Sri Agrasen ji Maharaj
(From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)
Predecessor Maharaja
Vallabh
Successor Vibhu
Consort Madhavi
Dynasty Suryavansha
Father Maharaja
Vallabh
Mother Bagwati
Devi
Children Vibhu
Religious beliefs Hindu
Vaishya
Maharaja Agrasen was a legendary Indian king of Agroha in
India, a city of traders, from whom the Agrawal (not to be confused with
Grewal) and Agrahari community claims descent.[1] He is credited with the establishment
of a kingdom of traders in North India named Agroha, and is known for his
compassion in refusing to slaughter animals in yajnas. The Government of India
issued a postage stamp in honour of Maharaja Agresen in 1976 on occasion of his
5100th jayanti.
Legends
and beliefs
Agrasena
attended the swayamvara of Madhavi, the daughter of the King
Nagaraj Kumud.However, Indra, the God of Heaven and also the Lord of
storms and rainfall, wanted to marry Madhavi, but she choose Agrasena as her
husband. A furious Indra decided to take revenge by making sure that
Pratapnagar did not receive any rain. As a result, a famine struck Agrasen's
kingdom, who then decided to wage a war against Indra. Sage Narada was
approached by Indra, who mediated peace between Agrasena and Indra.
According
to Vachanakosha of Bulakhichand (1680 AD), Agar Rishi married a naga-kanya and
had 18 children.[12] A
similar account is given in 1885 Bombay Presidency Gazetteer, Rishi Agrasena
married 17 naga-kanyas.[13]
Agrasen Maharaj
Another
belief states King Agrasen to be the elder bother of Shoorsen Vrishni and elder
grand father of Balarama and Krishna Vrishni
of Mahabharata, descendant of King Yayati of Khandavprastha. It was built after
several attacks faced from Jarasandh of Magadh in Mahabharata period. Agrohawas
called as Agreya in its original period. King Agrasen made it capital of his
state, a city in ancient Kuru Panchala, while his younger bother Shoorsen
including Balarama and Shri Krishna decided to stay at Dwaraka.
Penance
Agraseana 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
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,having a Big Temple of Agrasen & 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.
Agrawal gotras
Agrasena divided his kingdom
among his 18 achildren, 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.[14]
In the later part of his life,
Agrasena nominated his eldest son Vibhu to the throne and took up the
Vanaprastha ashram. 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.
It is believed that King Agrasen
married Madhavi, daughter of King Kumud of Nagaloka (Snake Kingdom). Thus
Agrawals are the progeny of Madhavi and that is why they worship Nagas (snakes)
and consider them to be their maternal uncles.
Following are the seventeen and a
half gotras of Agrawals: Airan, Bansal, Bindal, Bhandal, Dharan, Garg, Goyal,
Goyan (considered as half gotra), Jindal, Kansal, Kuchhal, Madhukul, Mangal,
Mittal, Nangal, Singhal, Tayal, Tingle.
The kingdom of Agrasen flourished
and extended from the Himalayas, Punjab, the valley of Yamuna, and the Mewar
region. Agra continued to be a prominent place being the capital of the
southern part of the kingdom. The other important regions were Gurgaon (ancient
Gaudagrama), the goddess mother of this place is revered by Agrawals; Meerut,
Rohtak, Hansi, Panipat, Karnal, and Kotkangra. The famous temple of Mahamaya,
the Kuladevi of Agrawals is located at Kotknagra. Mandi, Vilaspur, Garhwal,
Narnaul were all the parts of the kingdom. Agroha was the capital of the
kingdom.
Agrawals are basically a
commercial community or Vaishyas. They are one of the most respectable and
enterprising of mercantile tribes. Two of Emperor Akbar’s famous ministers are
said to have been Agrawals, viz, Todarmal, who introduced an assessment of
land, and Madhushah, who introduced ‘Madhushahi’ pice.
