Court of King Janaka

According to Puranas, Mithi was the first king, who ascended the royal throne at the court of King Janaka in Mithila. He was the son of the King Nimi in the ancient Kingdom of Videha. In the text Brihada Vishnu Purana, there is a list of 54 Janakas, who later ascended the royal throne at the court of King Janaka in Mithila.^[7]

In the epic Ramayana, the court of King Janaka is famous for conducting Sita Swayamvara competition for the marriage of the princess Sita of Mithila. In the competition, the kings or princes of all the kingdoms in the ancient Indian subcontinent (Āryāvarta), participated. The competition for the legendary Sita Swayamvara is a major event in the Ramayana. There was a condition in the competition. The condition for winning in the competition of was to lift the legendary bow Pinaka of Lord Shiva kept at the court of King Janaka. In the ceremony of the Sita Swayamvara, Lord Rama along with his brother Lakshmana and Guru Vishwamitra also arrived. They were welcomed by the King Janaka at the court. In the competition no one was able to lift the legendary bow Pinaka. Then in last, Lord Rama successfully lifted the legendary bow and finally it was broken. After the legendary bow Pinaka was broken, the sage Parshurama angrily came to the court of the King Siradhwaja Janaka, to know who had broken it.

According to Upanishads, the court of King Janaka was the centre of attraction for Vedic scholars all over the subcontinent. It is associated with the philosophical text Brihadaranyaka Upanishad. The eminent Vedic scholar Yajnavalkya became famous from the scholarly Bahudakshina Yajna held at the assembly of the court. He later codified the Hindu law in his text Yagyavalkya Smriti. The court of King Janaka was a prominent seat for Sanskrit and Vedic learning in Mithila.^[2][8]

In Mahabharata, the Vedic sage Vedas Vyasa sent his own son Shuka to the court of King Janaka for learning spritual knowledge from the philosopher King Janaka. In the texts Puranas and Mahabharata, there is description about an examination taken by the King Janaka to test the knowledge and understanding of the young scholar Shuka.^[1]

According to the records of the Hindu texts, King Janaka used to appoint his ministers and advisors from the victorious scholars participating in shastrarthas (scholarly debates) organised by the King Janaka at his court.^[8]

According to the text Vishnu Purana, the founder King Nimi initially invited to the Vedic sage Brahmarshi Vashishtha as his chief advisor cum priest for conducting a Yajna at his court. But the sage Vashishtha was already invited by the King Devaraja Indra for conducting a long Yajna at his court in the Swarga Loka, before the invitation of the King Nimi. Therefore, the sage Vashishtha went to the court of the King Devaraja Indra. Then, later the King Nimi invited other Vedic sage Maharshi Gautama as his chief advisor cum priest for conducting the Yajna at his court. The sage Gautama accepted the invitation for becoming his chief advisor cum priest and conducted the Yajna in the absence of the sage Vashishtha. It is said that when the sage Vashishtha returned to the court of King Nimi, he saw the Yajna was completed by the sage Maharshi Gautama. After knowing the completion of the Yajna in his absence, Brahmarshi Vashishtha became angry and cursed the King Nimi that his soul would be removed from his body. After listening the curse from Vashishtha, the King Nimi also cursed the same to the sage Vashishtha.^[9][10][11]

During the period of King Siradhwaja Janaka in the Ramayana, the chief advisor at the royal court of the King Janaka was Shatananda, the son of the Vedic sage Maharshi Gautama.^[12] In the text Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, there is mention of a Brahmin scholar Ashvala as the chief advisor of King Janaka during the occasion of the scholarly contest Bahudakshina Yajna at the assembly of the court.^[6] In the scholarly contest of the Bahudakshina Yajna, the revered Vedic sage Yajnavalkya defeated all the Brahmins who debated with him on Vedic knowledge, at the court. He was declared as the Brahmishtha among all the Brahmin scholars present at the assembly of the court. He was later appointed as the chief advisor cum minister at the court by the King Janaka of Mithila.^[13][8]

In the Vana Parva section of Mahabharata, there is mention of Acharya Bandi, the son of Varuna Devata, as the chief advisor at the court of King Janaka in Mithila. He was known for instituting the punishment called as "Jala Samadhi" for the defeated Brahmin scholars in the Shastrarthas organised at the court. He defeated several scholars in the Shastrarthas held at the court and sent them to Jala Samadhi. He also defeated the Vedic sage Kahoda, the father of Ashtavakra.^[14]

Later, when the little Ashtavakra grew up and attained the age of tenth, he came to know the reason of the death of his father. After knowing the reason of the death of his father, he pledge to challenge and defeat Acharya Bandi at the court of the King Janaka in Mithila. Then, he along with his maternal uncle Shvetaketu went to the court of King Janaka in Mithila. When they approached to the gate of the court, the gatekeeper stopped them to enter the assembly of the court. But suddenly when the King Janaka got notice of the arrival of the two young Brahmins at the gate of the court, he ordered the gatekeeper to allow them to enter at assembly of the court. The young Ashtavakra, after entering at the assembly of the court, challenged Acharya Bandi to do Shastrartha with him. Acharya Bandi accepted the challenge, but in the Shastrartha he was defeated by the young Brahmin Ashtavakra. Later, after the defeat of Acharya Bandi, the King Janaka appointed Ashtavakra as his chief advisor. Later, Ashtavakra preached the philosophy of self to the King Janaka at his court. The philosophical discourse between the sage Ashtavakra and the King Janaka is recorded as the text Ashtavakra Gita.^[15]

In the Shanti Parva section of the text Mahabharata, there is mention of a King Janaka, whose advisor was the Vedic sage Parashara, the father of Veda Vyasa. The Vedic sage Parashara preached the King Janaka about the philosophy of karma-sanyasa. The philosophical discourse between the Vedic sage Parashara and the King Janaka is recorded as the text Parashara Gita.^[16]

In Moksha-dharma Parva sub section of the section Shanti Parva in the text Mahabharata, once King Janadeva Janaka asked a hundred acharyas of his court philosophical questions about salvation, but none of them could give satisfactory answers to his questions about salvation. Then by chance a sage named Panchashikha entered to the court and he told the king the means of attaining salvation. The King Janadeva Janaka was satisfied and impressed by the answer of the sage Panchashikha. After that he abandoned his hundred acharyas and appointed Panchashikha as his chief advisor. Then, the chief advisor Panchashikha at the court, taught Janadeva Janaka about the philosophy of Brahmavidya and Shankhya Shastra.^[17]