| Nimi | |
|---|---|
_(9192287834).jpg) Thai depiction of Nimi | |
| Texts | Ramayana |
| Genealogy | |
| Parents |
|
| Children | King Mithi |
| Dynasty | Suryavamsha (Janaka vamsha of Janakpur) |
Nimi (Sanskrit:निमि,romanized: Nimi) is a king of theSuryavamsha (Solar dynasty) featured inHindu mythology.[1] He is considered to be the first king of theVideha kingdom and is regarded to be the ancestor to the Janaka lineage ofMithila.[2] Nimi is the grandson ofManu, and a son ofIkshvaku.[3] According toVayu Purana, King Nimi established a city known asJayantapura near theGautam Ashram.[4]
Once, Nimi performed ayajña and invited SageVasishtha to be the main priest to conduct the ceremony. However, the sage had already committed to conduct a yajña forIndra, and he told Nimi that he would officiate as the head priest after having conducted Indra's yajña. Nimi went away without replying. Sage Vashistha was under the impression that King Nimi has assented to wait for him.[5][6]
The sage conducted Indra's yajña and rushed to preside at Nimi's yajña only to find that the yajña was already being conducted by Gautama. Sage Vasishtha got angry and cursed King Nimi that "he would cease to live in corporal form" while the king was asleep. Thus, King Nimi was left without his body to heaven with Indra, and stayed there for 9,000,000 years. After the yajña was conducted successfully, the priests asked the gods to return King Nimi to his corporal form. However, he refused to return to his bodily form. The account of Nimi is described byRama toLakshmana in theUttara Kanda of Ramayana.[7]
This episode is also detailed in theVishnu Purana.[8]
In several traditions, a righteous and edifying Videhan King Nimi or Nemi is mentioned, who travels toheaven andhell in a celestial chariot. The story is mentioned in one text of thePāli Canon, and two Pālipost-canonical texts. The name Nimi or Nemi is explained as "he brings the lineage full circle like the rim (Pali:nemi) of a carriage wheel".[9] The story relates that a certain King Makhadeva tells his barber that the latter should warn him as soon as the king has his first grey hair, a commonmemento mori motif found in ancient Indian literature,[10] which goes back to the ancient Indianconception of stages of life.[11] Later on, when his first hairs go grey, and his barber tells him about that, the kinggoes forth to lead a spiritual life as ahermit, but not before he entrusts his son to do the same when his hair goes grey. The former king is later reborn in a heavenly world. He sees that his descendants all follow the same tradition of becoming hermits when they became old. He then decides to be reborn as the next descendant of the same dynasty, and has the name King Nimi. The story then goes on to say that this king is able to travel to heaven and hell at the invitation of the godSakka. At the end of the story, King Makhadeva, later reborn as Nimi, is identified as a previous birth ofthe Buddha, and the barber and heavenly charioteer are identified as the discipleĀnanda.[12]
The story is mentioned in many otherearly Buddhist texts, both canonical and post-canonical.[13][14] TranslatorC. A. F. Rhys Davids compared the legend withDante'sInferno.[15][13] The story of King Nimi visiting heaven and hell is iconic in traditionalThai art, and is easily recognizable for the average Thai person.[16] This story, as well as many similar stories that deal withcakravartin kings, attempts to establish that the spiritual life of renunciation is superior to the worldly life, and the solitary life superior to a married life.[17][18] Moreover, Asian religion scholar Naomi Appleton argues that there is a connection between the stories of the Videhan renouncing kings and the ideal of thesolitary Buddha in Buddhism. Solitary Buddhas are often depicted renouncing their worldly life because of certain signs in their environment or on their body, as in the case of Makkhadeva.[18] Finally, according to the scholarPadmanabh Jaini, the story may also have influenced how Buddhist cosmology was interpreted.[19]
In post-canonicalPāli works, the belief is expressed that King Nimi belongs to a long line of Kings descending fromMahāsammata, the first king of humankind. The Buddha is believed to be a descendant of the same dynasty.[20]
InJain texts, a similar motif as in Buddhist texts can be found, of a king called Nami.[21]