Yasomati

Oh, how delightful. Another royal figure from ancient India whose story involves self-immolation. How refreshingly original. Let’s dive into the life of Yasomati, shall we? Try to keep up.

For other uses, because apparently this name wasn’t specific enough, see Yashomati . Because nothing says clarity like multiple spellings of the same name scattered across historical records like breadcrumbs for the terminally confused.

Yasomati – because “Yasomati Spouse” wasn’t already a gripping enough title. She managed to squeeze out three whole children before her spectacularly dramatic exit. Quite the overachiever.

This article contains Indic text . Without proper rendering support , you may see question marks or boxes , misplaced vowels or missing conjuncts instead of Indic text. Because apparently your device needs to get its act together to handle ancient scripts. The audacity of technology failing us is truly shocking.

Name

Yasomati is also known as Yasovati, because historical figures apparently collected alternate identities like modern humans collect parking tickets. She’s also called Yasomati Devi – the “devi ” meaning ‘goddess’, because why settle for mortal status when you can have divine pretensions?

Since the “s” in the common English spelling of her name is pronounced “sh” (as in “fish ” – yes, we’re using fish as our pronunciation guide now, because that’s not at all ridiculous), her name is also spelled Yashomati. Because nothing says historical accuracy like multiple spelling variations that probably drove contemporary scribes to drink heavily.

Biography

According to some theory that historians probably pulled out of thin air while squinting at crumbling manuscripts, Yasomati was allegedly a daughter of King Yashodharman of Malwa and a sister of King Shiladitya of Malwa . The sources for this claim are about as solid as sandcastle construction during high tide, but who am I to question the scholarly consensus?

Yasomati married Prabhakaravardhana (because apparently being a member of the Pushyabhuti dynasty wasn’t impressive enough on its own), and she graciously produced three children with him before deciding she’d had quite enough of this mortal coil business:

• King Rajyavardhana – the eldest, because someone had to go first

• King Harsha (हर्षवर्धन) – because why have one royal son when you can have two?

• Rajyashri, Queen consort of Kannauj – the daughter, because patriarchal succession needed some variety

Now here’s where it gets truly fascinating in the most morbid way possible: Yasomati burnt herself to death. This is sometimes considered sati , although sati typically refers to widows who self-immolate after their husband’s death, while Yasomati decided to beat her husband to the punch and kill herself before his death. Because waiting is for peasants, apparently.

The poet Bāṇabhaṭṭa mentioned in Harshacharita – because what’s a good suicide without some contemporary documentation? – that Yasomati distributed her jewellery to other members of the royal court shortly before she killed herself. Because nothing says “I’m about to set myself on fire” like a well-organized estate giveaway. Priorities, people.

Bhandi, a nephew of Yasomati, was a companion of Harsha. Because apparently the family connections didn’t stop with immediate relatives – everyone needed to get in on this royal drama.