॥ ॐ नमो भगवते वासुदेवाय ॥
Wednesday, 15 March 2023 - IX.13 - The dynasty of King Nimi who ruled over Mithila.
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Taken from Srila Prabhupada (diacritical marks retained):
This chapter describes the dynasty in which the great and learned scholar Janaka was born. This is the dynasty of Mahārāja Nimi, who is said to have been the son of Ikṣvāku.
When Mahārāja Nimi began performing great sacrifices, he appointed Vasiṣṭha to be chief priest, but Vasiṣṭha refused, for he had already agreed to be the priest in performing a yajña for Lord Indra. Vasiṣṭha, therefore, requested Mahārāja Nimi to wait until Lord Indra’s sacrifice was finished, but Mahārāja Nimi did not wait. He thought, “Life is very short, so there is no need to wait.” He, therefore, appointed another priest to perform the yajña. Vasiṣṭha was very angry at King Nimi and cursed him, saying, “May your body fall down.” Cursed in that way, Mahārāja Nimi also became very angry and retaliated by saying, “May your body also fall down.” As a result of this cursing and counter-cursing, both of them died. After this incident, Vasiṣṭha took birth again, begotten by Mitra and Varuṇa, who were agitated by Urvaśī.
The priests who were engaged in the sacrifice for King Nimi preserved Nimi’s body in fragrant chemicals. When the sacrifice was over, the priests prayed for Nimi’s life to all the demigods who had come to the arena of yajña, but Mahārāja Nimi refused to take birth again in a material body because he considered the material body obnoxious. The great sages then churned Nimi’s body, and as a result of this churning, Janaka was born.
The son of Janaka was Udāvasu, and the son of Udāvasu was Nandivardhana. The son of Nandivardhana was Suketu, and his descendants continued as follows: Devarāta, Bṛhadratha, Mahāvīrya, Sudhṛti, Dhṛṣṭaketu, Haryaśva, Maru, Pratīpaka, Kṛtaratha, Devamīḍha, Viśruta, Mahādhṛti, Kṛtirāta, Mahāromā, Svarṇaromā, Hrasvaromā and Śīradhvaja. All these sons appeared in the dynasty one after another. From Śīradhvaja, mother Sītādevī was born. Śīradhvaja’s son was Kuśadhvaja, and the son of Kuśadhvaja was Dharmadhvaja. The sons of Dharmadhvaja were Kṛtadhvaja and Mitadhvaja. The son of Kṛtadhvaja was Keśidhvaja, and the son of Mitadhvaja was Khāṇḍikya. Keśidhvaja was a self-realized soul, and his son was Bhānumān, whose descendants were as follows: Śatadyumna, Śuci, Sanadvāja, Ūrjaketu, Aja, Purujit, Ariṣṭanemi, Śrutāyu, Supārśvaka, Citraratha, Kṣemādhi, Samaratha, Satyaratha, Upaguru, Upagupta, Vasvananta, Yuyudha, Subhāṣaṇa, Śruta, Jaya, Vijaya, Ṛta, Śunaka, Vītahavya, Dhṛti, Bahulāśva, Kṛti and Mahāvaśī. All of these sons were great self-controlled personalities. This completes the list of the entire dynasty.
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The chapter concludes with this shloka. The sentiment is something we well know from the story of Srimad Valmiki Ramayana that King Janaka of Mithila, the father of Devi Sita, was a great Rajarishi who remained unmoved by all his wealth and lordship and steadfastly remained a true spiritual seeker.
एते वै मैथिला राजन्नात्मविद्याविशारदाः । योगेश्वरप्रसादेन द्वन्द्वैर्मुक्ता गृहेष्वपि ॥
T: This was the dynasty of rulers over Mithila who had descended from Nimi, also a son of Ikshwaku. They were all highly learned. They were experts in Yoga by the grace of Ishwara ( Ishwara Prasada!) Hence they went beyond the dualities of this world of sorrow and pleasure and lived as Rajarishis despite living in palaces.
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॥ ॐ नमो भगवते वासुदेवाय ॥
