Kośakāra

Kośakāra was a brāhmaṇa of great spiritual attainment. He was the son of Mudgala ṛshi, a treasury of jñāna and vijñāna (knowledge and its realisation), and devoted to tapas (austerity). His household is the setting of the Niśākara upākhyāna (narrative) in the Vāmana Mahā Purāṇa, Chapter 64. This narrative is part of the talk between Bali and Śukra.

His son Niśākara was born with jāta-smaraṇa, the memory of his earlier births. He seemed completely mute and slow. A rākshasī took him away and returned him. Later Kośakāra himself threw him into a sealed well in frustration. In the end the father and son met again, Niśākara told the story of his past lives, and the boy left for tapas.

Identity and family

Kośakāra was the son of Mudgala ṛshi. His wife was Dharmishṭhā, the daughter of Vātsyāyana. She was dharmaśīlā (of righteous conduct), sādhvī (virtuous) and pativratā (devoted to her husband). They lived on Malaya mountain. Through this household of tapas and piety, the arrangement of Bhagavān Vishṇu brought two infants: Kośakāra’s own son Niśākara, and the rākshasa child who would become Dīvākara.

The rākshasī incident

Soon after Niśākara’s birth, Dharmishṭhā left the dull-looking infant at the doorstep. The rākshasī Sūrpākshī came and took the brāhmaṇa child. She left her own thin infant in his place. Her husband Ghaṭodara warned her that Kośakāra was a powerful brāhmaṇa who could curse them, and he ordered her to take the child back.

When Sūrpākshī came back, she threw the brāhmaṇa child down. But Kośakāra had already seen what was happening through his mantra-vidyā (knowledge of mantras). He drew mantra-marks on the ground and held the rākshasa child in place. He caught his own son as he fell. The rākshasa child was left behind, and Sūrpākshī could not take it back. Kośakāra raised it together with his real son. He named his own son Niśākara and the rākshasa child Dīvākara.

Raising the two sons

Kośakāra performed the upanayana (sacred thread ceremony) for both boys and tried to teach them. Dīvākara, the child born to the rākshasī, learned the Vedas easily. Niśākara seemed unable to learn. The whole family mocked and rejected him. This included Kośakāra, Dharmishṭhā, their relatives and the people of Malaya. In his frustration Kośakāra threw Niśākara into a dry well and closed the opening with a boulder. The child stayed there for ten years.

The revelation

After ten years Dharmishṭhā passed by the sealed well. She heard a voice inside and removed the boulder. Kośakāra was told, and he saw his son, who looked the same as before. He asked why Niśākara had seemed so dull and mute from birth.

This question led Niśākara to tell the whole account of his jāta-smaraṇa. He had lived five earlier lives: as a human, a tiger, a donkey, a parrot and a bull. Each was driven by unchecked kāma (desire), and each ended in naraka. At last he was born in Kośakāra’s household with all his memories whole.

When he had heard all this, Kośakāra saw his son declare that he would give up household life. Niśākara asked Dīvākara to serve as the son of the family, and he left for Badarikāśrama.

Sources

• Vāmana Mahā Purāṇa, Chapter 64