240:), and turned to unrighteousness. He acted like a beast, ruthlessly hunting innocent deer. Seeing his wicked acts, he was named Vena, 'the tormentor'. Unable to disciple his child, Anga lost his peace of mind, and left his kingdom in disgust, retiring to the forest. Fearing anarchy and thieves, the sages and the people crowned Vena as the king, even though they were dissatisfied with the prince.
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341:. When he finally cornered her, she pleaded with him to spare her. She allowed him and the sages to milk her, which restored the vegetation and vitality of the earth, as well as its people. Hence, Vishnu was able to make his consort restore her prosperity to the human race, as Prithu. Due to this reason, Bhumi acquired the epithet
248:
When Vena became the king, the thieves immediately stopped their crimes and hid themselves. However, Vena proclaimed that in his kingdom, no one would perform a sacrifice, and that they would not spend a single coin on religious acts. He banned religion. The sages visited Vena's court to conciliate
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After the death of Vena, there was anarchy, since Vena had no sons and heirs. Thieves and evil men begun to plunder and steal from innocent people. Wishing to continue the line of Vena's father, Anga, they kneaded the thigh of Vena, from which a dwarfish man appeared, with black features and
164:, from his wife Ākūti. Manu and his wife Nadvalā had twelve sons. Ulkmuka, one of Manu's sons, and his wife Puṣkariṇī (who had the same name as the wife of Vyuṣṭha) had six sons. Anga, one of Ulmuka's sons, married Sunīthā, who gave birth to Vena.
195:. Sunitha started to annoy him, but Suśaṅkha resisted her attempts to distract him. Bitter that the youth was ignoring her, she struck him. Suśaṅkha was angered, but did not wish to strike a woman. Sunitha boasted of her lineage from
265:
to be foolish, for he himself was the embodiment of all the deities. He commanded that all of his subjects worship him rather than any other being. Angered by the insult that the king had made towards their
333:, had decided that she would not provide crops to humans anymore. She had taken the form of a cow and gone into hiding, making the earth empty of any vegetation. Furious, Prithu chased Bhumi through the
157:'s eldest son, Utkala, did not ascend the throne. So, Dhruva's second son, Vatsara, was made the king. Vatsara married Svarvīthi, who gave birth to Puṣpārṇa, Tigmaketu, Iṣa, Ūrja, Vasu, and Jaya.
187:
The Padma Purana states that
Sunitha, Vena's mother, was a cruel woman, who enjoyed hurting other people. Once, when she went to the forest to play with her maids, she saw a
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The people sought out Prithu, informing him that during the anarchy before his accession, the world had become so gloomy and dark that the earth-goddess, and incarnation of
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322:, after which they identified him as a form of Vishnu. He was crowned as the new king, and went on to become a powerful ruler, restoring religious rites and sacrifices.
236:). Anga fed the rice to his wife, Sunitha, who gave birth to a son. The son, from his childhood, was attached to his maternal grandfather Mrityu (a portion of
203:
You wicked girl! When you become a house-holder and join your husband you will get a son who will be a scoffer of Devas and
Brahmins and an all-round sinner.
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Puṣpārṇa married Prabhā and Doṣā. Doṣā gave birth to Pradoṣa, Niśitha and Vyuṣṭha. Vyuṣṭha married Puṣkariṇī, and gave birth to
Sarvatejas, who had a son –
199:
to him, but he was unimpressed. When
Sunitha met Suśaṅkha again, she struck him with a whip. Furious, and shivering in pain, the youth cursed her thus:
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sacrifice, the deities did not accept his oblations, for he did not have a son. On the advice of sages, Anga performed another sacrifice and venerated
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104:, he bans all worship, offerings, and sacrifices upon his accession. After denying all petitions to restore these practices, Vena is slain by
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The man is said to have accepted all the sins committed by Vena unto himself. Thereafter, the descendants of the man came to be known as the
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261:. They asked him to restore the practice of sacrificial offerings and religious ceremonies. Vena declared their devotion towards
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mentions that Sunīthā is the ugly daughter of Mṛtyu (death), and hence Vena is regarded to have been wicked from birth.
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blood-red eyes. The man bowed before the sages and asked them of his purpose. The sages told him to sit (
123:.123), Vena is a personification of a celestial being, perhaps the rainbow. The name of the hymn is also
318:, bearing a divine bow, arrows, and armour appeared. The sages observed that Prithu had the mark of the
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named Suśaṅkha. The handsome youth was engaged in a penance to propitiate the goddess of music,
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The sages then began to knead the corpse’s right hand, from which a shining man,
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with their consecrated blades of grass. He is succeeded by the legendary king
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Motilal
Bansaridas Publisher's Bhagavata Purana Book 2, Skandha IV Chapter 14
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Motilal
Bansaridas Publisher's Bhagavata Purana Book 2, Skandha IV Chapter 14
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Motilal
Bansaridas Publisher's Bhagavata Purana Book 2, Skandha IV Chapter 13
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Motilal
Bansaridas Publisher's Bhagavata Purana Book 2, Skandha IV Chapter 13
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Padma Purana
Srishti Khanda (First Canto) Chapter 8.Verse 3
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A grieving
Sunitha preserved her son's corpse by chanting
257:(salvation), and his responsibility as a ruler from the
512:"The Story of Vena: Pṛthu's Birth [Chapter 14]"
477:"The Story of Vena: Pṛthu's Birth [Chapter 14]"
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536:O'Flaherty, Wendy Doniger (1 January 1980).
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224:, once, when King Anga was performing the
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249:the king, offering him wisdom about
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542:. University of California Press.
373:"Vena, Veṇa, Veṇā: 21 definitions"
127:, as is the name of the author of
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96:'tormentor') is a king in
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589:www.wisdomlib.org (25 May 2013).
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591:"The Kings Vena and Prithu"
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32:Information
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125:Vena
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