Pushpavāhana
Pushpavāhana was a king of the Rādhantara kalpa. He ruled the seven islands of the earth and travelled in a golden lotus chariot given to him by Brahmā. The Matsya Purāṇa (Chapter 98) tells how he got this wealth. In a past life he had been a poor man who, without planning it, took part in the Vibhūti Dvādaśī Vrata of a woman named Anaṅgavatī and offered his lotuses to Bhagavān Vishṇu. The account stands inside the Vibhūti Dvādaśī Vrata chapter. The ṛshi Pracetas tells it to Pushpavāhana.
The king and his wealth
In the Rādhantara kalpa there lived a king named Pushpavāhana. His name means “he whose vehicle is flowers (lotus).” He shone like the sun. He had done great tapas, and from Brahmā he had won a kāñcana-kamala, a golden lotus chariot that could go anywhere at will (kāmagamana). He travelled in it with his citizens through all the islands of the earth, and even to the world of the devas. He lived on Pushkara dvīpa, the seventh island, and the lotus itself came from that land.
His wife was without equal in beauty. A thousand women attended her, as they attend Pārvatī at the side of Bhagavān Śiva. His ten thousand sons were all dharmic and skilled archers. A hundred crore lesser kings waited on him at all times.
Pushpavāhana’s question
One day Pushpavāhana spoke to his guest, the ṛshi Pracetas: “Venerable one, by what karma of the past did I get this wealth? I have this golden lotus chariot given by Brahmā himself, who is pleased with the least tapas. I have this wife who is more beautiful than the women of the devas, these sons, and these hundred crore kings who go round me like stars round the moon. Please tell me, out of kindness, what puṇya my wife or I or our sons did in past lives.”
Pracetas tells of the past life
Pracetas answered:
“In a past birth, O King, you were a lubdhaka (a hunter or a miser), and you did pāpa (sin) every day. Your body was harsh, your joints were rough, and your smell drove living beings away. Even so, your wife, though a woman of the hills, stayed deeply loyal to you in spite of her dislike. All other companions, mother, sons, friends and relatives, were missing from your life.
“Once a terrible drought left you without food. You came to a pond covered with mud but full of many lotuses. You cut a great many of them and went to the city of Vidiśā, hoping to sell them. You walked about all day but found no buyers. Tired and hungry, you sat with your wife in the courtyard of a house as night fell.
“Then the sound of auspicious instruments reached you. You followed it and came to the house of Anaṅgavatī, a veśyā (a courtesan), who was at that moment finishing her Vibhūti Dvādaśī Vrata. It was Māgha Śukla Dvādaśī. Anaṅgavatī was giving a lavaṇa parvata (a mountain of salt with all its proper decorations), together with a fully furnished śayyā (bed), to her guru. You both watched this pūjā of Bhagavān Vishṇu.
“At once bhakti rose in both your hearts. You thought: ‘What use are these lotuses now for selling?’ And with them you decorated Bhagavān Vishṇu and did pūjā.”
The gift that he refused
Anaṅgavatī saw this act of devotion and was delighted. She told her attendants to give you three hundred milch cows and three pala of gold. But you, showing great self-control (adhika-sattva), refused.
Anaṅgavatī then had four kinds of food brought (bhakshya, bhojya, lehya and coshya) and asked you to eat. You answered: “O auspicious one, night has come, and through this event we have been fasting without knowing it. A jāgaraṇa (night vigil) has passed. We will eat tomorrow. From our birth we have been people of pāpa.” So by chance the two of you fasted through that night, listened to the recital of the itihāsa, and took part in the jāgaraṇa.
The morning gifts
The next morning Anaṅgavatī gave the lavaṇa parvata, the śayyā, the village and eleven decorated milch cows to her guru, and eleven more cows to brāhmaṇas. With the rest of the cows, the rice and the provisions she fed all her guests: friends, allies, the needy, the blind, the helpless, and this couple, the hunter and his wife. She sent them away after giving them full hospitality.
The result
Pracetas went on: “Through that small piece of dharma, the unplanned pūjā, the unplanned jāgaraṇa and the refusal of wealth, the pāpa of both of you was wholly destroyed. Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa, in the form of Brahman, gave you the golden lotus chariot, this kingdom, this beautiful wife and these brave sons. All this is the fruit of that one act of devotion.”
Where Anaṅgavatī went
“And that Anaṅgavatī, through the full puṇya of her Vibhūti Dvādaśī Vrata through her life, is now the second wife of Manmatha. She is called Prīti (delight). She is a companion to Ratī Devī, she brings joy to the whole world, and all the immortals honour her.”
Pracetas’s advice
Pracetas then said to Pushpavāhana: “O King, leave this golden lotus chariot here on earth. Go to the bank of the Gaṅgā and keep the Vibhūti Dvādaśī Vrata there in the proper way. You will reach moksha (liberation).”
Pracetas disappeared after he had spoken. Pushpavāhana did just as he was told and received that fruit as well.
Sources
- Matsya Mahā Purāṇa, Chapter 98 (the Vibhūti Dvādaśī Vrata chapter)