A holy place near Gaya, also known as Pretashila. An offering made here removes any sin that arises out of Brahmahatya.

A part of patala. As per Uttararamayana, Ravana visited this place after seizing the Pushpak from Kuber.

The son of Ashmaka, who fought in the Mahabharata war on the Kaurava side. He was killed by Abhimanyu as per Mahabharata Dronaparva Chapter 37 verses 22-23.

Antecedents: Vishnu – Brahma – Marichi – Kashyapa – Vivasvan – Vaivasvatamanu – Ila – Pururavas – Ayus – Nahusha – Yayati. Yayati had 2 wives – the first was Shukra’s daughter Devayani, and the second was Vrishaparva’s daughter Sharmishta. Their sons were Yadu and Puru respectively, from whom descended the Yadavas and Pauravas. Puru’s wife was Kausalya, from whom was born Janamejaya. He conducted three ashwamedhas and earned the title of Vishwajit. He married Anantha and had a son named Prachinvan, who married a Yadavi named Ashmaki. They had a son named Samyati, as per Mahabharata Adiparva Chapter 95 verses 6-13.

A sage, as per Mahabharata Shantiparva Chapter 47 verse 5.

The land between the Godavari and Mahishmati rivers. The king of the land was also called Ashmaka. He fought on the Pandava side in the Mahabharata war, as per Karnaparva.

Ashmaka was born to Vasishta and the wife of Kanmashapada, king of Ayodhya.

The king once reached Vasishta’s ashram during a hunt. At that time, Vasishta’s son Shakti, eldest among hundred sons, came by, but refused to give way to the king. The furious king whipped Shakti, who in turn, cursed the king and made him a rakshasa. The rakshasa immediately killed Shakti. After several years, Vasishta lifted the curse and a grateful Kanmashapada took him to his palace. As per the king’s instructions, his wife Madayanti slept with Vasishta, to get a son. Soon she became pregnant and Vasishta  returned to the forests. But even after several years, Madayanti failed to give birth. Finally she was so frustrated that she beat her swollen belly with a grinding stone’s cylindrical part (ashma) and Ashmaka was born. Ashmaka built a city called Paudhanya as per Mahabharata Adiparva Chapter 176.

See Nahusha.

A famous garden in Lanka. This is where Ravana imprisoned Sita. It is described in Ramayana Sundarakanda Sarga 14, Aranyakanda Sarga 56 and the Mahabharata Aranyaparva Chapter 280 verses 42-43.

Once, when Ashokavega, a vidyadhara, was traveling through the sky, he saw the maidens of Galavashrama bathing in the Ganga. Since he lusted for them, the sages at the ashrama cursed him and made him human. His human name was Ashokadatta. As per the Kathasaritasagara, once, on the banks of the Kalindi, there was a brahmin named Govindaswami. He had two sons named Ashokadatta and Vijayadatta. They were as learned as their father.

Their land once suffered from famine and people suffered. Govindaswami couldn’t bear to see this and suggested to his wife that they give away everything they had and relocate to Kashi. The wife agreed and they proceeded to Kashi. On the way, they saw a yogi, who had smeared ash all over his body. With his matted locks, he seemed like Shiva. Govindaswami bowed to him, and asked him what the future held for his sons. The yogi said that though they had a bright future, Vijayadatta would be separated from them. But they would be reunited because of Ashokadatta’s greatness. Govindaswami left the yogi with mixed feelings in his mind. They neared Kashi subsequently, and he prayed at a temple. They spend the night under a tree in the temple courtyard, along with other travelers. They slept soundly because of fatigue, but Vijayadatta woke up because he felt very cold. He woke up his father too and said that he might feel better if he could sit by a fire, but without it, he might not even last the night. They saw a flame, which happened to be a pyre. Govindaswami took Vijayadatta there and he sat by the fire. After some time, he saw something in the pyre and asked his father what it was. Govindaswami told him that it was a skull burning. Immediately, the boy poked it with a stick. The skull burst and some fluid fell into his mouth. He suddenly grew fangs and nails and became a rakshasa, with a sword. He picked up the skull and drank all the fluid, and proceeded to attack Govindaswami! Suddenly a voice rang out and asked Vijayadatta to leave his father and follow it. Vijayadatta disappeared even as his father called for him. He went back to his family and conveyed the news. The other travelers commiserated with them too. Among them was a merchant named Samudradatta. He took them to his home in Kashi and took care of them. The family took solace in the fact that they would meet their son again as per the yogi’s words.

