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{{short description|Father of Rukmini}}
{{short description|Father of Rukmini in Hinduism}}
{{Use Indian English|date=April 2017}}
{{Use Indian English|date=April 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2017}}
{{unreferenced|date=September 2012}}
{{Infobox deity
[[File:Krishna as guest meet king of Vidarbha ( father of Rukmini ).jpg |thumb|Krishna meet Bhishmaka]]
| type = Hindu
In [[Hinduism]], '''Bhishmaka ([[IAST]]:Bhīshmaka, [[Devanagari]]:भीष्मक)''' (or '''Bhishmak''') was the king of [[Vidarbha]]. He was the father of [[Rukmi]] and [[Rukmini]], who married the Hindu deity [[Krishna]].
| image = Krishna as guest meet king of Vidarbha ( father of Rukmini ).jpg
| caption = Bhishmaka meets Krishna
| texts = [[Harivamsha]], [[Puranas]]
| children = [[Rukmi]] (son), [[Rukmini]] (daughter)
| region = [[Vidarbha]]
}}


==Previous life==
'''Bhishmaka''' ({{Langx|sa|भीष्मक|translit=Bhīshmaka}}), also called '''Hiranyaroman''',<ref>{{Cite web |last=www.wisdomlib.org |date=2020-04-01 |title=Section CLIX [Mahabharata, English] |url=https://www.wisdomlib.org/hinduism/book/the-mahabharata-mohan/d/doc375096.html |access-date=2022-08-15 |website=www.wisdomlib.org |language=en}}</ref> is the king of [[Vidarbha]] In [[Hinduism]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Dowson |first=John |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=u22JJclPaBUC&dq=bhishmaka+story&pg=PA54 |title=A Classical Dictionary of Hindu Mythology and Religion, Geography, History, and Literature |date=1879 |publisher=Trübner |pages=54 |language=en}}</ref> He is the father of [[Rukmini]], the chief wife of [[Krishna]] and an incarnation of the goddess [[Lakshmi]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bhandarkar |first=Ramkrishna Gopal |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=C5zKrCIBmBwC&dq=rukmini+chief+consort&pg=PA161 |title=Vaiṣṇavism, Ṡaivism and Minor Religious Systems |date=1987 |publisher=Asian Educational Services |isbn=978-81-206-0122-2 |pages=21 |language=en |quote="expressed a desire for as good a son as Rukmini, his chief consort, had."}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Dasa |first=Gopiparanadhana |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GcpGCgAAQBAJ&dq=rukmini+queen+of+dvaraka&pg=PT231 |title=Sri Brhad-bhagavatamrta: Volume One |date=2002-01-01 |publisher=The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust |isbn=978-91-7149-784-0 |pages=Verse 74 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Moor |first=Edward |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J_ri-gem1ssC&dq=bhishmaka+legend&pg=PA153 |title=The Hindu Panthwon |date=1998 |publisher=Laurier Books, Limited |isbn=978-81-7020-963-8 |pages=153 |language=en}}</ref>


Once there was a temple priest who was a staunch devotee of [[Shiva]]. He used to do [[Puja (Hinduism)|Pooja]] to Lord Shiva's feet (Shiva Paada Pooje) every day. After finishing his Pooja and closing the temple premises, the priest brought [[Prasada|prasadha]] (food from the temple which is first offered to the lord) for a dog which waited outside the temple. As dogs symbolise loyalty, the dog used to accompany the priest till he reached home every day and only ate food offered by this priest. The priest had great affection towards the dog as well.
==Legend==


