Khaṭvāṅga
Khaṭvāṅga was a king of the Solar dynasty. The Vishṇu Mahā Purāṇa names him as the pattern of one-pointed striving for liberation. The devas were thankful for his great service in defeating the asuras and offered him any vara (boon). He asked only how much life he had left.
He was told it was a single muhūrta. He gave up all attachment to his body, his kingdom and the world, and fixed his mind on Bhagavān Vāsudeva with full ekāgratā (one-pointed focus). In that one muhūrta he reached sāyujya moksha, liberation as union with Bhagavān Vāsudeva. The Saptarshis sang a verse in his honour. No king is held to be his equal in the speed of liberation.
Lineage
Khaṭvāṅga belongs to the Ikshvāku Vaṃśa, the great Solar dynasty. His line within it runs Kalmāshapāda, Aśmaka, Mūlaka, Daśaratha, Ilibiluḍu, Viśvasaha, Khaṭvāṅga. He is an ancestor of Bhagavān Rāma. The line goes on from him as Dīrghabāhu, Raghu, Aja, Daśaratha, Rāma.
Service to the devas
Khaṭvāṅga was a king of great courage. The devas, hard pressed by the asuras, asked him for help. He entered the battle of the devas and asuras and destroyed the asura armies for the devas. His help decided the battle.
When the battle was over, the devas wished to reward him. They came to Khaṭvāṅga and said, “Great king, we are pleased with your service. Choose any vara you wish.” He did not ask for rule, long life, the pleasures of svarga (heaven) or sons. He asked them instead, “Tell me truly, how much of my āyurdhāya (life-span) is left?”
The devas thought and answered, “Only a single muhūrta.”
The moksha of one muhūrta
On hearing this, Khaṭvāṅga rode a swift celestial vehicle, one that nothing could hold back and that moved lightly, and came straight back to the world of mortals. There he spoke aloud, with full certainty, before turning his mind back to Bhagavān Vāsudeva:
“Brāhmaṇas are dearer to me than my own self. I have never gone against svadharma. In all beings, whether humans, animals, birds or plants, I have never seen anyone other than Acyuta. The ṛshis who know Bhagavān Vāsudeva have always stayed in my memory. May I be able to reach the formless, self-evident, pure Vāsudeva, the one taught by the guru-jana (the teachers), without obstacle and without turning aside, from this one muhūrta onward.”
With these words he joined his ātman with Vāsudeva, who is anirdeśya-rūpa (a form that cannot be pointed out) and sattā-mātra (pure existence alone). He reached sāyujya-mukti, liberation as union with Bhagavān Vāsudeva.
The verse of the Saptarshis
The Saptarshis saw or knew of this deed and made a verse in his honour. The verse says: “What great man came down from svarga to this world with only a muhūrta of life, and through jñāna (knowledge) and satya (truth) joined the three worlds? That Khaṭvāṅga has no equal before him or after him.”
What the account teaches
The Vishṇu Mahā Purāṇa gives Khaṭvāṅga’s story as a teaching that moksha depends on ekāgratā and not on how long one lives. An ordinary person has a long life and still does not turn to Bhagavān Vāsudeva. Khaṭvāṅga had one muhūrta and used it without distraction. The Purāṇa teaches that when the jīva fully gives up attachment to the body (deha), the kingdom (rājya) and all outer things, and fixes the mind on Acyuta without turning aside, liberation comes at once.
Sources
- Vishṇu Mahā Purāṇa, Chaturdhāmsa, Chapter 4