Parikshit
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Not to be confused with Parikshitgarh.
| Parikshit | |
|---|---|
| King of Hastinapur | |
 |
|
| Sage Śuka and King Parikshit | |
| Predecessor | Yudhisthira |
| Successor | Janamejaya |
| Wife | Queen Madravati |
| Issue | |
| Janamejaya Bhimasena Śrutasena Ugrasena |
|
| Royal House | Kuru |
| Father | Abhimanyu |
| Mother | Uttarā |
| Religion | Hinduism |
Contents
Family
Parikshit was the grandson of Arjuna and the son of Abhimanyu and his wife Uttarā.[1]His bodily existence ended due to the curse of a Brahmana, which used the Nāga king, Takshaka, the ruler of Taxila as the instrument of death.[2] Parikshit was a husband of Queen Madravati and was succeeded by his son Janamejaya.[3] According to the Mahabharata, he ruled for 24 years and died at the age of sixty.[4]
A thesis based upon Ugrasravas’ narration suggests an alternate interpretation regarding Parikshit’s lineage. In this interpretation, Parikshit fathered a firstborn son with an unnamed putrika wife. Albeit the child was Parikshit’s firstborn, he was the son of a putrika and therefore could not succeed his father on the throne as he was to be the heir of his maternal grandfather. This son’s name was Sringin; his maternal grandfather was Samika. As this would leave Pariksit without an heir, he had another son, Janamejaya, with a second wife, Madravati. Sringin and Samika are seen again in the hunting story that results in Parikshit’s demise. Their relationship served an additional motive for Sringin to murder Parikshit. [5]
Etymology
Parikshit's name came from the Sanskrit verb root परि-क्षि pari-kṣi = "around-possess" (or, less likely here, "around-destroy"). An alternate suggestion from Suryakant Tripathi 'Nirala''s translation is Pariskhit.Alternate modern, not all of them correct as regards the original Sanskrit, spellings of his name are Pariksita, Pariksit, Parikshat, Parixit and Parikshita. His name is a common Hindu name across India today.
Birth
Parikshit was the son of Uttara, the Matsya princess, and Abhimanyu. Abhimanyu was the son of Arjuna and his Vrishni queen Subhadra. He was born after the end of the Kurukshetra War.Uttarā was carrying their son in her womb when Abhimanyu was mercilessly and unfairly slain by the Kauravas. Later, Ashwatthama attempts to kill the unborn child and his mother by directing the Bhrama-Sheer Astra towards her tent off the battlefields. She is saved by Krishna, who was the maternal uncle of Abhimanyu. Ashwatthama does this to avenge the death of his father Drona by the Pandavas.
Prophecy of Life
Dhaumya Rishi predicts that Parikshit would be ever-devoted to virtue, religious principles and the truth and would be a wise monarch, exactly as Ikshvaku and Rama of Ayodhya. He would be as exemplary a warrior as Arjuna, his own grandfather, and would expand the fame of his family.
He is given the name Parikshit as he would search and test for the Supreme Lord, whom he had witnessed as an unborn child, across the world and within every human being.
King of Hastinapur
Upon the commencement of the Kali Yuga, the dark age of sin, and the departure of Krishna Avatar from the world, the five Pandava brothers retire. Young Parikshit is duly invested as king, with Kripa as his counselor. He performed three aswamedha yajnas under the guidance of Kripa.Last years
Parikshit entered the hut of a sage named Samika as he was thirsty. He found the sage in deep meditation. He bowed to him several times but as there was no response he took a dead snake and threw it around the sage's neck. Later when the sage's son, Sringin, heard of this incident he cursed the king to die of snake bite on the 7th day.
On hearing this, the king forswore the throne for his son Janamejaya and spent his last 7 days listening to the discourses of Sage Śuka dev, compiled as the Bhagavata Purana under the banyan tree of Shukratal. As prophesied, the snake king Takshaka bit Parikshit, who left his mortal remains behind and attained Moksha.
Other thesis say that Kali had entered the gold and thus creating man's desire for gold. Parikshit had gone hunting into the forest. He stops at one point and gets into the lake for a bath. He removes his crown and keeps it on the bank of river. Takshaka, a naga king sees the crown and desires to get it. He steals the crown, but he was got by Parikshit guards. Parikshit jails him. On his release Takshaka avenges Parikshit and kills him mercilessly.
On hearing this, Parikshit's son Janamejaya vows to kill Takshaka within a week. He starts the Sharpamedha Yajna, which forces each and every snake of the entire universe was forced to fall into the hawankund. But one snake got stuck around God Sun rath and because of the force of Yajna the rath was also pulled inside the hawankund which could have ended up taking the God Sun rath in hawankund and ending the regim of God Sun from this universe. This resulted in plea from all god to stop the Yajna. When Takshaka arrived then this Yajna was stopped from doing so by Astika Muni, as a result of which Takshaka lives.
Parikshit in Vedic literature
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Parikshit |
"Listen to the good praise of the King belonging to all people, who, (like) a god, is above men, (listen to the praise) of Pariksit! - ‘Pariksit has just now made us peaceful dwelling;40 darkness has just now run to its dwelling.’ The Kuru householder, preparing (grains) for milling, speaks (thus) with his wife. — ‘What shall I bring you, sour milk, the mantha [a barley/milk drink], (or)the Parisrut [liquor]?’ the wife keeps asking in the Realm of King Pariksit. — By itself, the ripe barley bends heavily (iva) over the deep track of the path. The tribe thrives auspiciously in the Realm of King Pariksit.”[6][7]Parikshit is eulogised in a hymn of the Atharvaveda (XX.127.7-10) as the Kauravya king, whose realm flowed with milk and honey and
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