Śveta Rāja and Annadāna

Śveta was a king of Vidarbha who never once gave food as a gift. The Padma Purāṇa tells how, after his death, hunger tormented him even in svarga. Vasishṭha Maharshi taught him the dānas that heal this, and later Agastya Maharshi set him free. Agastya then gave Rāma the divine ornament that Śveta had given him.

Śveta’s reign and the missing gift

Śveta was a king of the Vidarbha country, born of a noble family as the son of Vāsudeva. He ruled wisely and did many acts of dharma. He supported yajñas (fire rituals), honoured the brāhmaṇas and kept his kingdom by rāja-dharma (the duty of a king).

Yet there was one great lack. In his whole life and reign, Śveta never once gave anna (food, grain) as dāna (a gift). He never fed a hungry person. He never arranged the gift of a meal. He never took part in annadāna in any form. The Purāṇa counts this one lack as a fault heavy enough to weigh down all his other merits.

Svarga and hunger

When Śveta died, the puṇya (merit) from his other good acts carried him to svarga (heaven). He arrived in the realms of the devas and was welcomed with the honours due to a righteous king.

But a terrible suffering soon showed itself. Though he was in the realm of the blessed, Śveta was always attacked by a burning, gnawing hunger. In svarga he could not get or eat the food of the devas that other dwellers there ate. This was the result of his lifelong failure to share food with others. In desperation, Śveta began to eat his own flesh to ease the hunger. The one who never shared food could find food only in his own body.

Vasishṭha’s teaching

The great Vasishṭha Maharshi came to Śveta in svarga, moved by his suffering. He told Śveta plainly what had happened: the lack of annadāna had left an emptiness in his karma (action and its fruit). Then he taught Śveta the remedies.

Tila-dhenu dāna. This is the gift of a cow made of sesame seeds (tila), given to a worthy brāhmaṇa with the right mantra and saṅkalpa (solemn resolve). Its merit equals the gift of a real cow. For one who failed to give food in life, the tila-dhenu dāna serves as the remedy in the life after.

Brahmāṇḍa dāna. This is the gift that stands for the brahmāṇḍa (the cosmic egg), a gift of the size of the whole creation. It has very great power to redeem.

Other sacred dānas. Vasishṭha told of the whole range of the great dāna forms: the daśa-mahādānas (ten great gifts), the various śaila-dānas (gifts of mountains), the anna-kūṭa (the heap of food) and the many forms of go-dāna (the gift of cows). He told of the merits of each and their power to put right what has gone wrong.

The greatness of annadāna

Through this account the Purāṇa teaches the annadāna-māhātmya, the greatness of giving food. Annaṃ brahma: food is Brahman. The one who gives food gives life itself. No dāna is more basic, or brings merit more quickly, than giving food to one who is hungry. A person who has every other virtue but fails in this one is not complete in dharma. And the humblest person who gives food to others regularly, even in small amounts, gathers firm and lasting puṇya.

Agastya sets Śveta free

Years later, the great Agastya Maharshi found Śveta still suffering. Vasishṭha’s teaching had shown the way, but full liberation had not yet come.

Agastya, with his great tapas-śakti (power of tapas) and kindness, came to Śveta and offered him full liberation. Śveta gave Agastya a divine ornament, a thing of great spiritual power. Through this giving, which was itself a dāna done with complete surrender, Śveta was fully released from his bonds. He was freed from the suffering in svarga and reached a higher realm.

The ornament goes to Rāma

Agastya kept the divine ornament that Śveta had given him. When Rāma came to Agastya’s āśrama during his forest exile, Agastya gave Rāma this same ornament.

So the ornament passed from Śveta, the king freed through giving, to Agastya, who freed him, and then to Rāma, the avatāra of Vishṇu. This chain of dāna joins the account of Śveta’s liberation to the Rāmāyaṇa.

Sources

• Padma Mahā Purāṇa, Sṛshṭi Khaṇḍa, Chapters 34–35 (Śveta’s reign and the lack of annadāna)
• Padma Mahā Purāṇa, Sṛshṭi Khaṇḍa, Chapters 35–36 (hunger in svarga)
• Padma Mahā Purāṇa, Sṛshṭi Khaṇḍa, Chapter 36 (Vasishṭha’s teaching, annadāna-māhātmya, Agastya’s liberation of Śveta, the ornament given to Rāma)