Rukmāṅgada and Mohinī

King Rukmāṅgada of Śrāvastī was a great devotee of Bhagavān Vishṇu who kept the Ekādaśī vrata (the fast on the eleventh lunar day) without a single break. His account is the central narrative of the Uttarardha of the Nārada Mahā Purāṇa. His proclamation of Ekādaśī through his whole kingdom emptied the narakas and filled Vaikuṇṭha. Yamadharmarāja was distressed and went to Brahmā. Brahmā made the enchantress Mohinī from his own mind and sent her to break the king’s vow. Mohinī married Rukmāṅgada on Mandara Parvata, but she could not make him eat on Ekādaśī. At last she asked him to cut off the head of his own son Dharmāṅgada on Ekādaśī itself. As the sword came down, Bhagavān Śrī Hari appeared, stopped it, and took Rukmāṅgada, his queen Sandhyāvalī and Dharmāṅgada to Vaikuṇṭha.

The frame: Vasishṭha and Māndhātā

Vasishṭha Maharshi tells the whole Uttarardha narrative to King Māndhātā. Māndhātā had asked which fire burns away the three kinds of pāpa (sin): past, present and future. Vasishṭha answered that the Ekādaśī vrata, fasting on the eleventh lunar day and worshipping Madhusūdana, is that fire. As proof he tells the glorious account of Rukmāṅgada.

(Nārada Mahā Purāṇa, Uttarardha, Chapter 1)

Rukmāṅgada’s kingdom

Rukmāṅgada was a great king of the Ikshvāku line who ruled Śrāvastī. He was known for his patience, his steady bhakti to Śrī Nārāyaṇa, and his complete commitment to the Ekādaśī vrata. He kept Ekādaśī in both the śukla and krishṇa pakshas without missing once.

He also made Ekādaśī a royal order. On Ekādaśī days his elephants’ drums were beaten across the kingdom with this announcement: “All persons from the age of eight to eighty-five, whether moved by devotion or only by the king’s order, must not eat on Ekādaśī. Anyone who breaks this, be it the king’s father, brother, son, wife or friend, will be punished, driven out of the city, and treated as a thief.”

He also ordered: “On Ekādaśī, give dāna to brāhmaṇas and bathe in the water of the Gaṅgā.”

The result was astonishing. Everyone in Rukmāṅgada’s realm kept Ekādaśī, some from fear, some from custom and some from devotion, and all of them reached Vishṇu-loka after death. The roads to the realm of Śrī Hari filled with these jīvas. They all had four arms, wore garlands and yellow silk (pīta-ambara), and rode Garuḍa.

(Nārada Mahā Purāṇa, Uttarardha, Chapters 3-5)

Yamadharmarāja’s distress

This keeping of Ekādaśī by everyone was a disaster for Yamadharmarāja. All the narakas became empty, and Chitragupta’s ledgers were wiped blank. No jīvas came to Yamapura, and the whole work of counting karma stopped. Yamadharmarāja compared himself to a wooden log, to a man who cannot see or hear, and to a servant nobody cares for. He was overcome with shame.

He went to Brahmaloka with Nārada and Chitragupta, bowed before Brahmā and wept. He laid his staff of office and his records at Brahmā’s feet and said: “O Pitāmaha, because of this one king on earth, all my authority is gone. The road to Vishṇu-loka is crowded. My own register has been wiped out. I have become a lokatraya-kshatriya (a ruler of the three worlds) in name only, like a eunuch, or like a husband ruled by his wife.”

Brahmā heard Yama’s complaint, comforted him and agreed to help. He added one important condition. He could not act against Vishṇu-bhaktas directly. He could only try to break Rukmāṅgada’s vow from within the field of desire.

(Nārada Mahā Purāṇa, Uttarardha, Chapters 3-6)

Brahmā creates Mohinī

Brahmā took a form that held all the bhūtas. By the power of his mind he created a woman of great beauty, able to charm the whole world. He named her Mohinī, the enchantress who deceives everyone. Brahmā could look at her steadily only through the eye of knowledge (jñāna-chakshu). He warned his assembly about the danger of being drawn without restraint to a woman’s beauty. Each limb, he said, is only flesh and bone, the eyes are fat and moisture, and the beauty is an illusion. Then he gave Mohinī her orders:

“Go to Mandara mountain. You were born from my mind, so you will enchant minds. Anyone who sees you for one moment enters the state of ten manmathas. Go to King Rukmāṅgada and tempt him to eat on Ekādaśī, or force him to break his vow by any means. If you succeed, I shall feel as much in your debt as one who has received the fruit of the piṇḍadāna at Gayā.”

