Jīmūtavāhana, Son of Jīmūtaketu
Jīmūtavāhana · jīmūta-vāhana, “the one whose vehicle is the cloud”
Jīmūtavāhana is a vidyādhara, the son of Jīmūtaketu, master of the vidyādharas, skilled in all the kalās (arts). He is loving to the distressed and generous to the end: when he heard the mother of the nāga Śaṅkhacūḍa weeping because her son was to be the food of Garuḍa that day, he went to Garuḍa in the nāga’s place and let himself be eaten without showing pain. Pleased by his spirit of helping others, Garuḍa freed him and granted three varas. In his former birth he was Śūrasena, king of Madhyadeśa. His wife is Kamalākshī, daughter of King Malayadhvaja. The Pratisarga Parva of the Bhavishya Purāṇa gives this account, told by Rudrakiṅkara the Vaitāla to Vikramāditya, as he told Vikramāditya many accounts, each ending in a question.
Jīmūtaketu’s former birth
In Kānyakubja lived a brāhmaṇa, generous, truthful and intent on the pūjā of Devī Durgā, who gave away whatever he received. When the śāradīya Navadurgā vrata came, he had received nothing, and he worried: “I have invited kanyās (girls) for the Durgā-pūjā; how shall I feed them?” As he was sunk in worry, by the grace of Devī Durgā he received five mudrās (coins) unexpectedly, and with them he completed the vrata. He kept it for nine days without food. By the power of that vrata he attained a divine form after death and became Jīmūtaketu, master of the vidyādharas. He lived in a lovely place of the Himālaya and performed pūjā of the Kalpavṛksha with bhakti, and by the power of that tree he received his son Jīmūtavāhana.
His former birth as King Śūrasena
In his previous birth Jīmūtavāhana was Śūrasena, king of Madhyadeśa. Once King Śūrasena came hunting to the forest named Utpalāvarta, the dwelling of Maharshi Vālmīki. There on Caitra śukla navamī he duly kept the Śrī Rāmanavamī utsava, the festival of Śrī Rāma’s birth, and kept a night-vigil in the hut of Maharshi Vālmīki. By the puṇya of hearing the gāthā (verse account) full of Śrī Rāma he became the vidyādhara Jīmūtavāhana, son of Jīmūtaketu.
The Kalpavṛksha and Kamalākshī
Jīmūtavāhana too performed great pūjā of the Kalpavṛksha. Within one year the tree, pleased, told him to ask a vara. He said: “Great tree, by your grace may my city be rich in wealth and grain.” The Kalpavṛksha made the city the best on earth, and by the tree’s power there was no one there who was not like a king.
Then father and son went to the forest and performed severe tapas on the lovely Malayācala. One day Kamalākshī, daughter of King Malayadhvaja, came with her friends to a Śiva temple for Śiva-pūjā, and Jīmūtavāhana also came there for pūjā. Seeing the divine princess adorned with all ornaments, he wished to obtain her and prayed for this. In the end her father gave her to him in marriage.
The gift of himself to Garuḍa
One day Viśvāvasu, son of King Malayadhvaja, went with his sister’s husband Jīmūtavāhana to Mount Gandhamādana and bowed to Nara-Nārāyaṇa. On that same peak came Garuḍa, the divine vāhana of Bhagavān Vishṇu. Hearing a woman’s pitiful crying, Jīmūtavāhana was pained and quickly went to her. He comforted the old woman and asked why she wept. She said: “Deva, today my son will be Garuḍa’s food. Overcome by sorrow at losing him, I weep.” She was the mother of the nāga Śaṅkhacūḍa.
Hearing this, Jīmūtavāhana went to Garuḍa’s peak. Garuḍa, taking him for his food, seized him and carried him into the sky. Kamalākshī saw her husband in the sky being eaten by Garuḍa and wept in sorrow. Seeing him eaten without showing pain, Garuḍa was afraid and said: “Why did you become my food?” He answered: “The mother of the nāga Śaṅkhacūḍa was deeply grieved; I came to you to protect her son.”
When Śaṅkhacūḍa learned of this he quickly came to Garuḍa, grieved, and said: “Ocean of compassion, I am here for your food. Mahāmate, release this divine man and make me your food.”
The three varas
Seeing Jīmūtavāhana’s greatness and spirit of helping others, Garuḍa was very pleased and gave three varas: he would never again eat the descendants of Śaṅkhacūḍa; Jīmūtavāhana would gain the best kingdom in the city of the vidyādharas; and having enjoyed joy for a lakh of years he would attain Vaikuṇṭha. Saying this Garuḍa disappeared. Jīmūtavāhana received the kingdom from his father, enjoyed royal happiness with Kamalākshī, and in the end went to Vaikuṇṭhaloka.
The Vaitāla’s question
The Vaitāla asked: “Of these two, Śaṅkhacūḍa and Jīmūtavāhana, who gained the great fruit, and who was more courageous?” Vikramāditya answered that Śaṅkhacūḍa gained the great fruit. Helping others is the very nature of a king, so Jīmūtavāhana’s gift of life, great as it was, falls within his duty; Śaṅkhacūḍa fearlessly offered his body to his enemy Garuḍa and saved the life of a great dharmic king. The Vaitāla was satisfied with this answer.
Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Pratisarga Parva, Khaṇḍa 2, Chapters 1–23
Sources
- Bhavishya Purāṇa, Pratisarga Parva, Khaṇḍa 2, Chapters 1–23