Hemāṅga

Hemāṅga was a king of the Ikshvāku line, the solar dynasty (sūryavaṃśa). He was famous for his generosity. He gave land, gold and cattle freely. But in the month of Vaiśākha he refused to give water to the thirsty, and for this he suffered eleven wretched births. In his last birth as a house-lizard, the water from the washed feet of the ṛshi Śrutadeva fell on him. He remembered all his past lives, and Śrutadeva gave him his own Vaiśākha puṇya (merit). Hemāṅga was freed and was born again as Kakutstha, a celebrated king of the Ikshvāku line.

Who he was

Hemāṅga belonged to the Ikshvāku line, the dynasty of Rāma, Bhagīratha and Hariścandra. He gave land, cattle and gold with a liberal hand. In all outward ways he ruled by dharma, and his fame rested on his generosity.

He had one fault. He looked down on the gift of water. In Vaiśākha, the ṛshis and the tradition urge pāna-dāna, the gift of free drinking water to thirsty travellers. Hemāṅga refused. He said: “Water? It flows everywhere. This is not a worthy gift for a king to make.” This pride in front of the simple gift of water was the seed of his long suffering.

The eleven rebirths

After his death Hemāṅga was born eleven times in lower forms.

1. Three births as Caṭaka birds. This is the bird that lives only on fresh rainwater.
2. Seven births as dogs. In every house he was beaten and starved, and he wandered thirsty.
3. One birth as a house-lizard in the palace of King Śrutakīrti in Mithilā. He lived eighty-seven years in a crevice.

Liberation and rebirth as Kakutstha

During the Vaiśākha season, in his lizard birth, the water from the washed feet of the ṛshi Śrutadeva fell on him. At once he remembered all eleven of his past births. Śrutadeva saw by his own vision that every word the lizard spoke was true. He then gave his Vaiśākha puṇya to Hemāṅga by a formal transfer.

The lizard’s body dissolved. A divine form appeared, and an aerial chariot came down. Hemāṅga was then born as Kakutstha, a celebrated king of the Ikshvāku solar dynasty.

Sources

• Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Vaishṇava Khaṇḍa, Vaiśākha Māsa Māhātmya, Chapters 6–7