Kardama and Devahūti
The story of Kardama and Devahūti is told in the 3rd Skanda of the Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, Chapters 21 to 24. It is one of the tender accounts of the Bhāgavata. Kardama Prajāpati did tapas (austerity) for ten thousand years at Bindu-sara on the river Sarasvatī. Bhagavān Vishṇu appeared to him and promised him Devahūti, the daughter of Svāyambhuva Manu. The account tells of their marriage, a hundred years of travel in a divine vimāna (flying palace), the birth of nine daughters and then of Bhagavān Kapila, and the renunciation of Kardama. It joins teaching about creation with the quiet devotion of a family.
Kardama’s tapas (Chapter 21)
Kardama Prajāpati was one of the ten great prajāpatis (lords of creatures) who were made from the body of Brahmā to fill the world with beings. Brahmā told him to begin the work of creation. Kardama chose to do tapas on the bank of the Sarasvatī at Bindu-sara for ten thousand years. He worshipped Śrī Hari with deep bhakti (devotion) and yoga discipline. He wanted two things. He wanted to obey the command of Brahmā to have children, and he wanted to receive the highest grace before he began the life of a householder.
At the right time Bhagavān Vishṇu appeared before Kardama. He was bright like the sun and rode on Garuḍa. He wore garlands of white lotus. He held the śaṅkha (conch), cakra (discus), gadā (club) and padma (lotus). Śrī Lakshmī shone on his chest, and the Kaustubha jewel was at his throat. When Kardama had this darśana, he bowed to the ground and offered a long stotra (hymn of praise). He praised Bhagavān Vishṇu as kāla (time), the wheel of time. He praised him as the maker of the world through māyā, and as the refuge that his feet give.
Bhagavān Vishṇu’s promise (Chapter 21)
Bhagavān Vishṇu accepted the devotion of Kardama and showed that he knew all. He said:
“I know what you seek. I have already arranged it. Svāyambhuva Manu, the great emperor of Brahmāvarta, will come here with his wife Śatarūpā and his daughter the day after tomorrow. His daughter is a young woman of rare beauty and noble character. She has heard of your good qualities from Nārada and has decided in her heart to marry you. You will marry her in the Brāhma form of marriage, as the rules lay down. She will serve you as a devoted wife. Through her you will become the father of nine daughters, who will become wives of the great ṛshis. And through her, along with the other children, I myself will come down as an avatāra (descent) to establish the Sāṃkhya teaching.”
Then Bhagavān Vishṇu left on Garuḍa. The sound of the Sāmaveda rose from the wings of Garuḍa, and Kardama watched him go.
Svāyambhuva Manu comes (Chapter 22)
Everything happened as Bhagavān Vishṇu had said. Svāyambhuva Manu came to Bindu-sara in a golden chariot with Śatarūpā and the young Devahūti. The āśrama (hermitage) of Kardama was like a place of paradise. It had flowering trees, singing birds, peacocks and cranes with golden wings, and sweet-smelling breezes. Its sacred lake was made from the tears of joy of Bhagavān Vishṇu himself. Manu found Kardama seated and shining from his long tapas. Kardama was not thin and weak, because the kind look of Bhagavān Vishṇu had kept him strong.
Manu greeted him with respect and honoured him as was fitting. Then he made his request:
“My daughter Devahūti, the sister of Priyavrata and Uttānapāda, has set her heart on you. She heard of your qualities from Nārada, and her decision is firm. I ask you to accept her as your wife.”
Kardama agrees (Chapter 22)
Kardama received the offer kindly and plainly. He accepted, but he stated his condition clearly:
“I will keep the gṛhastha-āśrama (the life of a householder) with her only until children are born. After that I will take sannyāsa and wander freely as one who has given up the world. This is the path that Bhagavān Vishṇu himself has taught. I ask you to understand this and agree.”
Manu knew the great character of Kardama and agreed gladly.
The marriage was done in the Brāhma-vivāha form. This is the highest form of marriage, without dowry or bargaining: the father gives his daughter as a pure gift to a worthy groom. Śatarūpā brought rich gifts: costly ornaments, royal clothes and all the things a household needs. Manu embraced Devahūti with tears. He could not bear to part from her and held her for a long time. Then he left, and the people of Brahmāvarta sang his praises.
Devahūti’s service (Chapter 23)
For many years Devahūti served her husband with rare devotion. She had all the qualities of an ideal wife (patnī):
- respect (ādara)
- purity of heart (antaḥkaraṇa-śuddhi)
- reverence (śraddhā)
- control of the senses (indriya-jaya)
- a heart for loving service (sevā-bhāva)
- sweet speech (madhura-vāk)
- freedom from the faults of ego: kāma (desire), dambha (pride), dvesha (hatred), lobha (greed) and māna (vanity)
She served so selflessly that her body became thin from austerity.
