Puruyaśas and Akshaya Tṛtīyā

Puruyaśas was a king of Pāñcāla, the son of King Bhūriyaśas. In his past lives he had been a hunter ten times. In this life he lost his kingdom, his treasury and his horses, and he lived fifty-three years in the forest with his wife Śikhinī. Two ṛshis taught him the Vaiśākha rules. He kept them for a whole month. On the third day of the bright half of Vaiśākha, Bhagavān Vishṇu came to him in the sky, seated on Garuḍa with Lakshmī Devī beside him. From that day this Tṛtīyā has been called Akshaya.

This account is told in the Vaiśākha Māsa Māhātmya of the Vaishṇava Khaṇḍa of the Skanda Mahā Purāṇa.

Ten births as a hunter

In the ten births before this one, Puruyaśas was a hunter. He killed animals without pity and lived by violence. In only one of those ten births did he do a good act.

In that birth, in the month of Vaiśākha, he came upon a brāhmaṇa ṛshi named Karshaṇa. The ṛshi had fallen in the midday heat of Vaiśākha, faint with weakness and thirst. The hunter took a large palāśa leaf and fanned him. This gave the ṛshi some relief from the burning sun.

That one act of kindness, in ten lives of violence, was enough to earn him a royal birth in the Pāñcāla line in his next life.

The misfortunes of this life

He was born as Puruyaśas, son of King Bhūriyaśas of Pāñcāla. He enjoyed his early life as a prince and then as king. But the karma of ten violent lives was not used up by one act of fanning. Enemies attacked and took his kingdom. A famine emptied his treasury. His horses died. Puruyaśas lost everything and fled to the mountains with only his wife Śikhinī. They lived there for fifty-three years in a plain forest life, with no kingdom, no army and no subjects.

The ṛshis Yāja and Upayājaka came to the forest where Puruyaśas and Śikhinī lived. The Mahābhārata remembers them as the priests who brought Dhṛshṭadyumna and Draupadī out of the fire. They knew the king, and by their yogic knowledge they saw his past.

What the ṛshis told him

The ṛshis said to Puruyaśas: “You were a hunter of violence for ten births. In one of those births you fanned the ṛshi Karshaṇa in Vaiśākha. That one act gave you this royal birth. But the violence of those ten lives has now shown itself as the loss of your kingdom, your treasury and your horses, and as these fifty-three years in the forest. The cure is clear. Keep the whole Vaiśākha dharma this month. Bathe every morning. Give gifts, above all water and umbrellas. Listen every day to Vishṇu-kathā (accounts of Vishṇu). The same month that gave you this royal birth will now give you back your kingdom.”

Puruyaśas asked: “Is it possible? After all that I have suffered and done in past lives?” The ṛshis answered: “The month of Vaiśākha is the highest remedy. Even the karma of ten violent lives can be dissolved by honest keeping of it. Keep it with your whole heart.”

The Vaiśākha rules

Puruyaśas and Śikhinī kept the whole Vaiśākha dharma together for the entire month. They bathed in the morning before sunrise. They gave water to travellers. They gave the gift of shade, with an umbrella and shade of palāśa leaves. Each day they listened to Vishṇu-kathā.

On Akshaya Tṛtīyā, the third day of the bright half of Vaiśākha, Puruyaśas finished his morning rites and looked up at the sky. He saw a form of indescribable brightness coming down from the bright midday sky. It was Bhagavān Vishṇu, seated on Garuḍa, with Lakshmī Devī beside him. He held the Pāñcajanya conch, the Sudarśana cakra, the Kaumodakī mace and the lotus. He wore the Vaijayantī garland, with the Śrīvatsa on his chest and the Kaustubha gem at his throat. The divine form came down until it stood before Puruyaśas.

The stotra of Puruyaśas

Puruyaśas was overcome with joy and reverence. He fell to the ground, then rose and offered a stotra (hymn of praise) of his own. In it he speaks of Nirguṇa Brahman (the Absolute without qualities or form) and of Saguṇa Vishṇu (Bhagavān Vishṇu with form and qualities).

He said: “You are the unmanifest, without form, beyond all guṇas. You are the pure Parabrahman that the ṛshis contemplate in samādhi. And yet you stand before me now, shining in form, with Lakshmī at your side, on Garuḍa, with conch and discus and mace. You are the personal Bhagavān Vishṇu who can be reached by bhakti. How can both be true? And yet both are true. You are beyond all description, and yet you come down to be described. You are beyond all form, and yet you take form for those who love you.”

The stotra then goes through these positions. The nirguṇa ātmā underlies all that exists. Saguṇa Vishṇu is the master of all these forms. The jīvas (living beings) are his sparks. Moksha is the return to him. He ended with these words: “The Brahman without qualities is your own nature. The form with qualities is your kṛpā (grace), shown to those who cannot contemplate the formless.”

Bhagavān Vishṇu’s vara and the naming of Akshaya

Bhagavān Vishṇu was very pleased with the stotra and with the full Vaiśākha dharma that Puruyaśas had kept. He spoke:

“Five sons shall be born to you: Dhṛshṭakīrti, Dhṛshṭaketu, Dhṛshṭadyumna, Vijaya and Citraketu. Your kingdom and your treasury shall be given back to you. You shall rule for ten thousand years in plenty and in dharma. At the end of your rule you shall reach sāyujya, joining with me.”

Then Bhagavān Vishṇu spoke the words for which this day is known: “From now on this Tṛtīyā shall be called Akshaya, the inexhaustible. Whatever act of puṇya (merit) a person does on this day will give akshaya (imperishable) fruit. A śrāddha done on this day will bring endless puṇya. I say this before Lakshmī and before you, O king.”

From these words the day received its name, Akshaya Tṛtīyā.

Sources

• Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Vaishṇava Khaṇḍa, Vaiśākha Māsa Māhātmya, Chapter 15
• Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Vaishṇava Khaṇḍa, Vaiśākha Māsa Māhātmya, Chapter 16