Each of these 17 kings was a pious and noble soul and revered as a Raja-rishi. Even merely uttering their names and remembering them with reverence will usher auspiciousness in our lives. Let us review each of them individually and get a basic understanding of their greatness. Out of these, 3 are from Svaayambhuva manvantara (Bharat, Uttaanapaada, Dhruva), one is from Chaakshusha manvantara (Pruthu) and the remaining 13 are from Vaivasvata manvantara.

Bharata: There are three Bharatas that are famous in religious literature and all three were kings known for their steadfastness towards Dharma. The first is Raama’s brother, Bharata, who was known for his love, devotion and loyalty towards Raama. He shunned the comforts of the palace and lived like a hermit in a cottage until the return of Raama. Even today people take his name as an example of a noble and ideal brother. The second is Bharata, the son of Lord Rushabha. His details are explained below.

The third Bharata we hear about is the son of Dushyanta and Shakuntala. He was such a great emperor that after his advent this land became known as Bharata Varsha or Bhaarata.
As stated earlier, Syaamabhuva manu was the manu of the first manvantara. He had 2 sons – Priyavrata and Uttaanapaada. Priyavrata had 2 wives. The first was Barhishmati, the daughter of Vishwakarma. They had 10 sons and one daughter. One of the sons was Aagneedhra. Priyavrata had three sons from his second wife – Uttama, Taapasa (an incarnation of Lord Vishnu) and Raivata. All three sons became manus of the manvantaras bearing their name. The liberation of Gajendra, the king of elephants, happened in Taapasa manvantara.

Aagneedhra married Viprachitti, an apsara, and had 9 sons from her. They became the nava varshaadhipatis of Jambu-dveepa. His eldest son was Naabhi. He became the ruler of Bharata Varsha (the Indian subcontinent extending from Kanyakumari to the Himalayas). Naabhi married Meru devi (the daughter of Meru mountain) and obtained Rushabha as his son. Rushabha is venerated in the bhaagavata as an incarnation of Lord Vishnu. He is also worshipped by Jains as an aadi teerthankara.
Rushabha had 100 sons with Bharata as the eldest. Rushabha entrusted the empire to Bharata and decided perform penance in the forest. Not wanting to take anything from the kingdom, he discarded all his belongings including his ornaments and even his clothing. He went to the forest naked! Some ignorant people thought he had become mad. Some others observed his actions and started emulating them. This became the starting point for the digambhara (naked) Jain sect. Rushabha came to Kutajaadri forest in Karnataka. He then created a forest fire there and disappeared. Ignorant people, unaware of His divinity, assumed that He had died in the forest fire.

When Bharata was crowned the emperor of Bharata Varsha , 9 of his brothers became rulers of the 9 major kingdoms within Bhaarata. Another nine became very great sages, venerated by all. These were Kavi, Hari, Antariksha, Prabuddha, Pippalaayana, Aavirhotra, Dramila, Chamasa and Karabhaajana. We read about them in bhaagavata. The remaining 81 brothers accepted braahmana dharma and performed yagnas and homas as prescribed by shastras.

Bharat ruled over the empire as a just and pious king. When he grew old, he handed over the empire to his sons and went to Pulaha’s ashrama for penance. There he came across a baby orphan deer. He started caring for the deer and in the process became excessively attached to it and lost his spiritual moorings. During his final moments he was worried about the deer and its upkeep after his death. As a result, he was reborn as a deer. However, as a result of the penance he had done before, his devotion and knowledge remained intact. He lived in the same ashrama and finally died. He was reborn as Jada Bharata, the son of a priest. All his brothers were well versed in shastras and assisted their father in his priestly duties. Bharata pretended to be dull and ignorant, even though he was much more knowledgeable than his father and his brothers. He did so because he was determined to remain steadfast in his contemplation of the Lord and avoid all attachments. After a while, his family gave up on him and gave him menial tasks only, assuming that he was incapable of performing more involved duties.

