Vedic Index of Names and Subjects v1.c3.s21.811

v1.c3.s21.811

Pārikṣita, ‘descendant of Parikṣit,’ is the patronymic of Janamejaya in the Aitareya Brāhmaṇa² and the Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa.³ The Pārikṣitīyas appear in the Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa⁴ and the Śāṅkhāyana Śrauta Sūtra⁵ as performers of the horse sacrifice. In a Gāthā there cited they are called Pārikṣitas. Apparently they were the brothers of Janamejaya, named Ugrasena, Bhīmasena, and Śrutasena. In the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad⁶ the question whither they have gone is made the subject of a philosophical discussion. It is clear that the family had passed away before the time of the Upaniṣad, and it is also clear that there had been some serious scandal mingled with their greatness which they had, in the opinion of the Brahmins, atoned for by their horse sacrifice with its boundless gifts to the priests. Weber⁷ sees in this the germ of the Epic stories which are recorded in the Mahābhārata.