Puranic Encyclopaedia: A Comprehensive Dictionary with Special Reference to the Epic and Puranic Literature c4.2645

c4.2645

BRHADRATHA IV. Son of Uparicara, the king of Cedi. Uparicara made his son Bṛhadratha, the king of Magadha. In course of time he became a powerful emperor. This Bṛhadratha was a mighty warrior-king with an army of three akṣauhiṇīs (an akṣauhiṇī is a complete army consisting of 21870 horses and 109350 infantry). Though he had married two daughters of the King of Kāśī he was childless. The sorrowful king went with his wives to a hermit named Caṇḍakauśika and pleased him by giving him precious stones. The King told the hermit about his sorrow due to lack of children. The hermit gave them a mango fruit and said that the King should enthrone the son who would be born by eating the mango, and return to the forest for penance. The hermit gave eight boons for the son who was to be born.