Sīmantinī and the Somavāra Vrata
Sīmantinī was the daughter of King Chitrāvarman. A prophecy said she would be a widow before she was fourteen. The ṛshi’s wife Maitreyī taught her the Somavāra vrata, the vow kept on Mondays (Somavāra), the day of Bhagavān Śiva. This account is from the Skanda Mahā Purāṇa.
Sīmantinī and the prophecy
Sīmantinī was born to King Chitrāvarman. When she was young, a prophecy of ill omen was made: she would become a widow before the age of fourteen. This hung over her life, and a way was sought to turn the foretold fate aside.
Maitreyī teaches the Somavāra vrata
Maitreyī came to Sīmantinī. She is the wife of the ṛshi Yājñavalkya and is known as one of the great wise women of the tradition. Maitreyī saw how heavy the foretold fate was, and she taught Sīmantinī the Somavāra vrata. This is the vow kept on every Monday, the day that belongs to Bhagavān Śiva and to the Moon. Its full method, its mantra, its dhyāna (meditation) and its great fruit (phala) are given in the account of the Somavāra vrata.
Maitreyī promised that through this vrata the shadow over Sīmantinī’s life could be changed.
Marriage to Candrāṃgada
By the power of the Somavāra vrata, Sīmantinī was married to Candrāṃgada. He was the son of Indrasena and the grandson of the famous King Nala, the Nala who was parted from his wife Damayantī through the game of dice. The marriage was happy, and the foretold widowhood seemed to have been turned away.
Candrāṃgada in Takshaka’s realm
One day Candrāṃgada was travelling. He fell into the river Yamunā and drowned. He was carried to the realm of Takshaka, the nāga king, which lies under the waters. It was not easy to leave that serpent world. For Sīmantinī, waiting above, her husband’s loss was the widowhood that had been foretold.
In Takshaka’s realm Candrāṃgada did not lose his calm or his faith. He worshipped Bhagavān Śiva there and praised Mahādeva with deep devotion. Bhagavān Śiva was pleased with this worship, offered from a kingdom of serpents far below the earth, and showed his grace. By his help Candrāṃgada was brought back from Takshaka’s realm and joined Sīmantinī again.
The test of Sīmantinī and the change of Sāmavanta
News of Sīmantinī’s purity and devotion spread. The king of Vidarbha sent two young brahmins to test whether her pativratā (faithfulness to her husband) was true. They were Sumedha, the son of Vedamitra, and Sāmavanta, the son of Sārasvata. They dressed as a brahmin husband and wife and came to Sīmantinī’s house.
Sīmantinī looked at the couple standing before her. She did not see two men in disguise. Her pure sight showed them to her as Bhagavān Śiva and Devī Pārvatī themselves. She worshipped them with full devotion as the divine couple.
The result was sudden and physical. Sāmavanta’s body changed completely into a woman’s. She was named Sāmavatī.
Devī Pārvatī appears
This event drew the attention of Devī Pārvatī herself. She appeared before them in her own form as Jagadambā (the Mother of the Worlds). She knew that Sārasvata, Sāmavanta’s father, would grieve for his son. In her grace she gave him a vara (a boon) that he would have another son. Sāmavatī, now a woman for good, was accepted as Sārasvata’s daughter. She was then given in marriage to Sumedha. The two who had come as a pretended couple became a true couple, and Sāmavatī became Sumedha’s wife.
Kīrtimālī, daughter of Sīmantinī
A daughter named Kīrtimālī was born to Candrāṃgada and Sīmantinī. She later became the wife of Prince Bhadrāyu, the son of King Vajrabāhu of the kingdom of Daśārṇa. His own story is told separately.
Sources
- Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Brahma Khaṇḍa, Dharmāraṇya Khaṇḍa, Uttarārdha, Chapter 8 (the prophecy, Maitreyī’s teaching, the marriage, Takshaka’s realm)
- Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Brahma Khaṇḍa, Dharmāraṇya Khaṇḍa, Uttarārdha, Chapter 9 (the test, Sāmavatī, Pārvatī’s appearance)
- Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Brahma Khaṇḍa, Dharmāraṇya Khaṇḍa, Uttarārdha, Chapters 9–13 (Kīrtimālī and Bhadrāyu)