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Dhumraketu — Son of Trinabindu, Prince of Vaishali's Founding Line
Dhumraketu · Dhumraksha · Dhumra-ketu · Dhumra-aksha
Dhumraketu is a son of Trinabindu — a king of the solar race of the Nedishtha branch descended from Vaivasvata Manu through the line of the emperor Marutta — and his wife Alambusa, a celebrated Apsara of the heavenly realms. He is the brother of Visala, the founder of the ancient city of Vaishali, and of Sunyabandhu, and the brother of Trinabindu's daughter whose name varies between sources as Manini and Ilavila. A minor textual inconsistency affects even his name: the Bhagavata Purana gives it as Dhumraketu, while other sources render it as Dhumraksha. The two names are distinct in their second element — ketu means "banner," "sign," or "comet," while aksha means "eye" — giving respectively "he of the smoky banner" or "he of smoke-coloured eyes," both consistent with the same first element dhumra, meaning "smoke-coloured" or "grey." Whether the two represent different manuscript traditions of the same name or genuinely different names assigned to the same figure cannot be determined from the available evidence. Beyond his name and his position as a son of Trinabindu, no individual narrative, episode, or personal attribute is recorded for him in any primary source currently available, and no descendants are attributed to him in the surviving texts. His profile is accordingly confined to this statement of the available evidence.
✦ References
- Primary Sources
- Bhagavata Purana, Skanda IX, Chapter 2, verse 33: Names Dhumraketu as one of Trinabindu's three sons alongside Visala and Sunyabandhu.
- Vishnu Purana, Book IV, Chapter I: Records the same son under the name Dhumraksha within the parallel list of Trinabindu's sons, giving rise to the name variant noted above.
- Secondary Sources
- Mani, Vettam. Puranic Encyclopaedia. Motilal Banarsidass, 1975: Notes Dhumraketu or Dhumraksha as a son of Trinabindu without elaborating beyond the dynastic list.