Hemakanta Moksha

Hemakanta was a prince of Vaṅgadeśa (Bengal). He killed three hundred brāhmaṇa disciples, and for this his father sent him away. For twenty-eight years he wandered in the forests, burdened by brahmahatyā (the pāpa of killing a brāhmaṇa). One act of kindness in the month of Vaiśākha freed him from it in a moment.

This account is told in the Vaiśākha Māsa Māhātmya of the Skanda Mahā Purāṇa. It shows what a small act of compassion can do in the month of Vaiśākha.

Hemakanta’s crime and banishment

Hemakanta was the crown prince of Vaṅgadeśa. He killed three hundred brāhmaṇa disciples. This is among the gravest of the mahāpātakas (great pāpas). His father had no choice, and he banished his son from the kingdom.

Hemakanta wandered alone through forests and wild country for twenty-eight years. The dosha (stain) of brahmahatyā afflicted him in body and in mind all that time.

The palāśa umbrella

It was the month of Vaiśākha. The midday sun stood in Mesha rāśi (the sign Aries) and the heat was fierce. Hemakanta was walking through the forest when he came upon the ṛshi Trita. Trita had collapsed in the heat and could not take another step. He lay on the ground, worn out, his robes wet with sweat.

Hemakanta did not stop to think. He felt pity and acted at once. A large palāśa tree (Butea monosperma, whose big leaves are used in Vedic rituals) stood nearby. He tore off a broad leaf and held it over the ṛshi like an umbrella, shading him from the sun.

The act took a minute and cost Hemakanta nothing but a moment of kindness. He did it in Vaiśākha, when the Sun is in Mesha. The Māhātmya teaches again and again that acts of charity in this month, such as cooling the hot and refreshing the tired, bring puṇya (merit) many times over.

Freed from brahmahatyā

The moment Hemakanta held the leaf over the ṛshi, the brahmahatyā he had carried for twenty-eight years was destroyed. The dark cloud that had followed him, the pain of body and mind, and the sense of being unclean all dissolved at once. He was still standing there with the leaf in his hand when it was done.

The Māhātmya says this came from the special power of Vaiśākha. Shading or fanning a brāhmaṇa ṛshi in the heat of Vaiśākha is one of the acts the month prescribes. Its puṇya in this month was enough to burn away even the worst mahāpātaka.

Vishvaksena comes

Bhagavān Vishṇu saw Hemakanta’s compassion and its result. He sent Vishvaksena, his chief attendant (pārshada) and the commander of his divine retinue, down to earth. His task was to bring Hemakanta back to his father’s kingdom.

Vishvaksena appeared before the prince and told him that his pāpa was destroyed. He restored him to his royal rank. Hemakanta went home, his father received him, and he lived again as a prince.

Sources

• Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Vaishṇava Khaṇḍa, Vaiśākha Māsa Māhātmya, Chapter 10