Hemakuṇḍala

Hemakuṇḍala was a rich merchant of the city of Nishadha in the Kṛtayuga. He earned eight crore gold coins every year. He is named in the Hemakuṇḍala Carita, in the Svarga Khaṇḍa of the Padma Mahā Purāṇa, as the father of Śrīkuṇḍala and Vikuṇḍala.

Life and good works

Hemakuṇḍala means “gold garland”. He was a vaiśya (a member of the merchant class) and lived in Nishadha, a city of great prosperity in the Kṛtayuga. His trade brought him eight crore gold coins each year. He did not hoard this wealth or spend it only on comfort. He used it for dharma:

• He built a temple of Bhagavān Vishṇu.
• He built a temple of Bhagavān Śiva.
• He made a lake (taḍāga).
• He dug wells (kūpa).
• He planted gardens (udyāna).
• He gave annadāna, the daily free feeding of all who came to his door.

These acts show him as the ideal gṛhastha (householder). Such a householder performs the five mahāyajñas (great daily offerings). He repays his debts (ṛṇa) to the devas, the ṛshis, the pitṛs (ancestors), his guests and all beings, through steady pūjā and dāna (giving).

His sons

Hemakuṇḍala had two sons. Śrīkuṇḍala was the elder and Vikuṇḍala the younger.

The sons did not follow their father’s character. After his death they wasted his wealth on sense pleasures and gave up all dharma. They became thieves to support themselves, and both died violent deaths. After death their fates were different. The elder went to Raurava, a naraka (hell). The younger went to svarga (heaven), because of puṇya (merit) he had stored in an earlier life. That earlier puṇya came from a bath in the Kāverī through the brāhmaṇa Sumitra, and from his service to four sannyāsins (renunciants). The Hemakuṇḍala Carita tells this narrative.

Sources

• Padma Mahā Purāṇa, Svarga Khaṇḍa, Chapter 30