King Rahuguna was going in a palanquin towards the ashrama of Dattaatreya when one of the bearers became sick. The other bearers came across Jada Bharata and made him a bearer to replace the one who had fallen sick. As Jada Bharata’s steps were not in concert with other bearers, the movement of the palanquin became haphazard causing great discomfort to King Rahuguna. When he found out the reason, he admonished Bharat and asked him to carry the palanquin properly. But when several of his admonishments did not make any difference, he threatened Jada Bharata with severe punishment. His words stirred Jada Bharata out of his reverie and he gave a deeply philosophical reply to the King’s threat. The spiritual depth of his words astounded King Rahuguna. He immediately realized the greatness of Jada Bharata and surrendered at his feet. He asked Jada Bharata to become his guru and provide him spiritual guidance. This story is immortalized in the Bhaagavata.

UttaanapAda and Dhruva: Uttaanapaada was the other son of Syaamabhuva manu. He too had two wives – Suneeti and Suruchi. Dhruva was Suneeti’s son and Uttama was Suruchi’s son. Uttaanapaada favored Suruchi a lot and neglected Suneeti and Dhruva. One day, when the five-year old Dhruva attempted to sit in his father’s lap, he was pushed aside by his step mother. She sarcastically asked Dhruva to pray to Lord Vishnu so that he could be born as Suruchi’s son in his next birth in order to sit in his father’s lap. Dhruva went crying to his mother who consoled him but was powerless to get him his father’s love. Suruchi’s words had left an immense effect on Dhruva. He decided to go to the forest and pray to Lord Vishnu. He left the palace despite his mother’s pleadings and went to the forest. Sage Narada met him there and gave his upadesha of Vaasudeva dvaadashaakshara mantra (“OM Namo Bhagavate vaasudEvaaya”). Dhruva chanted this mantra with utmost devotion and steadfastness, while performing very rigorous penance. The details of his penance are astounding and one is amazed at how a five-year old child could endure such hardships.

In the first month, he consumed fruits once every three days. In the second month, he ate grass and dried leaves every sixth day. In the third month, he drank just water every ninth day. In the fourth month, he consumed air every 12th day while holding his breath during other times. In the fifth month, he stopped even this and held his breath continually while meditating on the Lord. In the sixth month, Lord Vishnu appeared before him and blessed him. He told Dhruva that he would rule over his father’s empire and also rule over a celestial world too. This world would be named Dhruva-loka in his honor.

When Dhruva returned home, he was greeted by a huge retinue consisting of his father, mother, step-mother and step-brother and all prominent courtiers of the Kingdom. In due course he was crowned the emperor of Bharata Varsha. He had two wives – one was the daughter of Lord Shimshumaara (a form of Lord Vishnu, in the shape of a scorpion) and the other was the daughter of Vaayu.

Dhruva’s story is immortalized in the Bhaagavata. When we talk about great devotees of the Lord, his name is always mentioned.

Pruthu: One of the descendants of Dhruva was Chakshus. He became the manu of Chaakshusa manvantara. His grand son was Anga; the kingdom built by him was Anga-desha. Anga had a vile son called Vena, whose evil nature was evident even during his childhood. Unable to witness the evil deeds of his son, Anga retired to the forest to perform penance. Vena was crowned King by the sages. His evil nature was now in full bloom. He was arrogant and forced his subjects to worship him as God. Finally, all the sages got fed up with him and got rid of him through their snort (hunkaara). Since he had no children, the sages churned his right shoulder and created a male child. He was named Pruthu and crowned the king. He was a very virtuous king who believed in righteousness. Vena’s evil rule had rendered the land barren and devoid of any crops, creating famine throughout the land. Angered by Bhudevi’s (mother Earth) indifference to the suffering of his subjects, King Pruthu decided to punish her. Bhudevi took the form of a cow and fled towards the heavens, with Pruthu following in pursuit. When Bhudevi learnt the reason for his anger she advised him to calm down and follow the path of truth and righteousness. When he did so, prosperity and happiness returned back to his land. He reorganized the land into cities and farmlands – one meant for living, and the other for agriculture. He constructed lakes and channels for river waters to flow from one place to another. Since he was the main architect of civilization, Earth was named as Pruthvi (the daughter of Pruthu). That name remains to this day.
Having looked at the Rajarishis of Svaayambhuva and Chaakshusha manvantaras, let us look at the remaining ones, who are all from our manvantara (Vaivasvata).

