Harishchandra

Harishchandra (Sanskrit: हरिश्चन्द्र, romanized: Hariścandra) is a legendary king of the Solar dynasty, who appears in several legends in texts such as the Aitareya Brahmana, Mahabharata, the Markandeya Purana, and the Devi Bhagavata Purana. The most famous of these stories is the one mentioned in the Markandeya Purana. According to this legend, Harishchandra gave away his kingdom, sold his family, and agreed to be a slave – all to fulfill a promise he had made to the sage Vishvamitra.

According to a legend mentioned in Aitareya Brahamana, Harishchandra had one hundred wives, but no son. On advice of the sage Narada, he prayed to the deity Varuna for a son. Varuna granted the boon, in exchange for an assurance that Harishchandra would make a sacrifice to Varuna in the future. As a result of this boon, a son named Rohita (or Rohitashva) was born to the king. After his birth, Varuna came to Harishchandra and demanded that the child be sacrificed to him. The king postponed the sacrifice multiple times citing various reasons, but finally agreed to it when Rohita became an adult. Rohita refused to be sacrificed and escaped to the forest. An angry Varuna afflicted Harishchandra with a stomach illness. Rohita intermittently visited his father, but on the advice of Indra, never agreed to the sacrifice. Later, Rohita managed to substitute himself with Sunahshepa in the human sacrifice. Sunahshepa prayed to the Rigvedic deities, and was saved from the sacrifice. Harishchandra's illness was also cured because of Sunahshepa's prayers; Sunahshepa was adopted by the sage Vishvamitra.

A similar story is narrated in the Ramayana, but the king's name is Ambarisha instead of Harishchandra.

In the Puranas, Harishchandra is the son of Trishanku. The Vishnu Purana mentions him, but does not describe his life in detail. The Markandeya Purana contains a detailed legend about his life, narrated by wise birds to the sage Jaimini. The Bhagavata Purana mentions him as the father of Sagara and grandfather of Badaka, and contains a legend about his descendants.

The Markandeya Purana legend is as follows:

King Harishchandra lived in the Treta Yuga. He was an honest, noble king. His subjects enjoyed prosperity and peace. He had a queen named Shaivya (also called Taramati) and a son named Rohitashva. Once, while on a hunting expedition, he heard the cries of a woman asking for help. Armed with a bow and arrow, he went in the direction of the sound. The sound was an illusion created by Vighnaraja, the lord of the obstacles. Vighnaraja was trying to disturb the tapasya (meditation) of the sage Vishvamitra. This disturbed Vishwamitra's tapasya, and destroyed all the knowledge that the sage had acquired during this tapasya.

When Harishchandra came to his senses, he realized that the sage was extremely angry with him, and apologized. He promised to fulfill any of the sage's desires to get rid of his guilt. Vishvamitra demanded dakshina (donation) for his rajasuya yajna. The king asked him what he wanted in payment. In response, Vishvamitra said "Give me all that you have except yourself, your wife and your child." Harishchandra agreed to the demand. He let go of all his possessions – even his clothes. As he readied to leave his palace with his family, Vishvamitra demanded another donation. Harishchandra said that he did not have any possession left, but promised to make another donation within a month.

Harishchandra started living in penury with his wife and his family. His loyal subjects followed him. When Vishvamitra saw the king with his subjects, he started cursing Harishchandra for taking along his subjects (who were a part of the kingdom donated to the sage). The king then decided to leave the kingdom with his family. To make them go away sooner, Vishvamitra started beating the queen with a stick. When the five guardians of the directions saw this, they condemned Vishvamitra. The sage cursed them to be born as human beings. These guardian deities were born as the sons of the Pandavas and Draupadi.