Daṇḍaka and the Temple Floor

Chapter 2 of the Brahma Khaṇḍa of the Padma Mahā Purāṇa tells of Daṇḍaka, a thief of the Dvāpara Yuga who was known for every kind of pāpa (sin). One night he went to rob a Vishṇu temple. The mud on his feet filled and levelled the uneven ground at the door. This one act freed him from his pāpa, and Yama sent him to Vaikuṇṭha in a golden chariot.

Daṇḍaka’s pāpa

Daṇḍaka lived in the Dvāpara Yuga and was a well-known thief. The account says at the start that he had done almost every kind of pāpa. He robbed brāhmaṇas of their wealth and killed his friends. He told lies all the time, was cruel, and went to other men’s wives. He ate the flesh of cows, drank liquor and kept company with those who reject the Vedas. He took for himself what was left in his care. He killed those who came to him for shelter. He was always with prostitutes. The Purāṇa shows him as a man with no virtue he had chosen, whose whole life was adharma.

Entering the temple

One day the thief went to a Vishṇu temple that belonged to a brāhmaṇa. He wished to steal the treasury of Bhagavān Vishṇu. At the temple door the ground dipped low. As he stepped over it, the mud stuck to his feet fell into the uneven place and levelled it. This was only by chance. He did not know what he was doing, and he did not mean it as a holy act.

He forced open the temple doors with two iron rods and went inside. The temple had a fine canopy. A golden lamp set with jewels had driven away the dark. There was the scent of many flowers, there were many vessels, and the smell of fragrant oil. There he saw Bhagavān Vishṇu dressed in yellow, resting with Rādhā on a beautiful bed.

The bow he did not intend

When Daṇḍaka saw the mūrti (sacred image) of the lord of Rādhā, he bowed without meaning to. At that moment he was freed from his pāpa.

He wavered: should he steal or not? He thought that he had been a thief all his life and could not serve the lord, so the wealth would serve his own needs. He gathered the silk garments and other things of the lord of Vaikuṇṭha and tied them in a bundle. But the whole bundle fell to the ground with a loud crash. The noise woke the people, who ran up shouting. Daṇḍaka was terrified. He left the stolen goods and ran away. Soon after, a poisonous snake bit him and he died.

At Yama’s court

On Yama’s order his messengers came for Daṇḍaka. They held nooses and hammers, wore skins and had fangs. They took him to Yamaloka and tied him with leather straps.

Yama saw the prisoner and asked Citragupta to list his deeds. Citragupta said that Daṇḍaka had done every pāpa that the Creator had made. But, he added, there was one act of puṇya (merit): “This one, the worst among the doers of pāpa, went to steal from Vishṇu’s temple. At the door of the temple he threw off the mud that clung to his two feet. By that, the floor was covered and made free of holes and pits. By the power of that puṇya, his great pāpa has gone. He is fit for Vaikuṇṭha. He is beyond your rule.”

Liberation

When Yama heard Citragupta’s word, he gave Daṇḍaka a seat of gold and bowed to him. Yama said: “My home is made pure today by the dust of your feet. I am blessed. Now go to the fine home of Vishṇu, full of joys and free from birth and death.”

Yama placed Daṇḍaka, whose pāpa had left him, in a divine chariot drawn by royal swans and sent him to Vaikuṇṭha. Daṇḍaka entered Vaikuṇṭha and lived there for a long time.

The Brahma Khaṇḍa’s teaching

The Brahma Khaṇḍa shows the great power of even an unplanned service (sevā) to the temple of Bhagavān Vishṇu. It teaches that a man who with devotion smears the floor of a Vishṇu temple earns enough puṇya to live in Vaikuṇṭha for as many thousands of kalpas as there are grains of dust seen there.

Sources

• Padma Mahā Purāṇa, Brahma Khaṇḍa, Chapter 2