Śaṅkhu’s Tapas at Veṅkaṭādri

Śaṅkhu, also called Śaṅkhubhūpati, was a king of the Haihaya vaṃśa (royal line). He was the son of King Śruta. From his birth he was devoted only to Vishṇu. He did every kind of devotion, but he still did not see Bhagavān Vishṇu. This made him very sad.

This account is from the Veṅkaṭācala Māhātmya in the Vaishṇava Khaṇḍa of the Skanda Mahā Purāṇa. Bharadvāja tells it to Arjuna. It tells how Bhagavān Vishṇu came to live for ever at Veṅkaṭādri.

Śaṅkhu’s devotion

In the thirty-seventh chapter, Bharadvāja tells Arjuna how Bhagavān Vishṇu came to show his calm form at Veṅkaṭādri for all time. The main person in the account is Śaṅkhu, son of King Śruta of the Haihaya line. From early in his life he gave up worship of all other devas. He kept a firm and unshaken devotion to Puṇḍarīkāksha Vishṇu, the master of the universe.

His devotion covered every part of life:

• He kept many vratas (vows) and gave many gifts, to please Vishṇu.
• He did the Aśvamedha and other yāgas (fire rituals) with the right dakshiṇā (gifts to the priests), for Vishṇu’s pleasure alone.
• He remembered Vishṇu all the time, without laziness.
• He said the names Govinda, Acyuta and Avyaya all through the day.
• He did arcana (worship with offerings) of Puṇḍarīkāksha with a steady mind.
• He always listened with love to the sacred kathās (accounts) of Vishṇu, told by the paurāṇikas (reciters of the Purāṇas).
• He honoured brāhmaṇas as a way of honouring Vishṇu.

Even so, Śaṅkhu felt a deep longing. He had never seen Bhagavān Vishṇu face to face. His sorrow grew until it filled him. He said: “In thousands of past births I must have done some pāpa (sin). That is why I cannot see Svāmi. What is the use of this birth, of my yajñas, my tapas and my learning, if I have not had the endless joy of seeing Madhusūdana with these eyes?”

The voice from the sky

Śaṅkhu sat lost in his sorrow. Bhagavān Vishṇu did not appear, but he spoke through an ākāśavāṇī (a voice from the sky) so that all who were there heard it:

“Do not grieve. I will tell you what will help you. You have come to me for refuge. How can I give you up? Veṅkaṭādri is famous in the three worlds. It is dearer to me than Vaikuṇṭha itself. Go there. Do tapas for a thousand years. I will appear to you. Agastya once asked Brahmā about seeing me, and Brahmā sent him to Vṛshabhādri. In the same way I say to you: go to that mountain, do tapas there, and you will see me.”

Śaṅkhu comes to Veṅkaṭādri

When he heard this, Śaṅkhu’s heart filled with joy. He placed his son Śambhu on the throne and told him to rule the earth and its people with dharma. Then he went alone to Veṅkaṭādri, also called Nārāyaṇādri.

On the holy mountain he saw Svāmi Pushkariṇī for the first time. Its water was sweet like nectar. Siddhas, gandharvas, devas and ṛshis came to it. It was full of white lotuses, kuvalaya flowers and many water birds. He built a small hut on the bank, bathed in the Pushkariṇī and drank its water. He held his senses in control. He gave all his actions to Bhagavān Jagadīśvara and stayed there.

Agastya comes

At that time Brahmā had sent Agastya towards Veṅkaṭādri, as told in Chapter 37. He brought Agastya and many ṛshis to the mountain. Agastya had been doing tapas on the mountain for a thousand years and had not yet seen Bhagavān Vishṇu.

Then Bṛhaspati, Indra and the Vasu named Uparicara came to Agastya with a message from Brahmā: “To the south is a mountain called Veṅkaṭādri. It is dearer to Bhagavān Vishṇu than Śvetadvīpa. There Jagannātha will show his true form to you and to King Śaṅkhu. All the devas, ṛshis, yakshas and rākshasas will see it too. Soon, by Brahmā’s word, you great ones will be seen. Come, let us go to Svāmi Pushkariṇī and meet Śaṅkhu, the best of the Bhāgavatas.”

Agastya put away his sorrow and agreed at once. The group walked through the lovely wooded slopes of Veṅkaṭādri. They passed great trees, fine animals and cold mountain streams. They came to Svāmi Pushkariṇī and found Śaṅkhu in tapas.

Śaṅkhu bowed to the great munis, and they honoured him in return. They spent time speaking together of Vishṇu, and each was fulfilled (kṛtārtha) in the company of the others.

The viśvarūpa darśana

Three days passed in their tapas together. On the fourth day, in the last yāma (watch of the night) before dawn, all of them at the same time had a wonderful dream. They saw Bhagavān Vishṇu holding the śaṅkha (conch), cakra (discus) and gadā (mace), with smiling eyes and a gentle look, coming to give a vara. When they woke they rose with great joy. They bathed in Svāmi Pushkariṇī with full care, did all their morning duties, and did pūjā to Bhagavān Vishṇu. Good signs appeared on the path. Together they praised Bhagavān Vishṇu with many stotras (hymns of praise) from the Vedas.