Nahusha: Vaivasvata is the son of Vivasvaan (the Sun) and the ruler of this manvantara. That is why when we do sankalpa we use the phrase “vaivasvata manvantare”. The first child of Vaivasvata manu was a girl named Ila. Budha, the son of Chandra, fell in love with her and married her. Their son was Pururavas, the first king of the Moon dynasty. Pururava’s son was Aayu and his son was Nahusha.

Once, due to force of circumstances, Indra had to leave his post. The gods were worried that asuras would attack them as they had no king to protect them. They approached Nahusha and offered him Indra’s post, which he accepted. However, after a few days in power, he got drunk with power and started lusting after Indra’s wife Shachi. Unable to reject his offer outright, Shachi agreed to his proposal but made it conditional. The condition was that Nahusha should come to her palace on a palanquin borne by the sapta-rishis themselves. When Nahusha ordered the sapta rishis to do this, they had no option but to agree. As they were carrying the palanquin, Sage Agastya engaged Nahusha in debate. His question to Nahusha was “Are the Vedas pramaanaas (reliable references that are true)?” This was a trick question because Nahusha knew that the Vedas were sacrosanct but could not admit that openly. Why? Because the vedas expressly forbade the behavior he was exhibiting – lusting after another man’s wife. So, even though he knew the Vedas were sacrosanct, he said they were not. This led to a debate between him and Agastya that Nahusha lost. Angered by his loss, he physically abused Agastya, who immediately cursed him to become a python that preyed on other animals. The remorse stricken Nahusha asked for forgiveness and a remedy for the curse. Agastya told him that he would be released from the curse when somebody answered his questions. After this, Nahusha fell from heaven into a dense forest as a python. He continued in his state preying on any living being that came near him. One day Bhima too fell into his clutches. Nahusha asked Bhima several questions which Bhima did not answer even though he knew the answers. Bhima did so because answering questions to save his life would amount to using knowledge for a selfish purpose. He lay in Nahusha’s clutches until Yudhisthira came by. Yudhishtira answered all of Nahusha’s questions and freed Bhima. In that process Nahusha also regained his former body and went back to heaven after blessing Yudhishtira and other Pandavas.

Ikshvaaku: After the birth of Ila, Vaivasvata manu did penance and obtained 10 children. The first of these was Ikshvaaku. The solar dynasty started with him. His descendants include many famous kings like Maandhaata, Sagara, Dasharatha, Raama,. He was known for emphasizing the importance of performing pitru kaarya.

Ambareesha: One of the other sons of Vaivasvata manu was Naabhaaga. His son was Ambareesha.
Ambareesha became the emperor of Bharata Varsha. He was a great devotee of Lord Vishnu and a strict practitioner of Ekadashi fasting. Once sage Durvaasa visited him on dvaadashi. Ambareesha was delighted to see him and immediately invited him for dvaadashi paarane (the meal consumed on dvaadashi after fully fasting on Ekadashi). Durvaasa said that he would join him for the paarane after taking a bath in the river. Ambareesha agreed and waited for the sage to return. However, when a lot of time elapsed and Durvaasa did not return, Ambareesha’s priest cautioned him that the auspicious time for paarane was coming to an end very soon. Ambareesha was caught in a dilemma; on the one hand, he did not want to eat without feeding Durvaasa, but on the other hand he did not want to miss dvaadashi paarane which was an important aspect of Ekadashi fasting. Finally, his priest suggested a compromise. He asked Ambareesha to consume teertha in the auspicious time and wait for his guest. Consuming teertha would complete the ritual of paarane without actually consuming food. Ambareesha did so and waited for Durvaasa’s arrival. When Durvaasa returned he immediately realized what had happened and became furious that Ambareesha had consumed teertha without waiting for him. He brushed aside Ambareesha’s sincere apologies and summoned a demon to kill Ambareesha. Ambareesha prayed to Lord Vishnu with devotion and sought His blessings. Vishnu sent his Sudarshana chakra (disc) to protect Ambareesha. The chakra killed the demon and started chasing Durvaasa. He fled to Brahmaloka to request Brahma to save him from Sudarshana. When Brahma expressed his inability to do so, Durvaasa fled to Kailasa. When even Shiva expressed his inability to save him, he finally fled to VaikunTha. Lord Vishnu also told him that He could not help Durvaasa because He was bound to help His devotee and could not summon his chakra back. He said that Ambareesha was the only person who could help Durvaasa and asked him to seek Ambareesha’s pardon. Durvaasa returned to Ambareesha’s palace and asked him to forgive him (durvaasa). When Ambareesha prayed to Vishnu, the chakra blessed Ambareesha and went back to Vishnu. Durvaasa was pleased with Ambareesha’s sweet nature and blessed him profusely.

