Arcī
Arcī was the queen of Pṛthu, the first cakravartī (emperor over the whole earth). She was an aṃśa-avatāra (a partial descent) of Lakshmīdevī herself. She was born with Pṛthu from the churned arms of the dead king Vena. She stayed at Pṛthu’s side through his reign, his yajñas (fire rituals) and his years of austerity in the forest. When Pṛthu left his body, she entered his funeral fire as a pativratā (a devoted wife).
Birth
Arcī was born from the churned arms of Vena at the same moment as Pṛthu. The assembled brahma-vettas (knowers of Brahman) declared at once that Pṛthu was the world-protecting aṃśa of Śrī Hari. They said Lakshmīdevī never leaves Śrī Hari in any age, and that this child was her avatāra. She was given the name Arcī at birth. They foretold that she would win Pṛthu’s heart by her virtues and beauty.
Coronation
At Pṛthu’s coronation Arcī was richly adorned and sat beside him. The Bhāgavata says the pair shone like two fires, the bright Pṛthu and the equally radiant Arcī. They were Śrī Hari and Lakshmī, come down together into the world to protect it.
Life with Pṛthu
The Bhāgavata calls Arcī sukomāri (very delicate). She could hardly set her foot on bare ground. Through the years of Pṛthu’s reign she was his constant companion and wife. She bore the trials of her role with grace, as befits an aṃśa of Lakshmīdevī. She stayed at Pṛthu’s side in his rule, his great yajñas and his bhagavat-darśana (the sight of Bhagavān Vishṇu).
Austerity in the forest
Pṛthu finished his work. He had levelled and settled the earth, performed the great yajñas, given his teaching, and received the adhyātma-yoga (yoga of the Self) from Sanatkumāra. Then he gave the kingdom to his sons and went to the forest with Arcī alone, without any attendants. Arcī went with him willingly.
In the forest Pṛthu followed the hardest tapas of a vānaprastha (forest dweller). He sat among five fires in summer, stayed in the open in the monsoon rains, and stood in water up to his neck in winter. He ate only roots and fruits, then only leaves, then only water, and at last only air. Arcī served him through all of this without complaint. The hard life and poor food left her very thin. Yet whenever Pṛthu touched her with his hand in blessing, she felt only great ānanda (joy) and no pain. The Bhāgavata notes this: the touch of her beloved was enough to turn hardship into grace.
Entering the fire
Arcī saw that all the life-breaths had left Pṛthu’s body. The layanakrama (the way of dissolving the body) was complete, and the great cakravartī had become brahma-bhūta (one with Brahman). She wept for a short time. Then she built a funeral pyre on the slope of Mount Mandara, laid Pṛthu’s body on it and lit the fire.
She bathed in the river and offered water for Pṛthu (jalādāna). She bowed to the devas who live in svarga (heaven) and walked around the pyre three times. With her mind fixed only on Pṛthu’s lotus feet, she entered the fire.
Thousands of deva-patnis (wives of the devas) came down with their husbands to see this. They praised her:
“This pativratā is dhanya, blessed. Just as the pativratā Lakshmīdevī serves Yajñeśvara Śrī Hari, so this Arcī has served the king of kings Pṛthu in every way, by mind, word and body. Now she passes beyond us to the very loka that Pṛthu has reached.”
A shower of flowers fell on the mountain slope, and the drums of the devas sounded in the sky.
Sources
- Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, 4th Skanda, Chapter 15
- Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, 4th Skanda, Chapter 23