Then Agastya and Śaṅkhu together began the japa (repeated chanting) of the Ashṭākshari, the eight-syllable mantra of Vishṇu. As they did so, a huge and indescribable light shone before them in the sky. It was as if many suns, moons and fires had joined into one blazing mass.

From inside this light Bhagavān Vishṇu became visible in his viśvarūpa (universal form). He had a thousand eyes, a thousand arms and a thousand feet. He shone like molten gold. He had terrible fangs, and fire streamed from his form. The Kaustubha gem blazed on his chest, and Lakshmī was there on his chest. He was too great to describe, both in terror and in glory.

All beings throughout creation saw this form at the same moment. His five weapons (pañcāyudhas) turned in the sky around him. The Pāñcajanya conch sounded with a deep note that frightened all the rākshasas.

Brahmā, Śiva, Indra, Sanaka and the yogīs, Vasishṭha and the ṛshis, the gandharvas, nāgas, kinnaras, Vishvaksena, Garuḍa and Jaya all gathered. Flowers of the kalpavṛksha (wish-giving tree) rained down. The apsarās danced. The universe was full of joy and wonder.

Brahmā’s stotra and the calm form

Brahmā and all the devas offered a great stotra: “O Vishṇu, victory! O Lotus-eyed, victory! O refuge of all worlds! Who can know you? You are beyond speech and mind. You are cidānanda (pure awareness and joy), smaller than the atom and greater than the greatest. O Avyuta, O embodiment of Vedānta, O one who fills all things within and without, how can we in our bodies bound by māyā (illusion) describe you? We are afraid of this great form. Please show us your calm form (śānta rūpa).”

Bhagavān Vishṇu answered in a voice like thunder: “Do not fear. I will take my own dear calm form. Look at me without worry.” He vanished for a moment. Then he appeared again in his gentle four-armed form inside a divine vimāna (flying chariot). His face was like the moon. He was dark as the blue lotus. He wore golden clothes and ornaments of gems. He held the śaṅkha, cakra, gadā and padma (lotus). He was Śrīkānta, the beloved of Ramā. All who were there praised him again, filled with devotion.

The varas of Agastya and Śaṅkhu

Bhagavān Vishṇu spoke to Agastya first: “O muni, your great tapas has pleased me very much. Ask for whatever you want.”

Agastya said that his tapas, yajñas and learning had all become meaningful through this darśana alone, and that there was nothing more to ask. Still, he prayed for two things. The first was lasting devotion at Bhagavān Vishṇu’s lotus feet. The second was that the Svarṇamukhī, his own river that flows near this mountain, be blessed by Bhagavān Vishṇu’s grace. Then bathing in it and coming to this mountain together would give devotion and moksha (liberation) even to people who live short lives and have scattered minds and cannot do tapas.

Bhagavān Vishṇu gave both: “It will be as you say. The Svarṇamukhī will be like the Gaṅgā, giving varas even to the devas. Svāmi Pushkariṇī will be joined to the Svarṇamukhī through their shared tīrthas. From today I will live on this mountain for ever. Those who bathe in the Svarṇamukhī and come to this mountain will have every joy of this world. After death they will have svarga (heaven) for the whole length of the kalpa, and then the place from which there is no return, which is pure joy. All who come here with any wish will have it fulfilled.”

Then Bhagavān Vishṇu turned to Śaṅkhu: “Your devotion has pleased me. Ask for the thing you love most. I will surely give it.” Śaṅkhu bowed to the ground and said that he wished only to live in Bhagavān Vishṇu’s home, the highest goal that his devotees reach.

Bhagavān Vishṇu answered: “So it will be. You will enjoy Indraloka, served by apsarās, for the rest of this kalpa. Then you will come to my loka.”

Bhagavān Vishṇu gave his varas to Agastya and Śaṅkhu alike. All the beings there praised him in one last great celebration, and he vanished from that spot.

The close of the account

Bharadvāja ends by saying to Arjuna: “This is how Bhagavān Vishṇu came to live for ever on Veṅkaṭādri, moved by the prayers of Agastya and Śaṅkhu. Whoever hears or reads this holy kathā will be freed from all pāpas. He will have devotion and moksha both here and in the next world, and he will reach Vaikuṇṭha. In all the brahmāṇḍa (universe) there is no mountain equal to Veṅkaṭādri, no deva equal to Veṅkaṭeśvara, and no place equal to Veṅkaṭādri.”

The last phalaśruti (verse on the fruit of hearing) of the chapter says that all who remember Śrī Veṅkaṭeśvara on waking in the morning hold moksha in their hands.

Sources

• Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Vaishṇava Khaṇḍa, Veṅkaṭācala Māhātmya, Chapter 37 (Śaṅkhu’s devotion, the voice from the sky, his arrival, Agastya’s arrival)
• Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Vaishṇava Khaṇḍa, Veṅkaṭācala Māhātmya, Chapter 38 (the viśvarūpa, Brahmā’s stotra, the calm form, the varas, the close)