AGASTYAH KAMBUKAUNDINYAU
RAJENDRASCOLAVAMSAJAH ASOKAH PUSYAMITRASCA
KHARAVELAH SUNITIMAN
(1) The sage Agastya, (2) Kambu Swayambhuva, (3) Kaundinya, (4)
Rajendra of the Chola dynasty, (5) Ashoka, (6) Pushyamitra of
the Shunga dynasty, and (7) Kharavela, known for his good policy.
Agastya
A Vedic sage whose mention is found in the Rgveda more than once. His
achievement is indicated by important three of his actions: slaying of the Vatapi demon,
checking the unrestrained rise of mountain Vindhyachal and swallowing
the sea. Crossing Vindhyachal he went to southern India to extend the Aryan
civilization there. In the area known as greater India he accomplished the important
task of spreading Bharatiya ( Indian ) culture and civilization.
In the islands of South East Asia the idol of Agastya is worshipped even these
days.
Kambu
The country that is known as Cambodia today was known earlier as Kambuja on
the name of the great man Kambu. Kambu had initially been an Indian
king who led a campaign, an expedition of victory of direction ( digvijaya )
in the East and entered an area having jungles that was being ruled by a Naga-worshipper
( Snake-worshipper ) king. Defeating him he married his daughter and developed that area.
The beginning of the Kambuja empire can be traced to emperor Shrutavarma of Kaliyuga's
32nd century ( i.e. the 1st century A.D. ). Shrutavarma and his descendant kings
carried aloft the flag of Sanatan ( Hindu ) Dharma and culture in the Kambuja empire.
Later, from Kaliyuga's 38th to 46th ( i.e. 7th to 15th A.D. ) centuries the kings
of Shailendra dynasty ruled over Kambuja.
Kaundinya
A brave man from southern India, who in the 32nd century of Kaliyuga ( i.e. 1st
century A.D.) established a great empire known ( in the Chinense language ) as Funan empire
which included in it the eastern countries such as Cambodia, Anama, Syama,
Malaya and Indochina, by going to the eastern India from southern India
using the sea-voyage way.
In Kaliyuga's 35th century ( 4th century A.D. ) another brave man, called Kaundinya again,
went to Funan from southern India who did unforgettable work for the resuscitation
of Indian culture and Dharma. In the dynasty ( Somavamsa ) of the first Kaundinya,
founder of Funan Empire, there were great kings with the names Chandra Varma, Jaya
Varma, Rudra Varma etc. From among them one emperor Kaundinya Jaya Varma sent
a Bhikshu ( Monk ) Shakya Nagsen to China for the propagation of Dharma in
Kaliyuga's 46th century (i.e. the 5th century A.D.).
Rajendra Chola
The well known king Rajendra of the Chola dynasty of southern India who in
the 42nd century of Kaliyuga (i.e. 11th century A.D.), extended the boundaries of
his kingdom beyond the sea and through his heroic valliance ( bravery ) gained victory
over the islands of South-East Asia ( Malaya, Java and Sumatra ) and
propagated in them Indian culture ( Bharatiya Sanskriti ). Earlier too in those
islands there was the rule of the kings of Shailendra dynasty who too had come from
Bharat ( India ), but the same was replaced by the rule of King Rajendra Chola because
the former had slackened. Rajendra had been the son of the brave king Rajaraja.
He extended the empire of his father to farther limits. During his successful rule of
about 30 years Rajendra Chola had encouraged the
spread of Dharma, literature and art in it. He got many grand temples constructed.
Asoka
Ashoka was the grand son of emperor Chandragupta Maurya whose period of rule
is calculated to be the 3rd century B.C. (i.e. the Kaliyuga's
28th century ) by the Western scholars but the same according to the Indian
tradition is considered to be Kaliyuga's 17th century i.e. the 14th century B.C. In
accordance with the same ( the latter calculation ) the coronation of Ashoka took
place in the Kaliyuga's year 1630 (i.e. the year 1472 B.C.). In the beginning of
his rule Ashoka adopted the policy of the forcible extension of his empire. Though
his rule was already spread over almost all of India and the borders of his kingdom
extended beyond mount Hindu-kush and touched Iran in the North-West, but in order
to annex to it the remaining east Indian part he fought a bloody war with the Kalinga-kingdomin
which he did gain victory but he had a real change of heart having seen frightful
massacre' of men. He left the course of victory through killing ( himsa ) and
sought victory of Dharma ( Dharma-Vijaya ) through nonviolence. He got
himself initiated into Buddhism and put all his resources for the achievement of
well-being of the people. To this end he got statements inspiring to follow Dharma,
written on the mountain rocks, stone pillars ( put up or erected on prominent places on
the road-sides and places where people would see them ) and within the caves frequented by
the people. He organised a union of the propagators of Dharma and sent them to
foreign lands for the propagation of Dharma. He even sent his son, Mahendra,
and daughter, Sanghamitra, to Sri Lanka for the purpose.
Pusyamitra
Pushyamitra, the progenitor of the Shung dynasty that ruled over the Magadha
empire after the Maurya dynasty, took over the throne in Kaliyuga's
1884th year ( i.e. B.C. 1218 ) after killing the last Mauryan ruler, Brihadratha,
under whom he was the army chief. He did so on being disgusted with his ruler's policy of
the so-called non-violence that stood in the way of his leading a campaign against the
alien invaders who had occupied a big chunk of North-Western India. He after
that fought against the invaders and pushed them beyond the natural north-western boundary
of the country and performed Asvamedha Yajna on the bank of River Indus ( Sindhu
). He also performed a grand Ashvamedha Yajna in Pataliputra ( Patna ),
the capital city. We find a mention of these Yajnas in a rock-edict of Ayodhya.
Thus he re-established the Vaidika-Dharma in India. We find an account of his son, Agnimitra's
life in Kalidas's drama Malavikagnimitram.
Kharavela
The glorious king of the Cheta or Chedi dynasty of Utkal Pradesh ( Orissa
) who after being victorious over some contemporary enemy kings, had just picked up a
fight with no less than the emperor Pushyamitra Shung of Magadha that he
came to know of and recognised the national calamity of the attack of the Greek
king Demitrese on central India; he at once made peace-pact with Pushyamitra to
defeat Demitrese. After defeating King Satavahana and also the alien invaders in
northern India, he organised in his state a great Jain-conference and gained the
degrees of Khemaraja ( the king who protects ) and Dharmaraja ( the king
upholding the Dharma, the dutiful king ) as given to him by the Jain saints.
The rock edicts of the Jain king Kharavela have been
found in Udayagiri and Khandagiri complexes of caves near Bhuvaneshwara
( in Orissa ). |