Mohinī put on all her ornaments, bowed to Brahmā and set out for Mandara. On the way the devas watched her with wonder.

(Nārada Mahā Purāṇa, Uttarardha, Chapters 6-7)

Mandara Parvata and the first meeting

Mandara is the mountain on which the devas and asuras once churned the cosmic ocean. It is very grand: six lakh yojanas across, so wide that even Vāsuki cannot coil around it, adorned with gold and jewels, and so bright that it dims the sun. Near a Śivaliṅga, the Vṛsha-liṅga, which was ten hastas tall, lay a blue-black slab of stone seven yojanas wide. Mohinī sat there and began to sing. Her music, a skilful mix of tāna, laya and the seven notes (saptasvara), was so lovely that even the trees and rocks woke up and were spellbound.

King Rukmāṅgada had gone to that mountain to do a Vishṇu-pūjā. He heard the music from far off. When he came near and saw Mohinī, he was at once smitten. His minister Vāmadeva saw the signs of a divine woman sent to make trouble, and he advised the king. Rukmāṅgada also knew better himself. Even so, desire beat reason. He asked Mohinī to marry him.

Mohinī agreed on one condition: “If you marry me, you must grant one request that I will make in the future, without any question. Promise this on an oath.” Rukmāṅgada could not resist and took the oath.

They were married on Mandara mountain itself. Mohinī became his second wife. His first wife was the noble Sandhyāvalī.

(Nārada Mahā Purāṇa, Uttarardha, Chapters 8-12)

Mohinī’s repeated attempts

For months and years Mohinī used every means to make Rukmāṅgada break his Ekādaśī fast. She shared every pleasure with him in forests, on mountain peaks, on riverbanks, and in garden retreats as fine as those of svarga. She went with him to Malaya, Meru, Vindhya and Kailāsa, and she was his constant companion in every pleasure. But on every Ekādaśī, Daśamī and Dvādaśī, Rukmāṅgada left her company and kept his vow without fail.

Mohinī came to him with rich meals and described the dishes lovingly. She wept. She pretended to be ill. She said her love would wither unless he ate with her on Ekādaśī. Each time Rukmāṅgada answered with teaching on how far Ekādaśī stands above all else:

“Ekādaśī is Vishṇu’s own day. On this day all pāpas live in anna (food). He who eats on Ekādaśī eats those pāpas. No remedy for pāpa, no atonement, no tīrtha and no tapas equals even a small part of the fast of Ekādaśī (upavāsa). A thousand Aśvamedhas and a hundred Rājasūyas cannot match one Ekādaśī. I will give you anything, lands, wealth, my kingdom, even my life, but I will not eat on Ekādaśī.”

(Nārada Mahā Purāṇa, Uttarardha, Chapters 13, 17, 19, 23-26)

Sandhyāvalī’s part

Queen Sandhyāvalī, Rukmāṅgada’s first wife, was deeply devoted to dharma and to her husband. She knew Mohinī’s real nature and purpose, and she was a great help in keeping Rukmāṅgada firm in his vow. She kept Ekādaśī herself with the same strictness. When Mohinī’s efforts grew stronger, Sandhyāvalī advised Rukmāṅgada again and again. She reminded him of his vow and of the supremacy of Bhagavān Vishṇu.

Sandhyāvalī also met Kāshṭhīlā, a woman in an extraordinary spiritual state. Kāshṭhīlā told her of the glory of the month of Māgha, of Ekādaśī, and of the nature of true liberation. This meeting deepened Sandhyāvalī’s understanding of what Rukmāṅgada was guarding.

(Nārada Mahā Purāṇa, Uttarardha, Chapters 27-32)

Accounts within the account

Several smaller accounts are told inside the Rukmāṅgada narrative.

