King Māndhātā

People in Shastras

King Yuvanāsva of the Ikshvāku dynasty was childless. He commenced a yagna of Indra to obtain a child. One night, he became thirsty and mistakenly drank the consecrated water of the yagna. He became pregnant from drinking the water. Later in the pregnancy, the child was delivered by excision of his abdomen. The question of who would breastfeed the child arose. At this moment, Indra appeared and put his finger in the child’s mouth, which satisfied the child. Hence, the child was called Māndhātā. He had three sons and 50 daughters. The 50 daughters married Saubhari Rishi. He was a chakravarti king. When his kingdom suffered from 12 years of drought, he used the merits of his penance and made it rain. He had performed 100 Ashwamedh yagnas and 100 Rājasuya yagnas.