Puranic Encyclopaedia: A Comprehensive Dictionary with Special Reference to the Epic and Puranic Literature c4.1574

c4.1574

BĀLHĪKA IV. A son of Pratīpa, a King of the Kuru dynasty. He had two brothers, Devāpi and Śantanu. It is said in Mahābhārata, Ādi Parva, Chapter 94 that Sunandā, the princess of the country of Śibi was their mother. Mention is made in Bhāgavata, Skandha 9, Chapter 22, Stanza 18 that this king Bālhīka had a son named Somadatta. Bālhīka was a friend of the Kauravas and the Pāṇḍavas. Bālhīka exhorted them strongly, not to engage in a battle. Still, when the battle was begun, Bālhīka sided with the Kauravas. Bālhīka was once elected as the general of eleven divisions of the army of Duryodhana.