Vaṅga

Vaṅga · vaṅga, “the kingdom named after Vaṅga, son of Bali”

Vaṅga is a kingdom in the east of Bhārata. The Bhāgavata Purāṇa tells that it was founded by Vaṅga, one of the six sons born in the wife of King Bali of the line of Anu from the maharshi Dīrghatamas, and that it bears his name. His brothers Aṅga, Kaliṅga, Suhma, Puṇḍra and Andhra each founded a kingdom of his own name in the same eastern direction.

The six eastern kingdoms

Śuka tells Parīkshit the line of Anu, son of Yayāti. Titikshu, son of Mahāmanas, had a son Ruśadratha; Ruśadratha’s son was Hema, Hema’s son Sutapas, and Sutapas’s son was Bali, a king of the line of Anu. In the wife of Bali Mahārāja, from the maharshi Dīrghatamas, son of Utathya, six sons were born: Aṅga, Vaṅga, Kaliṅga, Suhma, Puṇḍra and Andhra. They established six kingdoms in the eastern direction, each by his own name. So Vaṅga is the kingdom of Vaṅga, and its neighbours are the kingdoms of his brothers.

Source: Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 9, Chapter 23

Per Bhavishya Purāṇa

The Pratisarga Parva of the Bhavishya Purāṇa names Vaṅga in three places, and glosses it in brackets as Baṅgāla.

  • King Vindhyavarmā. In the line of Bhojavarmā and Gavavarmā, King Vindhyavarmā handed the kingdom to his younger brother and went to Vaṅga. After him the text names his son Sukhasena and those who followed.
  • The word of Bhagavān Sūrya. In the month of Caitra Bhagavān Sūrya gave the devas darśana of his form and said: “Taking birth in Vaṅgadeśa from my own aṃśa, I shall accomplish the devas’ work.”
  • Bilvagrāma. Pleased with the ārādhanā of Indra and the devas, Bhagavān Sūrya said that he would be born in Bilvagrāma in Vaṅga-deśa as the maker of the Nirukta and be renowned as Jayadeva, the crest-jewel of poets. Then he came to Vaṅga-deśa and was born as a son in the house of the brāhmaṇa Kanduki.

The Pratisarga Parva also uses the names Baṅga and Baṅgāla. It lists Baṅga as the fifteenth of the eighteen kingdoms or provinces of Bhāratavarsha. And it tells that when Kṛshṇacaitanya was five years old, the mahātmā Īśvarapurī had great influence in the Baṅgāla region.

Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Pratisarga Parva, Khaṇḍa 3, Section 2; Khaṇḍa 4, Chapters 4, 7, 9, 19

Sources

  • Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 9, Chapter 23
  • Bhavishya Purāṇa, Pratisarga Parva, Khaṇḍa 3, Section 2; Khaṇḍa 4, Chapters 4, 7, 9, 19