Ikshvaku
Ikshvaku ( Sanskrit इक्ष्वाकु Ikṣvāku ; Pali : Okkāka m. ) Is a mythical king in Hinduism and ancestor of the sun dynasty . He is considered the first king of Ayodhya .
myth
Ikshvaku is the son of Manu Vaivasvata and thus grandson of the sun god Vivasvat . The mythical lunar dynasty descends from his sister Ida .
Ikshvaku had a hundred sons and his eldest son Vikukshi succeeded him in ruling Ayodhya. His most famous descendant is Rama , an avatar of the god Vishnu .
Nimi, another son of Ikshvaku, is the mythical founder of the Mithila royal family , which includes King Janaka . This was the father of Rama's wife Sita . When Nimi asked the Gautama (Rishi) to perform the Soma sacrifice in the absence of the sage Vasishtha , he was cursed by Vasishtha to become disembodied. Nimi also cursed the Vasishtha and they both lost their bodies. A great sacrifice resulted in Nimi entering the eyes of all beings and living there as a wink.
According to the Mahavamsha , Siddhartha Gautama , the historical Buddha , also descends from Ikshvaku (Okkaka).
literature
- Hans Wilhelm Haussig (Ed.): Gods and Myths of the Indian Subcontinent (= Dictionary of Mythology . Department 1: The ancient civilized peoples. Volume 5). Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 1984, ISBN 3-12-909850-X .
- Ikshwaku . In: John Dowson : A classical dictionary of Hindu mythology and religion, geography, history, and literature. Trübner & co., London 1879, p. 123 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
Individual evidence
- ↑ ikṣvāku . In: Monier Monier-Williams : Sanskrit-English Dictionary . Clarendon Press, Oxford 1899, p. 164, col. 1 .
