अंगम् (aMgam)

अंगम्

/

AṄGA(

M

).

The

kingdom

ruled

by

King

aṅga.

Other

details:1

)

The

Dynasty.

The

first

King

of

the

aṅga

dynasty

was

aṅga

the

son

of

bali.

Anagābhu,

draviratha,

dharmaratha,

romapāda

(

lomapāda

),

caturaṅga,

pṛthulākṣa,

bṛhadratha,

bṛhanmanas,

jayadratha,

vijaya,

dṛḍhavrata,

satyakarmā,

atiratha,

karṇa,

vṛṣasena

and

others

were

kings

of

this

dynasty.

karṇa

was

the

adopted

son

of

atiratha.

During

the

period

of

the

mahābhārata,

Kings

of

the

atiratha

family

were

under

the

sway

of

the

candra

vaṁśa

(

Lunar

dynasty

)

kings

such

as

dhṛtarāṣṭra

and

pāṇḍu.

(

For

further

informations

see

the

word

atiratha

).2

)

How

karṇa

became

the

king

of

aṅga.

A

contest

in

archery

and

the

wielding

of

other

weapons

was

going

on

in

hastināpura,

the

competitors

being

the

kauravas

and

the

pāṇḍavas.

The

status

of

karṇa,

who

appeared

on

the

side

of

the

kauravas,

was

questioned

by

the

pāṇḍavas

on

the

occasion

and

duryodhana,

who

always

stood

on

his

dignity,

anointed

karṇa

as

the

King

of

aṅga,

on

the

spot.

(

M.B.,

Ādi

Parva,

Chapter

136

).3

)

Drought

in

the

kingdom

of

aṅga.

lomapāda

(

romapāda

)

the

king

of

aṅga

once

deceived

a

hermit

Brahmin.

So

all

the

Brahmins

quitted

the

country

and

thereafter

there

was

no

rainfall

in

the

country

for

several

years.

The

sages

of

the

country

began

to

think

on

the

means

of

bringing

about

rain.

One

day

they

approached

the

King

and

told

him

that

the

only

way

to

get

rain

was

to

bring

the

great

hermit

ṛṣyaśṛṅga

to

the

country.

Once

kaśyapa

happened

to

see

urvaśī

and

he

had

seminal

flow.

The

sperm

fell

in

a

river.

A

deer

swallowed

it

along

with

the

water

it

drank.

It

gave

birth

to

a

human

child

with

horns

on

the

head.

This

child

was

called

ṛṣyaśṛṅga.

It

was

brought

up

by

a

hermit

called

vibhāṇḍaka

in

his

hut.

ṛṣyaśṛṅga

had

never

seen

women

and

by

virtue

of

this,

there

occurred

rainfall

wherever

he

went.

The

King

lomapāda

sent

some

courtesans

to

the

forest

to

attract

ṛṣyaśṛṅga,

who

following

them

arrived

at

the

court

of

lomapāda

the

King

of

aṅga

and

the

King

gave

ṛṣyaśṛṅga,

as

a

gift,

his

daughter

śāntā.

Thus

the

country

got

rain.

This

lomapāda

was

a

friend

of

daśaratha.

(

mahābhārata,

araṇya

parva,

Chapters

110

to

113

).4

)

How

the

Kingdom

got

the

name

aṅga.

One

opinion

is

that

the

Kingdom

got

its

name

from

the

King

aṅga

who

ruled

over

it.

Another

opinion

is

that

the

king

got

his

name

from

the

country

he

ruled.

However

there

is

a

story

revealing

how

the

country

came

to

be

called

aṅga.

In

the

realm

of

God,

preliminary

steps

were

being

taken

for

making

Śrī

Parameśvara

wed

pārvatī.

According

to

the

instructions

of

Devendra,

kāmadeva

(

the

Lord

of

Love--Cupid

)

was

trying

to

break

the

meditation

of

śiva

and

when

śiva

opened

his

third

eye,

fire

emitted

from

it

and

anaṅga

(

kāmadeva

)

was

burned

to

ashes.

It

was

in

the

country

of

aṅga

that

the

ashes

of

the

‘aṅga’

(

Body

)

of

kāmadeva

fell

and

from

that

day

onwards

the

country

came

to

be

called

aṅga

and

kāmadeva,

‘Anaṅga’

(

without

body

).

(

vālmīki

rāmāyaṇa,

Bālakāṇḍa,

sarga

26

).5

)

Other

informations.

(

1

)

It

is

mentioned

in

the

Hindi

Dictionary,

‘Śabda

Sāgara’

that

the

kingdom

of

aṅga

embracing

Bhagatpur

and

Muṁger

in

Bihar

had

its

capital

at

Campāpurī

and

that

the

country

had

often

stretched

from

Vaidyanāthanāma

to

Bhuvaneśvar.(

2

)

arjuna

had

visited

the

Kingdom

of

aṅga

also

during

his

pilgrimage.

(

M.B.,

Ādi

Parva,

Chapter

219,

Stanza

9

).(

3

)

The

King

of

aṅga

was

present

at

the

sacrifice

of

rājasūya

(

Royal

consecration

)

celebrated

by

dharmaputra,

when

the

pāṇḍavas

were

living

at

indraprastha.

(

M.B.,

Sabhā

Parva,

Chapter

52,

Stanza

16

).(

4

)

On

one

occasion

śrī

kṛṣṇa

defeated

the

Aṅgas

in

a

battle.

(

M.B.,

droṇa

parva,

Chapter

11,

Stanza

15

).(

5

)

paraśurāma

had

defeated

the

Aṅgas

once.

(

M.B.,

droṇa

parva,

Chapter

7,

Stanza

12

).(

6

)

In

the

battle

of

kurukṣetra

between

the

pāṇḍavas

and

the

kauravas,

on

the

sixteenth

day

of

the

battle,

the

heroes

of

aṅga

made

an

onslaught

on

arjuna.

(

M.B.,

karṇa

Parva,

Chapter

17,

Stanza

12

).(

7

)

The

Aṅgas

attacked

the

armies

of

dhṛṣṭadyumna

and

the

King

of

pāñcāla.

(

M.B.,

karṇa

Parva,

Chapter

22,

Stanza

2

).(

8

)

A

low

caste

man

from

aṅga

attacked

bhīma,

who

killed

the

man

and

his

elephant.

(

mahābhārata,

droṇa

Parva,

Chapter

26,

Stanzas

14

to

17

).