Śūrasena Upākhyāna

King Śūrasena ruled Sahasrākhya-pura and was devoted to Gaṇeśa. The Upāsanā Khaṇḍa of the Gaṇeśa Purāṇa tells how Indra’s vimāna (flying chariot) fell near his city, how a sick merchant was cured by the name of Gaṇeśa, and how the king took his whole city to Gaṇeśa-loka. The story ties in the ṛshi Bhṛśuṇḍi and the Saṅkashṭa Caturthi vrata. It is told in Chapters 56 to 58 and 74 to 76.

Indra’s vimāna falls

King Śūrasena of Sahasrākhya-pura was a ruler who followed dharma and was devoted to Gaṇeśa. One day Indra’s vimāna was passing overhead in the sky. It suddenly lost its power to fly and came down to earth near the city. This was a great surprise, because Indra’s vimāna does not fail in this way.

When the matter was looked into, it was found that the vimāna had passed over a path where a vaiśya merchant was walking. The merchant had kushṭha-roga, a severe skin disease that comes from heavy pāpa (sin) of an earlier life. The sight of a man marked by such misfortune and by the weight of karma had broken, for a time, the good current that kept the vimāna in flight.

Śūrasena and his court asked where the vimāna had come from. They were told that Indra had been visiting the holy āśrama of the ṛshi Bhṛśuṇḍi before this happened. The link between Bhṛśuṇḍi’s holy presence, the vimāna and the sick merchant led to the story of a deep karma. (Gaṇeśa Purāṇa, Upāsanā Khaṇḍa, Chapter 56)

The merchant’s earlier life

The sick vaiśya was brought before the assembly, and the story of his earlier life was made known, through divine sight or through what the ṛshi said. In an earlier birth he had been a brāhmaṇa named Budha. He had gathered a huge load of pāpa by a series of terrible acts. He had killed both his parents and a brāhmaṇa woman, and he had also wronged the wife of a great ṛshi.

The ṛshi’s wife, hurt by what was done to her, laid a fierce śāpa (curse) on him. Budha would suffer from kushṭha-roga in his later births until his karma was fully used up. The disease that now marked the merchant was the sign of that curse, carried over from one life to the next. (Gaṇeśa Purāṇa, Upāsanā Khaṇḍa, Chapter 74)

The cure by Gaṇeśa’s name

When this history was clear, King Śūrasena was moved by deep pity. He knew that no ordinary medicine could heal a disease rooted in such old pāpa. He turned to the power of Gaṇeśa’s name. The name “Gajānana” was whispered three times into the merchant’s ear, with full faith (śraddhā) and the wish to cleanse him.

At the third time the name was spoken, the kushṭha-roga was gone completely. The merchant’s body was made whole at once. The assembly saw this wonderful cure. It showed what the Purāṇa teaches again and again: when Gaṇeśa’s name is said or whispered with true bhakti (devotion), it wipes away even the heaviest load of karma. (Gaṇeśa Purāṇa, Upāsanā Khaṇḍa, Chapter 75)

Gaṇeśa’s messengers come

Because of the power of the name and Śūrasena’s devotion to Gaṇeśa, and because of the merit of his kingdom’s faith, a divine visit took place. Gaṇeśa’s own dūtas (messengers) came to Sahasrākhya-pura in shining celestial vimānas. Gaṇeśa had sent them to take Śūrasena and his people to Gaṇeśa-loka.

The messengers said: “By the grace of Gaṇeśa and the merit of your devotion, you are invited to go up to Gaṇeśa-loka. Come now.” (Gaṇeśa Purāṇa, Upāsanā Khaṇḍa, Chapter 75)

Śūrasena’s condition

The king’s answer to this great invitation shows his heart. He did not hurry to take the honour for himself. He turned to the messengers and said calmly: “I will not go without every one of my subjects. All the people of this city must come with me: merchants, craftsmen, farmers, the sick merchant who was just healed, and all who have lived and worshipped here. I will not leave even one behind.”

The king saw himself as one with his people. He would not accept moksha (liberation) for himself while any of his subjects were left. This moved even the divine messengers. They told Gaṇeśa, and Gaṇeśa was pleased with Śūrasena’s greatness of heart and granted his request. The vimānas grew large enough to carry all the people of Sahasrākhya-pura. The healed merchant was taken too. (Gaṇeśa Purāṇa, Upāsanā Khaṇḍa, Chapter 75)

The ascent to Gaṇeśa-loka

The whole city of Sahasrākhya-pura rose together. At that same moment, Indra’s vimāna, which had fallen at the start and stayed on the ground through the working out of this story, rose back into the sky. The two risings happened together: that of the earthly king and his people, and that of the vimāna of the king of the devas. They marked the end of this episode.

The vimānas carrying Śūrasena and all his subjects reached Gaṇeśa-loka, where they were received with divine honours. Sahasrākhya-pura, where Gaṇeśa’s grace had rested during Śūrasena’s reign, was now empty on earth, since all its people had reached the highest goal. (Gaṇeśa Purāṇa, Upāsanā Khaṇḍa, Chapter 76)

Bhṛśuṇḍi’s part

The ṛshi Bhṛśuṇḍi was once a hunter of Daṇḍakāraṇya. He was changed and gained sārūpya (a form like Gaṇeśa’s) through a thousand years of tapas (austerity). In this account he is the link between the events. Indra had visited Bhṛśuṇḍi’s āśrama on his journey, and this brought his vimāna near Sahasrākhya-pura.

Bhṛśuṇḍi’s own story of change by Gaṇeśa’s grace stands behind the whole account. It shows that however deep a person’s pāpa may be, and whatever his birth or rank, Gaṇeśa’s grace and the power of his mantra can change him completely. (Gaṇeśa Purāṇa, Upāsanā Khaṇḍa, Chapter 57)

After he gained sārūpya, Bhṛśuṇḍi also kept the Saṅkashṭa Caturthi vrata (vow). He used its puṇya (merit) to free his own ancestors from Kumbhīpāka naraka. This is told alongside the Śūrasena story to show the power of the vrata in the three planes of existence. It helps not only the living person who keeps it but also the ancestors who have died, and it can be a means of freeing many together. The Śūrasena account itself shows that the full devotion of one king can carry a whole city to Gaṇeśa-loka. (Gaṇeśa Purāṇa, Upāsanā Khaṇḍa, Chapter 58)

Sources

  • Gaṇeśa Purāṇa, Upāsanā Khaṇḍa, Chapters 56–58 and 74–76
  • Chapter 56: Indra’s vimāna falls
  • Chapter 74: the merchant’s earlier life
  • Chapter 75: the cure by the name, the messengers and Śūrasena’s condition
  • Chapter 76: the ascent to Gaṇeśa-loka
  • Chapter 57: Bhṛśuṇḍi’s part
  • Chapter 58: the Saṅkashṭa Caturthi link