King Śveta

King Śveta was a king of the Ikshvāku line, the solar line. Agastya told his account to Rāma in the Uttara Kāṇḍa of the Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa. The account is about a king who did a great deal of tapas (austerity) and gave very freely, and who still did not reach full moksha (liberation) after death.

The righteous king

King Śveta ruled his kingdom perfectly and also did hard tapas and gave great gifts. He gave freely, protected all kinds of beings, did all the yajñas (fire rituals) laid down for a king, and treated his people with full fairness. By the measure of worldly dharma, his life was a model. This is told in chapter 58.

After death, between worlds

When Śveta died, the puṇya (merit) he had gathered took him to a high celestial realm. But he did not reach the full release that comes with moksha. He stayed in a celestial form, between the human world and the highest divine realm. His great puṇya held him there, but he was not yet freed from all limits.

Agastya told this to Rāma to show that even a king of great virtue and charity can stay in this middle state if one part of full dharma is left unfulfilled. The account does not say which part was missing in Śveta’s case. This is told in chapter 58.

The teaching

Agastya’s account of Śveta carries a clear message for Rāma as a king. Even a very righteous life does not bring full moksha if some one part of dharma is incomplete. Dharma must be complete, and not only plentiful. This is told in chapter 58.

Sources

• Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Uttara Kāṇḍa, chapter 58