Cōḷa and Vishṇudāsa
King Cōḷa and the poor brāhmaṇa Vishṇudāsa both reached Vaikuṇṭha. There Bhagavān Vishṇu made Vishṇudāsa his doorkeeper Puṇyaśīla and made King Cōḷa his doorkeeper Suśīla. The narrative sets a king’s great yajña beside a poor man’s pure devotion. The Padma Mahā Purāṇa tells it in Chapters 108 and 109 of the Uttara Khaṇḍa. The Skanda Mahā Purāṇa tells it in the Kārtika Māsa Māhātmya.
King Cōḷa of Kāntipura
Cōḷa was a king of the country that came to bear his name, Cōḷa-deśa. He ruled from the city of Kāntipura. He was a king of fine qualities, who kept the prescribed yajñas and honoured the Vedic tradition. He began a great mahāyajña under the guidance of his teacher Mudgala. The preparation and conduct of the yajña were elaborate and followed the strict śrauta rules (śrautavidhi). (Padma Mahā Purāṇa, Uttara Khaṇḍa, Chapter 108)
Vishṇudāsa, the poor devotee
At the Anantaśāyana temple lived a brāhmaṇa of little wealth named Vishṇudāsa. The temple stood at the sacred place where Bhagavān Vishṇu rests on Ādiśesha. Vishṇudāsa gave his whole life to Bhagavān Vishṇu. His devotion did not need much wealth. It rested on awareness and self-control. He kept the five Vishṇu rules (pañca-niyama), his mind was always fixed on Vishṇu, and his body was made pure by tapas.
The king, with his elaborate yajña, and the poor brāhmaṇa, with his poverty and pure devotion, were brought together at this same sacred place. (Padma Mahā Purāṇa, Uttara Khaṇḍa, Chapter 108)
Vishṇu appears as a starving Cāṇḍāla
While King Cōḷa’s great yajña was going on, Bhagavān Vishṇu came to the place of sacrifice in a form that puzzled everyone there. He came as a thin, starving Cāṇḍāla, very hungry, trying to take food from the offerings. The guards moved to stop this low-born man from touching the sacred offerings meant for the devas.
Before the guards could act, Vishṇu showed his true form. It was his divine four-armed form, blazing with the full brightness of the Supreme, carrying the conch, the disc, the mace and the lotus. The whole assembly was overwhelmed. The starving Cāṇḍāla who had seemed to steal food was Bhagavān Vishṇu himself. (Padma Mahā Purāṇa, Uttara Khaṇḍa, Chapter 108)
Vishṇudāsa reaches Vaikuṇṭha
Vishṇudāsa had given his mind to Vishṇu through years of devotion and the five rules. In the presence of this divine sight he was filled with the bliss of darśana. He became one with Bhagavān Vishṇu and went straight to Vaikuṇṭha, and his body no longer had a separate existence. The poorest devotee at the place, with no yajña equipment and no wealth, reached the highest goal in that moment of direct meeting with Bhagavān Vishṇu. (Padma Mahā Purāṇa, Uttara Khaṇḍa, Chapter 109)
King Cōḷa enters the fire
King Cōḷa saw Vishṇudāsa’s liberation, which was a direct disappearance into the divine. He understood that the poor devotee’s path had led at once to what his own elaborate yajña had been seeking. Filled with strong longing, and seeing the sacrificial fire as the way open to him at that moment, King Cōḷa entered the fire of his own yajña. (Padma Mahā Purāṇa, Uttara Khaṇḍa, Chapter 109)
Puṇyaśīla and Suśīla, the doorkeepers of Vaikuṇṭha
Both Vishṇudāsa and King Cōḷa reached Vaikuṇṭha. There Bhagavān Vishṇu appointed them the divine doorkeepers of his supreme home.
- Puṇyaśīla (one whose conduct is meritorious) was the name given to Vishṇudāsa, the brāhmaṇa devotee whose pure keeping of the five niyamas had marked his whole life.
- Suśīla (one of good character) was the name given to King Cōḷa, whose turning away from the world and entry into the sacred fire completed the journey that his yajña had begun.