The divine vimāna (Chapter 23)
Kardama saw how Devahūti forgot herself in serving him, and his heart was moved with tenderness. He said to her: “You have served me truly. By my stored yoga powers I have gained great abilities, and now all that I have is yours as well, because of your devoted service.” Then, by his power of yoga, he made a splendid vimāna, a divine palace in the air that could go anywhere it wished.
The vimāna had many storeys. Its walls were crystal set with emeralds. The doorways had handles of pearl, and the floors were set with lapis lazuli. Golden kalaśas (pots) stood on the tops. Painted birds were so lifelike that real swans tried to mate with them. Sweet-smelling garlands of flowers hummed with bees drunk on nectar. It held the flowers and fruits of every season and rooms for every need, and it could move through the whole cosmos as it wished.
But before Devahūti could take in its beauty, Kardama noticed her thin body covered with dust and her matted hair. He told her: “First bathe in the sacred lake of Bindu-sara. It was made from the tears of joy of Bhagavān Vishṇu. Its waters grant every wish.” Devahūti entered the lake. A thousand divine attendants, the vidyādhara-kanyās, received her. They bathed her, dressed her in new clothes and rich ornaments, and fed her amṛta (the drink of life). They showed her to herself in a mirror, changed and shining. She came out and entered the vimāna.
A hundred years of travel (Chapter 23)
Kardama took Devahūti across the cosmos in the great vimāna. They went through the divine forests Vaiḍambhaka, Surasana, Nandana, Pushpabhadra and Caitraratha. They went through Mānasasarovara and past the peaks of Meru. They came to places where the eight guardians of the world rest at ease. They travelled for one hundred years, but to Devahūti in this divine state the time passed like a single moment.
Kardama wanted children. He took nine forms (nava-rūpa) at the same time, and with Devahūti he made nine daughters at once. Each had the sweet smell of red lotus flowers. The nine daughters would later become the wives of the great ṛshis.
Devahūti asks for moksha (Chapter 23)
After the hundred years and the birth of the nine daughters, Devahūti looked at Kardama as he got ready to leave. She saw that she had received all that the material world can give: divine travel, rare beauty, a loving companion and children. Yet she had not found the peace she really wanted. Her heart was now empty of worldly desires and full of longing for the spirit. She spoke to Kardama:
“The nine daughters are born. Your promise of children is kept. But I have not served you well in the highest sense. I was lost in the pleasures of the senses and not in knowledge of the Self. Now I ask you: give me a son who can cut my bonds and lead me to moksha (liberation). And before you go to the forest, arrange the marriages of the daughters.”
She added with great honesty: “I was charmed by the māyā of Bhagavān Vishṇu. In you I had the chance for jñāna (knowledge) and liberation, but I ran after worldly enjoyment. Now let this be my last birth.”
The birth of Kapila (Chapter 24)
Kardama told Devahūti: “Bhagavān Vishṇu, who appeared to me, will himself enter your womb as a son and give you the teaching of liberation.” Devahūti kept the tapas that the rules lay down. In due time Bhagavān Kapila, an avatāra of Bhagavān Vishṇu, was born from the seed of Kardama. His birth was marked by divine joy. The devas rained flowers, the Gandharvas sang, the Apsarasas danced, and the skies were bright.
Brahmā himself came to the āśrama with Marīchi and the other ṛshis. He told Devahūti that this child was truly a descent of Bhagavān Vishṇu himself. He was born to set up again the Sāṃkhya teaching, which had become hidden over time. Brahmā praised the future work of Kapila and told Kardama to arrange the marriages of the nine daughters.
The marriages of the daughters (Chapter 24)
As Brahmā told him, Kardama gave his nine daughters to the great ṛshis:
- Gati to Pulaha
- Kriyā to Kratu
- Khyāti to Bhṛgu
- Arundhatī to Vasishṭha
- Śānti to Atharvaṇa
The other daughters went to the other great ṛshis of that age. Each daughter was matched with a ṛshi whose nature suited her own. In this way the fabric of creation was joined together through these holy marriages.
Kardama’s renunciation (Chapter 24)
The daughters were married and Kapila was settled at the āśrama. Kardama received the blessing and the leave of Bhagavān Kapila. Then he took up sannyāsa, as he had always meant to. He lived as a wandering beggar with no fixed home. He kept silence (mauna) and let go of all sense of “I” and “mine”. He gave himself wholly to the Paramātmā. He reached jīvanmukti (liberation while living) and in the end the highest state. The Bhāgavata closes this part with a vision of Kardama free from all bonds. He sees Bhagavān Vishṇu in all beings and all beings in Bhagavān Vishṇu, a calm ocean of knowledge of the ātmā (Self).
Sources
- Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, 3rd Skanda, Chapter 21 (Kardama’s tapas and stotra; the promise of Bhagavān Vishṇu)
- Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, 3rd Skanda, Chapter 22 (the coming of Svāyambhuva Manu; the marriage)
- Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, 3rd Skanda, Chapter 23 (Devahūti’s service; the vimāna; the hundred years; her request)
- Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, 3rd Skanda, Chapter 24 (the birth of Kapila; the marriages of the daughters; Kardama’s renunciation)