About
Bahu (Bahuda/Asita) — Son of Vrika, the Defeated King, Father of Sagara, the King Who Died in Exile
Bahu · Bāhu · Bahuka · Bahuda · Asita · Kalinda · Vrika-putra · Yadavi-pati · Sagara-pita · Haihaya-vijita · Aurva-ashrita · Ikshvaku-vamsha-nripa
Bahu — also called Bahuka, Bahuda, Asita, and Kalinda in different sources — is the son of Vrika; a king of the Ikshvaku Solar Dynasty of Ayodhya; who was defeated and driven from Ayodhya by the combined forces of the Haihaya Kshatriyas (descendants of Kartavirya Arjuna's clan) and the Talajangha Kshatriyas; who fled east with his queens to the hermitage of the sage Aurva (Bhrigu's descendant — the same Aurva who had protected Yadavi from a burning pyre as noted in Aurva's profile earlier in this series); who died in exile in that forest hermitage in old age and sorrow; and whose queen Yadavi was pregnant at the time of his death — carrying the child who would become the great Solar Dynasty king Sagara, the conqueror who recaptured Ayodhya and gave his name to the ocean. Bahu is the only one of the six intermediate kings between Rohitashva and Sagara to have a personal canonical episode — his defeat, exile, and death are narrated in the Vishnu Purana (Book 4, Chapter 3), the Bhagavata Purana (Canto 9, Chapter 8), the Valmiki Ramayana (Bala Kanda, Chapter 38), and the Aroydendsouza source's Bhagavata Purana summary.
✦ The Names
The Sanskrit name Bahu — written Bāhu — means arm, the forearm, the upper arm. The name records strength — the arm being the instrument of royal power, military force, and protection. The diminutive form Bahuka means the little arm, sometimes used as a name for a person of reduced physical stature or reduced power — and indeed Bahu's reign ended in defeat and diminishment. The alternate name Asita means the dark one, the black one — from a (not) and sita (white, bright) — recording the shadow that fell on his reign. The name Kalinda appears in the Ramayana's Bala Kanda tradition as a further variant.
✦ Lineage
- Father: Vrika
- Wife: Yadavi — also written Vijaya in some Puranic passages; who was pregnant with Sagara during the exile; whose co-wife poisoned her food out of jealousy, causing the pregnancy to last seven years; who was stopped by Aurva from entering Bahu's funeral pyre; who gave birth to Sagara at Aurva's hermitage and named the child for the poison (gara) that had afflicted her womb
- Refuge: Aurva's hermitage — the same sage Aurva who was born from his mother's thigh during the Bhrigu clan massacre; who had protected this lineage in an earlier generation (the Subahu-Yadavi episode recorded in the Aurva profile); whose ashrama became the birthplace of Sagara
- Son: Sagara — the great Solar Dynasty emperor; who recaptured Ayodhya; who performed the Ashvamedha; whose sixty thousand sons dug the ocean floor; who gave the ocean its name
- Position in Solar Dynasty: Ruruka → Vrika → Bahu/Bahuda/Asita → Sagara
✦ The Defeat and Exile
The Vishnu Purana, the Bhagavata Purana, and the Valmiki Ramayana all record the same sequence. A coalition of the Haihaya Kshatriyas — descendants of the same Haihaya king Kartavirya Arjuna whose sons had killed the sage Jamadagni, triggering Parashurama's twenty-one rounds of Kshatriya extermination — and their allies the Talajangha Kshatriyas attacked Ayodhya and overwhelmed Bahu's forces. Bahu was defeated. The Solar Dynasty's capital fell. Bahu fled eastward, broken in body and spirit, taking refuge with his queens at the hermitage of the sage Aurva. He lived there in penance and sorrow, stripped of everything. Old age found him in exile. Among his wives was Yadavi — faithful, then pregnant. A co-wife, consumed by jealousy, secretly poisoned Yadavi's food. The poison entered the womb and afflicted the unborn child, extending the pregnancy to seven years. Bahu died in that forest refuge, his lineage apparently extinguished. Yadavi prepared to enter his funeral pyre. Aurva stopped her — telling her she was carrying a great king in her womb and must live. The child born was given the name Sagara — with-poison — because he had been born while his mother's womb was afflicted with poison (gara). Sagara grew up at Aurva's hermitage. Aurva taught him the Vedas, the Vedangas, the arts of warfare, and gave him the Agneyastra weapon. Sagara later used everything Aurva taught him to reconquer Ayodhya and restore the Solar Dynasty's rule.
✦ References
- Vishnu Purana (Book 4, Chapter 3) — the defeat by Haihayas and Talajanghas; the exile to Aurva's hermitage; Yadavi's poisoning; the seven-year pregnancy; Bahu's death; Aurva stopping Yadavi from sati; Sagara born and named
- Bhagavata Purana (Canto 9, Chapter 8) — the parallel account; Bahu's defeat and exile confirmed; Sagara's birth narrative
- Valmiki Ramayana (Bala Kanda, Chapter 38) — Vishvamitra narrating the Sagara story to Rama; Bahu's defeat by Haihayas and Talajanghas as the backstory
- Garuda Purana (Chapter 138) — Vahu named as son of Vrika and father of Sagara; the compressed chain confirmed
- Aroydendsouza.com — Ikshvaku Kings: The Tales of Kukshi, Bahuka, and Sagara — the most detailed modern retelling of the Bahu episode drawing from the Vishnu Purana, Brahmanda Purana, Padma Purana, and Bhagavata Purana primary sources
- Wikipedia — Solar Dynasty; TemplePurohit — Suryavansha Solar Dynasty; Booksfact.com — Lord Rama Lineage: modern summaries confirming his position and the exile narrative