young fallen
In Chapter 20 of the Strī Parva, Gāndhārī turns Kṛṣṇa’s eyes to a group of young warriors lying among the dead at Kurukṣetra:
Uttara, Abhimanyu, the Kāmboja, Sudakṣiṇa, Lakṣmaṇa, and other young warriors: see them lying fallen.
Sudakṣiṇa’s name stands here next to Abhimanyu and Uttara. He died on the battlefield.
In the Strī Parva, a wife’s grief
Chapter 25 of the Strī Parva begins with Gāndhārī showing Kṛṣṇa the fallen king of Kāmboja:
Look at this king of Kāmboja, who should have been resting comfortably on fine woolen blankets. With a neck like a bull’s, he lies in the dust on the bare ground. His hands, anointed with fine sandal-paste, are now drenched in blood-mud.
His wife weeps with pity over those hands:
With fingers shaped like full lotuses, auspicious and beautiful, I am trapped between those hands, and my longing is not satisfied. O King! What fate am I now to find? My kin have perished and I am left alone and wretched.
She trembles and weeps. Her grief shows the sharp contrast between the royal hands of his life and their blood-soaked stillness in death.
Sources
- Mahābhārata, Udyoga Parva, Chapter 19
- Mahābhārata, Strī Parva, Chapters 20, 25