Ambarīsha

Ambarīsha is a king of the Sūryavaṃśa (the solar dynasty) and one of the foremost devotees of Bhagavān Vishṇu in the Purāṇas. He is best known for the account of the terrible ṛshi Durvāsa. Durvāsa’s power to curse was feared in all three worlds. He tried to punish Ambarīsha for a wrong against his guest rights. Instead, the Sudarśana Cakra, sent by Bhagavān Vishṇu to protect his devotee, chased Durvāsa across the whole cosmos.

The Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa (Śrī Kṛshṇa Janana Khaṇḍa, Chapter 25) records this episode. It gives one of the strongest statements in the Purāṇas on the high place of the devotees of Bhagavān Vishṇu (bhaktas).

Identity and lineage

Ambarīsha is a king of the Sūryavaṃśa. This is the dynasty that produced Ikshvāku, Māndhātā, Hariścandra and Rāma. He is a devotee of Bhagavān Vishṇu of the highest kind. Bhagavān Vishṇu gave him the Sudarśana Cakra directly as a mark of grace and protection. He ruled by dharma. His own life was built around Vaishṇava practice: daily pūjā, the Ekādaśī vrata (vow), giving in charity, and service of brāhmaṇas.

The Ekādaśī vrata and the arrival of Durvāsa

Ambarīsha kept the Ekādaśī vrata, the fast on the eleventh day of the lunar fortnight in honour of Bhagavān Vishṇu, with great care. The fast was about to end on Dvādaśī, the twelfth day. The time had come for pāraṇa, the ritual breaking of the fast. Pāraṇa must be done within a fixed time, after sunrise and before the Dvādaśī tithi (lunar day) ends.

At this moment the quick-tempered ṛshi Durvāsa came to the palace as a hungry guest. By dharma, a king must feed a guest before he eats himself. But Durvāsa said he would first go to the river to bathe and do his ritual washing. Waiting for him would mean that the Dvādaśī tithi would pass. A fast broken after that time would be a serious fault.

Ambarīsha asked his teacher Vasishṭha what to do. Vasishṭha told him to drink pādodaka. This is the water used to wash the feet of brāhmaṇas and devas, and it is held to give their grace. It was a middle path. It would complete the pāraṇa, because any liquid taken ends the fast, yet it was not a full meal that would insult the waiting guest. Ambarīsha followed this advice and drank the pādodaka.

Durvāsa’s anger and the fire-being

Durvāsa came back from his bath and learned that Ambarīsha had taken something before serving him, even if it was only pādodaka. He was filled with rage. In his eyes a great ṛshi had come as a guest and the king had eaten first. In his fury he tore out a lock of his own matted hair (jaṭā) and threw it on the ground. From it came a fearful fire-being, a creature of flame and destruction. He ordered it to kill Ambarīsha.

The fire-being moved toward Ambarīsha. The king stood still and did not try to run. He surrendered fully to Bhagavān Vishṇu and called on him in his mind. A true Vaishṇava places his safety wholly in the hands of Bhagavān Vishṇu.

The Sudarśana Cakra steps in

At the moment of Ambarīsha’s surrender, the Sudarśana Cakra appeared. Bhagavān Vishṇu had given it to Ambarīsha as a mark of his deep bhakti (devotion). It destroyed Durvāsa’s fire-being at once. Then it did not stop. It turned toward Durvāsa himself and chased him with blazing speed.

Durvāsa was the most feared ṛshi of his time, and his anger had made even the devas tremble. Now he ran in terror for his life from a divine disc. The chase went through the whole cosmos.

The flight through the three worlds

Durvāsa first ran to Brahmā, who sat on his lotus seat, and begged for protection. Brahmā refused. He said with sadness that even Brahmaloka would burn if the Sudarśana Cakra entered it, since it was moved by the will of Bhagavān Vishṇu. He had no power to shield Durvāsa from a weapon used on behalf of a wronged devotee.

