Prithu

THE LIVING ARCHIVE

About Prithu

The Ikshvaku succession follows a royal house associated with Surya through Vaivasvata Manu. The passage arranges fathers and sons across many generations; its successive names do not indicate that all these kings lived together.

AT A GLANCE

Identity & Context

Identity: King
Form: Ikshvaku Dynasty
Tradition: Puranic Solar Genealogy

Family & Relationships

ParentAnenas
Anenas is named as the parent of Prithu in this succession.
ChildVishvagashva
Prithu is named as the parent of Vishvagashva in this succession.

IN THE TRADITION

Recorded Context

His Place in the Royal Family

Prithu follows Anenas as his son in the succession. Kakutstha is the preceding grandfather’s generation. The line then passes to Vishvagashva and, in the following generation, to Ardra. These generations belong to the same royal succession. They connect an earlier household to the later members of its family, even where the account passes over a reign without recounting a separate adventure.

The Surrounding Royal Story

The surrounding narrative includes Kakutstha’s alliance with Indra, Kuvalayashva’s defeat of Dhundhu and the later Yuvanashva’s extraordinary parenthood of Mandhata. Each episode belongs to its named king. The intervening genealogy explains how the family moves from one event to the next without assigning those deeds to every ancestor.

ROLE & ESSENCE

Attributes & Significance

The family chain carries the Ikshvaku line from the generation after Kakutstha toward the house of Mandhata. Preserving each intervening father and son makes the difference between ancestry and immediate parenthood clear.

Role

Prithu is a king of the solar dynasty of Ikshvaku, named in the Vishnu Purana as the son of Anenas and the father of Vishvagashva.

TRADITION & MEANING

Traditions & Interpretations

This Prithu is the son of Anenas in the Ikshvaku succession. He is not the famous son of Vena whose narrative explains the milking of the earth; that king belongs to another parentage and story.