Dhaneśvara and the Kārtika Merit

The Uttara Khaṇḍa of the Padma Mahā Purāṇa, in Chapters 113 and 114, tells of Dhaneśvara, a brāhmaṇa of Avantī who lived a very wicked life. Without knowing it, he gained the puṇya of the month of Kārtika by being near devotees of Vishṇu who were keeping the Kārtika vow. When he died of a snakebite, Yama’s servants put him in the Kumbhīpāka naraka, but it turned cool as he entered. Through Nārada’s words he was lifted up to the world of the Yakshas as Dhanayaksha.

The Skanda Mahā Purāṇa tells the same account in its own way, as Bhagavān Kṛshṇa’s words to Satyabhāmā. Both are given below.

Dhaneśvara’s wicked life in Avantī

In the holy city of Avantī, which is Ujjain, there lived a brāhmaṇa who had fallen far from the ways of a brāhmaṇa. His name was Dhaneśvara. He sold strong drink, which is a trade wrong for one of his birth. He also gambled, and he was a habitual thief who took other people’s property without shame. His whole life went against the dharma he was born to keep. This is told in Chapter 113 of the Padma Mahā Purāṇa, Uttara Khaṇḍa.

The journey to Māhishmatī in Kārtika

In the holy month of Kārtika, Dhaneśvara travelled from Avantī to the city of Māhishmatī on the Narmadā to sell his goods. On the way he met groups of devotees of Vishṇu who were keeping the whole Kārtika month with all its rites. They bathed early, lit lamps, did pūjā to Tulasī, kept night vigils, fasted, and said the names of Vishṇu.

Dhaneśvara had no plan to join any of these rites and had no devotion to Vishṇu. Yet he was among these devotees and shared their company.

The snakebite and death

On this journey a snake bit Dhaneśvara and he died. His death came in the month of Kārtika, close to the devotees of Vishṇu who were keeping their vows. Whatever share of their puṇya he had gained without meaning to was all the puṇya he took with him into the state after death.

Yama’s problem: Kumbhīpāka becomes cool

Dhaneśvara’s life had been full of pāpa (sin). Yama Dharmarāja decided that the right punishment was the Kumbhīpāka naraka, one of the hardest torments in the naraka system, where one who has done pāpa is boiled in a pot of oil. Yama’s servants brought Dhaneśvara to Kumbhīpāka and put him in.

Then something strange happened. The boiling oil became cool. The heat of the naraka was stopped by the Kārtika puṇya that Dhaneśvara had gained without meaning to. The torment could not work on a man who was protected, even in part, by the power of the holy month of Vishṇu.

Nārada’s words

Nārada, the divine ṛshi who goes freely between all the worlds and knows how karma works, then came. He told Yama what was at work. Dhaneśvara had lived a wicked life, but he had truly gained the puṇya of Kārtika by being near the devotees of Vishṇu who kept the vow. This puṇya was real. It did not depend on what he meant or knew, and it was strong enough to protect him from the heat of the naraka.

The seven narakas and the rise to the Yaksha world

Dhaneśvara was then shown the seven narakas. He was not made to suffer in them. He was shown them so that he would see what pāpa brings. In the end his Kārtika puṇya raised him. He was given the place of Dhanayaksha, a being in the world of the Yakshas, the spirits who belong to the realm of Kubera, the keeper of wealth. This is told in Chapter 114 of the Padma Mahā Purāṇa, Uttara Khaṇḍa.

The holy place at Ayodhyā

A tīrtha at Ayodhyā came to be named after Dhaneśvara. It was made, the account says, through the work of Viśvāmitra. This tīrtha keeps alive the memory of the teaching that even an unplanned and unknowing brush with Kārtika puṇya can change the path after death of a man with great pāpa.

The Skanda Purāṇa account

In the Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Bhagavān Kṛshṇa tells the account of Dhaneśvara to Satyabhāmā as the last example of the rules about the passing of karma from one person to another. This is in the Vaishṇava Khaṇḍa, Kārtika Māsa Māhātmya, Chapter 29.

Dhaneśvara was a brāhmaṇa of Avantī who had turned away from all the rites of a brāhmaṇa. He was wicked in mind and busy in wrong deeds. He went from one land to another to trade. Once he came to the city of Māhishmatī, which is today Maheshwar, on the right bank of the Narmadā, forty miles south of Indore. It is a city built by Mahisha, with the Narmadā as its moat.

Men who were keeping the Kārtika Vrata had come together at Māhishmatī from different lands. Dhaneśvara met their needs for trade and sold them goods. He stayed on the banks of the Narmadā for a full month. Each day he moved among the devotees. He saw some taking their morning baths and doing japa. He saw some doing pūjā, some reading the Purāṇas, and some listening to them. He saw some watching devotional dances or listening to music, some finishing their vows, some offering lamps, and some honouring brāhmaṇas. Moving among them every day, he saw Vaishṇavas, spoke with them and touched them, and even heard the names of Vishṇu from their lips.

Dhaneśvara died of a snakebite. Yama’s servants bound him and threw him into the Kumbhīpāka naraka. But Kumbhīpāka became cool as soon as he entered, “like the fire into which Prahlāda was thrown.” Yama was amazed and brought him out.

Then Nārada appeared and said: “This man does not deserve naraka, because before his death he gained certain acts that remove the narakas. Whoever meets, touches or speaks with persons of good deeds gets one-sixth of their merits. Dhaneśvara not only met those who kept the Kārtika Vrata, he became their friend. He was with them for a whole month. So he must get a share of their merit. Since he gained these merits without meaning to, let him first see all the narakas and then be born in the womb of a Yaksha.”

Yama’s attendant Pretapa then showed Dhaneśvara all the eighty-four narakas. He explained the seven kinds of pāpa: Prākīrṇa, Apāṅkteya, Mālinīkaraṇa, Jātibhraṃśakara, Upapātaka, Atipāpa and Mahāpāpa. After seeing the narakas, Dhaneśvara was taken to the world of the Yakshas. He became an attendant of Kubera, and is well known as Dhana-Yaksha.

Sources

• Padma Mahā Purāṇa, Uttara Khaṇḍa, Chapter 113
• Padma Mahā Purāṇa, Uttara Khaṇḍa, Chapter 114
• Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Vaishṇava Khaṇḍa, Kārtika Māsa Māhātmya, Chapter 29