The merchant requested them to continue staying with him. Ashokadatta completed his education and as he grew older also became famous for his physical prowess. Once during a festival season, a wrestler visited Kashi and defeated all the wrestlers who were part of the royal court. Samudradatta told the king about Ashokadatta and the king called for him. A fierce fight ensued between Ashokadatta and the wrestler, which the former won. The king gave him many gifts, and soon he became a regular in the king’s court, and grew rich. Once the king visited a distant Shiva temple for a Chaturdashi puja. When he was returning, he passed by a funeral ground, and heard a voice that told him that he was an innocent man, who had been sentenced to death because the judge held a grudge against him. He had been hanging for three days, but was still alive and needed some water. The king asked Ashokadatta, who was accompanying him, to send someone to give the man some water. Since everyone else was reluctant, Ashokadatta himself took up the task. The king, meanwhile, continued on his journey. Ashokadatta went through the funeral ground, which was in darkness, except for stray flames and glowworms. There were eerie sounds too. He demanded to know who had asked the king for water and a voice responded. When he reached the source of the voice, he found a man hanging and at his feet was a beautiful woman, crying. She was wearing a lot of jewelery. He asked her who she was. She said that she was the man’s wife and had decided to kill herself as soon as he died. She blamed herself for his plight and said that he had been hanging thus for three days. He asked for water regularly, but she was unable to reach his mouth. Ashokadatta asked her to stand on his back and give the man water. She did so, but after some time Ashokadatta noticed blood drops falling on him. When he looked up, he saw the woman slicing up the man and eating his flesh. Ashokadatta grabbed her legs and tried to pull her down, but she escaped. He was left with a bangle from her leg.

He returned home and after his morning ablutions proceeded to the court. The king asked him if he had given the man water. Ashokadatta replied in the affirmative and gave the king the bangle. When the king asked him where he got it from, Ashokadatta described the events from the previous night. The king lauded Ashokadatta’s bravery and gave the bangle to his queen after telling her the whole story. The queen was delighted too. The king told his queen that it would be wonderful if their daughter Madanalekha were to be married to Ashokadatta. The queen agreed and also said that she had known from her maids that Madanalekha had seemed distracted after she had seen Ashokadatta in the gardens a few days earlier. The next day, at dawn, a divine voice had told the queen that Madanalekha had been Ashokadatta’s wife in the previous birth and they should be married in this birth too. She had conveyed this to Madanalekha and said that since the king too felt the same, they shouldn’t delay the marriage. Soon Madanalekha and Ashokadatta were married and all were of the opinion that they looked good together.

One day, the queen told the king that the bangle didn’t look good alone and they should make a similar one. The king called the goldsmiths and commanded them to make a similar one. They looked at the bangle and said that it had not been made by humans. They also said that the jewels encrusted in it would not be found in this world, and that it would be best if the king looked for a similar piece in the place where the original had been found. Seeing the disappointment on the king’s and queen’s faces, Ashokadatta volunteered to get the bangle’s pair. Though the king tried to stop him, Ashokadatta went to the funeral ground the same night. Since he had to find the woman, he decided to use human meat as a bait. He bought a corpse, slung it over his shoulder and began walking, shouting out that he had meat for sale. He heard a voice respond and walked in that direction. Soon, he saw a wealthy looking woman sitting on a tree surrounded by her maids. When he shouted again, the woman asked him how much he would sell it for. Ashokadatta showed the bangle and said he would sell for its pair. The woman laughed and said that she was the same person who Ashokadatta had seen at the funeral ground. She said that she appeared only on Krishnachaturdashi days, and it was good that Ashokadatta had chosen that day to come there. She said that she would give him the bangle if he did one more thing she asked. When Ashokadatta agreed, she said that in the Himalayas, there was a place called Trikhanda, and there was a rakshasa named Lambajihva who lived there. She was his wife and her name was Vidyuchhikha.. They had a daughter, following which he was killed in a battle with his master Kalapasphodana, who was kind enough to let them stay on in their house. The daughter had grown up and Vidyuchhikha was now looking for a groom for her. That was when she had seen Ashokadatta and felt he would be suitable for her daughter. That was why she had set up the entire scene and she had allowed him to take the bangle only because she knew he would come back for the pair. She told him that the pair would be his if he agreed to be her son-in-law. Ashokadatta agreed and she took him to her palace in the Himalayas.

