Chapter 2

The Vow to Varuna

A king with a hundred queens made a vow to a god in exchange for a son — and then that same son had to run to the forest, out of fear of the vow

A king without a son

Harishchandra, king of the Ikshvaku line, had a hundred queens, and not one son. This is the story the Aitareya Brahmana tells: in a hundred palaces, nowhere was there the cry of a child.

Then Narada showed him a way. Ask Varuna for a son, he said, and vow that if a son is born, you will offer that very son to Varuna.

The king did just that. And a son was born to him — Rohita.

Varuna's demand

Varuna arrived. "A son has been born," he said. "Now perform the sacrifice, and offer him to me."

The king began to put it off. An animal is fit for sacrifice only after it is ten days old, he said; let his teeth come in first. The teeth came in, so he said: let them fall out now. They fell out, so he said: let new ones come in. New ones came in, so he said: let him become a kshatriya first, and learn to bear arms.

At last Varuna's patience ran out. He struck the king with dropsy — a swelling of the belly that was the punishment for breaking a vow.

Six years in the forest

Rohita learned all of this. He was grown by now, and he refused to obey his father. He took up his bow and set out for the forest.

For six years he wandered from forest to forest. Every year, just as he thought of turning back, Indra would stand in his path, disguised as a brahmin.

"Keep moving," he would say. "The fortune of one who sits, sits. The fortune of one who stands, stands. The fortune of one who sleeps, sleeps. And the fortune of one who moves, moves too. So keep moving."

These are the lines "caraiveti, caraiveti" — still quoted today.

A hundred cows, three times over

In the sixth year Rohita met the sage Ajigarta, broken by poverty, who had three sons.

Rohita said to him: give me one of your sons, to take my place at the sacrifice. A hundred cows in return.

The father did not want to give his eldest son. The mother could not part with the youngest. So the middle son was chosen — Shunahshepa. Ajigarta took the hundred cows and handed his son over.

The sacrifice began. Vishvamitra was among the priests. But no one was willing to bind Shunahshepa to the sacrificial post. So Ajigarta said: give me another hundred cows, and I will bind him myself. He bound him.

Then no hand was raised to kill him. Ajigarta said: give me a third hundred, and I will kill him myself. Three separate payments of a hundred cows, all involving his own son.

The hymns to Ushas

Shunahshepa began to pray. He praised one god after another, and finally Ushas, the goddess of dawn.

With the verses his bonds loosened, and Harishchandra's illness eased too. With the final hymn to Ushas, Shunahshepa was completely freed, and Harishchandra was cured.

Vishvamitra took the boy as his own son and named him Devarata — given by the gods. Among Vishvamitra's own hundred sons, the elder ones, some refused to accept this new eldest brother, and they were cursed.

The Ramayana's Bala Kanda has another form of this same story. There the king is not Harishchandra but Ambarisha, and the father is not Ajigarta but Richika. These are separate traditions of the same subject, so it should not be mixed up with Harishchandra's story.

Note: This story is from the Aitareya Brahmana (7.13–18), traditionally said to be recited at the rajasuya sacrifice; the caraiveti verses of Rohita's wandering are around 7.15. Vishvamitra's name is given among the priests in the text. At the end of the text, Vishvamitra's cursed sons are named as the ancestors of certain peoples; this is a caste-origin story that names living communities, so this site has not repeated it. The Ramayana's Bala Kanda has another tradition on this same subject, in which the king is Ambarisha, the father is Richika, and the boy agrees to go of his own will — that has not been folded into Harishchandra's story here. This story includes a demand for human sacrifice, and that sacrifice is never carried out; the story ends there. The English lines are a natural retelling of the Sanskrit, not a word-for-word translation.

Source: from the Aitareya Brahmana, the Markandeya Purana and the Devi Bhagavata, The Vow to Varuna

Now — how much stayed with you?

Fact

What did Harishchandra not have, in the Aitareya Brahmana?

  • A kingdom
  • A queen
  • A son
  • A friend
Read the whole story — A hundred queens, not one son

Harishchandra, king of the Ikshvaku line, had a hundred queens.

