Vīradyumna
Vīradyumna is a king in the nested account of the Ṛṣabha Gītā (Śānti Parva, Chapters 125–128). He is a father who has lost his son Bhūridyumna. He wanders in search of him, kept going by the hope of meeting him again.
The muni Ṛṣabha tells his story to Sumitra, the Haihaya king. Ṛṣabha appears as a thin muni named Kṛśa. He uses the story to teach the different forms of āśā (hope), ranked from the most wasted to the least wasted.
The story of Vīradyumna
Vīradyumna had a son named Bhūridyumna. The son was lost to him, separated from his father by a circumstance the text does not give. Vīradyumna wandered. He was sustained by the hope that he would find his son, that Bhūridyumna might still be alive and might be reunited with him.
In the teaching of the Ṛṣabha Gītā, Vīradyumna stands for one kind of āśā: hope placed in a noble and capable person who is unavailable, delayed or in difficulty. Bhūridyumna is not an unworthy person. The hope of reunion is not misplaced, because the son is worth hoping for. The difficulty comes from circumstance and not from the son’s character.
This kind of āśā is hard and painful, but it is not without reason. It is among the less emaciated forms in the ranking that Ṛṣabha teaches. It is still āśā, and it still brings suffering through the gap between longing and fulfilment. But it is not the most wretched form.
Place among the forms of āśā
The Ṛṣabha Gītā ranks āśā in this way:
| Form | Object | Condition |
|---|---|---|
| Most wretched (most emaciated) | A cruel, ungrateful, hopeless nīca (low) person | The one who hopes wastes away with each round of betrayal |
| Very emaciated | A person who knows his duties but ignores them | Some hope remains but is beaten down again and again |
| Emaciated | A noble person fallen into adversity | Hope is reasonable, given his character, but is frustrated by circumstance |
| Least bad | A capable, willing person who is only delayed | Frustration, but no deep despair |
Vīradyumna hopes to be reunited with a son who is truly worthy of that hope. His āśā therefore falls in the lower categories of this ranking. It is not misplaced as to character. It is simply carried on through hardship.
Place in the narrative
Vīradyumna’s story is part of Ṛṣabha’s teaching to Sumitra. Bhīṣma tells this teaching to Yudhiṣṭhira. In this nested telling the Ṛṣabha Gītā speaks of more than one form of āśā. One is Sumitra’s hope for his lost kingdom. Another is Vīradyumna’s hope for his lost son.
Sources
- Mahābhārata, Śānti Parva, Rājadharmānuśāsana Parva, Chapters 125–128 (the Ṛṣabha Gītā)