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Ghritaprishtha — Son of Priyavrata and Barhishmati, King of Krauncadvipa
Ghritaprishtha · Ghritaprishtha Priyavrateya
Ghritaprishtha is the sixth 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 Krauncadvipa — the fifth of the seven great island-continents, named for the kraunca mountain or the kraunca bird associated with it. His name is a compound of ghrita, meaning clarified butter or ghee — the purified fat offered in Vedic fire sacrifices — and prishtha, meaning back or surface, yielding the meaning of he whose surface is of clarified butter or one with a ghee-bright back — a name again rich in sacrificial association. Beyond his appointment as king of Krauncadvipa, no independent narrative episode is attributed to Ghritaprishtha 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 Ghritaprishtha as sixth son of Priyavrata and Barhishmati and records his appointment as king of Krauncadvipa.
- Vishnu Purana, Book II, Chapter 1: Parallel genealogical listing.