AṄGA A King belonging to the Candra vaṁśa. (Lunar dynasty).
1)
Genealogy. Descended from Viṣṇu in the following order: Brahmā-Atri-Candra-Budha-Purūravas-Āyus- Nahuṣa-Yayāti-Anudruhyu-Sabhānara-Kālanara- Sṛñjaya-Titikṣa-Kuśadhṛta-Homa-Sutapas-Bali-Aṅga.
2)
Birth. Aṅga, Kaliṅga, Suhma, Kaṇḍra, Vaṅga, Adrupa and Anaśābhu are the seven sons born to Bali, the son of Sutapas, by his wife Suteṣṇā, and the King Aṅga is one of them. There is a story about the birth of these sons. Once there lived a hermit named Utatthya. He was the elder brother of Bṛhaspati. One day when Mamatā, Utatthya's wife, was pregnant, Bṛhaspati approached her with carnal desires. In spite of her efforts to dissuade her brother-in-law from his attempts she could not prevail upon him. He forced her and satisfied his desire. The child in her womb protested and kicked the sperm of Bṛhaspati out into the floor. Bṛhaspati got angry and cursed the child in the womb: “May you fall in perpetual darkness”. So the child was born blind and remained blind throughout his life. Hence he got the name ‘Dīrghatamas’. Dīrghatamas married Pradveṣi. A son named Gautama was born to them. The duty of supporting Dīrghatamas fell upon the wife and the son, who put him on a raft and pushed him astray into the River Ganges. King Bali, who was bathing in the river saw this. He rescued the hermit and took him to the palace and pleasing him by hospitality, requested him to beget children in his wife Suteṣṇā, who detesting the idea sent a Śūdrā woman Dhātreyī in her stead and eleven children were born to them. By and by Dīrghatamas came to know of the deceit played by Suteṣṇā on him and he became very angry. But the King pacified him and pleased him again and Dīrghatamas begot five sons by Suteṣṇā. They were Aṅga, Vaṅga, Kaliṅga, Pauṇḍra and Suhma. Dīrghatamas blessed them that they would become very famous. Aṅga, Vaṅga, Kaliṅga, Pauṇḍra and Suhma were the five kingdoms ruled by Aṅga, Vaṅga, Kaliṅga, Pauṇḍra and Suhma respectively. These five are the famous Kings of the Bāli family.
[Mahābhārata, Ādi Parva, Chapter 104] .
3)
How Aṅga got children. Once Aṅga performed a horse sacrifice. But the gods did not appear to receive oblations. Holy seers said that the Gods refused to accept the oblations offered by the King because he was childless. So he performed the sacrifice called Putrakāmeṣṭi (Sacrifice to get a son) and from the sacrificial fire arose a divine person with a golden flask of pudding, which he offered to the King and his queen. The King and the queen Sunīthā ate the pudding, as a result of which a son was born to them. He was named Vena. This son was wicked. Because of his wickedness the King became so miserable that he left his kingdom and went on a pilgrimage. Since there was no other means the people enthroned Vena, who tortured his subjects beyond limit.
[Bhāgavata, 4th Skandha, Chapters Band 14] .
AṄGA(M) The kingdom ruled by King Aṅga. Other details
: 1)
The Dynasty. The first King of the Aṅga dynasty was Aṅga the son of Bali. Anagābhu, Draviratha, Dharmaratha, Romapāda (Lomapāda), Caturaṅga, Pṛthulākṣa, Bṛhadratha, Bṛhanmanas, Jayadratha, Vijaya, Dṛḍhavrata, Satyakarmā, Atiratha, Karṇa, Vṛṣasena and others were kings of this dynasty. Karṇa was the adopted son of Atiratha. During the period of the Mahābhārata, Kings of the Atiratha family were under the sway of the Candra vaṁśa (Lunar dynasty) kings such as Dhṛtarāṣṭra and Pāṇḍu. (For further informations see the word Atiratha).
