Vidiśā is an ancient city and kingdom of the Madhyadeśa, the central regions of Bhāratavarsha. The Padma Mahā Purāṇa describes it as the royal seat of King Rukmāṅgada, the great example of the Ekādaśī vrata (the vow of fasting on the eleventh day of the lunar fortnight). It matches the historic city in present-day Madhya Pradesh. That city stands near the meeting of the Beṭvā and Veś rivers, about ten kilometres from the later Sāṃcī stūpa complex.

Vidiśā in the Bhūmi Khaṇḍa

Chapter 22 of the Bhūmi Khaṇḍa of the Padma Mahā Purāṇa names Rukmāṅgada as the king of Vidiśā. He was a righteous king of the Ikshvāku line. The Nārada Mahā Purāṇa describes his steady keeping of the Ekādaśī vrata as bringing moksha (liberation) to whole peoples.

In the Bhūmi Khaṇḍa’s account, Vidiśā is the kingdom from which Rukmāṅgada took up a great tapas (austerity). For this tapas to be completed, his son Dharmāṅgada gave himself up willingly and offered his own head. This was an act of pitṛ-bhakti (devotion to a father) so complete that Dharmāṅgada rose straight to Vishṇuloka.

Its place in the tradition

Vidiśā’s link with Rukmāṅgada ties it to the most important teaching on the Ekādaśī vrata in the Purāṇas. The Bhūmi Khaṇḍa names Rukmāṅgada as its king, and so sets the great Ekādaśī-dharma narrative in the Madhyadeśa, which is the heartland of Vedic civilisation. In Purāṇic geography, Vidiśā was a significant royal centre of this region, and the mention of Rukmāṅgada places it within the sphere of rule of the Ikshvāku line.

The Nārada Mahā Purāṇa sets Rukmāṅgada’s kingdom at Śrāvastī, a city in the north.

Sources

Padma Mahā Purāṇa, Bhūmi Khaṇḍa, Chapter 22
Nārada Mahā Purāṇa, Uttarārdha, Chapters 3–34