Valiant Hindu Kings - Vikramaditya & Daughters of King Dahir

Introduction
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.

Muslims who were aggressive against Hindustan and Hindus fought back against this
aggression