King Cōḷa

King Cōḷa ruled from the city of Kāntipura. The Padma Mahā Purāṇa presents him as the king from whom the Cōḷa country takes its name. He held a great yajña (fire ritual) under the guidance of his teacher Mudgala. Bhagavān Vishṇu came to this yajña in a strange form, and Cōḷa later entered the yajña fire. He reached Vaikuṇṭha, where he became the divine doorkeeper Suśīla.

The Cōḷa country and Kāntipura

The Padma Mahā Purāṇa says the Cōḷa country (Cōḷa-deśa) received its name from King Cōḷa and his reign. His capital was Kāntipura. The account traces the origin of the name to this king and his elevation to Vaikuṇṭha (Uttara Khaṇḍa, Chapter 108).

The great yajña

King Cōḷa began a great yajña (mahāyajña) at an Anantaśāyana temple. This is a place where Bhagavān Vishṇu is worshipped lying on Ādiśesha. His teacher Mudgala watched over the long rites, which followed the Vedic rules fully. The king meant the yajña as an act of the highest bhakti (devotion) and service to Bhagavān Vishṇu (Padma Mahā Purāṇa, Uttara Khaṇḍa, Chapter 108).

The test and the revelation

During the yajña, Bhagavān Vishṇu came in the form of a starving, thin Cāṇḍāla. A Cāṇḍāla stood in the lowest condition in society. He seemed to be trying to take food from the offerings. The whole gathering had to choose whether to drive him away and protect the purity of the yajña, or to see Bhagavān Vishṇu behind the form. When the guards moved to stop him, Bhagavān Vishṇu dropped the disguise. He stood in his own four-armed form, shining with divine light (Padma Mahā Purāṇa, Uttara Khaṇḍa, Chapter 108).

Cōḷa enters the fire

Vishṇudāsa was taken straight into Vaikuṇṭha in front of the revealed form of Bhagavān Vishṇu. King Cōḷa saw this and was overcome. A poor devotee had gained what all the king’s yajña had been seeking. Cōḷa entered the fire of his own mahāyajña (Padma Mahā Purāṇa, Uttara Khaṇḍa, Chapter 109).

Suśīla, doorkeeper of Vaikuṇṭha

King Cōḷa reached Vaikuṇṭha. Bhagavān Vishṇu made him a divine doorkeeper (dvārapāla) of that highest abode and gave him the name Suśīla (one of good character). Vishṇudāsa became Puṇyaśīla. One had been a king and the other a poor brāhmaṇa. Together they became the lasting guardians of the gate of Bhagavān Vishṇu (Padma Mahā Purāṇa, Uttara Khaṇḍa, Chapter 109).

The Skanda Purāṇa account

The Skanda Mahā Purāṇa gives more detail about Cōḷa and his rivalry with Vishṇudāsa.

In this account Cōḷa ruled from Kāñcī with justice. No one in his kingdom was poor, sick or wicked. He held many great yajña-s on the banks of the Tāmraparṇī river, with golden yajña posts. He held, on the ground of Vedic tradition, that rich ritual worship with jewels, gold and proper yajña was better than simple worship with Tulasī.

Cōḷa and Vishṇudāsa both came to Anantaśāyana. Cōḷa brought jewels and golden flowers. Vishṇudāsa brought only Tulasī and water. A dispute arose over who would see Bhagavān Vishṇu first. The test was a seven-day trial in which someone stole Vishṇudāsa’s food each evening. Vishṇudāsa bore it with perfect calm. He refused to cook again, so that he would not delay his vrata (vow). On the seventh day he was fully absorbed in Bhagavān Vishṇu, and he rose to Vaikuṇṭha before the king’s eyes.

Cōḷa’s view changed at once. He told his teacher Mudgala:

“Bhagavān Vishṇu is not pleased by gifts and by yajñas. Devotion alone is the greatest cause of seeing Him.”

Cōḷa had no son. He crowned his sister’s son as king. Then he called out the name of Vishṇu three times and asked for steady devotion in mind, speech and action. He entered the yajña fire. Bhagavān Vishṇu appeared, embraced him and took him to Vaikuṇṭha as Suśīla, a doorkeeper together with Puṇyaśīla (Vishṇudāsa).

The text ends with an account of Mudgala. His grief at the king’s death was so great that he tore out his own tuft of hair (śikhā). The text gives this as the origin of the custom in the Mudgala gotra of being without a tuft (Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Vaishṇava Khaṇḍa, Kārtika Māsa Māhātmya, Chapters 26–27).

Sources

• Padma Mahā Purāṇa, Uttara Khaṇḍa, Chapters 108–109
• Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Vaishṇava Khaṇḍa, Kārtika Māsa Māhātmya, Chapters 26–27