Bhadraśravas and the Lakshmī Vow
Chapter 11 of the Brahma Khaṇḍa of the Padma Mahā Purāṇa tells how Lakshmī came in disguise to the palace of King Bhadraśravas of Saurāshṭra. She came to remind his queen Suratacandrikā of the Thursday (Guruvāra) vow of the month of Mārgaśīrsha.
The proud queen struck the old woman, and the devī left in tears. The queen’s daughter Śyāmābālā showed kindness, learned the vow, kept it, and was married by Lakshmī’s grace to Māladhara, son of King Śrīsiddheśvara. The account ends with the salt episode.
The royal family of Saurāshṭra
In the Dvāpara Yuga there was a king named Bhadraśravas, who lived in the country of Saurāshṭra. He had mastered the Vedas and the Vedāṅgas. His queen was Suratacandrikā. Seven sons and one daughter were born to them. The daughter was named Śyāmābālā. She was truthful and beautiful, and she delighted her father.
Lakshmī comes in disguise
Lakshmī wished to rescue people from worldly life and teach them the right path. She took the form of an old brāhmaṇa woman and came to the king’s palace. She thought: “Apart from the king’s house, to whose house among lesser people should I go?” So she went to the palace with its golden walls.
At the main gate she told the doorkeeper that she had come to see Queen Suratacandrikā. The doorkeeper asked her name and her purpose. Lakshmī, in the form of the old woman, said: “I am the well-known devī named Kamalā, and the master of the worlds is the master of my life. My city is Dvāravatī, and I have come from there. I shall tell you why I have come.”
The queen’s past life
Lakshmī then told the doorkeeper about the queen’s earlier birth.
- In a former life the queen was born in a vaiśya family and was unhappy.
- One day she quarrelled with her husband and went out of the house, weeping.
- Lakshmī went to her, heard her account, and taught her the excellent vow of Thursday.
- The woman kept the vow gladly, and by its power she became happy.
- Later she and her husband died. Lakshmī’s messengers drove away Yama’s servants and took both of them to Vaikuṇṭha.
- They enjoyed Lakshmī’s world for thousands of kalpas, in proportion to the number of times they had kept the vow.
- Then they were born in a royal family to enjoy the puṇya (merit) that remained.
Lakshmī said: “Now, proud of their royal glory, they have forgotten the vow. I have come to remind her.”
The vow of Thursday in Mārgaśīrsha
The old woman, who was Lakshmī, described the vow.
When the month of Kārtika ends and Mārgaśīrsha begins, a woman should rise on a Thursday morning. Surrounded by other women who keep the vow, she should do pūjā to Lakshmī together with Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa. She should please Lakshmī with sweets made with sweetened milk and with candied-sugar food. She should pray: “O Kamalā, you are firmly devoted to Bhagavān Kṛshṇa. In the same way, remain in me. O devī Lakshmī, give me shelter.”
- On the second Thursday she should offer fried wheat foods and powders of many colours.
- On the third Thursday she should offer boiled rice with candied sugar.
- On the fourth Thursday she should offer śyāmāka and śāli rice.
She should also please brāhmaṇas with money, cloth, ornaments, food and fruit.
The queen’s pride
The doorkeeper told the queen about the old brāhmaṇa woman. Queen Suratacandrikā came out and spoke to her proudly: “O old brāhmaṇa woman, what advice have you come here to give?”
The old woman answered: “Seeing your wrong conduct, I wish to leave quickly. O wicked one, today is the day of Lakshmī’s vow, and you are not keeping it. Who will stay in your house?”
Suratacandrikā heard these words of reproach and became angry. She struck the old woman. Lakshmī fled, weeping.
Śyāmābālā’s kindness
Śyāmābālā was playing nearby. She heard the old woman weeping and came to her. She asked what had caused her pain. Lakshmī, her voice breaking with grief, told Śyāmābālā the whole account.
The girl heard about this vow, which is very hard to obtain. She kept it according to the śāstras, with faith and devotion. Three Thursdays passed, and when the fourth came, her marriage took place by Lakshmī’s grace. Māladhara, the son of King Śrīsiddheśvara, a young man of royal radiance, took her to his home.
The queen’s poverty
When Śyāmābālā left for her husband’s house, the queen’s household lost all its wealth. No one knew who had taken the many rich things. The queen sat without wealth, without ideas, without food and without clothing.
At last she sent her husband, King Bhadraśravas, to their daughter’s house to ask for help. He arrived thin, with rough body and rough hair. Śyāmābālā’s maids had come to the bank of a lake for water. They saw this pitiful man and brought him to Śyāmābālā. She received her father with great care, fed him well, and sent him home with money hidden in a vessel.
At home the king opened the vessel. The money had turned into charcoal. He wept in great grief and went back to his daughter.
The household is restored
Suratacandrikā herself then came to her daughter. Śyāmābālā made her mother keep the excellent Thursday vow of Lakshmī for three days, and finish it firmly on the fourth. The queen went back to her city and found her house restored to its former glory, by the grace of Lakshmī.
The salt episode
Some time later Śyāmābālā came to see her mother again. Suratacandrikā still felt resentment, and she hid when she saw her daughter. Śyāmābālā quietly took some salt from her mother’s house and went home.
Her husband Māladhara asked what she had brought. She answered: “I have brought the essence of the kingdom. I shall show it to you at the meal.”
She cooked the food without any salt and served it to Māladhara. He ate the meal without salt and became sad. Then she gave him the salt, the essence of the kingdom. His mind was pleased at once, and he ate with satisfaction. Again and again he said: “Blessed, blessed!”
The account shows that salt is the essential part of the kingdom. Without it even the finest food has no worth, just as wealth without virtue has no essence.
Sources
- Padma Mahā Purāṇa, Brahma Khaṇḍa, Chapter 11