2)
How Karṇa became the king of Aṅga. A contest in archery and the wielding of other weapons was going on in Hastināpura, the competitors being the Kauravas and the Pāṇḍavas. The status of Karṇa, who appeared on the side of the Kauravas, was questioned by the Pāṇḍavas on the occasion and Duryodhana, who always stood on his dignity, anointed Karṇa as the King of Aṅga, on the spot.
[M.B., Ādi Parva, Chapter 136] .
3)
Drought in the kingdom of Aṅga. Lomapāda (Romapāda) the king of Aṅga once deceived a hermit Brahmin. So all the Brahmins quitted the country and thereafter there was no rainfall in the country for several years. The sages of the country began to think on the means of bringing about rain. One day they approached the King and told him that the only way to get rain was to bring the great hermit Ṛṣyaśṛṅga to the country. Once Kaśyapa happened to see Urvaśī and he had seminal flow. The sperm fell in a river. A deer swallowed it along with the water it drank. It gave birth to a human child with horns on the head. This child was called Ṛṣyaśṛṅga. It was brought up by a hermit called Vibhāṇḍaka in his hut. Ṛṣyaśṛṅga had never seen women and by virtue of this, there occurred rainfall wherever he went. The King Lomapāda sent some courtesans to the forest to attract Ṛṣyaśṛṅga, who following them arrived at the court of Lomapāda the King of Aṅga and the King gave Ṛṣyaśṛṅga, as a gift, his daughter Śāntā. Thus the country got rain. This Lomapāda was a friend of Daśaratha.
[Mahābhārata, Araṇya Parva, Chapters 110 to 113] .
4)
How the Kingdom got the name Aṅga. One opinion is that the Kingdom got its name from the King Aṅga who ruled over it. Another opinion is that the king got his name from the country he ruled. However there is a story revealing how the country came to be called Aṅga. In the realm of God, preliminary steps were being taken for making Śrī Parameśvara wed Pārvatī. According to the instructions of Devendra, Kāmadeva (the Lord of Love--Cupid) was trying to break the meditation of Śiva and when Śiva opened his third eye, fire emitted from it and Anaṅga (Kāmadeva) was burned to ashes. It was in the country of Aṅga that the ashes of the ‘aṅga’ (Body) of Kāmadeva fell and from that day onwards the country came to be called Aṅga and Kāmadeva, ‘Anaṅga’ (without body).
[Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Bālakāṇḍa, Sarga 26] .
5)
Other informations.(1) It is mentioned in the Hindi Dictionary, ‘Śabda Sāgara’ that the kingdom of Aṅga embracing Bhagatpur and Muṁger in Bihar had its capital at Campāpurī and that the country had often stretched from Vaidyanāthanāma to Bhuvaneśvar.
(2) Arjuna had visited the Kingdom of Aṅga also during his pilgrimage.
[M.B., Ādi Parva, Chapter 219, Stanza 9] .
(3) The King of Aṅga was present at the sacrifice of Rājasūya (Royal consecration) celebrated by Dharmaputra, when the Pāṇḍavas were living at Indraprastha.
[M.B., Sabhā Parva, Chapter 52, Stanza 16] .
(4) On one occasion Śrī Kṛṣṇa defeated the Aṅgas in a battle.
[M.B., Droṇa Parva, Chapter 11, Stanza 15] .
(5) Paraśurāma had defeated the Aṅgas once.
[M.B., Droṇa Parva, Chapter 7, Stanza 12] .
(6) In the battle of Kurukṣetra between the Pāṇḍavas and the Kauravas, on the sixteenth day of the battle, the heroes of Aṅga made an onslaught on Arjuna.
[M.B., Karṇa Parva, Chapter 17, Stanza 12] .
(7) The Aṅgas attacked the armies of Dhṛṣṭadyumna and the King of Pāñcāla.
[M.B., Karṇa Parva, Chapter 22, Stanza 2] .
(8) A low caste man from Aṅga attacked Bhīma, who killed the man and his elephant.
[Mahābhārata, Droṇa Parva, Chapter 26, Stanzas 14 to 17] .