About
Nara — Son of Manyu, Progenitor of the Celebrated King Rantideva
Nara · Son of Manyu · Son of Vitatha's Line · Grandfather of Rantideva
Nara is a king of the Puru branch of the Lunar dynasty, recorded in the Bhagavata Purana (Canto Nine, chapter 21), the Vishnu Purana (Book Four, chapter 19), the Matsya Purana, and the Harivamsha as one of the sons of Manyu — also known as Bhumanyu — who was himself the son of Vitatha, the name given to Bharadvaja upon his adoption into the royal line of the emperor Bharata Daushyanti. Of the five sons of Manyu, Nara is the most genealogically consequential in terms of the narrative tradition, for it is through his line that the great king Rantideva was born — one of the most celebrated figures of royal generosity and Vaishnava devotion in all of Puranic literature, praised not only in the Bhagavata Purana and Vishnu Purana but also in the Mahabharata (Shanti Parva, chapter 29) and in the tradition of the Dharmawiki. The line from Nara runs: Nara — Sankrti — Rantideva (and his brother Guru).
✦ The Name
The Sanskrit name Nara carries the primary meaning of man or human being, and is also used in compounds as a generic for the primordial male principle. In the Puranic tradition the name Nara is most famously borne by the divine sage Nara of the Nara-Narayana pair — the twin sages who performed austerities at Badrinath and who are identified in the Bhagavata Purana (1.2.4) as avatars of Vishnu — and by multiple royal and human figures across different dynasties. The Nara who is the son of Manyu belongs to the Puru royal lineage and is a distinct figure from all other bearers of this name in the Puranic corpus, related to none of them except through the shared name.
✦ Lineage
- Father: Manyu (also called Bhumanyu) — a king of the Puru line and the son of Vitatha (Bharadvaja adopted by Bharata Daushyanti).
- Siblings: Brihatkshatra, Jaya (Bhagavata Purana only), Mahavirya, and Garga — all sons of Manyu. Garga's son Shini gave rise to the Gargya line of brahmin sages.
- Son: Sankrti — confirmed across the Bhagavata Purana (9.21.1–2), Vishnu Purana (IV.19), and Matsya Purana as the son of Nara. The Vishnu Purana (Wilson translation footnote 18) gives his name as Sankriti and notes that his sons in that text are named RuciradhI and Rantideva, with Ruciradhi corresponding to the Guru named in the Bhagavata Purana. Dharmawiki confirms the lineage: Bharadvaja — Manyu — Nara — Samkriti — Rantideva.
- Grandsons through Sankrti: Guru (also called Gurudhi or Ruciradhi in variant texts) and Rantideva — both sons of Sankrti, confirmed in the Bhagavata Purana (9.21.2). Rantideva became one of the most celebrated kings in the Puranic tradition. The Bhagavata Purana (9.21.2) states that Rantideva is famous in both this world and the next, glorified not only in human society but in the society of the demigods.
✦ The Fame of Rantideva and Its Reflection on Nara's Line
Although Nara himself receives no narrative episodes in the primary sources beyond his genealogical position, his line's significance is entirely defined by his grandson Rantideva. The Bhagavata Purana (9.21.3–18) narrates at length that Rantideva never endeavoured to accumulate wealth but accepted whatever came to him by the arrangement of providence, and distributed everything to guests without reservation. The text records an episode of extreme austerity: Rantideva and his family went without food and water for forty-eight days. On the forty-ninth morning, food and water arrived. Before Rantideva could consume them, he was approached in succession by a brahmin, a low-caste man, an outcaste accompanied by dogs, and a Pulkasa — each arriving as a guest in need. Rantideva shared what he had with each in turn until nothing remained, including the last vessel of water, which he gave away despite his own acute thirst. The Bhagavata Purana records that at this moment the gods appeared before him, and that all who followed the principles of Rantideva were transformed into pure devotees of Narayana and became the best of yogis.
The Mahabharata (Shanti Parva, chapter 29) corroborates Rantideva's fame, recording that after the great war Narada narrated the stories of sixteen maharajas to Yudhishthira, and Rantideva was counted among them. The Mahabharata adds the legend that the sacrificial animals offered at Rantideva's great yajnas were so numerous that the secretions from their hides formed a mighty river still known as the Charmanvati — the modern Chambal — a detail also preserved in Kalidasa's Megha Duta. The Vishnu Purana footnote (at note 18) confirms that both Puranas agree on Rantideva as the most distinguished figure of Nara's descent.
✦ Textual Variants
The name of Sankrti's first son is given differently across the sources. The Bhagavata Purana (9.21.2) names the two sons as Guru and Rantideva. The Vishnu Purana (IV.19, footnote 18) gives Ruciradhi and Rantideva, while noting that the Matsya Purana gives Gurudhī and Rantideva and the Vayu Purana gives Guruvīrya and Trideva — the latter being a variant that departs most significantly from the other sources. All texts agree on Rantideva as the celebrated son of Sankrti.
✦ References
Primary Sources
- Bhagavata Purana, Canto Nine, Chapter 21, verses 1–18 — Names Nara as one of the five sons of Manyu (verse 1); states that Nara's son was Sankrti (verse 1); names Sankrti's two sons as Guru and Rantideva (verse 2); provides the extended narrative of Rantideva's extreme generosity and the episode of the forty-eight-day fast (verses 3–18).
- Vishnu Purana, Book Four, Chapter 19 — Lists Nara as one of the sons of Manyu; records Sankrti as Nara's son; names Ruciradhi and Rantideva as Sankrti's sons; Wilson's footnote 18 documents the variant names across the Bhagavata Purana, Matsya Purana, and Vayu Purana.
- Mahabharata, Shanti Parva, Chapter 29, verses 113, 115, 119 — Records Rantideva among the sixteen celebrated maharajas narrated by Narada to Yudhishthira after the war; notes the Charmanvati river's origin in his sacrifices.
- Matsya Purana — Lists Nara as a son of Manyu (Bhumanyu) and records Sankrti and Rantideva in his lineage; confirmed in the Wisdomlib Historical Elements in the Matsya Purana essay.
Secondary and Reference Works
- Wisdomlib.org, "Rantideva" definition — Confirms the lineage Nara — Sankrti — Rantideva citing Bhagavata Purana 9.21.2; summarises Rantideva's narrative of generosity and his recognition as a celebrated maharaja.
- Wisdomlib.org, "Nara" definition — Confirms this Nara as one of the five sons of Manyu (son of Vitatha/Bharadvaja) and his son as Sankrti, citing Bhagavata Purana 9.21.1; explicitly distinguishes this figure from the divine sage Nara of the Nara-Narayana pair.
- Wisdomlib.org, Vishnu Purana (Wilson translation), Book Four, Chapter 19 — Provides the Wilson translation and footnotes documenting variant names for Sankrti's sons across the Bhagavata Purana, Matsya Purana, Vayu Purana, and Vishnu Purana.
- Dharmawiki, "Rantideva" — Confirms the lineage Bharadvaja — Manyu — Nara — Samkriti — Rantideva, drawing on the Bhagavata Purana Skanda 9, Adhyaya 21; provides a summary of the Rantideva narrative and his recognition in the tradition of charitable kings.
- Jatland.com, "Rantideva" — Corroborates from the Puranic Encyclopaedia (Vettam Mani) that Rantideva was the son of Sankrti, son of Nara, one of the five sons of Manyu; confirms his Mahabharata references in the Shanti Parva.