Janaka
{{Short description|King of Videha and father of Sita in epic Ramayana}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2016}}
{{Use Indian English|date=April 2017}}
{{other|Janaka (disambiguation)|Janak (disambiguation)}}
{{Infobox royalty
| type = Hindu
| birth_name = Siradhvaja
| image = Janaka, king of Mithila and father of Sita (cropped).jpg
| caption = Portrait of Janaka, c. 1803-1804 CE
| texts = Ramayana, Upanishads
| succession = Maharaja of Videha
| predecessor = Hrasvaroman
| successor = Bhanumaan Janaka
| spouse = Sunayana
| siblings = Kushadhvaja
| birth_place = Mithila, Videha
| house = Videha
| father = Hrasvaroman
| mother = Keikasi
| dynasty = Suryavamsha
| religion = Hinduism
}}
Janaka ({{langx|sa|जनक}}, IAST: Janaka) is the King of Videha who ruled from Mithila, in the Hindu epic Ramayana. Janaka was married to Sunayana. He is the father of Sita and Urmila in the epic.{{sfn|Raychaudhuri|2006|pp=41–52}} The term Janaka was also the title adopted by all the kings of Videha, who were the descendants of the King Nimi and his son King Mithi. The King Mithi is considered as the first King of Videha who was titled with the term Janaka.{{Cite book |last=Jha |first=Makhan |url=https://books.google.com/books/about/Anthropology_of_Ancient_Hindu_Kingdoms.html?id=A0i94Z5C8HMC#v=snippet&q=King%20Mithi&f=false |title=Anthropology of Ancient Hindu Kingdoms: A Study in Civilizational Prespective |date=1997 |publisher=M.D. Publications Pvt. Ltd. |isbn=978-81-7533-034-4 |language=en}}
Janaka is revered as being an ideal example of non-attachment to material possessions. He was intensely interested in spiritual discourse and considered himself free from worldly illusions. His interactions with sages and seekers such as Ashtavakra and Sulabha are recorded in the ancient texts.{{Cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Ramayana-Indian-epic|title=Ramayana {{!}} Summary, Characters, & Facts|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en|access-date=2020-02-18|archive-date=12 April 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200412065621/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Ramayana-Indian-epic|url-status=live}}
File:Raajshri Janak Temple Janakpur Dhanusha Nepal Rajesh Dhungana.jpg. The temple is known as Shree Rajarshi Janak Mandir.]]
Legend
= Birth and ancestry =
Janaka, originally named Sīradhvaja, was born to King Hrasvaroman of Mithila and his wife Keikasi. The Videha kingdom was situated historically between the Gandaki River to the east, the Mahananda River to the west, the Himalayas to the north, and the Ganga river to the south.{{cite book |author=Jha, M. |year=1997 |chapter=Hindu Kingdoms at contextual level |title=Anthropology of Ancient Hindu Kingdoms: A Study in Civilizational Perspective |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A0i94Z5C8HMC&pg=PA27 |pages=27–42 |publisher=M.D. Publications Pvt. Ltd |location=New Delhi|isbn=9788175330344 }} Janaka had a younger brother named Kushadhvaja.{{cite book |author=Mishra, V. |year=1979 |publisher=Mithila Prakasana |location=Allahabad |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8FBuAAAAMAAJ&q=area+of+mithila |title=Cultural Heritage of Mithila | access-date=28 December 2016 | pages=13}} Upon ascending to the throne as the King of Mithila, Janaka faced an attack from the King of Samkasya, Sudhanvan. In the ensuing war, Janaka emerged victorious by defeating and killing Sudhanvan, after which he appointed his brother Kushadhvaja as the new King of Samkasya.{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FHPXAAAAMAAJ&q=Kushadhwaja | title=The Ramayana | publisher=Orient Longman | author=Lakshmi Lal | year=1988 | pages=20 | isbn=9780861318056}}
King Nimi was the first ruler of the Videha kingdom. Janaka was descended from Vishnu in the following order:—Brahmā—Marīci—Kaśyapa—Vivasvān—Vaivasvata—Ikṣvāku—Nimi—Mithi—Udāvasu—Nandivardhana—Suketu—Devarāta—Bṛhadratha—Mahāvīra—Sudhṛti—Dhṛṣṭaketu—Haryaśva—Maru—Pratvantaka—Kīrtiratha—Devamīḍha—Vibudha—Mahīdhraka—Kīrtirāta—Mahāroman—Svarṇaroman—Hrasvaroman—Janaka.{{Cite web |last=www.wisdomlib.org |date=2019-01-28 |title=Story of Janaka |url=https://www.wisdomlib.org/hinduism/compilation/puranic-encyclopaedia/d/doc241640.html |access-date=2022-09-10 |website=www.wisdomlib.org |language=en}}
= Marriage and children =
File:The Birth of Sita - Raja Janaka of Mithila carrying her in his lap.jpg
