Suratha and Samādhi (Devī Bhāgavata)
The Devī Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa tells of King Suratha and the merchant Samādhi in the Fifth Skanda. Both men lost everything through betrayal and wandered into the forest in grief. They went to the ṛshi Medhas, who taught them about Mahāmāyā and her power to bewilder even the wise. Then they worshipped the Devī by a river for three years. She appeared before them and gave each a vara (boon). Suratha was promised rebirth as Sāvarṇi Manu in the next manvantara (age of a Manu), and Samādhi received jñāna (knowledge) and moksha (liberation).
Suratha’s downfall
In the Svārocisha Manvantara there ruled a king named Suratha of the solar dynasty. He was noble. He was truthful and generous, devoted to brāhmaṇas and to his guru, faithful to one wife, skilled in archery, and free of personal enemies. His kingdom flourished under his just rule.
Then trouble came. Mlecchas who lived in the mountains turned against him, raised large armies and attacked his kingdom. Suratha’s forces were much greater, but daiva (fate) went against him, and he was defeated. He withdrew to his own fortified capital.
Then came a second blow. His own ministers saw how fortune had turned and went over to the enemy. Without allies, he saw his treasury and armouries slowly emptied by his own faithless servants. In the end Suratha had to leave his kingdom altogether. He rode into the forest, heavy with worry about his lost treasury, his abandoned people, and his kingdom, which might already be in enemy hands.
Samādhi the merchant
In the same forest Suratha met a merchant named Samādhi, who had also been cast out. Samādhi’s wife and sons were full of greed. They had plotted to seize his wealth and drive him away. He knew well how hard-hearted they were. Yet his mind kept running back to them with attachment. He longed to know whether they were well, whether the household was doing well, and whether his grandchildren were safe. In his mind he knew they had wronged him badly, but the bonds of love would not cut themselves.
King Suratha saw the same puzzle in his own heart and began to talk with the wandering merchant. The two found that, although one had lost a kingdom and the other a family, both minds were held by memories and longings for what had been taken from them. Both were confused by this.
The teaching of Medhas
The two men walked deeper into the forest and came to the āśrama (hermitage) of the great ṛshi Medhas. He received them kindly. They asked him a question: why do wise and thoughtful people stay helplessly attached to those who have wronged them? Why can they not free themselves by reason alone?
Medhas answered with the teaching of Mahāmāyā’s vikshepa-śakti. The whole world of moving and unmoving beings is under the spell of Mahāmāyā, the supreme Yogeśvarī. Even Brahmā, Vishṇu and Mahādeva are not beyond her reach. Her power is of two kinds. The āvaraṇa-śakti is the power of concealment, which veils the true nature of things. The vikshepa-śakti is the power of projection, which throws the mind outward toward objects. Together they hold all beings. Even a person of great knowledge is not free from moha (delusion) unless the Devī herself gives jñāna.
Medhas gave examples. Brahmā was overcome by desire for his own daughter. Bhagavān Śiva wept without comfort for Satī. Bhagavān Vishṇu, in the Rāma avatāra, wandered in the forest weeping for Sītā.
“None is free from this,” Medhas said. “One can be freed only by the grace of Bhagavatī Mahāmāyā herself.”
Tapas and darśana
The teaching moved Suratha and Samādhi. They asked to know the Devī’s form, her nature and the way to worship her. Medhas then told the two seekers the full account of the Devī’s three great caritas (deeds):
- The Mahishāsura Vadha
- The Śuṃbha-Niśuṃbha Vadha
- The Durgama Vadha
Inspired by these accounts, Suratha and Samādhi went to the bank of a great river and began hard tapas (austerity). They made a mūrti of the Devī from river clay. They worshipped it with offerings, fasting, meditation and the recital of stotras. They kept up this sādhana (practice) for three years with full devotion. At the end of that time Devī Mahāmāyā was pleased. She appeared before them in her shining form.
The boons
The Devī told both seekers to ask for a boon of their choice.
Suratha asked for his kingdom back. He also asked to be born as a Manu in the next manvantara, to be the father of a new age of righteous people. The Devī granted both. She promised that he would recover his kingdom in this life, and that in the next manvantara he would be born as the Manu named Sāvarṇi, also called Sāvarṇika Manu, the eighth Manu.
Samādhi did not ask for his family or his wealth. He asked for jñāna, the knowledge that would cut his attachment for good to what had been shown to be false. He asked to be freed from saṃsāra (the cycle of birth and death) and from the bond of moha altogether. The Devī gave him liberating knowledge and the highest gift, moksha.
Sources
- Devī Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, Skanda 5, Chapters 32–35