Durvāsa then ran to Kailāsa and fell at the feet of Mahādeva Śiva. As he arrived, Kailāsa began to burn from the heat of the approaching Sudarśana. Śiva, with all his armies and with Pārvatī beside him, could not protect him. He too accepted the highest authority of Bhagavān Vishṇu in this form that guards his devotees.

At last Durvāsa ran to Vaikuṇṭha and bowed before Bhagavān Vishṇu. He offered a long stotra (hymn of praise) of repentance, taken from the Kaudhuma branch of the Sāmaveda. In it Durvāsa praised Bhagavān Vishṇu as the highest reality beyond the guṇas, the base of all creation, and the one before whom even Brahmā and Śiva bow.

The devas plead for Durvāsa

The danger drew all the devas to Vaikuṇṭha, and they pleaded for Durvāsa. Those who spoke for him were Brahmā, Mahādeva, Pārvatī, Dharma-deva, Indra, the Rudras, the dik-pālakas (guardians of the eight directions), the navagrahas (the nine planets), great munis, Atri, Lakshmī, Sarasvatī, the pārshadas (attendants) of Bhagavān Vishṇu, and the nartakas (divine dancers). The whole court appealed for mercy toward the ṛshi.

Bhagavān Vishṇu speaks about his devotees

Bhagavān Vishṇu answered Durvāsa and the devas. This reply is one of the best-known statements in the Purāṇas on bhakta-prādhānya, the high place of devotees. He said:

• A devotee who has surrendered to him fully is dearer to him than all others. He is dearer than Brahmā, dearer than Śiva, and dearer than Lakshmī herself.
• His heart lives in the hearts of his devotees, and they live in his heart.
• If someone wrongs his devotee, even a great ṛshi, the offence is his to deal with.
• He cannot forgive on behalf of a wronged devotee. Only the devotee himself can forgive.
• Durvāsa must go back to Ambarīsha and ask his pardon. When Ambarīsha forgives, the Sudarśana will stand down.

Ambarīsha forgives

Durvāsa went back to Ambarīsha. The king had been fasting for the whole year, waiting patiently and kept alive by the grace of Bhagavān Vishṇu. He forgave the ṛshi at once and without any hesitation. As soon as he forgave, the Sudarśana Cakra stood down and withdrew. Durvāsa was safe.

Ambarīsha then fed his guest a rich meal. He showed the man who had threatened his life the same warmth he would have shown on the first Dvādaśī day. Durvāsa was deeply moved. He spoke with wonder of the mahātmya (greatness) of Vaishṇavas. Here was a man whose devotion was so great that Bhagavān Vishṇu himself sent his cakra to defend him. Yet the man held no anger at all, only forgiveness and welcome.

The Bhāgavata account

The Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa (9th Skandha, Chapters 4 and 5) tells the same episode with its own details.

Ambarīsha had kept the Ekādaśī vrata for a whole year. He ended it on Dvādaśī by giving sixty crore cows, decorated with gold and silver and with all the needed vessels, to worthy brāhmaṇas. When the time for pāraṇa came, Durvāsa Maharshi arrived as a guest and went to bathe in the Yamunā. Only a short part of Dvādaśī was left. Ambarīsha asked the learned men present. He decided that drinking water alone would meet the need of Dvādaśī and would not insult the guest. He drank water and remembered Śrī Hari within.

Durvāsa came back and, by his yogic insight, saw what had happened. He flew into a rage and made a fearful fire-being (kshudra-devatā) from his matted lock. Ambarīsha did not move. He stood in full surrender and did not step back at all. The Sudarśana Cakra, which Bhagavān Vishṇu had already commanded to guard this devotee, destroyed the fire-being at once and turned toward Durvāsa.

The 9th Skandha follows Durvāsa’s flight in detail. He went to Brahmā, who said he was powerless before the cakra of Bhagavān Vishṇu sent for a devotee. He went to Rudra, who with all his armies and the whole knowledge of the ṛshis said the same. Last he went to Vaikuṇṭha. There, before Bhagavān Vishṇu and Śrīdevī, Durvāsa offered a stotra of repentance.

