Candramukhī and Mānamānikā
Candramukhī and Mānamānikā · candra-mukhī, māna-mānikā, “the moon-faced one and Mānamānikā”
Candramukhī and Mānamānikā are the two friends of the Kukkuṭa-Markaṭī account in the Uttara Parva of the Bhavishya Purāṇa, the account of the Muktābharaṇa Saptamī vrata. Śrī Kṛshṇa tells Yudhishṭhira how Lomaśa Muni told it to Devakī, and promised her that by the same vrata her children would live.
Candramukhī, chief queen of King Nahusha of Ayodhyā, and Mānamānikā, wife of the king’s purohita, took up a vrata of Bhagavān Śiva and Devī Pārvatī on the bank of the Sarayū. Candramukhī forgot it and became a vānarī (female monkey). Mānamānikā’s vrata broke at the end and she became a kukkuṭī (hen). They were born again as Īśvarī, chief queen of King Pṛthvīnātha of Mālava, and Bhūshaṇā, wife of his purohita. Īśvarī’s one son died, and in her envy she had Bhūshaṇā’s eight sons killed, but they rose alive again by the grace of Bhagavān Śaṅkara. Bhūshaṇā told her the vrata and gave her half of its puṇya, and Īśvarī gained long-lived sons, every happiness and at the end moksha.
Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Uttara Parva, Chapter 46
Lomaśa Muni comes to Mathurā
Once Maharshi Lomaśa came to Mathurā. Devakī and Vasudeva, the parents of Śrī Kṛshṇa, received him with great śraddhā, and he told them many accounts. He said to Devakī: “Kaṃsa has killed many of your sons, so you have become a mṛtavatsā, a mother whose children have died. In the same way, in ancient times, a queen of good marks named Candramukhī was a mṛtavatsā and in sorrow. By the power of a vrata she became jīvatputrā, a mother of living sons. So you too will become so.” Devakī asked who Queen Candramukhī was and which vrata she had kept.
The two friends at the Sarayū
Lomaśa Muni said: in ancient times there was a famous king in Ayodhyā named Nahusha. His chief queen was Candramukhī. She had great affection for Mānamānikā, the wife of the king’s purohita Agnimīla.
One day the two friends went to the bank of the Sarayū to bathe, and many women of the city had come there too. Those women bathed, made a maṇḍala, drew in it an image of Bhagavān Śiva and Devī Pārvatī, did their pūjā with gandha, flowers and akshata, and bowed. As they were leaving, the queen and Mānamānikā asked whose pūjā they had done, and for what purpose. They answered: “We have done the pūjā of Bhagavān Śiva and Bhagavatī Pārvatī, and giving ourselves over to them we have put on the hand this thread of gold. As long as we have life we will wear it, and go on doing their pūjā.”
The two friends also resolved to keep this vrata, came home and kept it by niyama.
The monkey and the hen
After some time Queen Candramukhī, through carelessness, forgot the vrata and could not tie the thread either. After death she became a vānarī. The vrata of the purohita’s wife was also broken, and at death she became a kukkuṭī. In those births their friendship and the memory of their former birth remained. After some time both died.
Īśvarī and Bhūshaṇā
Candramukhī became the chief queen of Pṛthvīnātha, king of the Mālava country, and her name was Īśvarī. Mānamānikā became the wife of that same king’s purohita, and her name was Bhūshaṇā. Bhūshaṇā knew her former births, and she had eight excellent sons.
After a long time Queen Īśvarī had one son. He was always diseased, and in his ninth year he died. Bhūshaṇā came, herself grieved, to comfort her friend. Seeing Bhūshaṇā’s many sons, īrshyā (envy) arose in Īśvarī’s mind, and little by little she had all of them killed. But by the grace of Bhagavān Śaṅkara, though they had died, they rose up alive again.
The vrata told
Īśvarī called Bhūshaṇā and asked: “Friend, what puṇya have you done, by which your sons live again even when dead, you have borne many long-lived sons, and though you are without pearls and other ornaments you are always radiant?”
Bhūshaṇā told her the Muktābharaṇa Saptamī vrata:
- It is kept on the saptamī of the śukla paksha of Bhādrapada.
- Bathe, make a maṇḍala and do the pūjā of Bhagavān Śiva and Devī Pārvatī in it.
- Wear on the hand the thread offered in self-dedication to Bhagavān Śiva, or make a ring of silver or gold and wear it on the finger.
- Fast on that day.
- Afterwards do the udyāpana. On that day do the pūjā in the maṇḍala, put the ring in a copper vessel and give it to a brāhmaṇa, and feed brāhmaṇas according to one’s means.
By keeping this vrata all things are obtained. Bhūshaṇā went on: “Friend, you and I took up this vrata together. Through carelessness you gave it up. That is why your son was lost, and though you have gained a kingdom you remain in sorrow. I kept the vrata with bhakti, and so I am happy in every way. But my vrata was broken at the end, and so for one birth I had to be a kukkuṭī. I give you half of the puṇya of the vrata I have kept. By this all your sorrows will go.”
By its power many long-lived sons were born to Īśvarī. She gained every happiness, and in the end moksha.
The phalaśruti
Lomaśa Muni said: “Devakī, you too keep this vrata. By it your children will be established, and your son will be the master of the three lokas.” Saying this, he went to his āśrama. Śrī Kṛshṇa says that by the power of this vrata his mother had such a son, his life was lengthened, and he was saved from the wicked such as Kaṃsa.
Any other woman who keeps this vrata will never suffer separation from her children, and at the end she will reach Śivaloka.
Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Uttara Parva, Chapter 46
Sources
- Bhavishya Purāṇa, Uttara Parva, Chapter 46