Vīrabāhu
The name Vīrabāhu belongs to two different people in the sources. One is the chief attendant and commander of Kārttikeya, in the Śiva Purāṇa. The other is a king of Kāmpilya who was devoted to Bhagavān Viṣṇu, in the Skanda Mahā Purāṇa. The two sections below treat them separately. The name means “the one with heroic arms”.
Vīrabāhu, attendant of Kārttikeya
Vīrabāhu is Kārttikeya’s chief attendant and commander. The Kumāra Khaṇḍa of the Śiva Purāṇa shows him as the one Kārttikeya sent to look for a brāhmaṇa‘s lost goat meant for a yajña. He is not the same as Vīrabhadra, the warrior gaṇa (attendant) of Śiva.
The brāhmaṇa and the goat
A brāhmaṇa named Nārada came to Kārttikeya in distress because his goat for the yajña had gone missing. Kārttikeya sent Vīrabāhu, his own attendant and commander, to search for the animal in all the realms. Vīrabāhu searched everywhere and in the end found the goat at Vaikuṇṭha, the highest abode of Bhagavān Viṣṇu.
After finding the goat, Vīrabāhu went back and told Kārttikeya. Kārttikeya then fetched the animal himself and rode it around the universe. (Śiva Purāṇa, Rudra Saṃhitā, Kumāra Khaṇḍa, Chapter 6)
His name and standing
As Kārttikeya’s chief attendant, Vīrabāhu carries out tasks that the Senāpati (the commander of the army of the devas) himself hands to him. He is a figure of great power and can move through all three worlds without being stopped.
Vīrabāhu, king of Kāmpilya
Vīrabāhu was the righteous king of Kāmpilya. He was truthful, had overcome anger, had realised Brahman, and was devoted only to Bhagavān Viṣṇu. He kept the Ekādaśī vrata (vow) firmly. The ṛṣi Bhāradvāja told him the story of his three lives. It showed that his present good fortune was the fruit of one act of kindness in a past life, when he was a Śūdra in Mahārāṣṭra who lived in pāpa. He was freed by the merit of the Akhaṇḍa Ekādaśī Vrata, which his grandson passed to him, and by the personal coming of Bhagavān Viṣṇu on Garuḍa.
Who he was
In Kāmpilya, Vīrabāhu ruled as king. He spoke the truth, had overcome anger, had realised Brahman and was devoted only to Bhagavān Viṣṇu. He was merciful, strong and handsome. He loved the jāgaraṇa (night vigil), was devoted to the devotees of Bhagavān Viṣṇu, gave freely, was learned, patient and brave, and had mastered his senses. In wealth he matched Kubera, and he had sons, cattle and riches. His queen Kāntimatī had no equal in beauty and devotion. (Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Vaiṣṇava Khaṇḍa, Mārgaśīrṣa Māsa Māhātmya, Chapter 11)
His words on Ekādaśī
The ṛṣi Bhāradvāja visited his court. Vīrabāhu welcomed him well and spoke with full clarity. He said: “Men who are not devotees of Hṛṣīkeśa are like Piśācas. Those who take food on Hari’s day, Ekādaśī, are stained with great pāpa (sin). Through a single day of Hari one gets what the wise describe as the fruit of thousands of Śiva-vratas and crores of Saura-vratas. As long as Dvādaśī, which I like most, does not come, the tithis of Brahmā and Śaṅkara are only boasting.”
He said this with full conviction before the whole court and the ṛṣi Bhāradvāja. Bhāradvāja explained that this strong Vaiṣṇava faith was the natural fruit of the change in his past life. (Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Vaiṣṇava Khaṇḍa, Mārgaśīrṣa Māsa Māhātmya, Chapter 11)
The three lives
Vīrabāhu asked Bhāradvāja to explain the source of his great fortune. The ṛṣi went into yoga meditation and told him of three lives.
Present life, King Vīrabāhu. This is the fruit of his stored good karma. He is a Vaiṣṇava king with a devoted queen, a great kingdom and firm bhakti (devotion).
The life just before, a Śūdra in Mahārāṣṭra. Vīrabāhu had been a Śūdra. He lived in pāpa, harmed animals, was a nāstika (an unbeliever) and was ungrateful. When his wealth ran out, his relatives left him and he took up hunting. Yet in that low life he did one act of pure and spontaneous kindness. He found the brāhmaṇa Devaśarma, who had collapsed in the forest at midday, and gave him welcome, fruit and rest. This act turned his mind wholly toward Janārdana. He said: “I do not want anything at all except Bhagavān Janārdana.” The ṛṣi said that this one turning of the heart wiped out the pāpa gathered over hundreds of earlier births.
The life before that, a brāhmaṇa at Avantī. In an earlier birth Vīrabāhu had been a good brāhmaṇa at Avantī, devoted to the Vedas and to virtue. Once he kept the Dvādaśī vow when the Daśamī tithi overlapped it. That one mistake undid all his puṇya (merit). It sent him through the torments of naraka (hell) for thousands of years, and he was born again as a Śūdra with a mind drawn to pāpa. (Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Vaiṣṇava Khaṇḍa, Mārgaśīrṣa Māsa Māhātmya, Chapters 11–12)
How the Śūdra was freed
Two acts together freed the Śūdra, who was Vīrabāhu’s earlier self.
- The act of welcome. The Śūdra’s kind welcome to Devaśarma had already begun to wear away his pāpa. His honest turning toward Janārdana started the process.
- The Ekādaśī merit passed on. The son of Vīrabāhu’s daughter lived in Vidarbha. He kept the Akhaṇḍa Ekādaśī Vrata correctly and formally gave its puṇya to his mother’s father, who was then the Śūdra. Yama received this gift of merit and declared that the pāpa of the Daśamī overlap, the pāpa of ten thousand births and the pāpa of that life were all wiped away.
When both acts had come together, Bhagavān Viṣvaksena himself, who is Bhagavān Viṣṇu riding Garuḍa, appeared to the Śūdra in the forest. He spoke to him directly: “O one of low varṇa, welcome to you. I, Janārdana, am pleased with you.” He placed the Śūdra and his wife on the flying chariot. They rose to svarga (heaven) and were later born again as King Vīrabāhu and Queen Kāntimatī. (Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Vaiṣṇava Khaṇḍa, Mārgaśīrṣa Māsa Māhātmya, Chapter 12)
Sources
- Śiva Purāṇa, Rudra Saṃhitā, Kumāra Khaṇḍa, Chapter 6
- Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Vaiṣṇava Khaṇḍa, Mārgaśīrṣa Māsa Māhātmya, Chapters 11–12