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Hiranyareta — Son of Priyavrata and Barhishmati, King of Kushadvipa
Hiranyareta · Rukmasukra (variant name) · Hiranyareta Priyavrateya
Hiranyareta is the fifth of the ten sons of Priyavrata and Barhishmati, named in the Bhagavata Purana, Canto 5. He was appointed by his father as the ruler of Kushadvipa — the fourth of the seven great island-continents, named for the kusha grass that grows abundantly there. The name Hiranyareta is a compound of hiranya, meaning gold or golden, and reta, meaning seed or semen, yielding the meaning of one of golden seed — a name carrying the connotation of divine solar generativity. A variant name Rukmasukra — meaning the brilliantly white or the resplendent one — appears in certain Puranic recensions for the same figure. Beyond his appointment as king of Kushadvipa, no independent narrative episode is attributed to Hiranyareta in the primary sources consulted.
✦ Lineage
- Father: Priyavrata — eldest son of Svayambhuva Manu.
- Mother: Barhishmati — daughter of Vishvakarma Prajapati.
✦ References
- Bhagavata Purana, Canto 5, Chapter 1: Names Hiranyareta as fifth son of Priyavrata and Barhishmati and records his appointment as king of Kushadvipa; uses the name Hiranyareta.
- Devi Bhagavata Purana and Puranic Encyclopaedia: Use the variant name Rukmasukra for this same figure in some recensions.
- Vishnu Purana, Book II, Chapter 1: Parallel genealogical listing.