But there was not a single child, and the line had no one to carry it forward.

This lack is what sent him to Varuna.

Who said it?

"Ask Varuna for a son, and vow that you will offer that very son to him." — who gave Harishchandra this advice?

  • Narada
  • Vasishtha
  • Vishvamitra
  • Indra
Read the whole story — Advice whose price came later

Narada told the king to take refuge with Varuna.

The condition was: if a son was born, that son had to be offered to Varuna.

The king agreed to the condition without thinking through what would happen once the son was actually born.

What happened?

When Harishchandra kept putting off the sacrifice of his son, what punishment did Varuna give him?

  • He took away his kingdom
  • He sent him to the forest
  • He took away all his queens
  • He struck him with dropsy
Read the whole story — The punishment for a broken vow

Faced with Varuna's demand, the king kept inventing excuses — let his teeth come in, let them fall, let new ones grow, let him bear arms first.

For this delay Varuna struck him with dropsy.

The illness did not fully lift until Shunahshepa's bonds were completely loosened.

Fact

For how many years did Rohita wander in the forest?

  • Three years
  • Six years
  • Twelve years
  • One year
Read the whole story — Six years of wandering

Once he learned his father's intention, Rohita took up his bow and went to the forest.

He wandered there for six years.

Every time he wanted to turn back, someone pushed him further on.

Who am I?

Every year I stood in Rohita's path, disguised as a brahmin. I never let him stop, and every time I told him — "keep moving." Who am I?

  • Indra
  • Varuna
  • Narada
  • Ajigarta
Read the whole story — A ban on stopping

Indra took the form of a brahmin and stopped Rohita from turning back.

His teaching was that the fortune of one who moves, moves too.

These are the lines "caraiveti, caraiveti".

Why is that?

Of Ajigarta's three sons, why was Shunahshepa the one chosen?

  • Because he was the eldest
  • Because he offered to go himself
  • Because he was the youngest
  • Because the father would not give up his eldest, and the mother would not give up her youngest
Read the whole story — The middle son

Ajigarta said he could not give up his eldest son.

The mother said she could not part with the youngest.

That left the "middle" son, Shunahshepa, to be chosen.

What happened?

Who was willing to bind and kill Shunahshepa at the sacrifice?

  • Rohita
  • His own father, Ajigarta
  • Vishvamitra
  • No one
Read the whole story — A hundred cows, three times over

When no one was willing to bind Shunahshepa, Ajigarta asked for another hundred cows and bound him himself.

When no one was willing to kill him, Ajigarta offered to do it himself for a third hundred.

The story states this episode plainly, without softening it.

Fact

How did Shunahshepa's bonds come loose?

  • Rohita cut them
  • Varuna untied them himself
  • He praised one god after another, and the bonds loosened with the verses
  • Indra cut them with a sword
Read the whole story — Bonds loosened by hymns

Shunahshepa praised one god after another, and finally Ushas.

With the verses, his bonds loosened.

By the final hymn to Ushas, Shunahshepa was completely free, and Harishchandra was cured too.

The texts disagree

Which king is this same kind of story tied to in the Ramayana?

  • To Harishchandra, in exactly the same way
  • To King Dasharatha
  • To King Sagara
  • To King Ambarisha, where the father is Richika
Read the whole story — One story, different traditions

The Ramayana's Bala Kanda has the Shunahshepa story, but the king there is Ambarisha.

The father is not Ajigarta but Richika, and the boy agrees to go of his own will.

So this is not part of Harishchandra's story, but a separate tradition on the same subject.

Riddle

I am the oldest story of a king. At my root is a vow that kept getting put off, a son who ran away, and another son who was sold. Which text am I found in?

  • The Aitareya Brahmana
  • The Markandeya Purana
  • The Devi Bhagavata
  • The Mahabharata
Read the whole story — The oldest Harishchandra story

This story is in the Aitareya Brahmana (7.13–18).

Its founding vow is to Varuna, not to Vishvamitra.

The story ends with Shunahshepa becoming Devarata — there is no cremation ground, and no outcaste.