Story of Vrika

There was king in the solar dynasty called Vrika who was a noble and just king. He was married to Sumati and Kumati, daughters of the king of Kosala. The queens were childless. One day the sage VIbhandak happened to come there. The king greeted the sage along with his wives.

The sage asked the king to perform a Putreshti sacrifice through which he would have a strong son.
The king performed the sacrifice and soon Sumati gave birth to twins and Kumati to a handsome boy. The twins were names Taljangha and Hayyi. Kumati's son was called Bahu.

When it was time, the king divided his kingdom among his sons and retired into the forest with his wives.

Babu was a noble and just king. He got married to a princess called Satyavati. Soon Satyavati was pregnant and the priests said she would have a great son. One day Narada came to visit Bahu.
The king welcomed the sage and gave him a seat. When asked for the reason, the sage said Be careful of who your enemies are. Do not leave your enemies alive. If you are a divine word that your enemy is unborn, kill it in the womb itself. I have heard that son of Bahu will be a great king who will perform many sacrifices and rule over many. He will also be the cause of the downfall of your clan. Kill it before it is born.

The King was not sure what to do. He met with his courtiers and wanted their advice. The court decided that the queen be given poison that will kill the unborn child.

The queen was fed the poisoned food but nothing happened. It was two years and the queen had not yet delivered.

In the meantime, the brothers Taljangha and Hayyi taking the help of Kartavirya Arjuna, defeated Bahu and took over his kingdom. Bahu and his queen left the kingdom and moved into the forest.

In the forest they spotted an ashrama. There they saw a lake which was beautiful with water birds swimming in it, The king and his wife had a bath there. They set up a hut there and began living there. The king fell sick and died there. The queen then began gathering wood to burn her husband's body.

A sage was passing by and he saw a pregnant woman gathering sticks for a pyre. He asked her not to perform that. He said the child who was in the womb would be a great king. The sage helped the queen and after burning the body he took the pregnant queen with him to his hut. There the queen gave birth to a beautiful boy child. The child was named Sagar. Sagar began growing up there. The boy learnt all the arts and got the knowledge of the Vedas.

One day, the boy asked his mother about his birth and his lineage. With tears, the queen told the boy the history of his father and how the uncles had taken over the kingdom.

Hearing this Sagar acquired an army and with that defeated all his enemies. He then became the king of Ayodhya and had sixty thousand sons. The sons got killed later due to the curse of a sage.


Ending this, Dhritarashtra said - Do not make enemies of the Pandavas. What they deserve, give them.

Duryodhana said I will not give away anything without a fight. Along with KArna and Dusshasana, Duryodhana left the court.

Story of Sagara

Hearing this, Yudhistira asked Who is this Bhagiratha? What did he do?

The sage Lomesh said - There was a king called Sagara. He was a great just king, an enemy of all evil. With his wives Shiavya and Vaidharvi, he went to pray to Shiva to have a son.  Pleased Shiva asked the king to ask for a boon.

The king asked for sixty thousand sons.

Shiva said So be it. You will have sixty thousand sons who will die together. One son will be left who will take care of your dynasty. That son would be born to Shaivya.
Saying this, Shiva vanished.

After sometime Shaivya gave birth to a beautiful boy. Vaidharvi gave birth to a lump of flesh. The king was wondering what to do with this and was about to give orders to discard the lump, when a voice said Why do you discard the seed of your dynasty. Get sixty thousands pots full of clarified butter and divide the lump equally and place the parts in the pots.
The king did as told and soon sixty thousand sons were born.

After a few years the king started the Ashwamedha (horse) sacrifice and asked the sixty thousand sons to guard the horse.

Indra fearing the power of the king stole the horse and hid it in the nether world where the sage Kapila was meditating.

The princes went back and reported to the king that the horse was missing. The king asked them why they had returned empty handed. He asked them to go in search of the horse. The princes went forth. Searching the whole earth, they then dug a hole into the nether world

Reaching the nether world they saw the sage Kapila meditating. Next to him to him was the horse. Thinking the sage was the horse thief, they insulted the sage.

The sage was disturbed. He opened his eyes. Fire came out and the sixty thousand sons of Sagara were burnt instantly.

Narada told Sagara about the incident. The king asked Anshuman, son of Asmanjas to go and get the horse. Asmanjas was the other son of the king. The king said I have forsaken your father as he was a misbehaved prince. You have all the qualities of a good person. Go and fetch the horse and let the sacrifice complete.

Yudhistira at this point wanted to know about Asmanjas. The sage said :

Asmanjas's behavior was bad since childhood. He used to push children and enjoy them being hurt. The king's subjects complained about the behavior of the prince. The king ordered the prince to be exiled.

Anshuman went where the sage Kapila was meditating. He prayed to the sage and asked for forgiveness. The sage was pleased and asked the prince what he wanted. The prince said he wanted the horse and also wanted to know how his uncles would be liberated.

The sage As per destiny, your grandson will the one who will liberate your uncles. He will please Shiva and get Ganga. For now, take the horse and complete the sacrifice.

Anshuman took the horse. The sacrifice was completed.

After some years, Sagara passed away, making Anshuman the king. Anshuman ruled the kingdom well. He had a son named Dilip. Dilip hearing about his ancestors, tried to please Shiva but was unable to. Dilip has a son called Bhagiratha.

When Bhagiratha heard about how his ancestors had burned, he gave the control the kingdom to his ministers and went to the forests to please Shiva.