Śveta of Ilāvṛta
Śveta was a great king of Ilāvṛta-varsha. He gave cities, forests, lands, gems, gold, silver and elephants, and he performed a thousand aśvamedha yajñas. But he never gave anna (food) or water to anyone. He said food was not worth giving from his wealth. After his death he suffered terrible hunger. His former guru Vasishṭha found him gnawing the dry bones of his own past body. Vasishṭha taught him that anna-dāna (the gift of food) is the highest gift, and told him how its merit can be gained through the five dhenu gifts. His account opens the Pañcarātra teaching in the second book of the Varāha Purāṇa.
His gifts, and the gift he left out
Śveta was a sārvabhauma, a king who ruled the whole earth. He gave very freely. His purohita was the brahmarshi Vasishṭha. In his life Śveta gave:
- Land with towns, gardens and forests to brāhmaṇas
- Gems, jewels and objects of gold and silver in great numbers
- Elephants, deer-skins and royal ornaments
- A thousand aśvamedha yajñas with rich dakshiṇās (gifts to the priests)
Each time Vasishṭha urged him to give anna-dāna, even a plain gift of food, the king refused. He said, “What is mere food? I am giving far greater things.” He never gave cooked food or water to brāhmaṇas.
Death and hunger
When Śveta died, he went up to the world of the devas in a shining vimāna (heavenly chariot) that his merit had earned. But he suffered constant, fierce hunger (kshudhā) and thirst (tṛshṇā), because no food of any kind was there for him. He had no stored merit of food and drink to draw on.
As he wandered, Śveta found the dry, hardened bones of his former body on Śveta mountain, the home of the apsarās. In his desperation he gnawed these bones. He also rose again to svarga in his vimāna and met the same hunger again and again. The Purāṇa says his karma from that life followed him. His body from that life had been burnt and dried, and its bones were the only thing he could eat.
After a very long time the ṛshi Vasishṭha, who had gathered the merit of many vratas (vows), came upon this sight. He was astonished and said, “O King Śveta! Why are you eating your own bones?”
Vasishṭha’s teaching on anna-dāna
Śveta said, “O master! I am eaten up by hunger. In my life I gave no anna and no water. Because of that my hunger is terrible.”
Vasishṭha taught:
“In all gifts, anna-dāna is supreme. From anna alone are all creatures born; through anna they grow. Therefore, O king, give anna with every effort.”
Śveta objected, “I gave lands, jewels and a thousand aśvamedhas. Is food such a great gift?” Vasishṭha answered:
“Giving jewels and gold makes one a man of enjoyments. Giving anna makes one fulfilled in all desires. How great was the dāna you gave without anna? You gained great enjoyments (bhoga) in svarga but no food. Even now you find only your own bones.”
Then Śveta asked the decisive question, “How can I now gain the merit of anna-dāna without actually giving food?”
Vasishṭha said, “There is a way. Listen.” He told the account of King Vinītāśva and set out the pañca-dhenu-dāna, the gift of five cows made of different materials, as the way.
The five dhenu gifts
Vasishṭha taught Śveta five symbolic gifts of a cow. Through these a person gains the merit of anna-dāna by ritual.
- Tilā-dhenu: a cow made from sixteen prastha measures of sesame seeds. Its legs are sugarcane stalks, its tusks flowers, its nose sandalwood and its tongue jaggery. It has golden horns, bronze hooves, silver anklets and a black deer-skin as cover. It is given to a brāhmaṇa with a mantra that calls on anna and pāna (drink).
- Jala-dhenu: a cow made from a full water-vessel set on a clean floor with a goat-skin. It is decorated with five gems, herbs and amla fruits, with a second pot of ghee beside it. The whole is given to a learned brāhmaṇa.
- Ghṛta-dhenu: made on the same pattern as the other cows. The text goes on with it in chapter 99.
- Dadhi-dhenu: made in a similar way.
- Rasa-dhenu: a cow made from a vessel of sugarcane juice. Its legs are sugarcane stalks, its horns golden ornaments and its tail cloth. Its udder is ghee, its mouth and tongue sugar, its eyes gems and its teeth fruit. It is given to a brāhmaṇa who knows the Veda, a śrotriya (a brāhmaṇa learned in the Veda) who keeps the sacred fires (āhitāgni).
Vasishṭha said, “One who gives the rasa-dhenu brings twenty-one generations, ten before him, ten after him and himself, to the highest state. He does not return from svarga.”
Place in the Purāṇa
The account of Śveta is the Purāṇa’s strongest statement on anna-dāna: no amount of wealth or yajña takes the place of giving food. It also opens the Pañcarātra section of the second book, which goes on to teach the method of Bhagavān Vishṇu’s pūjā, the role of the guru and the symbolic dhenu gifts. Śveta’s repentance and Vasishṭha’s kind teaching frame the last chapters of that book.
Sources
- Varāha Mahā Purāṇa, Chapters 97–100