Śrīdhara and Hemaprabhāvatī
In the Brahma Khaṇḍa of the Padma Mahā Purāṇa, Chapter 5, Brahmā tells Nārada how a childless king gained a son. King Śrīdhara of the Tretā Yuga was rich but had no children. Vyāsa told him the cause in a past life, and gave him the gifts and acts that would bring a son. The king and queen did them with devotion, and a son was born within a year.
Nārada’s question to Brahmā
The chapter begins with Nārada asking Brahmā why people have no sons or cannot bear children, and what the remedies are.
Brahmā gives the causes. A brāhmaṇa who took away another brāhmaṇa’s means of living becomes sonless. A woman who in a former birth killed another’s child by deceit becomes sonless. A man or woman who in a past birth did not save a child drowning in water will have no children in this life. Brahmā also lists the causes of stillbirth.
He gives the remedies as well: giving a golden image, drinking the pādodaka (the water that has washed a brāhmaṇa’s feet), listening to the Purāṇas, giving a bull with a pumpkin gourd and cloth, and keeping vows for children.
Śrīdhara and Hemaprabhāvatī
To show this teaching, Brahmā tells of King Śrīdhara of the Tretā Yuga. Śrīdhara was rich and was devoted to one wife, Queen Hemaprabhāvatī. They had no children.
Vyāsa came to the king. Śrīdhara seated him on a golden seat. He and Hemaprabhāvatī washed Vyāsa’s feet and drank the pādodaka. Then the king asked: “O brāhmaṇa, how is it that I am without a son?”
Vyāsa tells of the past life
Vyāsa knew all the sacred texts. He answered, speaking of Śrīdhara’s past life: “In your former birth, you were known as Varaṭanu, the moon. Your queen was called Śaṅkarī. Once, as you were traveling along a path, you both saw the son of a person of low jāti drowning in water. With contempt, you passed on without saving him, and the child died. By the power of your great religious merit in other matters, you were born as king and queen in this birth. But as a direct result of that single act of indifference, you do not have a son.”
The remedy
The king asked what act of puṇya would bring a son. Vyāsa said: “Give the gift of a pumpkin gourd with gold, cloth, and a bull. Observe the vow for obtaining a child. Give the image of a fair virgin. And listen to a Purāṇa. By these acts, a son who destroys all pāpa will be born.”
The birth of the son
The king heard Vyāsa’s words. He gave the dānas (gifts) and listened to a Purāṇa, and his pāpa was destroyed. Within one year a son was born to them, honoured by all. Śrīdhara became a sovereign emperor, handsome and the chief of his line.
Sources
- Padma Mahā Purāṇa, Brahma Khaṇḍa, Chapter 5