Harisvāmī

Harisvāmī · hari-svāmin, “he whose master is Hari”

Harisvāmī was a prince of Cūḍāpura, son of King Cūḍāmaṇi and his pativratā queen Viśālākshī. The Pratisarga Parva of the Bhavishya Purāṇa tells his account in the Vaitāla‘s tellings to King Vikramāditya, to show that the fruit of deeds done must surely be borne. He became a sannyāsī after losing his wife, died of pāyasa a serpent had poisoned, and by the power of his tapas attained Śivaloka.

Birth and marriage

Queen Viśālākshī, wishing for a son, performed ārādhanā of Bhagavān Śaṅkara. By his grace she received a son beautiful as Kāmadeva, born of an aṃśa of the devatās, named Harisvāmī. By the śāpa of Devala Muni a devāṅganā was born in human form as Rūpalāvaṇyikā, and she became Harisvāmī’s wife. Once, as she slept in her palace, a gandharva named Sukala carried her off.

The sannyāsī

When Harisvāmī rose and did not find his wife, he searched for her. Not finding her, he left the city for the forest, gave up all sense-objects, became absorbed in the dhyāna of Bhagavān Śrī Hari alone, lived on bhikshā and became a sannyāsī.

The poisoned pāyasa

One day he came to a brāhmaṇa’s house for bhikshā, and the brāhmaṇa gladly cooked pāyasa and gave it to him. He set the vessel on a vaṭa tree and bathed in the river. A serpent came and spat poison into the pāyasa. Returning, Harisvāmī ate and began to faint. He came to the brāhmaṇa and said: “Wicked brāhmaṇa! Having eaten the poisoned pāyasa you gave, I am dying. So the pāpa of brahmahatyā will fall on you.” Saying this he died, and by the power of his tapas attained Śivaloka.

Vikramāditya’s answer

The Vaitāla asked on whom the pāpa of brahmahatyā (slaying a brāhmaṇa) would fall. Vikramāditya answered that it falls on no one. The serpent made the pāyasa poisonous from ignorance and by its nature. The brāhmaṇa kept atithi-dharma and offered the food with śraddhā. The sannyāsī died by the karma of some other birth and the impulse of Kāla, for the fruit of one’s karma must surely be borne; eating the pāyasa was only the occasion.

Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Pratisarga Parva, Khaṇḍa 2, Chapters 1–23

Sources

• Bhavishya Purāṇa, Pratisarga Parva, Khaṇḍa 2, Chapters 1–23