• Godhā liberation (Chapter 14): A monitor lizard touched Rukmāṅgada’s foot on Ekādaśī and was freed at once from its animal birth. It was a brāhmaṇa under a śāpa (a curse), set free by the lightest touch of an Ekādaśī devotee.
• Pativratā Upākhyāna (Chapter 16): A devoted wife used the puṇya of her Ekādaśī observances to deal with Yama’s messengers and save her husband’s life.
• Kāshṭhīlā (Chapters 27-30): The extraordinary woman Kāshṭhīlā’s account of her past life, the power of Ekādaśī, and the glory of the month of Māgha.
• Kārtika Māhātmya (Chapter 22): In the month of Kārtika, after Vishṇu wakes from yoga-nidrā (Utthānā-dvādaśī), the importance of the month is described in the reign of Dharmāṅgada.

The last test: Dharmāṅgada’s life

After years of failure, Mohinī used her hardest measure. She reminded Rukmāṅgada of his oath: “You swore to grant any one request of mine without question.” Then she said: “Kill your son Dharmāṅgada with your sword. Do it on Ekādaśī itself. This is my one request.”

Rukmāṅgada was crushed. His son Dharmāṅgada was a noble young man who had himself become an ideal king over a part of the realm. He stood before his father, ready to die for his father’s dharma. They spoke together, and Dharmāṅgada said: “O Father, it would be wrong to break your oath to your wife. My life is nothing next to your vow. Cut off my head. I ask it of you.”

Rukmāṅgada took his sword and raised it. His wife Sandhyāvalī stood by, also ready to die, because she could not bear to see the family destroyed.

(Nārada Mahā Purāṇa, Uttarardha, Chapters 33-34)

Śrī Hari steps in

At the highest moment, as the sword was about to fall on Dharmāṅgada’s neck on Ekādaśī, Bhagavān Śrī Hari appeared. The sound of his conch and mace rang out, and he shone with the light of a thousand suns. He came down before the astonished assembly and stopped the sword with his own hand.

Smiling with great compassion, Bhagavān Śrī Hari said: “Rukmāṅgada, your devotion and your vow are the highest dharma. Your son’s readiness to give his life for your vow is just as glorious. No sword will touch this noble young man today. Come. All three of you have been made pure through Ekādaśī, beyond the highest tapas. Come to Vaikuṇṭha.”

At that very moment Rukmāṅgada, Sandhyāvalī and Dharmāṅgada were taken to Vaikuṇṭha, the eternal home of Bhagavān Vishṇu. They went in their own bodies, without dying, straight from their earthly life.

(Nārada Mahā Purāṇa, Uttarardha, Chapter 34)

Mohinī’s śāpa, burning and new place

With Rukmāṅgada freed, Mohinī’s purpose had failed. Then the royal purohita Vāsu, who had seen all that happened, faced Mohinī and pronounced a śāpa on her in righteous anger: “You deceived a noble king and tried to destroy the greatest dharma. May you be burned.”

Fire from the śāpa at once consumed Mohinī. But Bhagavān Vishṇu, who is merciful even to those who serve dharma as instruments, brought her back to life. He said to her: “You acted as an instrument of cosmic need. Brahmā made you for this purpose. You will live on as Mohinī, but you will never again have the power to destroy an Ekādaśī vow. The time called Daśamī-pūrva is now given to you. This is the part of Ekādaśī that is spoiled by Daśamī (Daśamī-viddhā), the beginning of the tenth lunar day just before Ekādaśī. This is why the pūrva-viddhā Ekādaśī is given to the daityas and asuras and is not used by Vishṇu-bhaktas.”

(Nārada Mahā Purāṇa, Uttarardha, Chapters 35-37)

Vāsu tells of the tīrthas

After these events Vāsu, the priest, told Mohinī, who now sought to be made pure, the full glories of the tīrthas of Bhārata. This began the whole second part of the Uttarardha (Chapters 38-82). It covers the glories of Gaṅgā, Gayā, Kāśī, Purushottama, Prayāga, Haridvāra, Badarikāśrama, Kāmākshā, Prabhāsa, Pushkara, Gautamāśrama, Tryambakeśvara, Gokarṇa, Lakshmaṇāchala, Setu, Narmadā, Avantikā, Mathurā and Bṛndāvana.

(Nārada Mahā Purāṇa, Uttarardha, Chapters 38-82)

Sources

• Nārada Mahā Purāṇa, Uttarardha, Chapter 1 (the frame)
• Nārada Mahā Purāṇa, Uttarardha, Chapters 3-37
• Nārada Mahā Purāṇa, Uttarardha, Chapters 38-82 (the tīrtha māhātmyas)
• Nārada Mahā Purāṇa, Uttarardha, Chapters 81-82