On one new moon day ([[Amavasya]]), after some delay in finishing his temple duties, the priest shut the temple premises and walked out  to offer food for the dog. Because it was a dark night, the priest accidentally walked over the dogs face. Every dog's nature is to attack anyone who attacks it. The dog instantaneously bit the priest before it could realise that the person it bit was the priest whom the dog admired. Albeit getting bit by the dog, the priest offered the dog the prasadha. The dog, regretting its previous action, did not accept the food. The dog never ate anything after the incident and died in front of the same Shiva temple. The gods, seeing this great gesture of loyalty from the dog, awarded the post of the sun ([[Surya]]) with the name ''[[Vivasvan]]''.{{clarify|date=February 2013}} Many years later, the priest had also died in memory of the dog.{{clarify|date=February 2013}} In his next life, this [[Brahmin]] priest took birth as a king at the land of [[Vidarbha]] with the name '''Bhishmaka'''. The position he attained in this birth is attributed to all the Shiva Paada Pooje (worshipping lord Shiva's feet) that was performed by the Brahmin priest.
=== Skanda Purana ===
The [[Skanda Purana]] describes Bhishmaka to be a wealthy and powerful monarch. At the time of the birth of Rukmini, the text describes a celestial voice instructing him to marry his daughter to a four-armed one ([[Chaturbhuja|Caturbhujā]]) who had been born on earth. After eight years, he betroths his daughter to [[Shishupala]] upon the insistence of the latter's father, Damaghosha, who tells him that Caturbhujā was an epithet of his son. His daughter Rukmini was against marriage and wished to marry her childhood love Krishna and send letter to him to take her away from her marriage. Krishna and [[Balarama]] are invited to her marriage ceremony by Bhishmaka, upon which Krishna elopes with his daughter and gets marriage like she wished.<ref>{{Cite web |last=www.wisdomlib.org |date=2020-10-22 |title=The Greatness of Rukmiṇī Tīrtha [Chapter 142] |url=https://www.wisdomlib.org/hinduism/book/the-skanda-purana/d/doc425871.html |access-date=2022-12-28 |website=www.wisdomlib.org |language=en}}</ref>


=== Harivamsha ===
In the [[Harivamsa|Harivamsha]], when the king Bhishmaka's eldest son [[Rukmi]] chooses to marry his sister Rukmini off to suitors through a [[svayamvara]] ceremony, the king opposes Rukmi's decision, regarding it to be bad conduct on his part. When the king grants an audience to Krishna, he begs the god's forgiveness for this folly, upon which the latter agrees with his opinion, revealing that the bride was in fact Lakshmi, the goddess of prosperity. He assures the king that this was no sin on his part. Bhishmaka offers many exultations of Krishna before the god's departure.<ref>{{Cite web |last=www.wisdomlib.org |date=2020-11-14 |title=Conversation between Krishna and Bhishmaka [Chapter 52] |url=https://www.wisdomlib.org/hinduism/book/harivamsha-purana-dutt/d/doc485593.html |access-date=2022-08-15 |website=www.wisdomlib.org |language=en}}</ref>
[[File:Mola Ram - Shispul Arguing with Rukmini's Father, Bhishmaka, page from a Rukmini Manga - 1984.66 - Cleveland Museum of Art.tif|thumb|260x260px|Bhishmaka argues with Shishupala, Cleveland Museum of Art]]


=== Malinithan ===
A legend was implanted around [[Malinithan]] by [[Srimanta Sankardev]] in the 16th century, connecting the place to the mythological king of Bhishmaka (Lord of [[Vidarbha]]) of the epics.<ref>"Among many works of Śaṅkaradeva, the Rukmiṇiharaṇa, the poem of Rukmimi and Krishna, gained considerable popularity in the Sadiya area and influenced its regional identity construction. Rukmiṇī, in this poem, was a daughter of king Bhīṣmaka"{{harvcol|Shin|2020|p=55}}</ref> The association of the legend with the place led to a widespread renaming of the Eastern Assam and Eastern Arunachala Pradesh regions.<ref>"Considering the wide popularity of the Rukmiṇīharaṇa among the people, especially as the staged performance, it is not surprising that many toponyms of the area were derived from this Vaiṣṇava legend and the legendary places associated with Bhīṣmaka were reproduced in the local landscape. For instance, Vidarbha, the name of the country, once ruled by Bhīṣmaka according to the Epics and Purāṇas and perhaps identical with [[Berar Province|Behar]] in [[Maharashtra]], was applied to the area around Sadiya."{{harvcol|Shin|2020|p=56}}</ref>


==References==
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{reflist}}


[[Category:Mythological Indian monarchs]]
==Sources==
* {{cite journal|last1=Shin|first1=Jae-Eun|year=2020|title=Descending from demons, ascending to kshatriyas: Genealogical claims and political process in pre-modern Northeast India, The Chutiyas and the Dimasas|journal=The Indian Economic and Social History Review|volume=57|issue=1|pages=49–75|doi=10.1177/0019464619894134|s2cid=213213265}}
 
[[Category:Characters in the Bhagavata Purana]]
[[Category:Characters in the Mahabharata]]
[[Category:Kings in Indian mythology]]
[[Category:People related to Krishna]]
[[Category:Vidarbha]]
[[Category:Vidarbha]]

Latest revision as of 03:31, 6 October 2025


Bhishmaka
Bhishmaka meets Krishna
TextsHarivamsha, Puranas
RegionVidarbha
Personal information
ChildrenRukmi (son), Rukmini (daughter)

