Mārkaṇḍeya’s Birth and Rāma at Pushkara

The Padma Mahā Purāṇa tells two things together. First, the ṛshi Mṛkaṇḍu was given a son, Mārkaṇḍeya, who was blessed by the Saptarshis and given by Brahmā a life lasting to the end of the kalpa. Second, in the age of the Rāmāyaṇa, Rāma came to Pushkara, where Mārkaṇḍeya received him. There Rāma did śrāddha (the rite for the forefathers) for his father Daśaratha, Sītā saw a vision of Daśaratha, and Lakshmaṇa spoke about death and grief. Rāma then did pūjā to Bhagavān Śiva at Maryādā Parvata.

Mṛkaṇḍu’s tapas and Mārkaṇḍeya’s birth

The ṛshi Mṛkaṇḍu did hard tapas. He longed for a son who would become a great ṛshi and a keeper of dharma. Brahmā was pleased by the power of his austerities and gave him a vara (a boon). A son was born to Mṛkaṇḍu. This was Mārkaṇḍeya, born for great things.

The blessing of the Saptarshis

When Mārkaṇḍeya was born, the seven great ṛshis, the Saptarshis, came to bless the child. Their joint blessing gave the infant a firm base of tapas-śakti (power of tapas) and the power of knowledge (jñāna) that would make him one of the best-known ṛshis of all the yugas.

Brahmā’s vara of kalpāntaka āyuḥ

Besides the blessing of the Saptarshis, Brahmā himself gave Mārkaṇḍeya the highest vara, kalpāntaka āyuḥ: a life lasting to the very end of the kalpa, through the Mahāpralaya (the great dissolution) itself. This vara made Mārkaṇḍeya different from all other ṛshis. He would live through many creations and dissolutions, see the dance of Bhagavān Vishṇu during pralaya, and carry the memory of creation across the edges of cosmic time.

Rāma’s journey to Pushkara

In his years in the forest after his exile from Ayodhyā, Rāma travelled west from his home at Citrakūṭa, with Sītā and Lakshmaṇa. He stopped first at the āśrama of the great ṛshi Atri and received his blessings. Then he went on towards Pushkara.

Mārkaṇḍeya lived at or near Pushkara and was held in deep honour by all the ṛshi-gaṇas (the groups of ṛshis) of that land. He came forward to welcome Rāma with great joy and respect. The meeting was a great one: the first ṛshi, who had lived through countless ages, met the avatāra of Bhagavān Vishṇu himself.

The Aviyoga-vāpī and the śrāddha for Daśaratha

Mārkaṇḍeya led Rāma to the Aviyoga-vāpī, a holy kuṇḍa (pool) at Pushkara of special weight for pitṛ-karma (rites for the forefathers). At this kuṇḍa Rāma did śrāddha for his father Daśaratha, who had lately left the world. The Purāṇa holds that a śrāddha done at the Aviyoga-vāpī at Pushkara, and here done by Rāma himself, bears very great fruit. The tīrtha joins the power of Pushkara with the intention of the one who does the rite, and a śrāddha there is held to equal many at ordinary tīrthas.

Sītā’s vision of Daśaratha

While the śrāddha was being done, Sītā saw Daśaratha directly. She saw him rising to higher realms, freed and at peace. The vision showed that the śrāddha, done by Rāma with true śraddhā (faith) at this great tīrtha, had reached the one it was meant for and had helped to raise him up. Sītā’s witness of this brought great comfort to the grieving family.

Lakshmaṇa’s talk on death

In this time of grief and loss, Lakshmaṇa spoke to Rāma at length on the nature of death and on how little good comes from too much grief. He spoke from the deep knowledge that he carried, for Lakshmaṇa was a partial avatāra of Ādiśesha. He spoke of the certainty of death for every embodied being, of the passing nature of the body, of the ātmā going on beyond the body, and of the duty of a kshatriya to keep to the path of dharma and not be stopped by grief.

Rāma’s pūjā to Bhagavān Śiva at Maryādā Parvata

After the śrāddha at Pushkara, Rāma went on to Maryādā Parvata, a mountain near Pushkara. There he did pūjā to Bhagavān Śiva with great devotion. He offered a stuti, did the pūjā with all the right upacāras (offerings), and asked for the blessing of Bhagavān Śiva on his task. Parameśvara was pleased with Rāma’s devotion and gave him a great vara. It would strengthen Rāma to fulfil his dharma and in the end to defeat Rāvaṇa.

Sources

• Padma Mahā Purāṇa, Sṛshṭi Khaṇḍa, Chapter 33