Bhadrāyu and Kīrtimālī

The Bhadrāyu narrative is the central story of the Brahmottara Khaṇḍa, and it runs through five chapters, 10 to 14. A brāhmaṇa named Maṃdara and a courtesan named Piṃgalā once gave a night’s shelter to the Śiva yogī Ṛshabha. Because of this one act of hospitality, both were reborn in better lives: Maṃdara as Bhadrāyu, son of King Vajrabāhu of the Daśārṇa kingdom, and Piṃgalā as Kīrtimālī, daughter of Candrāṃgada and Sīmantinī. Ṛshabha taught Bhadrāyu dharma and gave him the Śiva Kavaca, a divine sword and a conch. With these Bhadrāyu freed his father, married Kīrtimālī and ruled as king. At the end Bhagavān Śiva himself tested him in the forest and then gave both husband and wife the vara (boon) of staying near him for ever.

Maṃdara and Piṃgalā: the seed

In the city of Avantī lived a brāhmaṇa named Maṃdara. He had given up his duties and lived with a courtesan named Piṃgalā, spending his days in idle pleasure. One night the wandering Śiva yogī Ṛshabha came to their home and asked for shelter for the night. Although they lived in a low way, they received him and gave him a place to sleep. This one act, the hosting of a devotee of Bhagavān Śiva for one night, became the seed of a great change.

Maṃdara and Piṃgalā both died, and by the puṇya (merit) of this one act of hospitality they were born again in much better lives. (Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Brahma Khaṇḍa, Dharmāraṇya Khaṇḍa, Uttarārdha, Chapter 10)

Bhadrāyu’s birth and his illness as a child

Maṃdara was reborn as the son of King Vajrabāhu of the Daśārṇa kingdom and his queen Sumatī. The birth was hard from the start. The other wives of the king, jealous of Sumatī’s place, poisoned the queen. So Bhadrāyu was born weak and sickly, and his life was dim from its very beginning.

The Śiva yogī Ṛshabha, from whom Maṃdara and Piṃgalā had earned this puṇya, came to the royal household. He put vibhūti (sacred ash) on the sick baby. The child, who had been born half-dead, came back to life. Ṛshabha also spoke to those gathered about the nature of the ātman (the self), the short life of the body, and the path of devotion to Bhagavān Śiva.

Bhadrāyu grew up unknown. He spent much of his youth in the household of a merchant named Padmākara, and he was raised without the show of his royal birth. (Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Brahma Khaṇḍa, Dharmāraṇya Khaṇḍa, Uttarārdha, Chapters 10–11)

Piṃgalā reborn as Kīrtimālī

Piṃgalā, the courtesan of Avantī, was reborn as Kīrtimālī. She was the daughter of Candrāṃgada and Sīmantinī, the couple whose story of devotion to Bhagavān Śiva and of the Somavāra vrata (the Monday vow) is told in the account of Sīmantinī and the Somavāra vrata. So Kīrtimālī was born into a family of deep devotion to Bhagavān Śiva. (Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Brahma Khaṇḍa, Dharmāraṇya Khaṇḍa, Uttarārdha, Chapter 11)

Ṛshabha’s teaching on dharma

Ṛshabha came back to Bhadrāyu in the house of the merchant Padmākara and gave him a full teaching on dharma. It was a code of conduct for both the duties of a king and personal behaviour. It dealt with relationships, conduct in the different āśramas (stages of life), the right order of daily life, and devotion to Bhagavān Śiva as the highest base of all. This teaching prepared Bhadrāyu for the tasks ahead. (Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Brahma Khaṇḍa, Dharmāraṇya Khaṇḍa, Uttarārdha, Chapter 11)

The Śiva Kavaca, the divine weapons and the strength of vibhūti

Ṛshabha then gave Bhadrāyu the Śiva Kavaca. This is the protective hymn of Bhagavān Śiva that guards every part of the body and every direction. It was not only recited to him; it was passed on to him as a śakti (power). Ṛshabha also gave Bhadrāyu a divine sword and a divine conch, weapons of divine power for the battles ahead. By the use of vibhūti, Bhadrāyu received the strength of twelve thousand elephants. (Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Brahma Khaṇḍa, Dharmāraṇya Khaṇḍa, Uttarārdha, Chapter 12)

Hemaratha is defeated and Vajrabāhu is freed

King Hemaratha of Magadha had put Bhadrāyu’s true father Vajrabāhu in prison. Bhadrāyu used the divine sword and conch that Ṛshabha had given him, and the elephant-strength that vibhūti had given him. He marched against Hemaratha and defeated him completely. Vajrabāhu was freed, and father and son were together again. Bhadrāyu also met Candrāṃgada, the father of Kīrtimālī and husband of Sīmantinī, and so the circle of relations was complete.

