About Maharaja Aggarsain

Great men are the sources of inspiration for any community or society. People get inspiration from the ideals by celebrating their anniversaries. One such great man was Dadamuni Maharaja Aggrasen, who is known as the Founder of the Aggarwal Samaj. In the history of India, very few kings have been credited with founding new communities or societies. Maharaja Aggrasen was one such great monarch. Apart from being a great monarch, he was also the founder of a new community which is named after him as Aggarwal Samaj.

Maharaja Aggrasen was born in the Vaishalak Family. But it was because of his unique intelligence and capability that he founded a new city and a kingdom. This kingdom was named after him as Agrodak. Here he introduced the democratic form of government based on business. He divided his kingdom into 18 sections or clans, the administrators of which were actually his representatives. He ran his kingdom with the help of these representatives. In order to strengthen his kingdom, he conducted 18 Maha yagnas and then he established these clans as  18 gotras which were named after his Gurus.

He made the rule that in future people will marry their children only in these Gotras, except the Gotra to which the concerned person belonged. It was the result of this organized power of Maharaja Agrasen that those people who left Agroha under various circumstances kept themselves connected with Agroha and Maharaja Agrasen and because of their connection with Agroha, these people were called Aggarwal.

According to an account in the Mahalaksmi Vrat Katha manuscript, Maharaja Agrasen was the eldest son of King Ballabh of Pratapnagar who belonged to the sixth generation of King Dhanpal. On his birth there was a wave of joy in the whole kingdom. On the 12th day of his birth, the naming ceremony was performed and he was given the name “Agrasen”. In order to celebrate the birth of his son, Maharaja Ballabh established new city on the banks of the Yamuna River. This city was  named Agrapur which was later called Agra.When he grew up, he was given education according to ancient educational system. Even in his childhood, Agrasen had mastered the Vedas, the use of weapons, politics, economics, etc.

When he became proficient in all respects, he was married. There is a legend about his marriage. It is said that once King Kumud of Nag Lok came to the earth with his daughter Madhavi. Lord Indra felt attracted towards her and requested the Nag King to give her to him in marriage. But the Nag Raj found Agrasen more suitable for her daughter and married her to him. Thus Madhavi is highly respectable for the Aggarwals and is worshipped like the Mother. As they are connected with the family of the Naagas, even now the Aggarwals call the snake their Mama (maternal uncles). In Aggarwals families, snakes are worshipped on the Naag Panchami Day and at the time of marriage, a snake shaped amulet is tied.

 When King Ballabh found that Agrasen had become proficient to rule the kingdom, he expressed his desire to hand over the kingdom to his son and take up the Vanaprasth Ashram. At that time Agrasen was 35 years of age and was suitable in all respects to rule the kingdom. So, he bowed to the wish of his father. The king coronated Agrasen as the King of Agroha at an auspicious hour and then proceeded to the jungles to take up the Vanaprastha, where after a few years, his soul left for heavenly abode.

 After his father’s death, Maharaja Agrasen performed the Pind Daan ceremony in Lohagarh (Punjab), for emancipation of his father’s soul. When he was returning after this ceremony and passing through a jungle, a strange incident took place. A lioness was in the process of giving birth to her offspring. Because of the caravan of Maharaja Agrasen, the delivery process of the lioness was disturbed. Just after taking birth, the angry cub of the lioness attacked the king’s elephant and displayed unprecedented courage. The king was greatly surprised to witness all this. On seeing the King greatly surprised, the accompanying Rishis said that the jungle was the birth place of a very brave creature and advised him to establish his capital there. Maharaja Agrasen was highly influenced by the great bravery shown by the cub, the natural beauty of that place and the advise of the Rishis. So he decided to establish his capital at that place which was named Agroha after him and he ruled his kingdom from there.

 In this way, Maharaja Agrasen extended the frontiers of his kingdom peacefully. His kingdom was full of peace and prosperity. The public did not suffer from any shortage, misery or injustice. Maharaja Agrasen had great faith in religion. With the help of Yagnas, he inspired his public towards rightful living and morality. At the same time, by introducing the gotras, he tied the people of his kingdom into unity. It was the result of his amazing organizational capability that even after the lapse of centuries, the Aggrwal community still exists as a unified and forceful community and is greatly contributing towards the development and betterment of the nation and humanity through the high qualities of their character and skills. thanks to all