Bāhīka

Bāhīka · bāhīka, “the land of Bāhīka”

Bāhīka, also written Vāhīka, is a western land named in the Pratisarga Parva of the Bhavishya Purāṇa. The Parva gives it as the western limit of the land of many kings, tells that King Śālivāhana punished its wicked men, and has Bhagavān Śiva name it to King Bhojarāja.

Śālivāhana

The Pratisarga Parva of the Bhavishya Purāṇa tells that King Śālivāhana, grandson of Vikramāditya, won victory over the armies of the Śaka, Cīna and other lands. He seized the wicked men of Bāhīka, Kāmarūpa, Roma and Khura, punished them severely and took all their treasure.

Bhojarāja

The same Parva tells that King Bhoja crossed the Sindhu, had darśana of Mahādeva in the desert, bathed him and praised him. The bath was of Gaṅgā water mixed with pañcagavya, the worship was with sandal and the rest, and in his stuti the king called him Girijāpati, who dwells in the marusthala (desert), hidden from the mlecchas. Bhagavān Śiva said to him: “O Bhojarāja, you should go to the Mahākāleśvara tīrtha. This is the land named Vāhīka, but it has now been defiled by the mlecchas. In this fearful region there is no ārya-dharma at all.”

The western limit

The Parva says that between Kapilasthāna in the east, Bāhīka in the west, the Cīna country in the north and Setubandha in the south, there were sixty lakh bhūpālas and grāmapālakas of great strength.

Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Pratisarga Parva, Khaṇḍa 3, Sections 2–4

Sources

• Bhavishya Purāṇa, Pratisarga Parva, Khaṇḍa 3, Sections 2–4