King Sagara’s Sons Dig an Ocean – Stories from Aranyaka Parva

Rishi Agastya drank the ocean water, and the gods killed the Kelakeyas. The massive empty space continued to be a sore sight but there wasn’t anything the gods could do. Brahma Deva informed the gods that they had to wait a few generations for the dried-up ocean to refill. King Sagara’s sons would play a role but it was a long wait!

A few years later, King Sagara of the Ikshvaku dynasty was on the throne. He conquered many lands and ruled a large region. However, the king had no heir. Despite having two wives, the king couldn’t have a son. The trio performed many yagnas and sacrifices but there was no result. 

They went to perform tapasya on Mount Kailasa, hoping to please Shiva and get a boon from him. As expected, their devotion pleased Shiva, who appeared to grant them a boon. When the king asked for a son, Shiva granted him sixty thousand sons to one wife and one son to another. While the sixty thousand sons would perish, the only son of another wife would give him an heir to take the throne.

Sagara’s wives, Vaidarbhi and Shaibya soon conceived. While Vaidarbhi gave birth to a gourd, Shaibya gave birth to a handsome child, Asamanja. The king asked the servants to throw away the gourd but the voice from heaven warned him not to do that. The king was ordered to extract the seeds from the vegetable and soak them in ghee-filled pots (this is similar to how Vyasa helped Gandhari give birth to a hundred Kauravas and one daughter). In due time, the king noticed that he had sixty thousand sons from the seeds. 

While King Sagara’s sons were powerful, they were also cruel. They traveled through different regions and entered the other worlds, creating trouble wherever they went. Once again, the gods went to Brahma Deva for help. He asked them to be patient as their deeds would result in their deaths.

More time passed. King Sagara planned the Ashwamedha yagna. His evil sons followed the horse around the world. However, the horse disappeared when they reached the empty ocean. When they informed him about the missing horse, the angry king told his sons not to return unless they found the sacrificial horse. 

 Not knowing what to do, the sixty thousand sons began to dig up the empty ocean. This hurt Varuna a lot as his sides were being ripped apart by shovels and spades. The creatures living there cried in anguish as the princes killed them. The princes continued to dig in the northeast direction and reached the other end. Finally, at last, they saw the sacrificial horse in Rishi Kapila’s ashram. 

Eager to grab the horse, the evil princes disrespected the rishi. Angered by their attitude, Kalipa opened his eyes to glare at them. The power from his eyes burned the sixty thousand princes and turned them into ashes. 

When King Sagara heard of this from Narada, he remembered the words of Shiva. He calmly sent his good-hearted grandson, Anshuman, and asked him to bring the horse. Asamanja, his son was as cruel as the others, which made the king exile him. However, the king kept his grandson with him. Anshuman went to Rishi Kapila’s ashram and paid his respects to the great rishi. Pleased, the rishi told him to ask for a boon. 

Anshuman asked him permission to take the horse back and also for water to purify his fathers. Rishi Kapila blessed him and said that Anshuman’s grandson would bring the scared waters down to the earth to purify the souls of King Sagara’s sons. 

Anshuman thanked the rishi and respectfully took the horse to his grandfather. The Ashwamedha yagna was complete. He ruled for a few more years and handed the kingdom to Anshuman. 

Anshuman ruled for a long time. His son, Dilipa was also a pious and dharma-following king. Dilipa performed a tapasya to bring Ganga to the earth but wasn’t successful. He handed over the responsibility to Baghiratha. 

Read here to know the story of Gangavataranam.