On the surface, this incident seems to demonstrate the victory of Ambareesha over the haughty Durvaasa, but that is not the case. This was a charade enacted by Durvaasa and all other gods to demonstrate the devotion of Ambareesha and highlight the greatness of Ekadashi fasting. Durvaasa is a much higher jeeva than Ambareesha and therefore much dearer to Vishnu than Ambareesha.

Yadu, Yayaati: Yayaati was the son of Nahusha. He had two wives – Devayaani and Sharmishte. Devayaani had 2 sons – Yadu and Turvashu. The Yadava lineage started with Yadu. Lord Krishna and Balarama were part of this lineage. Sharmishte had three sons – Druhyu, Anu and Puru. The Purava lineage started with Puru and includes both the Kauravas and Pandavas.

When Yayaati was approaching old age he desired to enjoy the fruits of youth for some more time. So, he asked each of his sons individually to give their youth to him and accept his old age. The first four refused; only the last son, Puru, agreed to the exchange. Yayati enjoyed the fruits of Puru’s youth for a long time before realizing the futility of trying to satisfy desire. He concluded that just as it is impossible to put out a fire by pouring ghee on it, it is impossible to end desires by continually satisfying them. He gave Puru his youth back, blessed him profusely and crowned him as the next Emperor. He cursed his other sons and banished them from his life. None of them prospered and they all died in ignominy. The only exception was Yadu, who was perhaps spared because he was to become the genitor of the Yadava dynasty in which Lord Krishna was born.

Haihaya aka Kaartaveeryaarjuna: Haihaya was a king in the Yadava lineage. One of his descendants was Krutaveerya. His son was Arjuna, also known as Kaartaveeryaarjuna (Krutaveerya’s son Arjuna). Since he enhanced the glory of the Hehaya clan he was also known as Haihaya.

Kaartaveeryaarjuna had a thousand arms and was immensely powerful. He was an ardent devotee of Lord Dattaatreya and through His grace became invincible. However, he left the path of virtuousness and became arrogant and evil; he stole Kamadhenu from Jamadgani’s ashrama and harassed other sages. When his evil exploits became too much he was slain by Lord Parashurama.

There is a popular belief that Kaartaveeryaarjuna can find lost objects. That is why people who have misplaced something and are looking for it take his name, hoping the object will be found.

MaandhAta: Yuvanaashva was a king in the Sun dynasty and one of the descendants of Ikshvaaku. As he had no children the prominent sages in his kingdom performed a yagna on his behalf. Using their spiritual powers, they invoked the power of the yagna into a jar of water. Their intent was to give it to the Queen the next morning. However, Yuvanaashva woke up in the night and feeling thirsty drank the sanctified water by mistake. When the sages heard about this the next morning they were aghast and warned the king that their yagna would never go waste and the sanctified water drunk by the king would bless him with a son. It came to pass as they had predicted; in due course of time, when childbirth became imminent, the sages slit open the left side of Yuvanaashva’s abdomen without causing pain and delivered the baby boy. When the baby started crying out of hunger the sages were not sure how to feed him as there was no mother. At that juncture, Indra, the king of the devas, appeared before them and offered to feed the baby. He put his finger in the baby’s month and said “maandhaata” (meaning “He shall draw sustenance from me”). When the baby started sucking on Indra’s finger Nectar flowed from it, thereby feeding the baby. The sages named the baby as Maandhata. He grew up to become the Emperor of a huge empire; it is said that his empire extended to wherever the rays of the sun reached. Maandhaata had 50 daughters and one son (Muchukunda). Maandhaata gave all his 50 daughters in marriage to Soubhari rishi.

