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Jahnu

Hermit-king in Hinduism

Summary

Hermit-king in Hinduism

Field	Value
type	Hindu
name	Jahnu
parents	Ajamīḍha (father), Suhotra (Some Purāṇa), Keśinī (mother)
dynasty	Chandravamsha
children	Balākāśva, Sunandā, Ajaka
spouse	Kaveri

Jahnu () is a hermit-king in Hinduism, belonging to the Chandravamsha dynasty. The son of King Ajamīḍha, Jahnu abdicates his kingdom in favour of his son, Balākāśva, or sometimes Ajaka, and retires to perform a penance. According to the Harivamsa and Brahma Purana, he is also the husband of Kāveri.

Legend

Curse on Ganga

Jahnu's curse on the goddess Ganga is described in the Brahma Purana:

Descent of Ganga

As prophesied, Jahnu appears in the legend of Ganga and Bhagiratha. When the goddess Ganga descended upon the earth after being released from Shiva's locks, her torrential waters wreaked havoc upon Jahnu's fields and penance. Angered by this, the great sage drank up all the Ganges' waters to punish her. Seeing this, the devas prayed to the sage to release Ganga, so that she could proceed on her mission to release the souls of the ancestors of Bhagiratha. Jahnu relented, and he released the Ganges from his ear. For this, the Ganges river is also known as Jahnavi, meaning "daughter of Jahnu".

References

www.wisdomlib.org. (2018-03-17). "Kings of the Lunar Race [Chapter 8]".
(2012). "Harivaṃśapurāṇam = Harivaṁśa Purāṇa: text with English translation, notes and index". Eastern Book Linkers.
www.wisdomlib.org. (2018-03-17). "Dynasty of Yayāti [Chapter 11]".
www.wisdomlib.org. (2018-03-17). "Dynasty of Yayāti [Chapter 11]".
www.wisdomlib.org. (2019-01-28). "Story of Jahnu".
James G. Lochtefeld, Ph.D.. (2002). "The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Volume 1". The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc.
(4 May 2017). "Water and Scriptures: Ancient Roots for Sustainable Development". Springer.
Vanamali. (21 July 2008). "Shakti: Realm of the Divine Mother". Simon and Schuster.

Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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