Sudhanvan
Sudhanvan ( Sanskrit सुधन्वन् sudhanvan "bearer of the excellent bow") is the son of Saptarishi Angiras and father of the three Ribhus , Ribhu, Vaja and Vibhvan in Indian mythology .
myth
In the Mahabharata a dispute between Sudhanvan and Virochana from the demonic rulers of the Daityas is reported, at the center of which is Prahlada , the father Virochana. It is about the primacy of Brahmins over Asuras and above all about truthfulness. Virochana wooed the beautiful Keshini and one day visited her. Sitting with him in a pavilion, Keshini asked him if it was possible for Sudhanvan to sit on the same bench as him. Virochana answered this challenging question and replied that he saw no reason why Sudhanvan should not sit on a bench next to him, since the Daityas were descended directly from Brahma : “We, O Keshini, are the best and highest of all creatures and without Doubt, the world belongs to us. ”To which Keshini replied that Sudhanvan would appear here tomorrow and then we'll see.
When Sudhanvan appeared the other day, as a Brahmin, he naturally refused to sit on the same level or bench with Virochana, whereupon the latter vigorously reviled him. Sudhanvan replied that only two Brahmins of the same age and knowledge, two Kshatriya , two Vaishya or two Shudra can sit on a bench at the same height, no one else. Virochana then challenged him to bet on that question. The price should be gold, cattle, horses, whatever. Sudhanvan refused such a price; rather, everyone should bet his life. But who should be the judge? Sudhanvan rejected both gods and humans as judges and suggested that Virochana's father, Prahladi known for his love of truth, be the judge. Virochana was satisfied with it and both went to Prahladi. He, conjured up by Sudhanvan in a vivid speech and referred to the terrible karmic consequences of any lie, must admit that, like Angiras, the father of Sudhanvan, is superior to him, so Sudhanvan is superior to Virochana. So the question is decided and Virochana has gambled his life away, but Sudhanvan does not insist on collecting this debt and is content with humiliating Virochana: he has to wash his feet in front of Keshini's eyes, then his life will be given.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Sudhanvan . In: Monier Monier-Williams : Sanskrit-English Dictionary . Clarendon Press, Oxford 1899, p. 1225, col. 2 .
- ↑ Rigveda I, 110
- ↑ Mahabharata V, 35.1686ff and II, 66.2890ff
