Śāmbarāyaṇī

Śāmbarāyaṇī is a woman in the Vishṇu Dharmottara Purāṇa who lives in svarga (heaven) for a very long time. She earned this by doing Māsanakshatra pūjā to Bhagavān Vishṇu throughout her human life. In the Purāṇa she tells Indra about the second to sixth manvantaras, and she also speaks of the ages still to come. Mārkaṇḍeya cites her as proof of the great fruits of Māsanakshatra pūjā.

Who she is

In her human birth, Śāmbarāyaṇī did Māsanakshatra pūjā to Bhagavān Vishṇu without a break for her whole life. This is the monthly worship of Bhagavān Vishṇu, joined to the nakshatra (lunar star) of each month. The result of this pūjā (called karma-vipāka, the ripening of action) raised her to a long, unbroken stay in svarga. At the time of the dialogue she has lived there through “sapta kalpa”, the whole of the current kalpa.

She is called a mahānubhāvurālu (a woman of great spiritual stature) and a sarvajña (one who knows all). Her devotion gave her knowledge of the manvantaras of the past and the future. Indra himself honours her and speaks to her with respect.

The dialogue with Indra

Indra saw her in svarga and knew of her great knowledge. He asked her: “O Sumukhī! You came to svarga through your own karma. You have been here for a very long time. How do you know the movements of future manvantaras? There is no one as primordial (sanātanī) as you.” He asked further: “O Sureśvarī! How did the One Creator appear to you as a single form? How do you know the course of future manvantaras?”

Śāmbarāyaṇī answered: “O lord of the three worlds! In the current kalpa, through the grace (prasāda) of the Deva-deva, all time, the full parārdha (half a Brahmā-day) and the full kalpa-kāla, appeared to me in a single unified form. That is how I see the course of future manvantaras. In my human birth I did Māsanakshatra pūjā to Vishṇu every month, all through my life. By that karma-viveka (discernment through karma), I received a long stay in svarga. From here I shall be taken to Brahmaloka.”

After saying this, the mahānubhāvurālu, honoured by the devas, vanished on that very spot (antardhāna).

Narrator of manvantaras two to six

In the larger frame of the Purāṇa, Mārkaṇḍeya speaks to Vajra. From the Svārocisha Manvantara (the second manvantara), the telling becomes an inner dialogue, with Śāmbarāyaṇī speaking to Indra. She describes the manus, their sons, the saptarshis, the deva-gaṇas (groups of devas), the Indra of each age, the daitya enemies, and the avatāra of Bhagavān Vishṇu who destroys each age’s daitya threat.

Her telling covers the Svārocisha, Auttama, Tāmasa, Raivata and Cākshusha manvantaras, which are manvantaras two to six. The seventh manvantara, the Vaivasvata, is the present age, in which both she and Indra live.

For the future manvantaras, eight to fourteen, she speaks as one who knows what is to come. She names their manus, saptarshis, Indras and daityas, and the forms Bhagavān Vishṇu will take to defeat them.

Why her example matters

Mārkaṇḍeya says that Māsanakshatra pūjā gives divya-jñāna (divine knowledge), a long stay in svarga, and in the end a rise to Brahmaloka. He names Śāmbarāyaṇī’s example as the reason he recommends this pūjā to Vajra. Through her devotion to Bhagavān Vishṇu she gained knowledge of all the manvantaras, a lasting home in svarga, and the grace of going at last to Brahmaloka.

Sources

• Vishṇu Dharmottara Purāṇa, Pūrvārdha, chapters 176–191 (the dialogue with Indra and her significance are in chapter 191)