By Swami Harshananda
Aśvapati is
- The lord of horses
- The name of a King of Madra and the father of Sāvitrī[1]
- A son of Kaśyapa and Danu</ref>Mahabharata</ref>
- A brother-in-law of King Daśaratha [2]
The Chāndogya Upanisad[3] mentions that six sages under the leadership of Uddālaka Āruṇi, approached the king Aśvapati Kaikeya to learn Vaiśvānara vidyā (the science concerning the Universal Self, known also as Brahman). While welcoming them, he states that in his kingdom there are no thieves, misers, drunkards, ‘anāhitāgnis’ (those who have not set up consecrated Vedic fires’) or lecherous people. He questions them individually about what they have already known and then supplements the same with his teachings.
The king of Kekaya State, the father of Kaikeyī (the youngest of the wives of the king Daśaratha of Ayodhyā), was also known as Aśvapati. Whether these two were the same, it is difficult to establish. Aśvapati was reputed to have been endowed with the knowledge of all the sounds of the subhuman living beings.
The father of Sāvitrī[4] and king of Madradeśa, was also an Aśvapati.
References[edit]
- The Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Swami Harshananda, Ram Krishna Math, Bangalore