Kurujāṅgala

Kurujāṅgala · kuru-jāṅgala, “the open country of the Kurus”

Rajas has other meanings too: see all meanings of Rajas.

Kurujāṅgala is the country of the Kurus in which Hastināpura stands. The Bhāgavata Purāṇa names it as the land where Śuka Maharshi came to the citizens of Hastināpura, the land where Parīkshit lived and from which he set out against Kali, and a land on the roads of Śrī Kṛshṇa and of Vidura. Its men and women drank in the lotus face of Śrī Kṛshṇa as he went by.

Śuka Maharshi and Parīkshit

At the opening of the Bhāgavata, Śaunaka Maharshi asks Sūta how the citizens of Hastināpura recognised Śuka Maharshi when he reached the land of Kurujāṅgala, wandering like a madman, like a mute, like one who takes up no effort; and how his dialogue with Parīkshit, the rājarshi of the line of the Pāṇḍavas, came about, the dialogue in which he told the Bhāgavata.

Parīkshit Mahārāja, the warrior who lived in the Kurujāṅgala country, heard the troubling news that Kali had entered the land ruled by his armies, and took up his bow. In his chariot with black horses and the lion banner, with his army, he set out for digvijaya.

Source: Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 1, Chapters 4, 16

On the roads of Śrī Kṛshṇa and Vidura

When Śrī Kṛshṇa left Hastināpura for Dvārakā after the war, he passed, in this order, the countries of Kurujāṅgala, Pāñcāla and Śūrasena; Brahmāvarta and Kurukshetra on the bank of the Yamunā; the countries of Matsya, Sārasvata and Marudhanva; and past Sauvīra and Ābhīra he reached Ānarta, to their west, when the horses were a little tired.

Vidura, on his tīrtha-yātrā, passed through Saurāshṭra and the regions of Sauvīra, Matsya and Kurujāṅgala, and in time reached the bank of the Yamunā, where he met Uddhava, the devotee of Bhagavān Kṛshṇa.

When Śrī Kṛshṇa went with the maharshis to Videha to bless the brāhmaṇa Śrutadeva and King Bahulāśva, the men and women of Ānarta, Dhanva, Kurujāṅgala, Kaṅka, Matsya, Pāñcāla, Kunti, Madhu, Kekaya, Kosala, Arṇa and other lands drank in with their eyes his lotus face, with its generous smile and glances full of love.

Source: Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 1, Chapter 10; Skandha 3, Chapter 1; Skandha 10, Chapter 86

Sources

• Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 1, Chapters 4, 10, 16; Skandha 3, Chapter 1; Skandha 10, Chapter 86