Sīmantinī
Sīmantinī was the daughter of King Citrāvarman. Her story is the central account of the Somavāra Vrata Māhātmya in the Brahmoṭṭara Khaṇḍa. Her karma (the result of past action) fated her to widowhood. She learned the Somavāra vrata, the Monday vow, from Maitreyī and kept it with complete sincerity for many years. Through its power her husband Candrāṃgada, who was seized and held in the realm of the Nāga king Takshaka, was protected and finally given back to her.
The threat of widowhood
Sīmantinī’s horoscope and her past karma showed that she would be widowed, because her husband was fated to die. Her father, King Citrāvarman, knew this. He looked for a way to turn it aside.
The family went to Maitreyī, a ṛshi (seer). She taught them the Somavāra vrata as the highest means of averting such outcomes of karma. It protects the husband’s life and keeps the marriage whole.
The Somavāra vrata
Sīmantinī took up the Somavāra vrata with complete sincerity and kept it for many years. The vrata is kept every Monday. It includes pūjā (worship) of Śiva and Pārvatī, fasting, meditation, and other rites that Maitreyī described in detail. The Purāṇa says its power protects the husband directly, like a shield of puṇya (merit) around his life.
Candrāṃgada is seized
The vow was kept, yet the karma showed itself in another way. Sīmantinī’s husband Candrāṃgada, called the grandson of King Nala, was seized by Takshaka. Takshaka took him into the Nāga-loka, the realm of the serpent beings. It looked like the feared widowhood coming true, since no one returns from that realm.
But the Somavāra vrata had already built a wall of protection. Even in Takshaka’s realm Candrāṃgada was unharmed and could not be killed. The merit of the vrata followed him into the underworld.
The story of Sāmavanta
Within this narrative comes the story of Sāmavanta, a man. He bathed in a sacred pond on a Monday (Somavāra). At once he became a woman. This complete change of body came only from the sacred water on that day. It shows the great śakti (power) of Somavāra.
Pārvatī’s help and the end of the story
Pārvatī, who is moved by the sincere devotion of women, stepped in. By the grace of Śiva, and by the power of Sīmantinī’s many years of vrata, Candrāṃgada was freed from Takshaka’s realm. The fate of widowhood was undone by the merit of the Somavāra vrata.
This matches the teaching given at the start of the Somavāra Vrata section. The vrata can turn aside even a fixed outcome of karma. It protects a husband even when he is held in a realm beyond ordinary reach.
Sources
- Skanda Mahāpurāṇa, Brahma Khaṇḍa, Dharmāraṇya Khaṇḍa, Uttarārdha, Chapter 8
- Skanda Mahāpurāṇa, Brahma Khaṇḍa, Dharmāraṇya Khaṇḍa, Uttarārdha, Chapter 9