The Birth of Mandhata – Stories from Aranyaka Parva

When Rishi Lomasda and the Pandavas reached the Yamuna River, the rishi told them about the importance of the sacred site and how King Mandhata performed many sacrifices there. Yudhistira asked for more information, so the rishi narrated the story about the birth of Mandhata.

King Yuvanashva belonged to the Ikshvaku lineage and was the king of the world. He performed a thousand Ashwamedha yangas and many other sacrifices. He gave away immense wealth in the form of donations, gifts, stipends, etc. However, the king had no son to take over the throne when the time came. He set the guidelines for ruling and handed over the kingdom to his ministers to go into the forest. 

One day, the king was thirsty and went in search of water. He walked into Rishi Bhrigu’s ashram. 

The previous night, the rishi’s son performed a yagna for the king so that he could have a son. A large pot was filled with water and charged with mantras. The king’s wife was supposed to drink this water to conceive a child. They planned to give it to the king and his wife the next day and went to sleep. 

However, the thirsty king came across the pot of water and drank it to quench his thirst. Exhausted from walking around, he slept in the ashram to a side. 

A while later, the rishis saw the empty pot and the sleeping king. They woke him up and asked about the water. He replied he drank it. The rishi (Bhrigu’s son) said that the king made a grave mistake and explained the water was filled with his tapasya powers. Since it was the king who drank it, he would have to deliver the baby instead of his wife. They asked the king to stay back and said he would give birth to a powerful and majestic son. 

As predicted, Yuvanashva gave birth to a radiant son and lived to tell the tale. The birth of Mandhata was an interesting affair so, the gods, including Indra, arrived at the ashram to see the child and bless him. Though the king gave birth, he couldn’t feed the child. Indra said the child would suckle from him and placed his forefinger in the baby’s mouth. The newborn happily suckled milk from Indra’s finger. Thus, he was named Mandhata (translating to I will nurse him, the words said by Indra).

Drinking this milk, the child grew in size very quickly. He became a powerful king and learned in Vedas and Shastras. When he was old enough, Yuvanashva crowned his son the king. Mandhata went on to conquer all the kingdoms and became an emperor. At one time when a drought lasted for twelve years, he performed yagnas to end the drought and gave massive donations.