Divodasa is a king mentioned in the Rig Veda (1.7.19 and
1.51.6). He was famous for receiving guests or aththis. He used to honor the
guests for their erudition and therefore he was known as ‘atithigava’.
Vedic literature also narrates about his campaigns against Haihaya,
Turvasa and Yadu dynasties. But he was unable to defeat his enemies. He took
the help of Sage Bharadwaja to perform a sacrifice called Putrakameshti Yajna.
He obtained a powerful son named Pratardana because of the yajna.
Divodasa was able to defeat the Haihaya kings with help of
his son Pratardana.
The name Divodasa is also mentioned in Bhagavad Purana and
Mahabharata but they are different from the one found in Vedic literature.
The king had another son named Sudasa. He shared the virtue
of hospitality of the king.