Bhagavān Vishṇu then spoke of how his devotees hold him in their power (bhakta-vaśa). He said that his devotees who are sant are his heart, and he is their heart. They do not want even the four kinds of moksha (liberation), which are sālokya, sāmīpya, sārūpya and sāyujya. They do not want the pleasures of svarga (heaven), which come to an end. They see nothing other than him. They give up beloved wife, home, children, relatives and even attachment to life to come to him, so he could never abandon them. A person who harms his devotees who are sant destroys himself by the power of his own tapas (austerity) and his own deeds.

He sent Durvāsa back to Ambarīsha.

Ambarīsha had waited the whole year without food, living on water alone, for the Maharshi to return. When Durvāsa came back and fell at his feet, Ambarīsha felt only embarrassment and no anger. He offered a moving stotra to the Sudarśana Cakra. He praised it as the form of dharma, the light of the ṛshis and the protector of the three worlds, and he asked it to be kind to the ṛshi. The cakra was calmed. Ambarīsha then fed Durvāsa with the greatest hospitality. Durvāsa praised him with wonder. He said that only by seeing and touching a bhagavad-bhakta (a devotee of Bhagavān Vishṇu) could he count himself blessed.

After this, Ambarīsha gave the kingdom to his sons and fixed his mind on Vāsudeva. He rose beyond the flow of the three guṇas, gave up all worldly ties and went to the forest.

Listener of the Vaiśākha Māhātmya

In the Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Vaishṇava Khaṇḍa, Ambarīsha is also the listener in the outer frame of the whole Vaiśākha Māsa Māhātmya. Nārada visits Ambarīsha and tells him the glory of the month of Vaiśākha. This is a full teaching of twenty-five chapters on Vaiśākha Dharma, its accounts of moksha, its special tithis, and the founding of Akshaya Tṛtīyā. At the end of the telling, Ambarīsha bows down and merges into the Supreme Brahman without attributes (nirvikalpa Parabrahman). The text names him as one who kept the Ekādaśī and Dvādaśī vrata with the highest devotion.

The Śata Rudra Saṃhitā account

The Śiva Purāṇa, Śata Rudra Saṃhitā (Chapter 19) includes the Ambarīsha episode as one of four in which Durvāsa, an avatāra of Śiva, tested the dharma of great devotees. The main events are the same as in the Brahma Vaivarta and Bhāgavata accounts.

In this account, an ākāśavāṇī (a voice from the sky) told Ambarīsha that the Sudarśana Cakra is really Śiva’s weapon, given to Bhagavān Vishṇu, and that Durvāsa is Śiva’s own form (svarūpa), not an ordinary muni. Ambarīsha was told to pray straight to Rudra to calm the cakra.

So Ambarīsha’s prayer here is made to Rudra. He recalls the puṇya (merit) of his gifts, his yajñas (fire rituals), his keeping of dharma, and his family’s honour for brāhmaṇas. He asks that this cakra of Śiva, used by Bhagavān Vishṇu, grow cool. Ambarīsha knew that Durvāsa was an avatāra of Śiva, and he offered this prayer before the ṛshi. The cakra was calmed at once. Durvāsa was very pleased. He ate, and he gave the king a vara (a boon).

The Mahābhārata, Śānti Parva

Chapter 98 of the Śānti Parva (Rājadharmānuśāsana Parva) gives the talk between Indra and Ambarīsha. Ambarīsha has reached svarga (heaven). There he meets his former commander Sudeva, who holds a higher and more glorious place than the king himself, although Sudeva never did great yajñas in life. Ambarīsha is amazed and asks Indra.

Indra explains that Sudeva did the highest yuddha-yajña, the yajña of battle, so completely that it was greater than Ambarīsha’s formal ritual yajñas. Indra shows how each part of a battle matches a part of a Vedic yajña. Elephants are the ṛtvijes (priests). Horses are the adhvaryus. The flesh of the enemy is the havis (offering). Blood is the ghṛta (clarified butter). Arrows are the sruvās (ladles). The warrior who falls at the front of battle, without retreating and without seeking his own safety, has given the highest dakshiṇā (gift to the priests). His worlds are equal to Indra’s own worlds.

