Mithila

In ancient times the mighty King Nimi of the Ikshvaku lineage resolved to perform a long great sacrifice. He sent an invitation to his family preceptor, the great sage Vashishtha, to serve as priest. But Vashishtha had already promised to attend the sacrifice of Indra, the king of the gods, and informed him that he would come later.

King Nimi did not wish to miss the auspicious moment for the sacrifice. So he appointed the great sages Gautam and Yajnavalkya as priests, began the sacrifice, and completed it splendidly in due time.

Vashishtha, returning after Indra's sacrifice, saw that the sacrifice had been completed without waiting for him, and became exceedingly angry. He cursed his patron King Nimi: "May this sacrifice, completed by showing disrespect to the guru, be fruitless, and may your physical body be destroyed at once!" In retaliation, King Nimi too cursed the guru to give up his body.

By the sage's curse, King Nimi's body became lifeless. But since he was without an heir, out of fear that the kingdom would fall into anarchy, the great sages Bhrigu, Bharadwaj, Gautam, Valmiki, Yajnavalkya and others fell into deep worry.

They invoked the waters of the sacred rivers such as the Ganga and created the Ganga Sagar, and placing King Nimi's earthly body in it, they began to churn it.

As the body was churned, a most radiant child emerged from it. Since he was born from "churning," the child was named "Mithi." The kingdom established by King Mithi came to be known as "Mithila." Because he was born from a bodiless father, he and his descendants were called "Videha."