Nandabhadra and Bālāditya

Nandabhadra was a merchant who worshipped Bhagavān Śiva at the Kapīleśvara Liṅga. He had thought deeply about every path of dharma. But when his son and then his wife died, grief shook him. A seven-year-old boy sick with leprosy came to him and taught him about suffering. Nārada later said that the boy was Bhagavān Sūrya himself. The Skanda Mahā Purāṇa tells this in the Māheśvara Khaṇḍa, Kaumārika Khaṇḍa, Chapters 45 and 46.

Nandabhadra at the Kapīleśvara Liṅga

At the Bahūdaka Tīrtha, near the Mahīsāgara Saṃgama, the ṛshi Kapila had done tapas (austerity) for many years. He set up a Liṅga there, known as Kapīleśvara.

A merchant named Nandabhadra worshipped this Liṅga three times every day, with great respect. He knew the special features of all holy rites. He was like Dharma himself in person, fair to all and working for the good of everyone.

Nandabhadra did not simply follow what others did. He looked deeply into dharma. The text says he “churned the ocean of dharma and brought out its essence.” (Chapter 45)

Nandabhadra on the essence of dharma

Nandabhadra looked at each famous path of dharma and took out its essential truth.

Trade. He chose vāṇijya (the merchant’s work) as the best way to earn a living. He traded for only a fair profit. He did not cheat and did not lie. He treated every buyer alike.

Yajña. He did not praise a yajña (fire ritual) done by a greedy, lying or false man. Such a man destroys the world and leads himself into darkness. The true yajña is the worship of Parameśvara with honesty and faith, with bowing, with praise, and with offerings of havis (offerings for the fire), free of pāpa (sin). Only this pleases the devas.

Renunciation. He did not praise renunciation where a man gives things up outside but still holds on in his mind. A true renunciant neither blames nor praises what others do. He sees a stone and gold as the same. He neither hates nor loves. He gives freedom from fear to every living being. He does not long for the fruits of religious acts.

Farming. He saw that farming brings great violence. Bulls are castrated. Their noses are pierced. They are made to carry heavy loads. The creatures living in the soil are killed. The Vedas call cows aghnya, “those that must not be killed”. The essence of farming is this: give a thirtieth part of the harvest in charity, and use its fruits for the devas and the ancestors.

Wealth. He did not praise pride in wealth, because rich men treat other men as slaves and act as if they were immortal. The essence of wealth, he said, is this: “The rich shall not be against any living being and shall help everyone as far as he is able.”

Pilgrimage. He questioned even the worship of tīrthas (holy places). He noted the tiredness, the mixing of varṇas and the bodily hardships. He said: “Neither waters, nor mountains, nor great effort and strain make men holy and take away their pāpa. It is the ātmā (soul) itself that makes a man holy, if he stops doing wrong from then on. The essence of the tīrthas is in every house.”

The devas, led by Vāsava, were amazed to see dharma brought together so well in Nandabhadra. (Chapter 45)

Grief and questions

For all his wisdom, Nandabhadra had only one son, and the son died when Nandabhadra was old. Nandabhadra accepted this as the fruit of fate. But then his dear wife Kanakā also died. She was a perfect example of a faithful wife. Now Nandabhadra began to grieve. He cried, “Alas, I must have done great pāpa.”

His neighbour Satyavrata did not believe in Bhagavān Śiva and had long been jealous of him. Satyavrata saw a weak point and came with seeming sympathy to turn Nandabhadra from his faith.

On the fourth day of his grief Nandabhadra stood before the Kapīleśvara Liṅga. In bewilderment he spoke to Bhagavān Śiva: “If I see Sadāśiva, the maker of this world, I shall embarrass him by asking many questions. You are pure consciousness, with no attachment. Why then was this world without consciousness made? Why is this world, from Brahmā down to an insect, put through birth, death, happiness and sorrow by you, who are fair to all and have no enemy? This is very wrong. Even your own devotees sink in the ocean of sorrow along with those who do pāpa.”

He decided to eat and drink nothing and to meet his death there. (Chapter 46)

The teaching of the leprous boy

On the fourth day a very thin seven-year-old boy came to the Bahūdaka Kuṇḍa. He had leprosy. His sores dripped pus, and he nearly fainted at each step. Yet he came forward with great calm. He spoke to Nandabhadra: “O handsome man with fine features, why are you sad?”

When he had heard the whole account, the boy spoke with quiet authority: “Alas, this is painfully sad in the case of learned men, that they are not wise! In a short time Khaṭvāṅga reached the path of moksha (liberation). Who will leave Bhārata Khaṇḍa while life remains? I am firm, though my parents left me. I cannot walk, yet I do not wish to die. If my body were free of illness, I would do, every minute, an act that can be enjoyed yuga after yuga.”

Then the boy taught about suffering.

“The world is attacked by two kinds of sorrow: of the body (vyādhi) and of the mind (ādhi). Sorrow of the mind comes from getting what one does not want and losing what one wants. Water heated by an iron ball becomes hot. In the same way the body is troubled by sorrow of the mind.

The root cause of all sorrow of the mind is affection (sneha). From affection come attachment to the senses and greed. From affection come grief, joy, tiredness and fear. A person who gives up nothing and keeps no check on himself goes through birth and death again and again.

Tṛshṇā (thirst) is the worst pāpa of all. It is the cause of endless suffering. Thirst has no beginning and no end. It goes into the whole body of a man. Rust of iron destroys the iron itself. In the same way tṛshṇā destroys the very person in whom it arose. Firewood is burned by the fire that rubbing makes. In the same way a person who has not known the ātmā is destroyed by the greed that comes from himself.

So one should not be greedy for the sake of the body or of relatives. One should not be too glad on getting things, nor cry over losing them.”

Nandabhadra knew that this was no ordinary boy. He bowed down and said: “O boy, I do not think you are really a boy. I bow to you.” (Chapter 46)

The boy was Bālāditya

Nārada later explained that the seven-year-old boy with leprosy was Bhagavān Sūrya himself, in a hidden form. He had come to give Nandabhadra true understanding. The Sūrya set up in honour of this form at the Mahīsāgara Saṃgama is known as Bālāditya, the Child Sun. Its worship is reckoned as closely joined with the Barkarika Tīrtha. (Chapter 46)

Sources

• Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Māheśvara Khaṇḍa, Kaumārika Khaṇḍa, Chapter 45 (Nandabhadra at the Kapīleśvara Liṅga and his teaching on dharma)
• Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Māheśvara Khaṇḍa, Kaumārika Khaṇḍa, Chapter 46 (his grief, the leprous boy’s teaching, and Bālāditya)