About
Sushanti — King of the Nila-Panchala Line, Son of Shanti, Father of Purujanu
Sushanti · Suśānti · Sushanti son of Shanti
Sushanti is a king of the Paurava-Panchala lineage, son of Shanti who was son of Nila who was son of Ajamidha, and the father of Purujanu. He is attested in the Vishnu Purana (Book IV, chapter 19, verse 57) and the Bhagavata Purana (Canto IX, chapter 21, verse 31), which are the two primary sources confirming his position in the Nila sub-line. The Wisdomlib entry records his Vishnu Purana reference as IV.19.57 alongside the Bhagavata Purana citation. The Vayu Purana also records him in its genealogical lists. No independent narrative, episode, or theological elaboration is attested for Sushanti in any consulted source. A figure named Sushanti also appears in the tradition as Indra during the third Manvantara — an entirely unrelated cosmological usage of the same name with no connection to the Panchala king treated here.
✦ The Name
The name Sushanti is a Sanskrit compound of su — good, fine, or auspicious — and shanti — peace or tranquillity — yielding the sense of excellent peace or the greatly peaceful one. The name is semantically connected to that of his father Shanti, effectively an intensified or qualified form of the same root concept, a naming pattern found elsewhere in royal Paurava lineages where father and son bear etymologically linked names.
✦ Lineage
- Father: Shanti — son of Nila son of Ajamidha; first generation of the Nila sub-line after Nila himself
- Son: Purujanu — next king in the sequence; the Bhagavata Purana gives the variant name Puruja for the same figure; the Vayu Purana gives Purujati
✦ References
Primary Sources
- Vishnu Purana, Book IV, chapter 19, verse 57 — Names Sushanti as son of Shanti and father of Purujanu.
- Bhagavata Purana, Canto IX, chapter 21, verse 31 — Names Sushanti as son of Shanti and father of Puruja (variant for Purujanu) in the Nila sub-line sequence.
- Vayu Purana, 99.168 — Records Sushanti in the Nila sub-line genealogical list.
Secondary Sources
- Wisdomlib.org, "Sushanti" definition entry — Confirms son of Shanti and father of Puruja; cites both Bhagavata Purana IX.21.31 and Vishnu Purana IV.19.57; notes the Indra-of-the-third-Manvantara usage as a distinct figure of the same name.