Sagara, the one who was born with poison, is a king of the Suryavanshi Ikshvaku dynasty of Ayodhya. He was the son of Bahuka (or Bathuka or Subahi) and Yadavi. He had two wives, Sumathi or Vaidarbhi, and Keshini or Saibya, and 60,001 sons. Bahuka was the son of Vrika, the king of Ayodhya.
Sagara was born at the ashrama of Sage Aurva, while Bahuka and Yadavi were seeking refuge in the ashrama from the attacks of Talajangha, the king of Hehaya. The Talajanghas and the Hehayas had been invading Ayodhya from their southern kingdom of Mahishmati on the Narmada.
While at the ashrama, Yadavi, who was in the seventh month of her pregnancy, her co-wife (name?) made her drink a poison, due to which she remained pregnant for seven years. Bahuka died in the hermitage of old age, unable to reconquer Ayodhya, and Yadavi was ready to follow him in his funeral pyre. She was prevented by Aurva, who promised her that her child would grow up to become a great and fortunate emperor.
Aurva knew of all events, of the past, present and those to come, and declared that Yadavi’s action would be unrighteous, for a valiant prince, he who would be the emperor of many lands, and would offer many great yajnas or sacrifices, would destroy all his enemies, was in her womb. He asked her to be patient to allow the impact of the poison to wash over.
Yadavi delivered her son after seven years. Since the poison (gara) given to Yadavi by her co-wife and slowed down her pregnancy, Aurva named her son as Sagara, (Sa - with, gara - poison).
Sage Aurva adopted Sagara and conducted his upanayana ceremony and had him study the vedas and the rituals of the yajna’s sacrificial fire. Sagara began to address Sage Aurva as ‘father’. Yadavi could not accept it and wept in silence. Sagara witnessed her sorrow one day and enquired about the reason. Yadavi told him about his real father and heritage. She explained to him that his duty was to win back his birthright and the kingdom of Ayodhya. Sagara vowed that he would return to Ayodhya and defeat the Talajanghas and the Hehayas. Later, upon consolidation of his control over the kingdom, he would invade Mahishmati and destroy the Hehayas.
Meanwhile, the people of Ayodhya sought the guidance of Brahmarshi Vashishta who informed them about Sagara, who was at the ashrama of Sage Aurva. He instructed them to travel to the Himalayas and bring back Sagara to face Talajangha who had become a terror. The people arrived at the ashrama of Sage Aurva and waited outside the gates for five days. Upon coming to know that the people wanted Sagara to return, Sage Aurva blessed him and allowed him to leave the ashrama.
Upon arrival at Ayodhya, Sagara fought Talajangha and conquered the kingdom and ruled as King. He put the Hehayas to their death and decided to fight the Sakas, the Yavanas, Kambojas, Paradas and Pahnavas. These kingdoms, their kings and people came to meet Brahmarshi Vashishta, the family priest of the Ikshvaku lineage. Since these kingdoms had been defeated and made to pay tribute to Ayodhya, Vashishta convinced Sagara to avoid battles. He assured him that these tribes would be part of the kingdom of Ayodhya and provide their tithe.
Sagara proceeded to place distinguishing marks upon the various tribes. The Yavanas were required to shave their heads entirely, the Sakas were to shave the upper half of their heads, the Paradas were allowed to wear their hair long, and the Pahnavas were required to let their beards grow.
He forbade these tribes and other Kshatriyas to offer the higher levels of yajna or conduct rituals of sacrificial fire and separated them from their religious rites. Thus, these different tribes came to be recognised together as Mlechchhas.
Sagara had two wives, Sumati, the daughter of Kasyapa, and Keshini, the daughter of the king of Vidarbha.
For several years, Sagara was childless. Therefore, the king, with his two wives, went to the Bhruprasravana mountains in the Himalayas and began to perform tapas. Subsequently, in answer to his prayers, the Sage Bhrigu appeared and blessed Sagara that one of his wives would give birth to 60,000 sons while the other would have only one son, he who would add to the glory of the kingdom and the dynasty. Sumati decided to bear the 60,000 sons while Keshini decided to bear the one single son. The sons of Sumati were predicted to be unrighteous while the son of Keshini would be noble and righteous.
Upon their return to Ayodhya, Keshini gave birth to the noble son, Asamanjasa, while Sumati gave birth to a lump of flesh that was split into 60,000 infants after being cut into thousands of effulgent pieces by Shiva.
Now that the dynasty was protected, Sagara, accompanied by his 60,001 sons, began a war of conquest. They conquered the northern kingdoms and later moved south, with his focus on fighting the kingdom of Mahishmati, the kingdom of the Hehayas. Sagara was victorious in the battle and he destroyed the Hehayas in their kingdom.
Asamanjas was unruly in his conduct and unbecoming of a future king of Ayodhya. His 60,000 brothers also copied his behaviour. Sagara was upset with them and was worried about the future of the kingdom. The actions of the 60,001 sons of Sagara began to cause concern to the gods who went to seek guidance from the sage Kapila. The sage was thought to be a portion of Vishnu himself, and free from fault and the bearer of all true wisdom. The gods sought the intervention of sage Kapila, since he was Vishnu, in a visible form, and would be able to protect the people of the kingdom. The sage Kapila asked the gods to stop worrying, for, as he said, the evil deeds of the 60,001 sons would overtake them and they would all be destroyed.
Having defeated the Hehayas, Sagara decided to perform the Ashwamedha yajna to announce his conquest of the lands known to him. Indra, the king of the devas was worried about the yajna and decided to steal the sacrificial horse. He led the horse to a mountain entrance and left it at Patala, the underworld, near the sage Kapila, who was resident there, in deep meditation.
On receiving news that the horse had gone missing, Sagara asked his 60,000 sons, collectively known as the Sagarputras (i.e. sons of Sagara) and Asamanjasa to search for the horse and to retrieve it for the yajna. The sons went out in search, tracing the horse by its trail, and eventually came to the chasm in the mountain, proceeded to enlarge it and dug downwards for more than several leagues and entered the premises. They circled the Ashtadiggajas and found the horse grazing near the sage.
They declared that the sage Kapila was the villain who would have interrupted the Ashwamedha Yajna and the sacrifice. They shouted aloud that the sage should be killed. Their noise and movement disturbed the sage Kapila, who opened his eyes in anger and glared at them, instantly burning the Sagarputras and Asamanjasa to ashes.
Anushuman, or Ansumat, the son of Asamanjasa, followed the Sagarputras and came up to sage Kapila in a humble manner and requested his intervention to bring his brothers back to life or to free their souls from Patala. The sage informed that he would not be able to bring them back to life but instructed that if the goddess Ganga could be convinced to journey from the heavens to the earth and flow through Patala, the kingdom could perform the funeral rites of the 60,000 who perished. It would require great effort and determination, sage Kapila instructed, for it would only be Anshuman’s grandson who would be able to bring down the celestial river to the earth. It would only be through the flow of the river’s waters in the Patala that the bones and ashes of the 60,001 sons of Sagara would free their souls to reach Svarga, the heavens.
For, it is the Ganga that flows from the toe of Vishnu, that it confers heaven upon all who bathe in it or even become accidentally immersed in it. Thanking the sage, Anshuman returned with the horse and handed it over to Sagara who was able to complete the sacrifice.
Sagara, upon hearing of the matter, abdicated the throne of Ayodhya, placed Anshuman as king, and retired to the ashrama of the sage Aurva in the Himalayas and started a penance to request Ganga to descend to earth.
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