Bhishmaka (Script error: The function "langx" does not exist.), also called Hiranyaroman,[1] is the king of Vidarbha In Hinduism.[2] He is the father of Rukmini, the chief wife of Krishna and an incarnation of the goddess Lakshmi.[3][4][5]

Legend[edit | edit source]

Skanda Purana[edit | edit source]

The Skanda Purana describes Bhishmaka to be a wealthy and powerful monarch. At the time of the birth of Rukmini, the text describes a celestial voice instructing him to marry his daughter to a four-armed one (Caturbhujā) who had been born on earth. After eight years, he betroths his daughter to Shishupala upon the insistence of the latter's father, Damaghosha, who tells him that Caturbhujā was an epithet of his son. His daughter Rukmini was against marriage and wished to marry her childhood love Krishna and send letter to him to take her away from her marriage. Krishna and Balarama are invited to her marriage ceremony by Bhishmaka, upon which Krishna elopes with his daughter and gets marriage like she wished.[6]

Harivamsha[edit | edit source]

In the Harivamsha, when the king Bhishmaka's eldest son Rukmi chooses to marry his sister Rukmini off to suitors through a svayamvara ceremony, the king opposes Rukmi's decision, regarding it to be bad conduct on his part. When the king grants an audience to Krishna, he begs the god's forgiveness for this folly, upon which the latter agrees with his opinion, revealing that the bride was in fact Lakshmi, the goddess of prosperity. He assures the king that this was no sin on his part. Bhishmaka offers many exultations of Krishna before the god's departure.[7] File:Mola Ram - Shispul Arguing with Rukmini's Father, Bhishmaka, page from a Rukmini Manga - 1984.66 - Cleveland Museum of Art.tif

Malinithan[edit | edit source]

A legend was implanted around Malinithan by Srimanta Sankardev in the 16th century, connecting the place to the mythological king of Bhishmaka (Lord of Vidarbha) of the epics.[8] The association of the legend with the place led to a widespread renaming of the Eastern Assam and Eastern Arunachala Pradesh regions.[9]

References[edit | edit source]

  1. ↑ www.wisdomlib.org (1 April 2020). "Section CLIX [Mahabharata, English]". www.wisdomlib.org. Retrieved 15 August 2022.
  2. ↑ Dowson, John (1879). A Classical Dictionary of Hindu Mythology and Religion, Geography, History, and Literature. Trübner. p. 54.
  3. ↑ Bhandarkar, Ramkrishna Gopal (1987). Vaiṣṇavism, Ṡaivism and Minor Religious Systems. Asian Educational Services. p. 21. ISBN 978-81-206-0122-2. expressed a desire for as good a son as Rukmini, his chief consort, had.
  4. ↑ Dasa, Gopiparanadhana (1 January 2002). Sri Brhad-bhagavatamrta: Volume One. The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust. pp. Verse 74. ISBN 978-91-7149-784-0.
  5. ↑ Moor, Edward (1998). The Hindu Panthwon. Laurier Books, Limited. p. 153. ISBN 978-81-7020-963-8.
  6. ↑ www.wisdomlib.org (22 October 2020). "The Greatness of Rukmiṇī Tīrtha [Chapter 142]". www.wisdomlib.org. Retrieved 28 December 2022.
  7. ↑ www.wisdomlib.org (14 November 2020). "Conversation between Krishna and Bhishmaka [Chapter 52]". www.wisdomlib.org. Retrieved 15 August 2022.
  8. ↑ "Among many works of Śaṅkaradeva, the Rukmiṇiharaṇa, the poem of Rukmimi and Krishna, gained considerable popularity in the Sadiya area and influenced its regional identity construction. Rukmiṇī, in this poem, was a daughter of king Bhīṣmaka"(Shin 2020:55)
  9. ↑ "Considering the wide popularity of the Rukmiṇīharaṇa among the people, especially as the staged performance, it is not surprising that many toponyms of the area were derived from this Vaiṣṇava legend and the legendary places associated with Bhīṣmaka were reproduced in the local landscape. For instance, Vidarbha, the name of the country, once ruled by Bhīṣmaka according to the Epics and Purāṇas and perhaps identical with Behar in Maharashtra, was applied to the area around Sadiya."(Shin 2020:56)

Sources[edit | edit source]

  • Shin, Jae-Eun (2020). "Descending from demons, ascending to kshatriyas: Genealogical claims and political process in pre-modern Northeast India, The Chutiyas and the Dimasas". The Indian Economic and Social History Review. 57 (1): 49–75. doi:10.1177/0019464619894134. S2CID 213213265.
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