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Nepal JyotishTraditional Science
Place Names

Kapilvastu

The story of how the princes settled at the hermitage of the Brahmin Kapil and the city of Kapilvastu came to be.

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Kapilvastu

In ancient times the mighty King Okkaka of the Ikshvaku lineage ruled in Ayodhya. He had four sons named Ulkamukh, Karakandu, Hastinik and Sinisur, and five daughters named Vijita, Vijitasena, Ananda, Supriya and Priya.

Later the king had a son named Jantu by his youngest queen. Because of the youngest queen's insistence and his promise to her, the king was forced to send his elder sons and daughters away of their own will, along with eight ministers.

The princes considered it unrighteous to wage war and seize another's kingdom. So they set off northward toward the lovely lap of the Himalayas together with their sisters and their army. There, in the middle of a dense sal forest, was the hermitage of the great sage Kapil, absorbed in solitary penance.

Showing the princes the land around his hermitage, the great sage Kapil said: "This is an exceedingly auspicious, sacred and potent land. If you settle a city here, your lineage will be valiant and immortal."

Accepting the advice of the sage Kapil with bowed heads, the princes cleared the forest and settled a grand and prosperous capital. Because it stood at the hermitage of the great sage Kapil, that historic city was named "Kapilvastu."

Note: These are traditional Nepali folk tales (kimbadanti), passed down orally through generations. They may or may not reflect actual historical events, but they are told and believed as part of Nepal's cultural heritage.

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