Suvarcā

Suvarcā was the devoted wife of the great ṛshi Dādhīci. Dādhīci gave up his body so that his bones could be made into the Vajra to kill Vṛtra. Suvarcā could not live without her husband and gave up her life on the funeral pyre, becoming a satī. She was with child at the time. Their son Pippalāda came into being in the forest, and he grew into a great ṛshi.

Who she was

Suvarcā was a pativratā (a wife wholly devoted to her husband). Her husband Dādhīci was the great ṛshi whose bones had the power of the cosmic Vajra because the Pāśupata mantra had filled them. In the Kedāra Khaṇḍa she appears at the moment of her husband’s great sacrifice, and she makes the choice that marks her life: she follows him in death.

Dādhīci’s sacrifice and Suvarcā’s self-immolation

The devas came to Dādhīci’s āśrama (hermitage) to ask for his body, so that Viśvakarman could make his bones into the Vajra. Dādhīci agreed at once and without hesitation. He asked only that his wife Suvarcā be cared for and comforted while he was gone. He then settled his affairs, entered samādhi (deep meditation) and freely let his prāṇa (life breath) leave his body.

Suvarcā heard what had happened and was overcome with grief. The devas promised to care for her, but she could not think of life without Dādhīci. She built a funeral pyre and gave up her life on it.

The orphan Pippalāda

When Suvarcā died, she was with child. The child came into being in the forest, in a world without either parent. He lived on the fruit of the pippala (the sacred fig) and on the force of the tapas (austerity) he had from his parents. This child was Pippalāda. He grew into one of the great ṛshis and is the author of the Praśna Upanishad. In grief and anger at being left an orphan, he turned his fierce glance on the Navagrahas and nearly destroyed them, until Brahmā stepped in.

Sources

• Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Māheśvara Khaṇḍa, Kedāra Khaṇḍa, Chapter 16