Puranic Encyclopaedia: A Comprehensive Dictionary with Special Reference to the Epic and Puranic Literature c9.2444

c9.2444

SUDEVĀ III. The wife of Ikṣvāku who was the son of Manu. This Sudevā was the daughter of Devarāta the King of Kāśī. Ikṣvāku and Sudevā are said to be the incarnations of Viṣṇu and Devī Lakṣmī respectively. While the couple were walking about in the forest, they saw a she-hog. That hog was the cursed form of a Brahmin woman named Sudevā. Sudevā, the wife of Ikṣvāku gave the merits she had earned in one year by her good deeds to Sudevā the she-hog and liberated her from her curse. This story occurs in Padma Purāṇa Bhūmikhaṇḍa, Chapter 42. The story is given below: Once King Ikṣvāku and his wife Sudevā were hunting on the banks of the Gaṅgā. Then a big hog came there with his wife and children. The hog was afraid of Ikṣvāku. So he said to his wife:—“Look! beloved! Ikṣvāku the valiant, the son of Manu, is come for hunting. I am going to fight with him.” His wife said. “How did you get this bravery to fight with the king, who always try to evade the forest-men?” “It is not