Hemakānta

Hemakānta was the crown prince of Vaṅgadeśa (Bengal). He killed three hundred brāhmaṇa disciples, and his father banished him. The Skanda Mahā Purāṇa tells how one small act of kindness in the month of Vaiśākha freed him from this heavy fault.

The crime and the banishment

Hemakānta was the crown prince of Vaṅgadeśa. He killed three hundred brāhmaṇa disciples. This is a crime of the gravest kind, and it brought on him a vast load of Brahmahatyā (the fault of killing a brāhmaṇa). His father could not bear to keep such a son and banished him from the kingdom. Hemakānta wandered in the forests for twenty-eight years. He had no fixed home, and he carried the weight of this dosha (fault) all that time.

How he was freed

One day in Vaiśākha, at midday, the ṛshi Trita was swooning in the heat. Hemakānta, on his own, shaded Trita with a large Palāśa leaf. It was a quick, improvised umbrella that lasted only a moment. This one act of compassion destroyed his whole load of Brahmahatyā at once.

Vishvaksena then appeared, confirmed this, and restored Hemakānta to his father’s kingdom. Bhagavān Vishṇu sent Vishvaksena himself for this.

Sources

• Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Vaishṇava Khaṇḍa, Vaiśākha Māsa Māhātmya, Chapter 10