Vallabha and Hemaprabhā
Chapter 15 of the Brahma Khaṇḍa of the Padma Mahā Purāṇa begins with a long teaching on the Ekādaśī vow. It then tells of Vallabha, a rich man of the city of Kāñcana, and his wife Hemaprabhā. In anger, Hemaprabhā slept in an empty house without food or water. By chance that day was Pārśvaparivartana Ekādaśī. She kept the fast without meaning to, and the messengers of Bhagavān Vishṇu took her to his abode.
What the chapter teaches about Ekādaśī
The chapter says the Ekādaśī vow is the best of all vows. Even the messengers of Yama are afraid when they hear the name of Ekādaśī.
A person should fast on this day. He should decorate Bhagavān Vishṇu, honour him with tulasī leaves and offer a ghee lamp. The chapter says that eating on Ekādaśī is like eating filth, and that each kind of food eaten that day brings the weight of crores of killings of brāhmaṇas. The fruit of fasting on Ekādaśī equals bathing in the Gaṅgā and in all holy places. It equals the merit of the solar and lunar eclipses. A person who breaks the fast properly and honours Bhagavān Vishṇu with garlands of lotus is not born again.
The chapter also gives rules for choosing the right Ekādaśī:
- An Ekādaśī joined with Daśamī (the tenth day) at any point must be avoided, as one avoids poison.
- When Ekādaśī is joined with Dvādaśī on both days, ascetics keep it on the Dvādaśī. Householders keep it on the Ekādaśī.
Vallabha and Hemaprabhā
In the city of Kāñcana lived a man named Vallabha. He was as rich as Kubera. His wife was Hemaprabhā. She had the typical evil of the Kali Yuga: she talked too much and loved to quarrel.
She quarrelled with her husband all the time. She spoke mean words against her elders. She secretly ate from the cooking pots. She gave her elders only leftover food. She kept her mind on a lover while she told everyone she was faithful. Her quarrels brought her husband worry again and again.
The fast she kept by chance
One day her husband scolded her and struck her. Hemaprabhā left in anger and went to an empty house. No one knew where she was. She slept there and took no food and no water.
By good fortune for her, that day was Pārśvaparivartana Ekādaśī. On this day Bhagavān Vishṇu turns to his other side in Yoga-nidrā, and the day destroys all pāpa (sin). The next day was Dvādaśī, with the Śravaṇa nakshatra (star). So that woman, with her mind full of anger, kept two fasts without meaning to, and she became pure. On the night of the Jayanti (Ekādaśī) she died.
Liberation
At Yama’s order, his fearful messengers came to take her. They carried nooses and hammers. They bound her and were about to take her to Yamaloka. Then the messengers of Bhagavān Vishṇu came, holding conches, discs and maces. They cut the nooses. She was now free from all pāpa and pure, and they put her in a divine chariot. Surrounded by the servants of Bhagavān Vishṇu, she went to his holy house. Even the devas cannot easily reach it.
The Brahma Khaṇḍa says: “He who keeps this vow even against his will goes to the abode of Vishṇu.”
Sources
- Padma Mahā Purāṇa, Brahma Khaṇḍa, Chapter 15