Yajñaśarma

Yajñaśarma · yajña-śarman

Yajñaśarma is the eldest of the five sons of Śivaśarma, a brāhmaṇa householder of Dvārakā. His story is told in the Bhūmi Khaṇḍa of the Padma Purāṇa. Śivaśarma tested his sons in pitṛ-bhakti (devotion to the father). Yajñaśarma’s test was the first of the five. It asked him to obey his father’s command even when the command seemed to go against dharma.

The test of obedience

Śivaśarma showed Yajñaśarma what looked like the dead body of their mother. He told his son to carry it away and dispose of it. Yajñaśarma did what he was told at once. He did not grieve, he did not complain, and he did not question the order. He placed his father’s ājñā (command) above every other concern.

Then the trick was revealed. The mother was unharmed. Śivaśarma declared that Yajñaśarma’s pitṛ-bhakti was fully proved. The Bhūmi Khaṇḍa tells this in chapter 1.

Ascent to Vishṇuloka

Yajñaśarma later went up to Vishṇuloka with his brothers Vedaśarma, Dharmaśarma and Vishṇuśarma, after all four had gone through and passed their tests. The four elder brothers went up before the last test of their youngest brother, Somaśarma. This ascent is the fruit of a household given wholly to devotion to the father and to Bhagavān Vishṇu. It is told in chapters 1–5 of the Bhūmi Khaṇḍa.

Sources

• Padma Purāṇa, Bhūmi Khaṇḍa, chapters 1–5 (the test of obedience: chapter 1)