Rochamana was the king of Aswamedha kingdom. He joins with the Pandavas and he was killed by Karna on the 8th day of Mahabharata war. The Mahabharata praises Rochamana for his great valour, skills in warfare, courage, enthusiasm and for his great bhakti on Lord Krishna. When Arjuna heard about the importance of Rochamana, he has sent his brother Sahadeva, to make friendship with him. Rochamana highly honoured Sahadeva, and agreed to join hands with the noble Pandavas.
Rochamana had got married and had nice children. He was also present in the court of the Kauravas, when Ma Draupati was insulted by the Kauravas, and he has criticised the bad act of Dushyasana, and also asked him to stop insulting Ma Draupati. Rochamana was mentioned in the Mahabharata as a beautiful and a kind hearted king, who treats his people like his own children. Once when there was heavy drought in his kingdom, he prayed to Lord Varuna, and also meditated him for a few days, without taking food and water, and due to that, Lord Varuna showered rain on his kingdom continuously for a period of ten days.
During the time of exile of the Pandavas, it was the great Rochamana who has shown them the correct way to the forest, and also explained about the significance of the sages living in the forests. Rochamana was very much interested in hunting, and during his free time, he used to hunt wild animals like lion and tiger, and sometimes he used to kill deer and rabbits also for meat consumption, but in course of time, he felt pity on the animals, and stopped the act of hunting.
Rochamana was a great admirer of Yudhishtra, since he followed the path of Dharma. He used to get sufficient advices from Yudhishtra for administering his kingdom in a proper manner. He also performed Yagnas frequently, in order to satisfy the Vedic gods. Though he was an able and a capable king, finally his life was ended in the hands of Karna. But since he has attained a heroic death, after his death, he went to the abode of Lord Indra, the Indra Loka, and lived there in a comfortable manner.
“OM”
WRITTEN BY
R.HARISHANKAR