Nandā Dhenu and Prabhañjana

Chapter 18 of the Sṛshṭi Khaṇḍa of the Padma Mahā Purāṇa tells of a cow named Nandā. She was grazing near the Prāchī Sarasvatī at Pushkara when a tiger stopped her in a fearful forest. The tiger was King Prabhañjana, who had been under a śāpa (a curse) from a deer. Nandā asked to go and nurse her calf one last time, and she swore to return. She came back, though everyone begged her not to. Her satya-vrata (vow of truth) broke the śāpa. Dharma appeared and offered her a vara (a boon), and the stream was named after her. Pulastya Maharshi tells this to Bhīshma.

The five streams of the Sarasvatī at Pushkara

At Pushkara the great Sarasvatī flows in five named streams: Suprabhā, Kāñchanā, Prāchī, Nandā and Viśālakā. The Prāchī stream flows eastward toward the holy forest where many kinds of tapasvins (those who do austerity) practise tapas. This account took place at the edge of that forest.

Prabhañjana’s śāpa

Prabhañjana was a great king and a man of dharma. In an earlier time he had killed a deer while she was nursing her young. The grieving deer laid a śāpa on him: “You killed me while I was nursing. You will become a tiger.”

The śāpa took hold, and Prabhañjana became a tiger. For a hundred years he lived as a tiger in that forest and lived by killing. The memory of his old life lay buried under his animal life.

The meeting with Nandā

A righteous cowherd named Nanda kept a herd of cows near that forest. He looked after them with devoted care. The cows ate fresh young grass that no other animal had touched.

One cow was named Nandā, after her owner. She had all the marks of a fine cow: a full udder, a long neck, soft skin, a dark throat, auspicious neck-bells and a sweet voice. She was also of great purity.

One day Nandā strayed from the herd, looking for richer grass. She wandered into the fearful forest on the northeast side of the Rohita mountain. It was a dreadful place of thick bushes, wild sounds and fierce animals. The tiger, who was Prabhañjana, saw her and rushed at her. He cried: “Stop! You have come to me of your own accord today. Fate has made you my food this day.”

Nandā’s request and oath

Hearing the tiger’s harsh words, Nandā did not beg for her life. She accepted that death had come. She spoke calmly:

“O great one, I am not afraid for my life, because everyone who is born must die. But I have a nursing calf tied in the cowherd settlement. He is hungry and waiting for me. Let me go back and nurse my calf one last time and smell his head. Let me leave him with friends and teach him what he needs to know. Then I will come back to you.”

The tiger asked whether she would really return. Nandā answered with a series of solemn oaths. If she did not return, she called down on herself the pāpa (sin) of all of these:

• brahmahatyā (the killing of a brāhmaṇa)
• killing one’s parents
• hunters
• poisoners
• those who obstruct cows
• those who disturb a sleeping person
• those who give a kanyā (a maiden) twice in dāna (gift)
• those who trouble beasts of burden on roads that are not fit for them
• those who disturb a kathā-vācana (a reading of sacred narratives)
• those who do not feed a guest

The tiger was moved by the depth of her resolve and let her go.

The farewell

Nandā went back to the cowherd settlement. She wept, her face full of tears. She found her calf and let him suckle. Then she told him what was happening. The calf was heartsick and wanted to go with her and die together. Nandā forbade it. She said: “One person’s death does not become another’s. Follow my last words. Do not be reckless in a strange forest. Do not let greed lead you into danger. Do not trust what should not be trusted, and do not trust even the trustworthy too much. All living beings die. Do not grieve over this.”

Then she said farewell to the other cows of the herd, calling them by name: “O Vīpulā, Champakā, Talli, Dhā, Surabhī, Māninī, Vasudhārā-Priyā, Nandā, Mahānandā, Ghaṭasavā! Forgive any unkind word I may have said, knowingly or not. You are all of good character. You are all mothers of the world. Guard my son.” She took leave of the gopas (cowherd men) and gopikās (cowherd women) and walked back toward the forest.

Her friends and the whole cowherd settlement wept and begged her not to go. The brāhmaṇas argued that an oath made under threat of death brings no pāpa if it is broken. They said: “Life is the highest dharma. A false oath that saves a life is itself true. The ṛshis have said that oaths made in grave danger, in matters of women or marriage, to save cows, or to protect a brāhmaṇa, bring no pāpa when broken.”

Nandā was not moved. She said: “I will not save my life with a lie. The worlds stand on satya. Dharma stands on satya. The ocean does not cross its shore because of satya. Bali Chakravartī was bound by a trick, and still he did not give up satya. I cannot deceive myself and go to naraka (hell).”

The return and the end of the śāpa

Nandā walked back to the forest. As she came near, her calf ran ahead of her, though she had forbidden him to follow. He stood before the tiger with his tail raised high and was not afraid.

The tiger saw the faithful cow come back when she could have escaped. He spoke: “O satya-vādinī (one who speaks the truth)! Welcome. I did not truly mean to eat you. I let you go to test your satya-vrata. Those who come to me do not escape with their lives, and yet you came back. Your satya has moved even me. Now you are like a sister to me, and your calf is my nephew. You have shown me the way back to dharma.”

The tiger told her that a deer had put him under a śāpa to live as an animal. After a hundred years of forgetting, meeting Nandā had given him back his memory and his sense of dharma. He said that he was Prabhañjana Mahārāja. But he needed one more thing. He had not heard the full name of the cow’s owner. Nandā answered: “My master is the cowherd Nanda, and he named me Nandā.”

At that very moment, on hearing the sacred name Nanda, the śāpa left him. Prabhañjana Mahārāja got back his human form and his kingly strength.

Dharma appears and gives a vara

Dharma himself, Yamadharmarāja, appeared at the place. He had come because he heard of a satya-vrata kept in full to the end. He spoke to Nandā: “O Nandā, I have come to see you because I heard of your satya-vrata. You are fortunate. Ask for any vara you wish.”

Nandā’s prayer was selfless:

“By your grace, may I reach the highest loka together with my son. And I ask this too. Let this place become a holy and auspicious puṇya-tīrtha, a dharmapada (a place of dharma) for munis. And let this Sarasvatī river be known by my name, Nandā-nadī.”

What followed

At that very moment Nandā rose to the loka of those who speak the truth, and her calf went with her. Prabhañjana Mahārāja got back his kingdom. The Prāchī Sarasvatī at Pushkara took its new name, Nandā-nadī. It flowed southward from that place and blessed all who came to it.

The fruits of honouring this tīrtha

Pulastya Maharshi told this to Bhīshma and named the fruits of honouring this tīrtha:

• Those who chant the name Nandā at this tīrtha get happiness in life and svarga (heaven) at death.
• Those who die on the bank of the Nandā-nadī reach the rank of Vidyādhara kings.
• Bathing in the Sarasvatī and drinking its water frees a person.
• On the ashṭamī tithi (the eighth day), bathing in the Nandā river with a steady mind leads to svarga after death.
• The Sarasvatī at this place always gives saubhāgya (good fortune) to women.
• Bathing here after fasting on the tṛtīyā tithi (the third day) cleans away all pāpa.

Sources

• Padma Mahā Purāṇa, Sṛshṭi Khaṇḍa, Chapter 18