Muchukunda aided the gods in their battle against raakshaas. When the victorious gods directed him to ask for a boon in return for his services he asked for deep sleep and requested that the person waking him up should be burnt to ashes. He then went into a cave to sleep. When the demon Kaalayavana attacked Mathura, Krishna went into the cave where Muchukunda was sleeping, Kaalayavana chased him and in the dark stumbled across Muchukunda, waking him up. He was burnt to ashes as a result. Krishna revealed himself to Muchukunda and blessed him with salvation.

Sagara: Baahuka was a prominent king of the Sun dynasty. When enemies conquered his kingdom he went to the forest along with his wives. When he died, the eldest queen wanted to perform ‘sati’ and die along with him. However, Sage Ourva saw with his divine vision that she was pregnant and convinced her to not commit sati. When Baahuka’s other wives heard about this they became very jealous and poisoned the queen. However, due to Sage Ourva’s blessings the queen survived and gave birth to a baby boy. Since the child was born with poison, he was called Sagara (sa = along with, gara = poison).

Sagara became a great king. He had two wives – Sumati and Keshini (aka Amba). Sumati had 60,000 sons and Amba had one named Asamanjasaa. When Sagara performed an Ashvamedha yagna (horse sacrifice) Indra stole the sacrificial horse to prevent the yagna from being completed. He hid the horse in the hermitage of Sage Kapila in paataala (the subterranean world beneath the surface of the earth). King Sagara sent his 60,000 sons to look for the horse. When they did not find the horse anywhere on Earth, they decided to search the subterranean world. To reach this world, they started digging and the place filled up with water and became the ocean. Since it was created by Sagara’s sons it came to be known as Saagara. The sons reached Kapila maharshi’s ashrama and found the horse. They assumed he was the thief and attacked him. When Kapila opened His eyes and looked at them with anger, they were immediately burnt to ashes.

Sagara’s other son Asamanjasa was in the forest performing penance. So, his son Amshumanta took up the search. When he reached Kapila maharshi’s ashrama he saw the Rishi and the ashes of his uncles. He immediately understood what had transpired and prayed to Lord Kapila with sincere devotion. Kapila was pleased with his devotion and allowed him to take the yagna horse. When Amshumanta enquired about the fate of his uncles Kapila told him that only Ganga could help them get salvation.

Amshumanta returned home with the horse and the sacrifice was completed. He then did penance trying to please Ganga, but did not succeed. After his death, his son Dileepa continued the penance but he too did not succeed. His son Bhageeratha took up the penance and succeeded in pleasing Ganga. However, she cautioned him that the force of her descent from heaven would be too much for Earth to bear and asked him to find a way of reducing the impact. Bhageeratha prayed to Lord Shiva and obtained his grace. Accordingly, Lord Shiva spread his jata (matlock) as a net and caught Ganga in that. He became known as Gangaadhara from that day. As a great devotee of Lord Vishnu, he was happy to have Ganga, the paadodaka (water obtained by washing the feet of a great person) of Vishnu, on his head. When Shiva did not let Ganga leave his matlock, Bhageeratha again did penance to request Shiva to release Ganga. Shiva did so and Ganga started flowing on Earth. She followed Bhageeratha towards Kapila’s ashrama. On the way, they passed through Sage Jahnu’s ashrama. The ashrama was destroyed by the waters of Ganga. Sage Jahnu was angered by this and drank the entire river as a punishment. Bhageeratha begged Jahnu to forgive him and explained all the hardships he had encountered in order to bring Ganga to Earth. Jahnu took pity on him and let Ganga out through his right ear. From that day on, Ganga was also known as Jaahnavi (the daughter of Jahnu). Finally, the waters of Ganga reached Kapila’s ashrama and flowed over the ashes of Sagara’s sons, thereby ensuring their salvation. Since Bhageeratha was responsible for bringing the divine river to Earth, Ganga was called Bhaageerathi. Bhageeratha became the icon for unfaltering, resolute steadfastness; even to this day, if somebody strives very hard to achieve something extraordinary, his effort is called ‘bhageeratha prayatna”.

