A Classical Dictionary of Hindu Mythology and Religion, Geography, History, and Literature c5.822

c5.822

KĀRTA-VĪRYA. Son of Krita-vīrya, king of the Haihayas. This is his patronymic, by which he is best known; his real name was Arjuna. “Having worshipped a portion of the divine being called Dattātreya, sprung from the race of Atri, he sought and obtained these boons, viz., a thousand arms and a golden chariot that went wheresoever he willed it to go; the power of restraining wrong by justice; the conquest of the earth and the disposition to rule it righteously; invincibility by enemies, and death at the hands of a man renowned over the whole world. By him this earth was perfectly governed,” and of him it is said :—“No other king shall ever equal Kārta-vīrya in regard to sacrifices, liberality, austerities, courtesy, and self-restraint.” “Thus he ruled for 85,000 years with unbroken health, prosperity, strength, and valour.”—*V.P.* He visited the hermitage of Jamad-agni, and was received by that sage’s wife with all respect; but he made an ill return for her hospitality, and carried off by violence “the calf of the milch-cow of the sacred oblation.” For this outrage Parasu-rāma cut off his thousand arms and killed him. In another place a different character is given to him, and more in accordance with his behaviour at Jamad-agni’s hut. “He oppressed both men and gods,” so that the latter appealed to *Vishnu* for succour. That god then came down to the earth as Parasu-rāma for the especial purpose of killing him. Kārta-vīrya was the contemporary of Rāvana, and when that demon monarch came “in the course of his campaign of conquest to Mahishmatī (the capital of Kārta-vīrya), he was captured without difficulty, and was confined like a wild beast in a corner of his city.” The statement of the Vāyu Purāna is that Kārta-vīrya invaded Lankā, and there took Rāvana prisoner.