Lineage of Ikshvaku

I came across this book called Scion of Ikshvaku, written by the best selling author of The Shiva Trilogy series, Amish Tripathi. This book is about Maryada Purushottam Shri Ramchandra (An Avatar of Lord Vishnu). Amish has a beautiful way to present the mythological characters in a different form. He has already carved a niche for himself in his storytelling manner through Immortals of Meluha, Secret of Nagas and Oath of Vayuputras. With due respect to the writer and his millions of readers, I am sorry to say that this blog post has nothing to do with Amish and his book. My post is about Ikshvaku and his lineage. My reference and source of writing this post are solely Wikipedia. In this post, I try to figure out the family of Ikshvaku, who has been mentioned in Hinduism, Jainism, and Buddhism.

Ikshvaku in Sanskrit means Sugarcane. He was the founder (first king) of the Ikshvaku dynasty that ruled in ancient India.

According to Hinduism, this is what Wikipedia has to say about Ikshvaku,

Ikshvaku is remembered in Hindu scriptures as a righteous and glorious king. In some versions, he is the son of _Vaivasvata Manu_ (formerly the Emperor Satyavrata of _Dravida_), one of the two central characters along with the _Lord Matsya_ incarnation of _Lord Vishnu_ in the _Matsya Purana_. He is born to _Manu_ after the deluge which sends the King’s ship to the top of the _Malaya Mountains_ in the _Dravida_ country.

According to Jainism,

The Ikshvaku clan said to began from _Rishabha_, the first _Tirthankara_ and founder of _Jainism_ in the present Avasarpini (half time cycle as per _Jain cosmology_). According to _Jain texts_, Rishabha was born to the fourteenth Manu, Nabhi Raja and Marudevi in Ajudya (capital of Nabhi Raja’s kingdom) at the end of Suṣama-duhṣamā (read as Sukhma-dukhma), the third era of Avasarpani. When Rishabha decided to become a monk, he gave his throne to Bharata, eldest of all and made _Bahubali_, a successor to the royal seat. Jain history provides two explanations about how the word “Ikshvaku” came about.

According to one version, when Kalpa trees (trees that fulfilled wishes) disappeared, Rishabha taught the men how to use ikshurasa (sugarcane juice). Therefore, Rishabha came to be known as ‘Ikshvaku,’ and his lineage was called Ikshvaku vansa (Family of Ikshvaku).
According to another version, when Rishabha was a kid, he was offered several fruits, out of those he chooses sugarcane and started chewing it. Indra (heavenly being) came to worship Rishabhdev. When he saw lord Rishabha chewing sugarcane, he gave the name Ikshvaku, meaning “sugarcane eating”, thus his clan adopted this name in honor. Thus according to Jainism, Ikshvaku was another name for Rishabdev.

According to Buddhism,

The Buddhist text, Mahavamsa (II, 1-24) traces the origin of the Shakyas to king Okkaka (Pali equivalent to Sanskrit Ikshvaku) and gives their genealogy from Mahasammata, an ancestor of Okkaka.

As per Hinduism, the lineage of Ikshvaku is as follows:

Ikshvaku is the grandson of Vivasvan or Surya and son of Vaivasvata Manu. They ruled from the Kosala Kingdom, today known as Oudh in the state of Uttar Pradesh along the banks of river Sarayu with saketa, Ayodhya as their capital. Ikshvaku is the first king who executed the Manusmrti or religious rules of Hindu living which were composed by his father, Manu. Ikshvaku ruled as Monarch at the beginning of the Treta Yuga or second yuga, had a hundred sons. His estates descended to his eldest son, Vikukshi. The two Indian epics, Ramayana and Mahabharata, have numerous mentions of this dynasty.

The lists of kings of Ikṣvāku or Aikṣvāka dynasty are found in the Ramayana, the Mahabharata, the Harivamsha and the Puranas. The Raghuvamsha of Kalidasa also mentions the names of the kings of this dynasty.

The genealogy of the Ikshvaku dynasty to Rama is mentioned in the Ramayana in two lists. The only difference between the two records is that Kukshi is mentioned only in the second list. In the first list, Vikukshi is mentioned as the son of Ikshvaku. The genealogy is as follows:

Brahma Marichi Kashyapa Vivasvan or Surya Vaivasvata Manu

The begin Of Ikshvaku Dynasty

Ikshvaku
Kukshi/Vikukshi-Vikukshi is the son of King Ikshvaku, the first king of the Ikshvaku dynasty and founder of the Sun Dynasty (Suryavansha). Among the hundred sons of king Ikshvaku, Vikukshi is the eldest one. Because he has very broad chest of a warrior, he was called as Vi-Kukshi.
Kakutstha
Prithu
Drishasasya
Andhra
Jubanashwa
Sravasthi (Built Sravasti City)
Brihadasva
Kuvalayasva (or) Dubdhunara
Dridhasva
Haryasva
Nikumbha
Samhastasva
Krisasva
Prasenajit
Jubanashwa(2)
Mandhata
Ambarisha
Sambhuti
Anaranya
Haryasva(2)
Sumati
Tridhanva
Thrayaruni
Satyavrata (or) Trishanku
Harishchandra (unwavering and resolutely dedicated to dharma(truth))
Rohit
Harita
Chanchu
Vinaya
Ruruka
Bahu
Sagara
Asamanjasa
Amsumantha
Dilipa
Bhagiratha
Srutha
Nabhaga
Ambarisha(2)
Ayutayu
Rituparna
Sarvakama
Sudama
Saudasa (or) Kalmashapada
Asmaka
Mulaka
Satharatha
Ldabida
Krisakarma
Dilipa(2) (or) Khatvanga
Deerghabahu
Raghu( know for his great conquests all over the globe)
Aja
Dasaratha
Rama( Lakshmana, Bharata & Shatrughna are his siblings and he is also avatar of lord Vishnu)

In the Ramayana, we find that, Lava and Kusha were the sons of Rama.

