Agrasena
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Maharaja Agrasena (also Agrasen) (Devanagari: अग्रसेन) was a legendary Indian king of Agroha, a city of traders, from whom the Agrawal clan traces its origin. He is credited with the establishment of a kingdom of traders in North India, and is known for his compassion in refusing to slaugher animals in yajnas.
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[edit] Early life
Various legends about Agroha and Agrasena are found among the Agrawals. Noted Hindi author Bharatendu Harishchandra (himself an Agrawal[1]) wrote Agarwalon ki Utpatti (The origin of Agrawals) in 1871[2], based on an account in the Mahalaksmi Vrat Katha manuscript.[3]. According to this account, Maharaja Agrasena was a Suryavanshi Kshatriya leader, born during the last stages of Dwapar Yuga. He was the eldest son of the King Ballabh of Pratapnagar. Agrasena fathered 18 children, from which the Agrawal gotras came into being.
Agrasena attended the swayamvara of Madhavi, the daughter of the King Nagaraj. Indra, the Hindu deity of weather, also wanted to marry Madhavi, but she selected Agrasena as her husband. A jealous Indra decided to take revenge by making sure that Pratapnagar did not receive any rainfall. As a result, a famine struck the Pratapnagar kingdom. Agrasena then waged war against Indra. Indra approached Narada, who mediated peace between Agrasena and Indra.
According to Vachanakosha of Bulakhichand (1680AD), Agar Rishi married a naga-kanya and had 18 children [4]. A similar account is given in 1885 Bombay Presidency Gazetteer, Rishi Agrasena married 17 naga-kanyas.[5].
[edit] Penance
Later, Agrasena started a severe tapasya (penance) to propitiate Lord Shiva in the city of Kashi. Shiva was pleased with the penance and advised him to propitiate Goddess Mahalakshmi. Agrasena again started meditating on Mahalakshmi, who appeared before him and blessed him. She urged Agrasena (who was a Kshatriya) to take up the Vaishya tradition of business for the sake of the prosperity of his people. She asked him to establish a new kingdom, and promised that she would bless his descendants with prosperity and wealth.
[edit] Agroha
Agrasena then traveled all over India with his queen to select a place for a new kingdom. At one point during his travels, he found a few tiger cubs and wolfs cubs playing together. To King Agrasena and Queen Madhavi, this was an auspicious indication that the area was veerabhoomi (land of the brave) and they decided to found their new kingdom at that location. The place was named Agroha. Agroha is situated near present day Hisar in Haryana. Presently Agroha is developing as agrawal's holy station, Big Temple of Agrasen Maharaj, Laxmiji & Vaishnav Devi.
Under the leadership of Agrasena, Agroha became very prosperous. Legend has it that a hundred thousand traders lived in the city at its heyday. An immigrant wishing to settle in the city would be given a rupee and a brick by each of the inhabitants of the city. Thus, he would have a hundred thousand bricks to build a house for himself, and a hundred thousand rupees to start a new business. This is a unique example of socialism.
[edit] Agrawal gotras
Agrasena divided his kingdom among his 18 children, resulting in eighteen Agrawal gotras. Often, the number of gotras is stated to be seventeen. Some sources attributed the half gotra to the illegitimate offspring[6]. Another version suggests that Agrasena proceeded to conduct 18 mahayajnas ("Great yajnas"). During one such yajna, Agrasena noticed that a horse that had been brought to be sacrificed was trying hard to get away from the sacrificial altar. Seeing this Maharaj Agrasena was filled with compassion for the animal. The idea of ahimsa (non-violence) grabbed his mind. Therefore, he put a brake to his eighteenth yajna, announcing that no sacrifices will be made in his kingdom in name of yajnas. Thus, the eighteenth yajna wasn't completed and Agrasena had performed seventeen and a half yajnas. The gods appeared before him and blessed him with seventeen and a half gotras.[7]
In the later part of his life, Agrasena nominated his eldest son Vibhu to the throne and took up the Vanaprastha ashram. According to the legend, Agroha was a prosperous city and a hundred thousand traders lived in the city during its heydays. An insolvent community man as well as an immigrant wishing to settle in the city would be given a rupee and a brick by each inhabitant of the city. Thus, he would have a hundred thousand bricks to build a house for himself, and a hundred thousand rupees to start a new business. Gradually, the city of Agroha declined and was finally destroyed in a huge fire. The residents of Agroha i.e. the Agrawals moved out of Agroha and spread in other parts of India.
[edit] References
- ^ Bhartendu Harish Chandra (1850-1885). Retrieved on 2007-04-19.
- ^ Bharatendu Harishchandra, Agrawalon ki Utpatti, 1871, reprinted in Hemant Sarma, Bharatendu Samgrah, Varanasi, Hindi Pracharak Samsthan, 1989.
- ^ The text from the manuscript is given in Satyaketu Vidyalankar, Agrwal Jati Ka Prachin Itihas, Masuri, Shri Sarasvati Sada, 1976
- ^ Kavivar Bulakhichand, Kasturchand Kasliwal, Jaipur, 1983
- ^ Bombay Presidency Gazetteer, 1885, page 262-263
- ^ Singh, Kumar Suresh; B. V. Bhanu (2004). People of India. Popular Prakashan, 46. ISBN 8179911004. Retrieved on 2007-04-19.
- ^ Agrawals. Shri Agrawal Samaj. Retrieved on 2007-04-19.
