Asamanjasa (), also rendered Asamanja, is the eldest son of King

Sagara Sagara may refer to: People * Sagara (ethnic group), a people of Tanzania * Sagara (Vedic king), Ikshvaku dynasty * Sagara clan, a clan of 16th century Japan * Sekihotai (Sagara Souzou), a leader of the Sekihotai military unit during the Boshin ...

and one of his two queens, Keshini, in

Hindu literature Hindu texts are manuscripts and voluminous historical literature which are related to any of the diverse traditions within Hinduism. A few of these texts are shared across these traditions and they are broadly considered Hindu scriptures. These ...

Legend

Ramayana

The birth of Asamanjasa is described in the

Ramayana The ''Rāmāyana'' (; sa, रामायणम्, ) is a Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epic composed over a period of nearly a millennium, with scholars' estimates for the earliest stage of the text ranging from the 8th ...

. King Sagara of the

Suryavamsha The Solar dynasty (IAST: Suryavaṃśa or Ravivaṃśa in Sanskrit) or the Ikshvaku dynasty was founded by the legendary king Ikshvaku.Geography of Rigvedic India, M.L. Bhargava, Lucknow 1964, pp. 15-18, 46-49, 92-98, 100-/1, 136 The dynasty is ...

dynasty married Keshini and Sumati, but still lacked heirs for several years. Thus, accompanied by his two queens, he set forth towards the mountain Bhṛguprasravaṇa in the

Himalayas The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 10 ...

, and performed a long

tapas A tapa () is an appetizer or snack in Spanish cuisine. Tapas can be combined to make a full meal, and can be cold (such as mixed olives and cheese) or hot (such as ''chopitos'', which are battered, fried baby squid, or patatas bravas). In so ...

. Pleased, the sage Bhrigu offered the king a boon: One of his queens would give birth to one son, but one who would further the dynasty's line, and his other queen would produce 60,000 sons. After a few years, Keshini gave birth to Asamanjasa, and Sumati gave birth to the 60,000 sons. According the text, the prince was a wild and wicked young man. He used to throw young boys playing in

Sarayu The Sarayu is a river that originates at a ridge south of Nanda Kot mountain in Bageshwar district in Uttarakhand, India. It flows through Kapkot, Bageshwar, and Seraghat towns before discharging into the Sharda River at Pancheshwar at the I ...

river into great depths, and see them drown. Thus, his father

exiled him. But his son

Amshuman Anshuman () is a king of the Suryavamsha dynasty in Hinduism. The son of Asamanjasa, Anshuman becomes the king of Ayodhya after the death of his grandfather, King Sagara. Anshuman's grandson, Bhagiratha, brings the flow of the Ganges down f ...

, from his wife Ambujakshi, was a favourite of the people, and succeeded Sagara as the next king of

Ayodhya Ayodhya (; ) is a city situated on the banks of holy river Saryu in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Ayodhya, also known as Saketa, is an ancient city of India, the birthplace of Rama and setting of the great epic Ramayana. Ayodhya wa ...

Vishnu Purana

According to the

Vishnu Purana The Vishnu Purana ( IAST:, sa, विष्णुपुराण) is one of the eighteen Mahapuranas, a genre of ancient and medieval texts of Hinduism. It is an important Pancharatra text in the Vaishnavism literature corpus. The manusc ...

, King Sagara performed the ashvamedha

yajna Yajna ( sa, यज्ञ, yajña, translit-std=IAST, sacrifice, devotion, worship, offering) refers in Hinduism to any ritual done in front of a sacred fire, often with mantras.SG Nigal (1986), Axiological Approach to the Vedas, Northern Book ...

to establish his suzerainty of the earth. Indra, the king of the

devas Devas may refer to: * Devas Club, a club in south London * Anthony Devas (1911–1958), British portrait painter * Charles Stanton Devas (1848–1906), political economist * Jocelyn Devas (died 1886), founder of the Devas Club * Devas (band), ...

, grew fearful over the results of the yajna, and so he decided to steal the sacrificial horse near a mountain. He left the horse at

Patala In Indian religions, Patala (Sanskrit: पाताल, IAST: pātāla, lit. ''that which is below the feet''), denotes the subterranean realms of the universe – which are located under the earthly dimension. Patala is often translated as un ...

near the sage Kapila, who was engaged in a deep meditation. King Sagara’s 60,000 sons, and his son Asamanjasa, collectively known as the ''Sagarputras'' (Sons of Sagara) were commanded to find the horse. When the 60,000 sons circled the

Ashtadiggajas Ashtadiggajas is the collective title given to the eight Telugu scholars and poets in the court of Emperor Krishnadevaraya who ruled the Vijayanagara Empire from 1509 until his death in 1529. During his reign, Telugu literature and culture re ...

and found the horse grazing near the sage, they made a great hubbub. When the furious sage opened his eyes to glare at them, they were immediately burned to ashes. Sagara would be succeeded by Asamanjasa's son, Amshuman.

Harivamsa

According to the Harivamsa, he was afterwards famous for his valour, under the name of Panchajana.

References

* {{HinduMythology Characters in Hindu mythology Solar dynasty