Maharaja Purukutsa

Purukutsa is a king named in the Rigveda and in the Puranas. In the Puranas he is a son of Mandhatri of the Solar dynasty and the husband of Narmada. His name stands in Angirasa pravaras as "Angirasa, Purukutsa, Trasadasyava" and its variants.

The Rigveda and the Puranas describe him differently. In the Rigveda he is a king of the Purus, a conqueror of the Dasas [6.20.10], and a contemporary of Sudas [1.63.7]. He is said to win by divine favour [1.112.7, 1.174.2]. His son Trasadasyu is called Paurukutsya after him [5.33.8, 7.19.3, 8.19.36]. The Shatapatha Brahmana calls him an Aikshvaka, a descendant of Ikshvaku, which is the line the Puranas give him. The Vedic Index says it is not known whether the Rigvedic and the Puranic Purukutsa are the same man.

Hymn 4.42 records the birth of Trasadasyu to Purukutsani, Purukutsa's wife [4.42.8-9]. The usual reading is that Purukutsa had been killed or taken captive in battle and his wife secured a son to restore the family. Sayana reads the verses as his captivity. Sieg reads the word daurgahe as the name of a horse in a horse sacrifice made for the wife, but this is by no means certain. Scholars also differ on whether he was an enemy of Sudas, as Ludwig held, or only his contemporary, as Hillebrandt did.

Why a king is named in a pravara. A pravara lists the sages whose line a family invokes. Purukutsa was a king, but the manuals count some royal families among the Angirasas. The 1900 pravara manual Gotra Pravar Nibandh Kadambam gives the Vishnuvriddha pravara as Angirasa, Paurukutsa, Trasadasyava, and says the Vishnuvriddhas were Kshatriyas who became Brahmins and joined the family of Angiras. A footnote there takes Vishnuvriddha to be a descendant of Trasadasyu. On this site the Shatamarshana and Nandana gotras name Purukutsa after Angirasa.

1. King of the Purus: in the Rigveda he rules the Purus and conquers the Dasas, and wins by divine favour.
2. The birth of Trasadasyu: after he is killed or taken captive, his wife Purukutsani secures a son, Trasadasyu, to carry on the line [Rigveda 4.42.8-9].
3. Narmada and the Nagas: in the Puranas the serpent-gods have been beaten by the Gandharvas. Vishnu says he will enter Purukutsa, and the Nagas send their sister Narmada to fetch him. In the Bhagavata she takes him to Rasatala, the lower world, where, empowered by Vishnu, he kills the Gandharvas. The Nagas bless Narmada, so that those who call on her are safe from snake poison, and promise that his line will not be cut off [Vishnu Purana IV.3; Bhagavata 9.7.2-3].
4. The line to Trishanku: by Narmada he has Trasadasyu. The Vishnu Purana runs the line through Sambhuta, Anaranya, Prishadashva, Haryashva, Sumanas, Tridhanvan and Trayyaruna to Satyavrata, called Trishanku [IV.3]. The Bhagavata names Trasadasyu, Anaranya, Haryashva, Praruna and Tribandhana.

• The Narmada: the river, named in the Puranas as Purukutsa's wife.
• Rasatala: the lower world of the Nagas, where he fights the Gandharvas.