File:Janaka welcomes Rama.jpg and his father Dasharatha to Mithila]]
Janaka was married to queen Sunayana. According to Ramayana, Janaka and Sunayana found Sita while ploughing as a part of a yagna and adopted her. Sita is considered as an avatar of goddess Lakshmi.{{cite web |last=Sutherland |first=Sally J. |title=Sita and Draupadi, Aggressive Behavior and Female Role-Models in the Sanskrit Epics |url=http://sseas.berkeley.edu/sites/default/files/faculty/files/sita_and_draupadi.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130513083122/http://sseas.berkeley.edu/sites/default/files/faculty/files/sita_and_draupadi.pdf |archive-date=13 May 2013 |access-date=1 August 2012 |publisher=University of California, Berkeley}} Sunayana later gave birth to Urmila on Jaya ekadashi, who is an avatar of goddess Nagalakshmi.{{Cite web |last=www.wisdomlib.org |date=2012-06-24 |title=Urmila, Urmilā, Ūrmilā: 9 definitions |url=https://www.wisdomlib.org/definition/urmila |access-date=2022-09-10 |website=www.wisdomlib.org |language=en}}Dictionary of Hindu Lord and Legend'' ({{ISBN|0-500-51088-1}}) by Anna Dhallapiccola
When Sita reached adulthood, Janaka conducted her svayamvara, which was won by Rama. Alongside the wedding of Rama and Sita, Urmila married Rama's younger brother Lakshmana.{{cite news|title=Book 2 (Ayodhya-kanda): Chapter 27 - Princess Sita entreats Rama to allow her to accompany him|url=https://www.wisdomlib.org/hinduism/book/the-ramayana-of-valmiki/d/doc423974.html|work=www.wisdomlib.org|accessdate=20 December 2023}}{{cite book |author=Smriti Dewan |year=2021 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IIAlEAAAQBAJ&q=urmila+ramayan |title=Urmila: The Forgotten Princess |isbn=9789390252916}}
= Establishment of Shivalingas =
{{Main|List of Shiva temples built by King Janaka}}
According to legend, it is said that King Janaka was a great devotee of Lord Shiva. He established some Shivalingas around the corners of the capital city Janakpur for performing his penance in the ancient Mithila Kingdom. The four major Shivalingas established by him on the four corners of his capital city Janakpur were Kalyaneshwar Mahadev Mandir, Jaleshwar Mahadev Mandir, Kshireshwar Nath Mahadev Mandir and Sapteshwar Nath Mahadev Mandir.{{Cite web |title=प्रभु श्रीराम के मिथिला आगमन से जुड़ा मध्यमा परिक्रमा का इतिहास, जानिए कहां-कहां होती है परिक्रमा - History of Madhyama Parikrama related to the arrival of Lord Shri Ram in Mithila know where the Parikrama takes place |url=https://www.jagran.com/bihar/muzaffarpur-history-of-madhyama-parikrama-related-to-the-arrival-of-lord-shri-ram-in-mithila-know-where-the-parikrama-takes-place-22513974.html |access-date=2024-10-11 |website=Jagran |language=hi}} Similarly he is also credited for building the temples Haleshwar Nath Mahadev Mandir at Haleshwar Sthan in Sitamarhi and Kapileshwar Nath Mahadev Mandir at the outskirts of Janakpur Dham.
= Later role in Ayodhya =
Janaka accompanied Bharata to Chitrakoot, where Bharata went to persuade Rama, Sita and Lakshmana to return to Ayodhya.{{Cite book |last=Buck |first=William |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YO0lEAAAQBAJ&dq=rama+sandals&pg=PA111 |title=Ramayana |date=2021-06-08 |publisher=Univ of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-38338-8 |pages=111 |language=en}} After Rama returned from the exile and was then crowned the King of Kosala, Janaka became an important figure in his court. Rama would also take Janaka's advice on many important occasions.{{Cite web|url=https://pressbooks.pub/ramayana/chapter/chapter-9-after-the-war/|title=Chapter 9: 171. Rama Becomes King|website=Press Book|accessdate=29 August 2023 }}
Assessment
File:Yajnavalkya and Janaka.jpg teaches Brahma Vidya to King Janaka.]]
Late Vedic literature such as Shatapatha Brahmana and Brihadaranyaka Upanishad mention a certain King Janaka (c. 8th or 7th century BCE) as a great philosopher-king of Videha, renowned for his patronage of Vedic culture and philosophy and whose court was an intellectual center for Brahmin sages such as Yajnavalkya, Uddalaka Aruni, and Gargi Vachaknavi.{{sfn|Raychaudhuri|2006|pp=41–52}} Under his reign, Videha became a dominant political and cultural center of the Indian subcontinent.Michael Witzel (1989), Tracing the Vedic dialects in Dialectes Dans Les literatures Indo-Aryennes ed. Caillat, Paris, 97–265.
File:Yajnavalkya.jpg near the Benipatti town in the Madhubani district of the Mithila region of Bihar in India.]]
