King Mithi

Did You Know?

• The name 'Mithila' is derived from King Mithi, who established the city of Mithilapuri, according to Vishnu Purana and Bhavishya Purana.
• Mithi was also known as Janaka because he was born out of the body of his father; the title Janaka was later adopted by subsequent kings of Mithila.
• According to Bal Kand of Valmiki Ramayana, King Mithi had a son named Udavasu who became his successor.

Description

King Mithi is credited with being the first to promote the Karmakanda ritual during the Pitripaksha festival. The story goes that he gave his father’s beloved possessions to his teacher, Vashishtha. Vashishtha described this act of giving as a divine inspiration, and this is thought to mark the beginning of Shraddha Karma for ancestors. Mithi was deeply devoted to Lord Shiva and would travel daily to Mount Kailash using his yogic abilities to see him. Noticing the difficulty Mithi faced on these journeys, Lord Shiva gave him a sacred bow to eliminate the need for travel. Along with the bow, Shiva granted a boon: that simply seeing the bow would be as beneficial as seeing Shiva himself.

Birth

According to the sixth chapter of Devi Bhagavata, once King Nimi was cursed to death by the sage Vashishtha for performing Yajna in his absence. The other sages present took the lifeless body of Nimi and, after performing Yajna rituals and worshipping the gods, started churning the body. After some time during three parvas, a great, radiant, powerful and accomplished man was born from it. Since he was born by Mathana (churning), he was named Mithi. According to the legend of Janakpur city, Mithi was born from the manthan (agitation) of King Nimi's dead body at the sacred pond of Gangasagar in the city.