Parikshit

Parikshit, the celebrated king of the Kuru lineage and grandson of Arjuna, occupies a significant place in the devotional and narrative fabric of Mahakavi Premanand's *Okhaharan*. Though the central story of this celebrated Gujarati mahakavya revolves around Aniruddha's captivity and Usha's love, Premanand weaves in references to the broader Puranic world, and Parikshit's presence signals the text's deep rootedness in the Bhagavata tradition. It is through Parikshit's famous encounter with the sage Shuka — the framing narrative of the *Bhagavata Purana* — that countless devotional stories, including those of Krishna's lineage, received their authoritative retelling.

In *Okhaharan*, allusions to Parikshit serve to anchor the poem within this sacred storytelling lineage, reminding listeners that the tales of Krishna's family descend through a hallowed chain of narration. Premanand, writing in vibrant Gujarati for a popular devotional audience, uses such Puranic references to lend both spiritual weight and cultural familiarity to his verse, connecting the immediate drama of Usha and Aniruddha to the vast ocean of Vaishnava sacred memory.