MAHARAJA
AGRASEN
Maharaja Agrasen was a legendry indian
king of Agroha, a city of traders, from whom the Agarwal and Agrahari clans trace
its origin. He is credited with the establishment of a kingdom of traders in
NorthIndia, and is known for his compassion in refusing to slaughter animals in
yajnas.
Maharaja
Agrasen is known as icon of non-violence, messenger of Peace, an Embodiment of
Sacrifice and a true Socialist. Emperor Agrasen was born to King Ballabh of
Pratapnagar. According to the Mahalakshmi Vrath, the age then was the last
stages of Dvaapar Yug. According to current calendar, his birth took place
around 5185 years ago. King Baallabh was a lineage from the Sun. Agrasen was a
very compassionate person since childhood. Prince Agrasen was married to
Princess Madhavi, the daughter of King Nagraj. This marriage caused a coming
together of two different family cultures, Prince Agrasen was a Suryavanshi and
Princess Madhavi was a Naagvanshi.
With
blessings from Goddess Mahalakshmi, they together commenced a journey to travel
all over the country. While passing by one of the places, he saw a strange
sight. He watched in utter amazement that some tiger cubs and wolf cubs are
playing together. To the king and the queen, this was an auspicious symbol that
the area was the land of brave - Veerbhoomi. They chose to make that land as
their capital and named it Agroha. The city of Agroha rose to
great heights during his time and it was one of the most prosperous kingdoms of
that time. He was famous for his kindness and his indiscriminating attitude
towards his people. He used to practice severe penance and believed in truth,
peace, non violence and sacrifice. He also proclaimed that there should be no
killing of animals in his kingdom.
GOTRAS
Agrasen
& Madhavi had 18 children. King Agrasen divided his kingdom among his 18
children and established 18 gotras after the GURU’s of each of his children.
These 18 gotras are like 18 chapters of the Bhagvadgita; although ther differ;
they are still related to each other to form the whole.
COMMUNITY
OF AGROHA
Agroha
was a prosperous city and 100,000 traders lived in the city during its heydays.
An insolvent community man as well as an immigrant wishing to settle in the
city would be given a rupee and a
brick
by each inhabitant of the city. Thus, he would have a 100,000 bricks to build a
house for himself and Rs. 100,000 to start a business.
END
OF AGROHA
The
neighboring kings were envious of Agroha because of its prosperity, thus they
frequently attacked it. Because of these aggressions, Agroha faced numerous
plights. In due course, the
strength
of Agroha was sapped. A huge fire engulfed the city causing the citizens to
flee and disperse into various areas of India. Today, these people are known as
AGGARWALS.
The people of Haryana and mostly the member of the Agarwal community, celebrate his birthday as the Maharaja Agrasen's Jayanti on the fourth day of the Hindu month of Asvin.
The people of Haryana and mostly the member of the Agarwal community, celebrate his birthday as the Maharaja Agrasen's Jayanti on the fourth day of the Hindu month of Asvin.