In the Bhāgavata account, the doorkeepers of Vaikuṇṭha are named Jaya and Vijaya, who were cursed by the Sanatkumāras. (Padma Mahā Purāṇa, Uttara Khaṇḍa, Chapter 109)
The Skanda Purāṇa account
In the Skanda Mahā Purāṇa the story of Cōḷa and Vishṇudāsa sits inside the story of Dharmadatta. Puṇyaśīla and Suśīla themselves had come to take Kalahā to Vaikuṇṭha. They tell Dharmadatta how they became the divine gatekeepers.
The dispute at Anantaśāyana
Emperor Cōḷa ruled from Kāñcī. His kingdom was rich and just. No one in it was poor, sick or wicked. He performed many great yajñas on the banks of the river Tāmraparṇī, with golden sacrificial posts.
Once the king went to Anantaśāyana, which is today Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala, where Bhagavān Vishṇu lies in yoganidrā (yogic sleep). He worshipped Bhagavān Vishṇu properly with jewels, pearls and golden flowers. As he sat there, he saw a brāhmaṇa named Vishṇudāsa, who lived in the same city. Vishṇudāsa came to Bhagavān Vishṇu with only Tulasī leaves and water. He bathed the mūrti of Hari with Tulasī water and worshipped him, repeating the Vishṇusūkta.
The king was angry to see his rich worship with jewels covered and outdone by Tulasī leaves. He challenged Vishṇudāsa: “You are poor, and you have covered my brilliant worship with mere leaves.” Vishṇudāsa answered: “You do not know devotion. You are proud of your royal glory. How many Vishṇu-vratas have you kept?”
The dispute grew sharper. The king declared: “Let everyone see who will see Vishṇu directly first, this brāhmaṇa or I.” (Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Vaishṇava Khaṇḍa, Kārtika Māsa Māhātmya, Chapter 26)
The test and the liberation
The king went back to his palace and began a great Vaishṇava satra under the guidance of his teacher Mudgala. Vishṇudāsa stayed at the temple and kept all the Vishṇu-vratas. He kept the Māgha Vrata and the Kārtika Vrata. He planted groves of Tulasī. He did japa on Ekādaśī with the twelve-syllable mantra. He offered all sixteen services to Bhagavān Vishṇu, with auspicious songs and dances. He slept on bare ground, looked on all beings alike, and saw Vishṇu living in all beings.
Bhagavān Vishṇu tested Vishṇudāsa. For seven days in a row, someone stole his cooked food. Each time, Vishṇudāsa did not cook again, because he feared that cooking again would delay his evening worship and break his vrata. He stayed calm through the whole seven days. On the seventh day he was taken into Vishṇu, took Vishṇu’s own form and rose to Vaikuṇṭha. (Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Vaishṇava Khaṇḍa, Kārtika Māsa Māhātmya, Chapter 27)
King Cōḷa’s end
King Cōḷa saw this and was overwhelmed. He said to Mudgala: “That brāhmaṇa has taken the form of Vishṇu and is going to Vaikuṇṭha. It is certain that Vishṇu is not pleased with gifts and yajñas. Devotion alone is the greatest cause of seeing Bhagavān Vishṇu.”
The king had no son, because he had spent his life in yajñas. He crowned his nephew as his successor and entered his sacrificial fire. He called to Vishṇu three times: “O Vishṇu, give me steady devotion in my mind, speech and action.” Vishṇu appeared in the sacrificial fire and embraced King Cōḷa. He gave Cōḷa sārūpya (a form like his own) and took him to Vaikuṇṭha.
Mudgala, in anger and grief, tore out his own tuft of hair. This is why people of the Mudgala Gotra are without a tuft to this day.
Vishṇudāsa became Puṇyaśīla, and King Cōḷa became Suśīla. Bhagavān Vishṇu appointed them the two divine gatekeepers of Vaikuṇṭha. (Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Vaishṇava Khaṇḍa, Kārtika Māsa Māhātmya, Chapter 27)
Sources
- Padma Mahā Purāṇa, Uttara Khaṇḍa, Chapters 108–109
- Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Vaishṇava Khaṇḍa, Kārtika Māsa Māhātmya, Chapters 26–27
- Bhāgavata account of Jaya and Vijaya, mentioned only as a point of reference