Devadāsa and Uttamā at Badarikāśrama

Chapter 216 of the Uttara Khaṇḍa of the Padma Mahā Purāṇa tells of the brāhmaṇa Devadāsa and his faithful wife Uttamā. Their son Aṅgada gave up the world, and they set out on a pilgrimage. A siddha (a perfected being) told them how a king of Kalinga, cursed to be born as a buffalo, was freed at the Badarikāśrama tīrtha in Indraprastha by the grace of the ṛshi Kapila. Devadāsa and Uttamā went there, bathed, and reached Vaikuṇṭha.

Devadāsa and his son Aṅgada

Devadāsa was a brāhmaṇa householder who was devoted to Vishṇu. His wife Uttamā was known as a faithful and good woman. They had a son named Aṅgada. He became deeply detached from worldly life and left to seek moksha (liberation) through tapas (austerity). Devadāsa and Uttamā were left with grief and without a purpose.

The siddha’s account of the king of Kalinga

On their pilgrimage, Devadāsa and Uttamā met a siddha. He told them this account.

A king of Kalinga had once offended Durvāsa. Durvāsa, in his usual anger, gave a śāpa (a curse): the king would be born as a buffalo. The king lived in the form of a buffalo for many ages. In the land of Indraprastha, through the grace of the ṛshi Kapila, the king was freed from his buffalo birth at the Badarikāśrama tīrtha, which is set up inside Indraprastha, and he gained a divine form.

The siddha pointed Devadāsa to Indraprastha as the sure cure for sorrow.

The liberation of Devadāsa and Uttamā

Led by the words of the siddha, Devadāsa and Uttamā finished their journey to Indraprastha. They bathed at the Badarikāśrama tīrtha. This is the holy copy of the great Badarikāśrama in the Himālaya, set up by Vishṇu himself inside Indraprastha.

After they had bathed there with devotion, they completed their pūjā of Bhagavān Vishṇu. Their karma was used up by the power of the holy place. They gave up their mortal bodies at Indraprastha and were carried in divine vehicles to Vaikuṇṭha.

Sources

• Padma Mahā Purāṇa, Uttara Khaṇḍa, Chapter 216