The Puranas provide a genealogical list from Kusha to Brihadbala, who was killed by Abhimanyu in the Mahabharata war. This list is corroborated by the Raghuvamsha till Agnivarna:

Kusha
Atithi, the son of Kusha
Nishadha, the son of Atithi
Nala, the son of Nishadha
Nabhas, the son of Nala
Pundarika, the son Nabhas
Kshemadhanvan, the son of Pundarika
Devanika, the son of Kshemadhanvan
Ahinagu, the son of Davanika
Paripatra, the son of Ahinagu
Dala (or Bala), the son of Ahinagu
Uktha, the son of Dala
Vajranabha, the son of Uktha
Shankhana, the son of Vajranabha
Vyushitashva, the son of Shankhana
Vishvasaha, the son of Vyushitashva
Hiranyanabha, the son of Vishvasaha
Pushya, the son of Hiranyanabha
Dhruvasandhi, the son of Pushya
Agnivarna, the son of Dhruvasandhi
Shighra, the son of Agnivarna
Maru, the son of Shighra
Prasushruta, the son of Maru
Susandhi, the son of Prasushruta
Amarsha and Sahasvanta, the sons of Susandhi
Vishrutavanta, the son of Amarsha
Brihadbala, the son of Vishrutavanta.

The Puranas also provide the list of the kings from Brihadbala to the last ruler Sumitra. But these lists mention Shakya as an individual and incorporate the names of Shakya, Shuddodhana, Siddhartha (Gautama Buddha) and Rahula between Sanjaya and Prasenajit. The names of the kings are:

Birhadbala
Brihatkshaya
Urukshaya
Vatsavyuha
Prativyoma
Divakara
Sahadeva
Brihadashva
Bhanuratha
Pratitashva
Supratika
Marudeva
Sunakshatra
Kinnara
Antariksha
Suvarna
Sumitra Amitrajit
Dharmin
Kritanjaya
Sanjaya Mahakoshala
Prasenajit (c. 6th century BCE)
Kshudraka
Kulaka
Suratha
Sunakshtra

According to Buddhism, Ikshvaku is also known as Okkāka in Pali. This list comprises the names of several prominent kings of the Ikshvaku dynasty, namely, Mandhata and Sagara. The genealogy, according to the Mahavamsa, is as follows:

Okkaka
Okkamukha
Sivisamjaya
Sihassara
Jayasena
Sihahanu
Suddhodana
Siddhartha (Gautama Buddha)
Rahula

Now comes the reason why I write this post. There is a piece of information regarding Rishabhdev, also known as Adinath on Wikipedia. It says,

Rishabha was born to Nabhi Raja and Marudevi at Ayodhya before human civilization was much developed. It is said that Kubera built entire new town of Ayodhya at the time of the birth of Rishabha. People were primitive and illiterate and Rishabha taught them agriculture, tending of animals, cooking, poetry, painting, sculpture and similar arts. He introduced karma-bhumi (the age of action). The institution of marriage came into existence, during his time. He introduced a total of seventy-two sciences which includes arithmetic, the plastic and visual arts, the art of lovemaking, singing and dancing. He taught people how to extract sugarcane juice. The name for the Ikshvaku dynasty comes from the word ikhsu (sugarcane) because of this event. His kingdom was kind and gentle and he is credited with transforming a tribal society into an orderly one. Like any Tirthankara and other legendary figures of Indian history (who were great warriors), he too was a great warrior with great strength and body. However, he never needed to show his warrior aspect. Rishabha is known for advocating non-violence. He was one of the greatest initiators of human progress.
Rishabha had two wives. One of them was Sunanda and the other is given different names, Yasaswati, Nanda and Sumangala in different texts. He had one hundred sons and two daughters. Among these, Sunanda was the mother of Bahubali and Sundari whereas Sumangala was the mother of Bharat and Brahmi. He taught his daughters Brahmi and Sundari, the Brahmi-lipi (ancient Brahmi script) and the ‘science of numbers’ (Ank-Vidya) respectively.

According to Jainism, Bharata is the son of Lord Rishabhdev (Ikshvaku). According to Hinduism, Lord Ram is one of the descendants of the lineage of Ikshvaku due to Him sharing the bloodline with Bharata (not his stepbrother but some great grandparent of Dashrath). Does this make Ram a descendant of Lord Rishabhdev?

Also, the above lineage shows that Gautama Buddha shares the bloodline of Ikshvaku. Does that suggest that Gautama Buddha too is the descendant of Lord Rishabhdev?

There are stories which suggest Lord Neminath and Lord Krishna are cousins. Lord Neminath is also one of the twenty-two Tirthankars who are descendants of Ikshvaku dynasty (Please note: Jainism has twenty-four Thirthankars out of which twenty-two are said to have belonged to Ikshvaku Dynasty). Does that suggest Lord Krishna too belongs to the Ikshvaku dynasty?

If all the above-said facts are correct, then it wouldn’t be wrong to say that Jainism is the root of the tree called religion while the rest of the religions are its branches.

Peace, Poetry, and Power Bhavin Shah Bhavin Shah | Official Website