Sīrabhadra of Vidiśā
Sīrabhadra · sīra-bhadra, “blessed with the plough”
Sīrabhadra was a vaiśya of Vidiśā, told of in the Uttara Parva of the Bhavishya Purāṇa. He was rich in wealth and grain, diligent, a keeper of cows, buffaloes and goats, and skilled in farming. He gave his whole mind to family and wealth, and he gave up dāna, homa and pūjā. Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa, in the form of an old brāhmaṇa, came to his house with Nārada Muni and blessed him, yet would not eat there. After death he became a preta in Vindhyāraṇya. Vipīta Muni told him that one fast on the Sukṛta Dvādaśī, ten births before, had already ended most of his pāpa, and by that vrata he attained moksha after a short time.
Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa at his house
Śrī Kṛshṇa tells Yudhishṭhira that once Nārada Muni asked Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa to show him his Māyā. Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa took the form of an old brāhmaṇa named Yajñaśarmā, and with Nārada Muni he came to the city of Vidiśā on the bank of the river Vetravatī. They went first to the house of Sīrabhadra.
He honoured them with a seat, arghya and the like, and offered them food as they wished. Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa smiled and said: “May you have many sons and grandsons, and may all be devoted to trade and farming. May your farming and your cattle-wealth grow daily. This is my blessing.” Then the two went on.
On the way, in a village named Veṇikā on the bank of the Gaṅgā, lived a poor brāhmaṇa named Gosvāmī, who was absorbed in the care of his farming. Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa said to him: “We have come from very far. We are now your guests. We are hungry; give us food.” The brāhmaṇa took both to his home, gave them bath and food, and arranged rest on a good bed. In the morning Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa said: “We have stayed happily in your house, and now we go. May Parameśvara make your farming fruitless, and may your progeny not increase.”
Nārada Muni asked why the vaiśya, who had done no service, had an excellent vara, while the brāhmaṇa who had served with śraddhā had what was really a śāpa. Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa said: “Nārada, the pāpa from a year of catching fish is equal to that from one day of ploughing. This vaiśya Sīrabhadra, with his sons and grandsons, is engaged in this very farming; he will go to naraka. So we neither rested nor ate in his house. In this brāhmaṇa’s house we ate and rested. I gave him such a blessing so that, not being caught in the net of the world, he may gain mukti.”
Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Uttara Parva, Chapter 3
The preta in Vindhyāraṇya
Śrī Kṛshṇa tells this account on the Sukṛta Dvādaśī. Sīrabhadra was wholly taken up with supporting sons, grandsons, daughters, wife and others, and even in dream gave no thought to the next world. He gathered wealth by just means and unjust. He never so much as named dāna, homa or deva-pūjā, and he gave up his daily and occasional karmas. After some time he died and lived as a preta in a yātanā-deha (body of suffering) in Vindhyāraṇya.
One day in the hot season a Veda-knowing brāhmaṇa named Vipīta saw that preta rolling in the sand of a river, scorched by the sun’s rays, with blisters on all his limbs, his throat dry with thirst, his tongue hanging out, drawing long breaths. Feeling great compassion, he asked his account.
The preta said: “Brahman, I burn because in my former birth I did no act for the next world. I was ever attached to thoughts of wealth, house, fields, sons and wife, and never thought of my true good. ‘This is done and this is to be done’: my whole life went in that weaving and unweaving, and this is its fruit. Through greed I bore every hardship of cold and heat, yet for dharma I bore not the least hardship, and now I repent. I never honoured devas, pitṛs or guests, and that is why I do not now get even food and water. Others must be enjoying the wealth I gathered by injustice; the thought gives me no rest. I never honoured brāhmaṇas nor did deva-arcana. I gathered only pāpa, so I alone taste its fruit. So, Munīśvara, if there is any means, tell it, by which I may be raised from this evil state.”
Vipīta Muni said: “Sīrabhadra, ten births ago, wishing to do ārādhanā of Bhagavān Acyuta, you fasted on the Sukṛta Dvādaśī. By its power a very large part of this pāpa has already been destroyed. Now in a short time you will reach a good state.” Having comforted him thus, Vipīta Muni went to his āśrama, and Sīrabhadra, as the fruit of the dvādaśī vrata, attained moksha after a short time.
This dvādaśī vrata destroys pāpas and brings puṇya, and for that reason it is called the Sukṛta Dvādaśī. Śrī Kṛshṇa concludes: “Mahārāja, such is the power of upavāsa that so much pāpa was destroyed in so short a time. So a person should always strive for puṇya and keep up fasts and the like for his own good.”
Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Uttara Parva, Chapter 82
Among those who kept the vrata
The Uttara Parva also names Sīrabhadra among the vaiśyas of the Dvāpara Yuga who kept the Bhīshmapañcaka Vrata.
Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Uttara Parva, Chapter 72
Sources
- Bhavishya Purāṇa, Uttara Parva, Chapters 3, 72, 82