Hemaprabhā, wife of Vallabha

Hemaprabhā was the wife of Vallabha, a wealthy man of the city of Kāñcana. She is the central person of the narrative in Chapter 15 of the Brahma Khaṇḍa of the Padma Mahā Purāṇa. She had no devotion at all, yet she kept the Pārśvaparivartana Ekādaśī and Dvādaśī vow by chance. Messengers of Bhagavān Vishṇu then took her to his abode.

Her nature

The Brahma Khaṇḍa shows Hemaprabhā as a clear example of the faults of the Kali Yuga (the present age). She talked too much and loved to quarrel. She scolded her elders with mean words and ate food secretly from the cooking pots. She gave her elders only the leftover food. She kept a lover while claiming in public to be faithful. She often caused her husband Vallabha grief by her quarrels.

The accidental fast

During one quarrel Vallabha scolded her and struck her. In anger Hemaprabhā went to an empty house. No one knew where she was. There she slept and spent two whole days without food or water. She had no thought of any religious vow. Her fast was only an act of defiance against her husband.

That day was in fact the Pārśvaparivartana Ekādaśī. This is the holy day when Bhagavān Vishṇu turns to his other side in yoga-nidrā (his yogic sleep), and it destroys all pāpa (sin). The next day was the Dvādaśī joined with the Śravaṇa star. So her angry two-day fast became, by the power of the tithi (lunar day), an accidental keeping of the supreme Ekādaśī and Dvādaśī vow.

Her death and her journey

Hemaprabhā died on the Jayanti night. The messengers of Yama came for her. They were fearful, and they held nooses and hammers. Their aim was to take her to Yamaloka, the world of Yama. But the messengers of Bhagavān Vishṇu arrived. They cut the nooses with their discs, placed her in a divine chariot, and took her to the auspicious abode of Bhagavān Vishṇu. Even the devas cannot easily reach that abode.

The teaching

The Brahma Khaṇḍa uses her story for this teaching: “He who observes this vow even unwillingly goes to Vishṇu’s abode.” The power of the holy Ekādaśī tithi turned even her angry, unwilling fast into the puṇya (merit) of a vow kept on purpose, by the endless grace of Bhagavān Vishṇu.

Sources

• Padma Mahā Purāṇa, Brahma Khaṇḍa, Chapter 15