The Mahābhārata, Anuśāsana Parva

In Chapter 115, Bhīshma lists the great rājarshis (royal seers) of the Sūryavaṃśa who gave up meat (māṃsa) and so reached svarga and Brahmaloka. Ambarīsha is among them.

In Chapter 137, in Bhīshma’s list of those famed for giving (dāna), Ambarīsha is a man of great puṇya who gave his whole kingdom to a brāhmaṇa of great tejas (brilliance) and reached the world of the devas.

The oath at Prabhāsa

In Chapter 94 of the Anuśāsana Parva, Ambarīsha is among the many ṛshis and rājarshis gathered at Prabhāsa when the lotus that Agastya had planted with ceremony was found stolen. To prove his innocence, Ambarīsha swore an oath on a śāpa (curse) against himself. He said that whoever had taken the lotus should be cruel to women, to kin and to cattle, should give up dharma, and should commit brahmahatyā (the killing of a brāhmaṇa). Indra later admitted that he took the lotus, to test the dharma of the assembly.

The Ambarīsha-gīta in the Aśvamedhika Parva

In Chapter 31 of the Aśvamedhika Parva, in the Anugītā, a brāhmaṇa teaches his wife. He speaks of the bondage of the three guṇas, which one who wants moksha must give up. He quotes an old verse (gāthā) once sung by the rājarshi Ambarīsha.

In it, Ambarīsha says that sattva, rajas and tamas are his true enemies. They show themselves through nine states (vṛttis). Three are of sattva: harsha (joy), prīti (fondness) and ānanda (delight). Three are of rajas: tṛshṇā (craving), krodha (anger) and dvesha (hatred). Three are of tamas: ālasya (laziness), nidrā (sleep) and moha (delusion). A calm and self-controlled person destroys these nine with the cluster of arrows of śama (calm) and its related disciplines. Yet Ambarīsha sings that one fault, the very greatest, was still left unslain and worthy of death. It is lobha (greed).

Ambarīsha traces a chain of bondage that has lobha as its root. Under its push, a being does not reach vairāgya (detachment). Overcome by the tṛshṇā that lobha itself makes, a man rushes toward base and unworthy acts. He loses jñāna (knowledge) and does even what should never be done. From lobha comes tṛshṇā, and from tṛshṇā comes cintā (worry). The greedy man first gains too much of the qualities of rajas, and then those of tamas follow. Through these guṇas he is caught in the bondage of the body, is born again and again, does many kinds of karma, and at the end of life, when the elements of the body scatter, he meets death. Then he is born and dies again, in an endless line. Lobha is the deepest root from which this whole cycle of rajas and tamas grows. It is the last and most dangerous of the inner enemies, to be cut only with the sword of jñāna after all the others are overcome.

Ambarīsha ends by saying that one who truly knows the nature of lobha and destroys it with steadiness (dhairya) rises to ātma-rājya. This is true self-rule (svārājya). It is not an outer kingdom at all but paramānanda (supreme joy) itself. Where knowledge of the ātmā (self) has risen, the knower himself becomes the king. Having placed ātma-rājya before him and slain lobha, his one remaining enemy, Ambarīsha sang this very verse.

Sources

• Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa, Śrī Kṛshṇa Janana Khaṇḍa, Chapter 25
• Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, 9th Skandha, Chapters 4–5
• Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Vaishṇava Khaṇḍa, Vaiśākha Māsa Māhātmya, Chapters 1 and 25
• Śiva Purāṇa, Śata Rudra Saṃhitā, Chapter 19
• Mahābhārata, Śānti Parva, Rājadharmānuśāsana Parva, Chapter 98
• Mahābhārata, Anuśāsana Parva, Chapters 94, 115, 137
• Mahābhārata, Aśvamedhika Parva, Chapter 31