Kardama Vrata Upākhyāna

This account from the Upāsanā Khaṇḍa of the Gaṇeśa Purāṇa is about a poor kshatriya who kept the Varada Gaṇeśa Vrata at the word of the ṛshi Saubhari and was reborn as the rich and honoured King Kardama. Bhagavān Śiva tells it to Skanda, who had asked how the vrata had helped devotees in earlier times.

Skanda’s question

Skanda had kept the Varada Gaṇeśa Vrata at the sacred kshetra of Ghṛshṇeśvara. He received the anugraha (grace) of Gaṇeśa, which included the peacock as his vāhana (vehicle), and so he became Mayūradhvaja. Then Skanda asked Bhagavān Śiva to tell how this vrata had helped earlier devotees.

Bhagavān Śiva gives sacred knowledge freely. He taught Skanda the whole procedure of the vrata, from Śrāvaṇa śukla caturthi to Bhādrapada śukla caturthi. He also gave this story as an example. (Gaṇeśa Purāṇa, Upāsanā Khaṇḍa, Chapter 51)

The poor kshatriya

In an earlier age there was a kshatriya who had fallen from his place. He was poor, with no land, wealth, family or standing. He could not do the rites that his varṇa asks for. He could not give dāna. He lived in constant hardship. Weighed down by this fallen life, he wandered until he came to the āśrama of the ṛshi Saubhari.

Saubhari Muni was a great tapasvin (one who keeps tapas). His āśrama was known as a refuge for people in trouble. He saw the kshatriya’s state and the true worth of the man under his poverty, and received him with kindness. After hearing his story, Saubhari taught him the full procedure of the Varada Gaṇeśa Vrata. This is the month-long vrata that begins on Śrāvaṇa śukla caturthi and ends on Bhādrapada śukla caturthi. (Gaṇeśa Purāṇa, Upāsanā Khaṇḍa, Chapter 51)

Keeping the vrata

The kshatriya followed Saubhari’s instructions and kept the Varada Gaṇeśa Vrata with full dedication. He set up the prescribed images. Every day he did the shoḍaśopachāra pūjā (the sixteen-part pūjā). He offered twenty-one dūrvā and twenty-one modakas. He completed the sixty-one mudrās. He kept the prescribed fasts. On the last day, Bhādrapada śukla caturthi, he did the udyāpana (closing rite) with homa, tarpaṇa and brāhmaṇa-bhojana (feeding of brāhmaṇas), in the prescribed proportions.

The vrata was complete and kept in the right way. Yet when he kept it, the kshatriya had very few means for the rites. What he offered was not much by the measure of the world. But he offered it with full sincerity, śraddhā (faith) and bhakti. Gaṇeśa weighs the heart of the devotee and not the amount of the offering. He accepted it fully. (Gaṇeśa Purāṇa, Upāsanā Khaṇḍa, Chapter 51)

Rebirth as King Kardama

By the puṇya (merit) of this one sincere vrata, the kshatriya was reborn as King Kardama when his life ended. Kardama was a rich and honoured ruler. He had wealth, family, loyal subjects and all the marks of a king who keeps dharma. His birth as Kardama was the direct fruit of the vrata. Gaṇeśa had removed the vighnas (obstacles) from his path of karma and opened the way to a life of plenty and dignity.

As King Kardama, he carried the puṇya of his earlier devotion within him. He kept his tie with the pūjā of Gaṇeśa. His life showed the reward that Varada Gaṇeśa, the Gaṇeśa who gives a vara (boon), gives to his sincere devotees. (Gaṇeśa Purāṇa, Upāsanā Khaṇḍa, Chapter 51)

What the account shows

The power of the Varada Gaṇeśa Vrata does not rest on the size of the offerings or on a perfect rite. It rests on the sincerity and focus with which it is kept. A poor kshatriya with almost nothing, keeping the vrata for the first time under the guidance of a guru, had the whole course of his life changed by the grace of Gaṇeśa.

The account also shows the nature of Varada Gaṇapati, the boon-giving Gaṇeśa who is called upon in this vrata. He removes the obstacles that keep beings from the full life they deserve. He gives the prosperity and dignity in which a life of dharma can grow.

Sources

• Gaṇeśa Purāṇa, Upāsanā Khaṇḍa, Chapter 51