He was amazed at the magnificence of the palace and later got married to the daughter whose name was Vidyulprabha. After some time, he asked his mother in law for the bangle and said that he needed to return to Kashi. Vidyuchhikha gave him the bangles and a golden lotus and took him back to the funeral ground. She told him that she would be there on all Krishnachaturdashi days and he could come to see her then. Ashokadatta returned to his parents who had been worried about him. He soon went to meet the king who was extremely happy to see him. Ashokadatta gave him the bangles and the golden lotus and told him and the queen the entire story. They felt they were lucky to have such a brave man as their son-in-law. The next day, the king kept the golden lotus in a silver vessel and placed it in their temple. The brightly colored vessel and the golden lotus looked beautiful and the king felt that it would be great if they could have another golden lotus for the other side of the temple. Ashokadatta once again volunteered but the king stopped him. Krishnachaturdashi followed a few days later and Ashokadatta left his sleeping wife and went to the funeral ground. He met his mother-in-law there and together they went to the palace. He stayed with Vidyulprabha for a while and while returning asked Vidyuchhikha for another golden lotus. She said she didn’t have any more and they could only be found in Kalapasphoda’s lake. Ashokadatta asked to be shown the lake, and it was only after a lot of insistence that Vidyuchhikha agreed to show it to him, that too from a  distance. Seeing a lot of golden lotuses there, he started plucking them. A few soldiers tried to stop him, but he killed them. Some of the soldiers escaped and conveyed the news to Kapalasphoda. Kapalasphoda quickly grabbed a few weapons and ran to the lake,. But as soon as he saw Ashokadatta, he dropped his weapons, prostrated in front of him and said that he was Vijayadatta, and had been forced to live as a rakshasa all this while. Now that he had seen his brother, he remembered he was a brahmin and could feel the rakshasa nature leaving him. On hearing this, Ashokadatta embraced his brother. Just then a vidyadhara guru named Prajnaptikaushika appeared there and told them that they were vidyadharas and all that had happened to them was because of a curse, which had now been lifted. He advised them on various mantras and asked them to join their parents. The two brothers, who had now been transformed into vidyadhars reached Trikhanda where Ashokadatta noticed that Vidyulprabha had become a vidyadhari too. Together, the three of them went to their parents at Kashi, who were surprised at the transformation. The two brothers told them the entire story. By that time, the king too had arrived there and he took them to the palace. Ashokadatta gave him the golden lotuses and he was glad to get more than what he had expected.

Govindaswami asked Vijayadatta to narrate everything that had happened after the night at the temple when he been transformed into a rakshasa. Vijayadatta said that after the night’s incidents, the other rakshasas had named him Kapalasphoda, and he started living with them. Later, they took him to their king, who seemed to take a liking to him and made him his commander. The rakshasa king once got into a fight with some gandharvas and was killed. Thus Vijayadatta became king of the rakshasas, and years later, he had met Ashokadatta.

Ashokadatta told them of they were once traveling through the sky, and had seen the maidens of Galavashrama bathing in the Ganga. Since they had lusted for them, the sages at the ashrama had  cursed them and made them human. But they had also said that they would then be separated, later reunited and would then gain the knowledge from their guru and return to their original form. He used the mantras to also make his parents and Madanalekha vidyadhars. He then took leave of the king and queen, and with his 2 wives, brother and parents went to meet the vidyadhara emperor. There they were rechristened as Ashokavega and Vijayavega. As per the emperor’s command, they lived with their family in the Govindakuta mountains.

Meanwhile, the king placed the golden lotuses in his temple and ad considered his dynasty blessed, as per Kathasaritasagara Chaturdarikalambaka Taranga 2.