Upabarhana and Mālavatī

This episode is told in the Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa, Brahma Khaṇḍa. It is about the gandharva Upabarhana and his devoted wife Mālavatī. Upabarhana was an earlier birth of the ṛshi Nārada. He lived for three lakh (300,000) divine years, and then died suddenly in Brahmā’s assembly. After Mālavatī’s great grief, and after she recited the Mahāpurusha stotra (a hymn of praise), all the chief devas worked together to bring him back to life. The account also carries teachings on Āyurveda, karma-phala (the fruit of action), the Kṛshṇa Kavaca, the Śiva Kavaca and the nature of Parabrahman.

Upabarhana’s earlier life

A gandharva king did tapas (austerity) at Pushkara-tīrtha for one hundred divine years. Bhagavān Śiva appeared and gave him two varas (boons): Hari-bhakti, and a vaishṇava son. The gandharva king was then born as Upabarhana. Vasishṭha gave him his name.

Upabarhana lived for three lakh divine years with fifty gandharva wives. The chief of them was Mālavatī, the eldest daughter of Citraratha.

Death in Brahmasabhā

Chapter 13 tells the key event. Upabarhana went into Brahmā’s divine assembly, the Brahmasabhā. There he met an insult that was linked to Bhagavān Brahmā’s unresolved śāpa (a curse) on Nārada. He could not bear it, and he left his body on purpose by yoga. He died there in Brahmasabhā.

When Mālavatī heard, she ran to the assembly and broke into loud weeping.

Mālavatī’s grief and her threat

Mālavatī’s grief was so strong that she threatened to curse all the devas in the assembly. She fainted on the spot. All the devas there, Bhagavān Brahmā and Bhagavān Śiva among them, fled to the Kshīrasāgara (the Ocean of Milk) to ask for the help of Bhagavān Vishṇu.

Bhagavān Vishṇu comes as a brahmin boy

In Chapter 14 Bhagavān Vishṇu appeared before Mālavatī and all the devas as a brahmin boy (brāhmaṇa-kumāra). He taught Mālavatī about karma-phala, the sure law of action and result, to prepare her mind.

At the same gathering Bhagavān Brahmā told the truth: Upabarhana was Nārada, born again under a śāpa, and 1,000 divine years of that śāpa were still left.

Mālavatī’s questions: Āyurveda and Kāla

In Chapters 15 and 16 Mālavatī asked deep questions. How can life be kept safe? What is death? How are Kāla (Time) and Mṛtyu (Death) linked to what happens to living beings? Bhagavān Vishṇu, in the form of the brahmin, answered with the great Āyurveda teaching.

• Bhagavān Brahmā made Āyurveda as the fifth Veda, to guard life.
• Āyurveda was taught to Bhāskara, who is Sūrya. He had sixteen pupils: Dhanvantari, Divodāsa, the Aśvins, Nakula, Sahadeva, Yarki, Cyavana, Janaka, Budha, Jābāla, Jājuli, Paila, Karadha and Agastya.
• Jvara (fever) was named the king of all diseases. It has three heads, three legs, six arms and nine eyes.
• The six ṛtu-caryās (the rules of living for the six seasons) were set out.
• The things to do and to avoid for keeping good health were listed.

Mālavatī also received teachings from Yama and from Kāla on how time and death work in the lives of beings.

All the devas bring him back

In Chapters 17 and 18 all the chief devas came together and gave Upabarhana’s body back to him. Each gave a part.

After these gifts, Mālavatī recited the Mahāpurusha stotra, a hymn to Śrī Kṛshṇa as the cosmic Person. This finished the revival. Upabarhana came back to awareness and strength.

The Kṛshṇa Kavaca and the Śiva Kavaca

Chapter 19 follows at once and teaches two protective texts, each called a kavaca (armour).

The Kṛshṇa Kavaca has this root mantra of sixteen akshara (syllables):

Oṃ namaḥ bhagavate rāsamaṇḍaleśāya svāhā

This kavaca gives protection in all eight directions. It needs 3 lakh recitations for siddhi (success).

The Śiva Kavaca comes from the talk between Bāṇa and Mahādeva. Its root mantra has twelve akshara:

Oṃ namaḥ bhagavate śrīvāya svāhā

It needs 5 lakh recitations for siddhi. Bāṇāsura’s stotra to Bhagavān Śiva is also given in this chapter.

His last birth and liberation

Chapter 20 tells the end of Upabarhana’s story. When his remaining puṇya (merit) was used up, the śāpa took its last form. The soul of Nārada, who had been Upabarhana, had to leave the gandharva world and be born in the human world. This came about through Kaśyapa muni (see Kālavatī).

In that last human birth, as the child of Kālavatī, the soul of Nārada grew up. He received the Kṛshṇa mantra from Sanatkumāra and did 1,000 divine years of tapas. He had a partial darśana (sight) of the child Kṛshṇa on a jewelled throne with a flute. An Ākāśavāṇī (a voice from the sky) told him that a full darśana needs a divine body. Then he gave up his human body of his own will, thinking only of Kṛshṇa (Kṛshṇa-smaraṇa), and reached Goloka.

Sources

• Brahma Vaivarta Mahā Purāṇa, Brahma Khaṇḍa, Chapters 13 to 20