पुष्कराक्ष

{ puṣkarākṣa }

Puranic Encyclopaedia

PUṢKARĀKṢA I   A King of Purāṇic fame. There was once a King called Bhadrākṣa in Takṣa- śilānagara. He worshipped Bhagavatī with 108 lotus flowers daily in order to obtain a son. One day he found one flower missing and the brave king tore open his heart and made the number complete. The goddess was pleased and she blessed him saying that he would have a son worthy of becoming an emperor. Puṣkarākṣa was the son thus born. The boy grew up and after crowing him as King Bhadrākṣa left for the forests. Puṣkarākṣa worshipped Śiva daily to get a suitable wife. After some time Śiva blessed him saying that he would get a very good wife. One day he went for hunting. He saw a camel trying to eat two cobras engaged in the act of mating. Instantly the King sent an arrow against the camel and the camel falling down turned into a Vidyādhara and that Vidyādhara told the King thus:-- “Oh King, there was once a Vidyādhara named Raṅgamālī. A Vidyādhara maiden named Tārāvalī was attracted by the handsome form of Raṅgamālī. She married him without the consent of her parents. The angered father separated them by a curse. The curse took effect and they soon got separated losing their way in the forest. Pining to see her husband Tārāvalī roamed about in the forests and reached the other shore of the western sea. It was a colony of ṛṣis and there was a fig tree there standing in full blossom. Tārāvalī took the form of a beetle and sat on the tree sucking honey. After some days Raṅgamālī also came to the place. On seeing her husband she had emission and from the virile fluid was born a fig fruit. After that both of them flew to the Gandharva loka. I am Raṅgamālī. One day a sage named Jitāsu came that way and this fruit fell before him. From the fruit came out a beautiful maiden and Jitāsu with his divine power understood the whole story behind it and so took the girl to his āśrama and named her Vinayavatī. Vinayavatī grew into a beautiful maiden and stayed in the āśrama. One day by accident I happened to see her and attracted by her beauty tried to rape her. She cried aloud and hearing the noise the sage came out and cursed me and turned me into a camel. I pleaded for mercy and the sage said I would be released from the curse when I was killed by the future husband of Vinayavatī, Puṣkarākṣa by name. Oh King, I am now released from the curse and you should go to the forest named Surabhimāruta on the other side of the western sea and marry that maiden.” Puṣkarākṣa was pleased to hear this and the king going back to the palace and entrusting the administration of the state to his ministers left for the forest of Surabhimāruta. Reaching the shore of the western sea he was thinking of ways to cross the sea when he saw a Bhadrakālī temple nearby. When he went to the temple he saw a violin in front of it and taking it he played on it a few songs in praise of Kālī and went to sleep in the temple. The goddess was pleased with his songs and took the sleeping king to the other side of the sea. When he woke up next morning he saw himself on the other shore and was pleasantly surprised. He walked about on the shore and saw an āśrama and peeping in saw a sage sitting inside. On seeing the king the sage told him thus “Oh Puṣkararāja, Vinayavatī in search of whom you have come here has just gone to pluck flowers for her worship. She will come just now and you can then accept your wife of your previous birth as your wife of this life.” The king wanted to know more about Vinayavatī when the sage said she was his wife in his previous birth also. Then the sage said: “Once there was a Vaiśya called Dharmasena in Tāmralipti. He married a girl named Vidyullekhā. All their wealth was stolen by thieves and grief-stricken they attempted to commit suicide by jumping into the fire. They saw two swans flying towards them and without waiting for them to reach them they committed suicide. In their next birth they became a swan couple. They lived on a date tree during rainy seasons. Once in a storm the tree fell down and in the darkness each went its own way. In the morning the male swan started searching for his mate. In the end he found her in the lake of Mānasa in Svarga. They lived there happily till the rainy season was over and then they went and stayed on a mountain. One day a forester killed the she-swan and while coming with the dead swan in his hands he saw a set of armed men coming that way and the frightened forester threw the dead swan into a lake nearby. The dead swan came in touch with the Mṛtasañjīvanī herb in the pond and coming to life flew away. The husband swan went into another group of swans and lived there in sorrow. One day a fisherman came and caught all the swans in a net. At that time the sheswan came there and finding her husband in the net felt very sad. She was thinking of some way to get her husband released from the net when a man came to bathe in the pond. He wrapped the diamond necklace of his in a cloth and placed it on the shore. The sheswan took the necklace and flew making the fisherman see everything before him. Seeing the swan going with the necklace the fisherman went after it. The swan flew to a mountain nearby and placed it on its top. The fisherman started climbing up and the she-swan then flew back and released her husband from the net. One day while they were flying making a lotus as an umbrella a hunter shot them down with arrows. Fortunately the lotus fell on an idol of Śiva and by the power of Śiva they were born in their next birth as a king and a woman. The king is yourself and the woman is Vinayavatī.” Puṣkarākṣa married her there and returning to his land lived happily for a long period [Taraṅgā 2, Śaśāṅkavatīlambaka, Kathāsaritsāgara] .
PUṢKARĀKṢA II   A king. Puṣkarākṣa, son of king Sucandra, was cut to death by Paraśurāma. [Brahmāṇḍa Purāṇa, Chapter 3] .

प्राचीन चरित्रकोश

पुष्कराक्ष n.  (सू.दिष्ट.) एक राजा, जो सुचंद्र राजा का पुत्र था । परशुराम जामदग्न्य ने सर से पॉंव तक विच्छेद कर, इसका वध किया (ब्रह्मांड.३.४०.१३, परशुराम देखिये) ।

A Sanskrit English Dictionary

पुष्कराक्ष  mfn.  mf( ई)n. l°. eyed, [MBh.]
पुष्कराक्ष  m.  m. N. of विष्णु, [L.]
of a man, [BrahmaP.]
of a prince, [Ratnâv.]
of a poet, [Cat.]