Līlāvatī and the Rādhāshṭamī Vow
Līlāvatī was a beautiful woman of the Kṛta Yuga who had done very grave pāpa (sin). By chance she joined people who were keeping the Rādhāshṭamī vow, and that one vow carried her to Goloka, the home of Rādhā and Kṛshṇa. In the same chapter Bhagavān Brahmā tells Nārada how Rādhā was born from the yajña ground of King Vṛshabhānu on the eighth day of the bright fortnight of Bhādrapada. This is in the Padma Mahā Purāṇa, Brahma Khaṇḍa, Chapter 7.
Nārada’s question to Brahmā
Nārada asks Brahmā about Rādhājanmāshṭamī, the eighth day on which Rādhā was born. He asks what fruit it gives, who kept it in ancient times, what the pāpa of not keeping it is, how it is to be kept, and from whom Rādhā was born.
Brahmā answers that no one except Bhagavān Vishṇu himself can describe the puṇya (merit) of this vow in full. The pāpa of killing a brāhmaṇa, gathered over a crore of births, is destroyed in a moment for those who keep the vow with devotion. Its puṇya is a hundred times greater than keeping a thousand Ekādaśī days, and a hundred times greater than giving gold equal to the weight of Mount Meru.
Līlāvatī’s account
In the Kṛta Yuga there lived a woman named Līlāvatī. She was very beautiful, with a slender waist, deer-like eyes, a lovely form, and fine hair and ears. Yet she had done very grave pāpa. Once she was travelling from her own city to another city to look for wealth. On the way she came upon a beautiful temple. Inside she saw many wise devotees keeping the Rādhāshṭamī vow. They were offering pūjā to an image of Rādhā with sandal paste, flowers, incense, lamps, cloth and many kinds of fruit. Some sang, some danced and some recited hymns. Some joyfully played the lute and beat drums.
Līlāvatī was curious to see them so happy and devout. She went up to them and asked politely: “O you who follow dharma, what are you doing so joyfully? O good people, tell me.”
The devotees answered: “Today is the eighth day of the bright fortnight on which Rādhā was born. We are keeping this vow with care. When this Ashṭamī is kept properly, it quickly destroys all pāpa: the pāpa of killing a cow, of stealing, of killing a brāhmaṇa, of taking another man’s wife, or of wronging the wife of one’s teacher.”
Līlāvatī heard this and thought again and again: “I shall keep this vow that destroys all pāpa.” She joined them and kept the excellent vow right there. Later a snake bit her and she died.
Liberation
Yama’s messengers came with nooses and hammers and bound her painfully. Then the messengers of Bhagavān Vishṇu arrived, holding conches and maces. They brought a golden, auspicious flying chariot drawn by royal swans. With the edges of their discs they cut the nooses. They placed Līlāvatī, whose pāpa was now destroyed, in the chariot. They took her to Vishṇu’s charming city called Goloka. By the grace of the vow she had kept, she lived there with Kṛshṇa and Rādhā.
The birth of Rādhā
Brahmā then tells how Rādhā came to be born on earth. Wicked kings were crushing the Earth. She had no one to help her, so she took the form of a cow and went to Brahmā, weeping again and again over her grief. Brahmā went to Bhagavān Vishṇu and told him of the Earth’s distress.
Bhagavān Kṛshṇa then called Rādhā, who was dearer to him than his own life, and said: “O devī, I am going to the earth to remove its burden. You also go.” Rādhā heard this and agreed to go down to the earth.
On the day of Ashṭamī in the bright fortnight of the month of Bhādrapada, Rādhā rose up in a divine form from the yajña ground of King Vṛshabhānu. The glad king took her home and gave her to his queen, who raised her.
Brahmā’s teaching
Brahmā tells Nārada that in all the Vedas and Purāṇas there is no vow equal to Kṛshṇa-Rādhāshṭamī, and none greater. Women who do not keep this vow go to Yamaloka. After a long time in naraka (hell) they are born as widows. A foolish man who does not keep it is born as a cruel rākshasa. Even keeping it by chance, as Līlāvatī did, gives Goloka.
Brahmā stresses that the account of Rādhā’s birth is a great secret: “This is to be kept secret, to be kept secret, to be kept secret with care.”
Sources
- Padma Mahā Purāṇa, Brahma Khaṇḍa, Chapter 7