About
Agnidhra — Son of Priyavrata and Barhishmati, King of Jambudvipa
Agnidhra · Agnidhra Priyavrateya
Agnidhra is the eldest of the ten sons born of Priyavrata — eldest son of Svayambhuva Manu and grandson of Brahma — and his principal wife Barhishmati, daughter of Vishvakarma Prajapati. He is named first among his brothers in the Bhagavata Purana, Canto 5, and was appointed by his father as the ruler of Jambudvipa — the most central and cosmographically significant of the seven great island-continents established when Priyavrata's chariot wheels carved the seven oceans of the Puranic earth. Jambudvipa is the island-continent at the centre of the Puranic world-map, within which the subcontinent known as Bharatavarsha — named after Agnidhra's descendant Bharata — is located. Agnidhra divided Jambudvipa into nine portions and distributed them among his nine sons, whose names are given in the Bhagavata Purana as Nabhi, Kimpurusha, Harivarsha, Ilavrita, Ramya, Hiranvat, Kuru, Bhadrasva, and Ketumala. Of these, Nabhi — who received the southernmost portion — became the father of Rishabha, himself the father of Bharata, after whom the subcontinent of Bharatavarsha is named. Through this descent, Agnidhra is the ancestor of the great lineage that gives India its Puranic name.
✦ Lineage
- Father: Priyavrata — eldest son of Svayambhuva Manu, great devotee and king whose chariot wheels created the seven oceans and established the seven dvipas.
- Mother: Barhishmati — daughter of Vishvakarma Prajapati; principal wife of Priyavrata.
- Sons: Nine — Nabhi, Kimpurusha, Harivarsha, Ilavrita, Ramya, Hiranvat, Kuru, Bhadrasva, and Ketumala; each received one of the nine regions of Jambudvipa.
✦ References
- Bhagavata Purana, Canto 5, Chapters 1–2: Names Agnidhra as first son of Priyavrata and Barhishmati, records his appointment over Jambudvipa, and narrates the division of the island among his nine sons.
- Vishnu Purana, Book II, Chapter 1: Parallel account of Agnidhra as king of Jambudvipa and father of nine sons including Nabhi.
- Vettam Mani, Puranic Encyclopaedia (1975): Consolidates the Agnidhra genealogy across Puranic sources.