File:Gargi Vachaknavi.jpg Gargi Vachaknavi at the Uchchaith Bhagawati Mandir]]
Literature
Janaka's conversation with the sage Ashtavakra is recorded in the Ashtavakra Gita, wherein he is depicted as one who is realised and this was tested by the sage Ashtavakra. Many spiritual teachers have referred to this writing often translating and deducing its meaning.{{cite journal|last=Vanita|first=Ruth|title=Full of God:Ashtavakra and ideas of Justice in Hindu Text|journal=Religions of South Asia|volume=3|number=2|year=2009|url=https://journals.equinoxpub.com/index.php/ROSA/article/view/6641|access-date=22 February 2017|archive-date=2 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190302024638/https://journals.equinoxpub.com/index.php/ROSA/article/view/6641|url-status=dead}}{{cite book|first=Radhakamal|last=Mukerjee|year=1971|title=The song of the self supreme (Aṣṭāvakragītā): the classical text of Ātmādvaita by Aṣṭāvakra|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publ|isbn=978-81-208-1367-0|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hL-0qeeuVVIC }} Similarly the philosophical dialogues between the king Janaka and the sage Parashara is recorded as Parashar Gita.{{Cite web |last=www.wisdomlib.org |date=2023-10-25 |title=Parāśara-gītā (Summary) |url=https://www.wisdomlib.org/hinduism/essay/samkhya-thoughts-in-the-mahabharata/d/doc1210290.html |access-date=2024-11-20 |website=www.wisdomlib.org |language=en}}
== In popular culture ==
= Films =
- Mikkilineni portrayed Janaka in the 1991 Telugu film Brahmarshi Viswamitra.
- Murali Mohan portrayed Janaka in the 2011 Telugu film Sri Rama Rajyam.{{cite web|url=http://ibnlive.in.com/news/telugu-review-sri-rama-rajyam-is-a-must-watch/204138-8-69.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111122051451/http://ibnlive.in.com/news/telugu-review-sri-rama-rajyam-is-a-must-watch/204138-8-69.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=22 November 2011|title=Telugu Review: 'Sri Rama Rajyam' is a must watch|work=CNN-IBN|access-date=20 November 2011}}
= Television =
- Mulraj Rajda portrayed Janaka in the 1987 series Ramayan and the 1988 series Luv Kush.{{cite web|last1=Dalrymple|first1=William|author-link1=William Dalrymple (historian)|title=All Indian life is here|url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2008/aug/23/art.ramayana|work=The Daily Telegraph|access-date=15 February 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130902143318/http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2008/aug/23/art.ramayana|archive-date=2 September 2013|date=23 August 2008}}
- Pradeep Sharma portrayed Janaka in the 2002 series Ramayan.
- Gyan Prakash portrayed Janaka in the 2008 series Ramayan.
- Mohit Chauhan portrayed Janaka in the 2011 series Devon Ke Dev...Mahadev.
- Radha Krishna Dutta portrayed Janaka in the 2012 series Ramayan.
- Bijay Anand portrayed Janaka in the 2015 series Siya Ke Ram.{{cite news|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tv/news/hindi/Siya-Ke-Ram-Everything-you-want-to-know-about-the-show/photostory/49574651.cms|title=StarPlus' Siya Ke Ram: Everything you should know about the show|work=The Times of India|access-date=21 November 2015}}
- Shahbaz Khan portrayed Janaka in the 2018 series Ram Siya Ke Luv Kush.{{Cite web|url=https://www.pinkvilla.com/node/|title=Ram Siya Ke Luv Kush|website=PINKVILLA|language=en|access-date=2019-08-05|archive-date=3 December 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201203010609/https://www.pinkvilla.com/node/|url-status=dead}}
- Jatin Sial portrayed Janaka in the 2021 web series Ramyug.{{cite web |title=Ramyug first impression: Kunal Kohli's retelling of Lord Ram's story misses the mark |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/web-series/ramyug-first-impression-kunal-kohli-mx-player-7303122 |website=The Indian Express |access-date=31 July 2023 |language=en |date=6 May 2021}}
- Jiten Lalwani portrayed Janaka in the 2024 series Shrimad Ramayan.{{Cite web |title=Shrimad Ramayan Review, Episodes 1 and 2: A cinematic visual spectacle on small screen |url=https://www.pinkvilla.com/tv/news/shrimad-ramayan-review-episodes-1-and-2-a-cinematic-visual-spectacle-on-small-screen-1269662?amp |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240105171037/https://www.pinkvilla.com/tv/news/shrimad-ramayan-review-episodes-1-and-2-a-cinematic-visual-spectacle-on-small-screen-1269662?amp |url-status=dead |archive-date=5 January 2024 |access-date=4 January 2024 |website=Pinkvilla |language=en }}
See also
References
{{reflist}}
Sources
- Dictionary of Hindu Lord and Legend ({{ISBN|0-500-51088-1}}) by Anna Dhallapiccola
- {{citation|last=Raychaudhuri |first=Hemchandra|author-link=Hem Chandra Raychaudhuri|title=Political History of Ancient India |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h1KObc_qaXYC|year=2006|publisher=Cosmo Publications|isbn=81-307-0291-6}}
External links
{{Commons}}
{{Ramayana}}
Category:7th-century BC Indian monarchs