Kālavatī and Kalāvatī
Two women have names that are alike. Kālavatī was the wife of Drumila, in whose womb Nārada took birth in the cycle of his life as Upabarhaṇa. Kalāvatī was a nāga princess who was freed by Bhagavān Rāma and married to Pushkara, the son of Bharata, at Ayodhyā.
Kālavatī, the mother of Nārada
Kālavatī was the śūdra wife of a man named Drumila. Through her womb the ātmā (soul) of Nārada took human birth, in his cycle of births as Upabarhaṇa. The birth came about in an indirect way. The child grew up to be a great devotee of Bhagavān Kṛshṇa. Kālavatī raised him with love, and she later died of a snakebite. After that, her ātmā reached Vaikuṇṭha.
Background
Chapter 20 of the Brahma Khaṇḍa gives the setting of Kālavatī’s part. The puṇya (merit) that remained to Upabarhaṇa was used up, and the śāpa (curse) of Brahmā took full effect. Nārada’s ātmā then had to take a human birth. This was arranged by divine will through an indirect means.
The great ṛshi Kaśyapa muni had an involuntary emission of seed when the apsarā Menakā passed near him. The seed fell into the womb of Kālavatī, the śūdra wife of Drumila, who had come into Kaśyapa’s presence to ask for a son as a vara (boon). Nārada’s ātmā entered this birth. Drumila was told what had happened. He accepted the child and then went to Bādarī for tapas, and there he later died. This is told in the Brahma Vaivarta Mahā Purāṇa, Brahma Khaṇḍa.
Raising the child
With Drumila gone, Kālavatī raised the child alone, with great love and care. The boy grew up in her care and showed a natural leaning to devotion and to bhakti for Bhagavān Kṛshṇa. Sanatkumāra visited the house and gave the child a Kṛshṇa mantra of twenty-two aksharas (syllables):
Oṃ śrīṃ namaḥ bhagavate rāsamaṇḍaleśvarāya śrīkṛshṇāya svāhā
The mantra means: salutations to Bhagavān Śrī Kṛshṇa, the master of the Rāsa maṇḍala. This is told in the Brahma Vaivarta Mahā Purāṇa, Brahma Khaṇḍa.
Her death
After the boy had begun his spiritual journey, Kālavatī died of a snakebite. She had been the mother who raised a soul as pure as Nārada. Sanatkumāra had visited her house, and the Kṛshṇa mantra had been given there. Her ātmā reached Vaikuṇṭha, the supreme abode of Nārāyaṇa. This is told in the Brahma Vaivarta Mahā Purāṇa, Brahma Khaṇḍa.
What her account teaches
Her account shows three teachings of the Brahma Khaṇḍa. First, great souls choose their mothers with care, and even a śūdra woman can be the mother of a divine being. Second, closeness to Kṛshṇa-bhakti, through her son and the visit of Sanatkumāra, gives karma that leads to moksha (liberation). Third, the way a birth comes about is governed by earlier karma and divine will, and not by position in society.
Kalāvatī, the nāga princess
Kalāvatī was a nāgakanyā (a nāga princess) and one of seven daughters of a nāga king. Jaladevī had held them prisoner at the Pañcappa lake, and Bhagavān Rāma freed them by His divine will. Her name means “one endowed with all arts” (kalā is art or skill, and vatī means endowed with).
Vasishṭha Maharshi gave Kalāvatī to Pushkara, the son of Bharata and Māṇḍavī, as his nāga bride. The wedding took place at Ayodhyā in the dark fortnight (kṛshṇa paksha) of the month of Jyeshṭha, in the great year of weddings. Pushkara also married a gandharva daughter, Cañcalā, in Phālguṇa. In the genealogical account, Kalāvatī bore Pushkara eight sons and one daughter. This is told in the Ānanda Rāmāyaṇa, Vivāha Kāṇḍa, Chapters 5–7 and 9.
Sources
- Brahma Vaivarta Mahā Purāṇa, Brahma Khaṇḍa (Chapter 20 for the background of Kālavatī)
- Ānanda Rāmāyaṇa, Vivāha Kāṇḍa, Chapters 5–7, 9