Jīmūtavāhana and Śaṅkhacūḍa
Jīmūtavāhana Śaṅkhacūḍa
The vidyādhara Jīmūtavāhana gave himself to Garuḍa as food to save the nāga Śaṅkhacūḍa, whose mother he found weeping. Śaṅkhacūḍa came to offer himself in his place. Garuḍa, pleased, gave three varas, and King Vikramāditya judged Śaṅkhacūḍa’s act the greater. The Vaitāla Rudrakiṅkara tells this to Vikramāditya, and Sūta tells it to the muni, as the account of the ideal of giving one’s life.
The brāhmaṇa of Kānyakubja
In Kānyakubja lived a brāhmaṇa, generous, truthful and intent on Devī-pūjā, who gave away whatever he received as gifts. Once the śāradīya Navadurgā vrata came and he had received nothing. He was worried how he would feed the kanyās he had invited. By the Devī’s grace five coins came to him unexpectedly, and he completed the vrata, keeping it nine days without food.
By the power of that vrata he attained a divine form after death and became Jīmūtaketu, master of the vidyādharas. He lived in a lovely place of the Himālaya and did pūjā of the Kalpavṛksha. By the power of that tree he received a son, Jīmūtavāhana, skilled in all kalās.
King Śūrasena
In his previous birth Jīmūtavāhana was Śūrasena, king of Madhyadeśa. Once he came hunting to the forest Utpalāvarta, the dwelling of Vālmīki Maharshi. There on Caitra śukla navamī he kept the Śrī Rāmanavamī utsava and the night-vigil in Vālmīki’s hut. By the puṇya of hearing the gāthā of Śrī Rāma he became the vidyādhara Jīmūtavāhana.
The vara of the Kalpavṛksha
Jīmūtavāhana too did great pūjā of the Kalpavṛksha. Within a year the tree, pleased, told him to ask a vara. “Great tree, by your grace may my city be rich in wealth and grain,” he said. The tree made the city the best on earth, and there was no one there who was not like a king.
Father and son went to the forest and performed severe tapas on the lovely Malayācala. One day Kamalākshī, daughter of King Malayadhvaja, came with her friends to a Śiva temple, and Jīmūtavāhana reached the temple for pūjā too. He wished to obtain her and prayed for this, and her father gave her to him in marriage.
Garuḍa and the nāga’s mother
One day Viśvāvasu, son of Malayadhvaja, went with Jīmūtavāhana to Mount Gandhamādana and bowed to Nara-Nārāyaṇa. On that same peak came Garuḍa, the divine vāhana of Bhagavān Vishṇu.
Jīmūtavāhana heard a woman’s pitiful crying and quickly went to her. It was the mother of the nāga Śaṅkhacūḍa. “Deva, today my son will be Garuḍa’s food,” she said. “Overcome by sorrow at losing him, I weep.”
He went to Garuḍa’s peak. Garuḍa took him for his food, seized him and carried him into the sky. Kamalākshī saw her husband being eaten and wept. Seeing him in human form, eaten without showing pain, Garuḍa was afraid and said, “Why did you become my food?” He answered, “The mother of the nāga Śaṅkhacūḍa was deeply grieved. I came to you to protect her son.”
Śaṅkhacūḍa comes
When Śaṅkhacūḍa learned of this he came quickly to Garuḍa. “Ocean of compassion, I am here for your food,” he said. “Mahāmate, release this divine man and make me your food.”
Seeing Jīmūtavāhana‘s greatness and spirit of helping others, Garuḍa was very pleased and gave three varas. He would never again eat the descendants of Śaṅkhacūḍa. Jīmūtavāhana would gain the best kingdom in the city of the vidyādharas. Having enjoyed joy for a lakh of years, he would attain Vaikuṇṭha. Garuḍa disappeared. Jīmūtavāhana received the kingdom from his father, enjoyed royal happiness with Kamalākshī, and in the end went to Vaikuṇṭhaloka.
The Vaitāla’s question
The Vaitāla asked, “Of these two, Śaṅkhacūḍa and Jīmūtavāhana, who gained the great fruit, and who was more courageous?”
Vikramāditya answered that Śaṅkhacūḍa gained the great fruit, for helping others is the very nature of a king. Jīmūtavāhana gave his life with great renunciation, but being a king his gift falls within duty. Śaṅkhacūḍa fearlessly offered his body to his enemy Garuḍa and saved the life of a great dharmic king. The Vaitāla was satisfied with this answer.
Sources
- Bhavishya Purāṇa, Pratisarga Parva, Khaṇḍa 2, Chapters 1–23