Samādhi Vaiśya

Samādhi was a vaiśya (a merchant). His wife and sons took all his wealth and drove him out of his own home. He went to the forest, met King Sūratha at the āśrama of Medhasa Ṛṣi, heard the teaching of the Devī Māhātmya, and received from Devī Durgā the vara (boon) of jñāna (true knowledge). This jñāna freed him from the moha (delusion) of “I” and “mine”.

His situation

Samādhi was a rich vaiśya. His wife and sons were full of greed. They took all his wealth and turned him away from his home. He wandered with no refuge.

The loss of wealth was not what troubled him most. What puzzled him was that his love and attachment stayed alive toward the people who had wronged him. He still longed for his family after they had driven him out. This question took him to the forest and at last to the āśrama of Medhasa Ṛṣi.

Meeting Medhasa

At the āśrama Samādhi met King Sūratha. The king suffered from the same kind of attachment to people who had betrayed him. Together they asked Medhasa Ṛṣi: “Why do we feel love for those who have left us? How does this moha stay even when we know we were wronged?”

Medhasa Ṛṣi answered with the teaching of Mahāmāyā. This great delusion is the power of Devī Durgā herself. She binds even clever people and draws their hearts toward the very things that bring pain. The only freedom is to know her nature and to win her grace by ārādhanā. Medhasa Ṛṣi then told them the Devī Māhātmya.

The vara from Devī Durgā

Samādhi heard the Devī Māhātmya and did his ārādhanā. Devī Durgā appeared and offered boons. Samādhi did not ask for his wealth back, and he did not ask for revenge on his family. He asked for jñāna, which ends the moha that kept him tied to those who hurt him. He wanted understanding, not repayment. He wanted freedom from the cycle of craving and loss, not a return to worldly wealth.

Devī Durgā granted this. She gave him the jñāna that frees a person from the bonds of “I” and “mine”.

Samādhi and Sūratha

Samādhi followed the path of jñāna, the way of knowledge. He asked only for inner freedom. King Sūratha, by contrast, asked for both his kingdom and a future in the wider creation.

The Umā Saṃhitā account

The Umā Saṃhitā of the Śiva Purāṇa tells the same meeting. It gives his name as Samādhi and says he was born in a rich vaiśya family. His wife, his sons and other family members were full of greed. They left him and put him out of his home. He wandered to the forest, reached the āśrama of Medhasa Ṛṣi, and met King Sūratha there. The king had lost his kingdom.

Each man saw the same pain in the other. Both had been left and wronged, yet each still felt a strange longing and care for those who had hurt him. Sūratha was the first to notice Samādhi’s grief. He asked gently what troubled him. After hearing the story, Sūratha pointed out the puzzle: “Why do you still feel love for those who left you out of greed?”

Samādhi answered honestly: “My mind is bound by the noose of attachment and overwhelmed by strong moha.” This became the shared question that the two men then brought to Medhasa Ṛṣi.

The teaching of Medhasa Ṛṣi on Mahāmāyā, and the whole account of Devī, are his answer to their joint question (Umā Saṃhitā, Chapters 45–50).

Sources

• Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa, Chapters 78–90
• Śiva Purāṇa, Umā Saṃhitā, Chapters 45–50