Pṛshadhra Upākhyāna

The Pṛshadhra Upākhyāna is told in the Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa, Chapter 109. Pṛshadhra was one of the nine sons of Vaivasvata Manu. By mistake, at night, he killed his guru’s cow. His guru cursed him to become a Śūdra. He gave up royal life and finally reached moksha (liberation) by entering a forest fire.

Pṛshadhra and the cow

Pṛshadhra’s guru gave him the task of guarding the cows at night. One night a tiger came into the cow enclosure. Pṛshadhra drew his sword in the dark and meant to strike the tiger. Instead he killed the guru’s cow.

In the morning he found out what had happened. The guru spoke a śāpa (a curse): “You have killed a cow in the dark through carelessness. From this day you are no longer a kshatriya. You are a Śūdra.”

Renunciation and moksha

Pṛshadhra took the śāpa without grief. He saw that a royal station does not last, and that the ātmā is higher than varṇa. He gave up his kingdom and took the vow of ahiṃsā (not harming any living being). He then wandered through the forests as an ascetic. He lived on forest food, held his senses in check and owned nothing. Little by little he came to know the nature of the ātmā.

At the end of his tapas (austerity), Pṛshadhra entered a great forest fire. At that moment he was calm and free of attachment, and he was liberated. The Purāṇa describes his moksha as the fruit of inner renunciation and of accepting his karma, and not of royal birth.

Sources

• Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa, Chapter 109