Bhikshuvarya Avatāra

The Bhikshuvarya Avatāra is the form Bhagavān Śiva took as an excellent bhikshu (mendicant, one who lives by alms). He came to take away the doubts of a brāhmaṇa widow, to tell her the karma behind a royal infant she found in the forest, and to set both children on the path of devotion to Śiva. The account is in Chapter 31 of the Śata Rudra Saṃhitā of the Śiva Purāṇa. In it Śiva explains the cause of each person’s state in this life: stopping pradosha-pūjā halfway, a woman’s wrong deed in an earlier life, and giving up yajña-karma (ritual duties). At the end the royal boy Dharmagupta gets back his kingdom.

King Satyaratha falls and the queen flees

In the country of Vidarbha there ruled a king named Satyaratha. He was just and truthful and was fond of the devotees of Śiva. For a long time he ruled well, with the dharma of a devotee of Śiva. One day the Śālva kings came with a great army and besieged his city in their pride. A terrible battle followed. Satyaratha’s army was destroyed, and by a cruel turn of fate the king himself was killed in the fighting. The soldiers and ministers who were left ran from the city in fear of the Śālvas.

When the king died, his queen was with child. She escaped from the besieged city at night with great difficulty, thinking of Īśvara’s lotus feet, and walked east. By dawn, by Śaṃkara’s grace, she had gone a long way and reached a clear, lovely lake. She was worn out and full of grief, and she sat under a tree on the shore to rest. There, at an auspicious moment, blessed by the divine, she gave birth to a bright son who had every good sign. Then, burning with thirst, she went down into the lake to drink. At that moment, through the cruel work of fate (daivavaśa), a crocodile seized her and killed her at once.

The royal infant lay on the shore of the forest with his umbilical cord still uncut. He wept, hungry and thirsty, having lost both parents at the moment of his birth. Maheśvara, who lives within all and protects all, was moved with compassion.

The brāhmaṇa widow finds the infant

At that moment a brāhmaṇa widow who lived by bhikshā (begging) came suddenly to that very place, with her own one-year-old child, moved by Śiva’s inner prompting. She saw the weeping orphan. She stood in the empty forest before this strange sight and thought in wonder: “What a great marvel I have seen today! A baby lies here with his umbilical cord uncut, a child of great tejas, crying with no mother. No one is here to help him. What can this be? I want to raise this child as my own, but I do not know his family or where he comes from, so I hesitate to go near.”

Śiva appears as the Bhikshuvarya

While she was thinking, Bhaktavatsala Śaṃkara came to her. He is always nirguṇa and without a body, yet he performs great līlās. He took the form of a Bhikshuvarya, an excellent and respected mendicant. He said: “O brāhmaṇī, do not doubt and do not grieve in your mind. Protect this very pure child with love, as if he were your own son. Through this child you will very soon reach the highest śreyas (good). Nourish this child of great tejas in every way.”

The brāhmaṇī agreed, but asked: “Who are you? Who is this child?” Even as she asked, her mind was lit with understanding: “O supreme Bhikshu, Prabhu Śiva, knowledge is rising in me again. You are Śiva, the ocean of compassion. This child is your bhakta from an earlier birth. Because of some wrong karma he has been brought to this state. He will go through it, and then by your anugraha he will reach the highest śreyas. I was deceived by your māyā and wandered off the path. You yourself sent me here to protect this child.”

The explanation of karma

The Bhikshuvarya praised her insight and then gave a full explanation.

The king, Satyaratha. In an earlier birth this king of Vidarbha was the Pāṇḍya king, a great devotee of Śiva who kept the Trayodaśī vrata (vow) with complete firmness. One day, during the pradosha-pūjā of that vrata, he heard a loud, alarming noise from all sides of his city and feared an attack by an enemy. He left the Śiva pūjā halfway and went outside. There, in rage and without calm thought, he had a captured enemy king beheaded. That same night he ate with great pleasure, against the rule of the vrata. Because he left the Śiva pūjā halfway and because of the act done without judgment (viveka), he was born as this king of Vidarbha. Even while enjoying his power, he was killed by his enemies.

The infant prince. In his earlier life he was the son of that same Pāṇḍya king. Because the same fault in the Śiva pūjā was carried forward, this child was born in this life without his inheritance.

The queen, his mother. In an earlier birth she had treacherously caused her co-wife to be killed. Because of that pāpa, a crocodile devoured her in this life.

The brāhmaṇī’s own son. In an earlier birth he was a good brāhmaṇa who gave up the yajña-karma proper to his varṇa and lived only by begging. So in this life he is born in poverty.

The Bhikshuvarya ended: “Those who do not worship Pārvatī Devī with devotion will become poor. All of you, once these two boys have had their upanayana (thread ceremony), do Śiva pūjā together, following the instructions of a guru. Śiva will bring about your śreyas.”

Śiva shows himself and disappears

The Bhikshuvarya then showed his true form to the brāhmaṇī. She knew Prabhu Śaṃkara, bowed down with full devotion, and praised him in moving words full of feeling. Śiva disappeared from that place.

The brāhmaṇī was now full of confidence and understanding. She took the infant and went home with her own child. She settled in a lovely village called Ekachakra and raised both boys with good food and loving care. Brāhmaṇas performed the upanayana saṃskāras (rites) of both boys. Then both boys began to do Pradosha Śiva pūjā at home, following the instructions of Śāṇḍilya Maharshi. Four months passed in great happiness.

One day the brāhmaṇa boy went to the river alone and found a great pot full of wealth. A year later the royal boy went into the forest with the brāhmaṇa boy. There, by Śiva’s all-pervading grace, a Gandharva maiden appeared. Her father gave her in marriage to the royal prince. The prince then ruled his kingdom, free of all enemies (nishkaṇṭaka), with that queen. The brāhmaṇī who had raised him became his mother. The brāhmaṇa boy became his brother. The prince was named Dharmagupta. He worshipped the divine Śiva and lived happily in Vidarbha, enjoying every pleasure.

The fruit of hearing this account

The Śata Rudra Saṃhitā says that this Bhikshuvarya charitra (account) removes pāpas and is a supreme means to dharma, artha, kāma and moksha. Whoever hears it or recites it every day with a settled mind will enjoy all pleasures in this world and reach Śiva’s padam (state) after death.

Sources

• Śiva Purāṇa, Śata Rudra Saṃhitā, Chapter 31