Hindu Dharma has a glorious past of Righteous kings who personified fearlessness and valour. Hindu kings were devoted to Righteousness and were always keen on the all round progress of their people. As per the saying ‘Raja Kalasya Karanam’ meaning the king himself is responsible for the times, the kings abided by Righteousness and hence their people were also happy, prosperous and of good moral conduct. The kings would rule under the direction of their Guru. They would patronise many artists and would wholeheartedly support the arts. They would never attack others except in self defence even though they were capable of conquering the entire planet on the basis of spiritual power. Similarly in the later part of their life they would hand over the reins of their kingdom to their heir and would perform spiritual practice further by voluntary acceptance of Vanaprasthasrhram.
The remembrance of such great kings who have created the glorious history of Hindus is an incessant source of inspiration. Every incident in the life of these great heroes is a witness to their brilliant capability. Some special events in the lives of these bright kings have been given ahead to awaken the extinct pride in the minds of Hindus about their religion, nation and culture and also to create a new urge and enthusiasm in them to defend their religion, nation and culture. It is our prayer at the feet of God that Hindus should ready themselves for any type of assault against them by taking a cue from this history.
King Vikramaditya
King Vikramaditya ruled over Ujjain. In his kingdom, all law and order arrangements were based on the Dharmashastras and were excellent. In order to ensure ideal rule, in his cabinet of ministers he had nine important ministers who were truly gems.
His kingdom extended up to Arabastan and he was a generous king who always looked after the welfare of his people. Vikramaditya’s father was Mahendradutt, mother was Soumyadarshana and brother was Barthuhari. Vikramaditya had defeated the rulers of Arabastan and had added that region into his kingdom. This victory is beautifully described in a poem by “Barham Bin Soi”. Of the sixty years that Vikramaditya ruled, he spent twenty five years in wars.
He was an ideal ruler who always ensured that everyone benefitted from his decisions. He was a generous ruler who always thought of the welfare of his people and ruled accordingly. Even though he was a follower of the Shaiva religion, he always treated all religions with equal respect. In his cabinet, his nine gems were Dhanvantri, Shapanak, Amar Singh Shanku, Vetal Bhatt, Kharpar, Kalidas, Varahmihir and Varruchi.
- Pujya Parshram Madhav Pande Maharaj, Akola
Nine Gems of his Cabinet
1. Kalidas: Author of the great epic, ‘Shakuntala’, great poet, dramatist and the most prominent scholar of Sanskrit language.
2. Amarnath: Author of ‘Sanskrit Amarkosh’
3. Shapanak: Prominent Astrologist who had achieved mastery in Astrology.
4. Dhanvantri: A Doctor who had achieved mastery in the science of medicine; one who was an expert in diagnosis and one who could prescribe different treatments for a single disease.
5. Varruchi: Expert Linguist and an expert in Grammar
6. Varahmihir: Author of World famous epic, ‘Bruhatsahita’ and mastery in Astrology.
7. Ghatakpar: Expert in sculpture and architecture.
8. Shanku: Expert in Geography (This name is even well known today in the field of geography)
9. Vetalbhadra : Expert in black magic & tantric sciences
This is an example of how the Bharatiya rule was complete in all respects with peace and prosperity existing everywhere in the kingdom when there were no external attacks.
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