Ṛshabha arranged the marriage of Bhadrāyu and Kīrtimālī. Bhadrāyu became king of the Daśārṇa kingdom. (Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Brahma Khaṇḍa, Dharmāraṇya Khaṇḍa, Uttarārdha, Chapter 13)

The tiger and Bhagavān Śiva’s test

The greatest test came in spring. Bhadrāyu and Kīrtimālī were walking together in the forest. A brāhmaṇa and his wife came running towards them, chased by a tiger. The tiger seized the brāhmaṇa’s wife.

The brāhmaṇa turned to Bhadrāyu in despair. Bhadrāyu said sadly that with his sword and his other weapons he could not harm the tiger, and that his arrows did not wound it. Then the brāhmaṇa made a hard demand. Bhadrāyu had failed to protect his wife, so Bhadrāyu must give him Kīrtimālī in return.

Bhadrāyu knew that the dharma of protecting the ārta (the distressed) required him to give whatever was asked, even his own life. He agreed. He lit a fire and got ready to hand Kīrtimālī to the brāhmaṇa. He resolved to enter the flames himself straight afterwards.

As Bhadrāyu was about to enter the fire, with his mind fully fixed on the remembrance of Bhagavān Śiva and his body moving towards the flames, Bhagavān Viśveśvara himself appeared. (Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Brahma Khaṇḍa, Dharmāraṇya Khaṇḍa, Uttarārdha, Chapter 14)

The darśana of Bhagavān Śiva

The form of Bhagavān Śiva that appeared before Bhadrāyu was of unmatched splendour. He had five faces, with three eyes on each. In his hand was the pināka (his bow). The crescent moon was in his matted hair, and long reddish-brown jaṭās (locks) hung down. He was white as a lotus stem and wore elephant skin as a garment. The waters of the Gaṅgā played in his hair. Great serpents served as his ornaments: hāra (necklace), kaṅkaṇa (bracelet), mudrā (ring), kirīṭa (crown), aṅgada (armlet) and kuṇḍala (earring). He held the triśūla (trident), the khaṭvāṅga, the gadā (mace) and a deer, and with two hands he made the signs of abhaya (no fear) and varada (giving a boon). He sat on the bull vṛshabha. He was Śitīkaṇṭha (blue-throated), and Umā was with him.

Flowers rained from the sky. Divine instruments sounded. The devas danced. Nārada, Sanaka and the ṛshis arrived. Indra and the lokapālas (guardians of the directions) came. Bhagavān Mahādeva, with Umā, sat in the middle of them and poured out compassion on the king.

The brāhmaṇa, in whose form Bhagavān Śiva had come, and the tiger, who was Devī Pārvatī, were both shown to be Bhagavān Śiva and Devī Pārvatī themselves. They had come to test Bhadrāyu’s purity of purpose and his devotion to dharma. (Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Brahma Khaṇḍa, Dharmāraṇya Khaṇḍa, Uttarārdha, Chapter 14)

The varas

Bhagavān Śiva said to Bhadrāyu:

“O king! I am pleased with your bhakti (devotion) and your stotra (hymn of praise). I tested your bhāva (state of heart). I came as the brāhmaṇa; the tiger was Pārvatī. The arrows that could not wound it were my māyā. I wished to examine your dharma. Now ask whatever vara (boon) you wish.”

Bhadrāyu was overwhelmed. He said that the darśana (sight) of Bhagavān Śiva was itself the vara and that he wanted nothing more. But he made a request: that he, with Kīrtimālī, his true father Vajrabāhu, the merchant Padmākara and Padmākara’s son Sunaya, might always be near Bhagavān Śiva.

Kīrtimālī asked that her parents Candrāṃgada and Sīmantinī be included in this vara of staying near Bhagavān Śiva for ever.

Bhagavān Gaurīśa, the protector of his devotees, granted both requests. (Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Brahma Khaṇḍa, Dharmāraṇya Khaṇḍa, Uttarārdha, Chapter 14)

Bhadrāyu’s rule and departure

Bhadrāyu ruled his kingdom for ten thousand years. No one attacked him and none opposed him, and the fruit of the blessing of Bhagavān Śiva showed fully in his royal glory. At the end of this time he gave the kingdom to his sons and reached the highest home of Bhagavān Śiva. Candrāṃgada, Sīmantinī and Kīrtimālī also reached the world of Bhagavān Śiva through their own devotion to Bhagavān Gaurīśa. (Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Brahma Khaṇḍa, Dharmāraṇya Khaṇḍa, Uttarārdha, Chapter 14)

Sources

• Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Brahma Khaṇḍa, Dharmāraṇya Khaṇḍa, Uttarārdha, Chapters 10–14