A Classical Dictionary of Hindu Mythology and Religion, Geography, History, and Literature c5.1132

c5.1132

MĀNDHĀTRI. A king, son of Yuvanāswa, of the race of Ikshwāku, and author of a hymn in the Rig-veda. The Harivansa and some of the Purāṇas make Māndhātri to have been born in a natural way from his mother Gaurī, but the Vishnu and Bhāgavata Purāṇas tell an extraordinary story about his birth, which is probably based upon a forced derivation of his name. Yuvanāswa had no son, which grieved him much. Some holy sages near whom he lived instituted a religious rite to procure progeny for him. One night they placed a consecrated vessel of water upon an altar as part of their ceremony, and the water became endowed with prolific energy. Yuvan-āswa woke up in the night thirsty, and finding the water, he drank it. So he conceived, and in due time a child came forth from his right side. The sages then asked who would suckle the child, whereupon Indra appeared, gave his finger for the child to suck, and said, “He shall suck me,” *mām ayam dhās-yati*. These words were contracted, and the boy was named Māndhātri. When he grew up he had three sons and fifty daughters. An old sage named Saubhari came to Māndhātri and asked that one might be given him to wife. Unwilling to give one to so old and emaciated a man, but yet afraid to refuse, the king temporised, but at length yielded to the sage’s request that the matter might be left to the choice of the girls. Saubhari then assumed a handsome form, and there was such a contention for him that he had to marry the whole fifty, and he provided for them a row of crystal palaces in a most beautiful garden.