Dasharatha and Raama: Dasharatha was a king in the Sun dynasty and the ruler of Ayodhya. His story needs no further elaboration as it is well documented in the Raamayana. The only point to note is that Sri Raja Rajeshwara yati includes Raama in the list of kings, even though Raama is an incarnation of Vishnu and infinitely more superior in all aspects than others in this list. The author perhaps wants us to temporarily ignore the divinity of Raama and purely judge him as a mere human being. Even when shorn of divinity, Raama shines and surpasses others in the list. He was an ideal son, an ideal husband, an ideal king, an ideal brother, an ideal friend. He was the gold standard for every relationship and facet of life. That is why is called ‘maryaada purushotham’ – the definition of an ideal man.

VibheeshaNa: Vibheeshana is a well-known character in Raamayana. Even though he was the brother of Raavana, Kumbhakarana and Shoorpanaka, he was completely different from them in character. He abandoned his vile brother Raavana and became an ardent devotee of Raama. He was a very pious person who always followed the path of righteousness. He showed that it is possible to transcend the limitations of one’s family through steadfast character. The other aspect we learn is that the Lord does not care about one’s family, religion or caste, He cares only about the content of your character.
Vibheeshana is considered as one of the Chiranjeevis (immortals). There is a popular shloka recited when preparing children for an oil bath (“AshwattamaabalirvyaasOhanumaanshcha vibheeShaNaH, Krupashcha, Parashuraamashacha, saptaite chiranjeevinaH”, meaning that Aswathama, Bali, VedaVyaasa, Hanuman, Vibhishana, Krupacharya, and Parashuram are chiranjeevis). Some people include Maarkandeya also in this list, making him the eight Chiranjeevi.

NaLa: NaLa was another famous king described in the Mahabharata. He was the king of Nishada and was also known as naishaada. The lineage of his ancestors is not clearly documented in any puraaNa.
NaLa was known for his skill with horses and his cooking ability. Even today the phrase “naLa pAka” is used to describe good cooking. It is said that he could count the number of leaves in a tree while driving a chariot. He also possessed the ability of lighting a lamp just by reciting agni sookta. Princess Damayanti of Vidarbha chose him in a swayamvara, even though many celestials were there in the assemblage. Kali, the demon, decided to ruin his life in order to punish Damayanti for discarding celestials. However, Nala was such a noble soul that Kali could not find any weakness him in for 12 years. However, Nala entered his house one day without washing his feet. This gave Kali the opportunity to enter his mind and lead him down the path of ruin as a gambler. As a result, both Nala and Damayanti suffered a lot of hardships, but never abandoned the path of righteousness. Finally, Nala regained his wealth, kingdom and wife and lived happily. His life cautions us against the evils of gambling and the types of things that invite Kali into our body and mind. It also teaches that those who follow the path of righteousness always succeed in the end.

Once Paarvati, Shachi (Indra’s wife), Shyaamala (Yama’s wife) and Usha (Ashwini devatas wife) incurred the wrath of Brahma through some infraction. He cursed them to be born on Earth three times. They approached Bhaarati devi, the wife of Vaayu, to incarnate along with them and protect them. Accordingly, all of them were born on Earth, sharing one body and were known as Panch-kanyas. During Treta yuga (Raamayana time) they incarnated as Viprakanya. Their second birth was as Nala’s daughter Indrasena, also called as Naalaayani. Their final birth was in Dvapara yuga (Mahabharata time) as Draupadi.

Dharmaraaja: Kuru was one of the famous kings in the Moon dynasty. Both the Kauravas and Paandavas are his descendants. The famous Kurukshetra, where the war between Paandavas and Kauravas took place, is his creation. This has been immortalized in the Gita which begins with “dharmakshEtre kurukshetre samavetaa …”.

Yudhishtira or Dharmaraaja was the eldest of the Paandavas. The story of the Kauravas and Paandavas has been well documented in Mahaabhaarata and needs no further elaboration.

Sri Raja Rajeshwara yathi addresses Yudhishtira as ‘ShrImaan Dharmasuta”. This is a reference to the fact that Yudhishtira was the son of Yama dharmaraaja. He is addressed with the honorific “ShrImaan” because he spent his entire life stick to the path of Truth and Righteousness.