Virabāhu and Kāntimātī

This is the account of King Virabāhu of Kāmpilya and his queen Kāntimātī. It is told in the Mārgaśīrsha Māsa Māhātmya of the Skanda Mahā Purāṇa and runs across three lives. It shows the power of the Akhaṇḍa Ekādaśī vrata (the unbroken Ekādaśī fast). In an earlier life Virabāhu was a Śūdra of Maharashtra who lived in pāpa, left by his own family and living by hunting. One act of pity for a lost brāhmaṇa named Devaśarmā turned his mind to Janārdana. The merit of the Ekādaśī vrata, given to him by his grandson, joined with that act and wiped away his pāpa (sin). At the end Bhagavān Vishṇu came before him in the form of Vishvaksena, riding Garuḍa.

Who Virabāhu and Kāntimātī were

In the city of Kāmpilya lived King Virabāhu. He was truthful in speech and had conquered anger. He knew Brahman and was devoted only to Bhagavān Vishṇu. He was kind, strong and handsome. He loved jāgaraṇa (night vigils), served the devotees of Bhagavān Vishṇu, gave gifts, was learned and patient and brave, and had mastered his senses. In wealth he was equal to Kubera, and he had sons, cattle and riches.

His wife Kāntimātī had no equal on earth in beauty. She was very chaste, a loyal wife and a great devotee of Bhagavān Vishṇu. She was as dear to Virabāhu as his own breath. The king enjoyed the earth together with her. Except for Bhagavān Vishṇu, he knew no other deva. (Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Vaishṇava Khaṇḍa, Mārgaśīrsha Māsa Māhātmya, Chapter 11)

Bhāradvāja’s visit

One day the great ṛshi Bhāradvāja came to Virabāhu’s house. The king received him with perfect Vaishṇava welcome. He gave him arghya (water offering) and a seat, and stood before him in deep devotion. Then the king spoke words of great welcome: “Today my life has borne fruit. Today my kingdom has borne fruit. Janārdana is pleased with me, since you, a great yogī, have come to my house. I am free of crores of pāpa (sins) because you have seen me. My kingdom, my wealth, my glory, my elephants and horses are all given to you.”

Virabāhu then said what he held to be true: “Men who are not devotees of Hṛshīkeśa are like piśācas. Those who eat food on Hari’s day (Ekādaśī) are stained with great pāpa. In a single day of Hari one gets what the wise call the fruit of thousands of Śiva-vratas and crores of Saura-vratas. As long as Dvādaśī, the day I like most, has not come, the tithis of Brahmā and Śaṅkara are boastful.”

Bhāradvāja was very pleased. He blessed the king and the queen. He blessed Kāntimātī with firm loyalty to her husband and unshaken devotion to Keśava. (Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Vaishṇava Khaṇḍa, Mārgaśīrsha Māsa Māhātmya, Chapter 11)

The question about past births

The king asked Bhāradvāja by what puṇya (merit) he had won this fine fortune: the good kingdom, the loyal queen, the great wealth and the strength no one could stop. Bhāradvāja sat for a while in yogic meditation to learn the truth. Then he said: “O king, the deed of your earlier birth, both yours and your wife’s, is now known to me.”

He told the king that in his earlier birth Virabāhu had been a Śūdra in Maharashtra. He was bad in conduct, hurt animals, did not believe in Bhagavān Vishṇu, went after other men’s wives, was ungrateful and rude. His wife in that life, the same Kāntimātī, stayed devoted to him without any ill feeling. She was loyal and noble and always served him. When his karma made his wealth shrink, his own kinsmen left him. He went to a lonely forest and lived by hunting. (Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Vaishṇava Khaṇḍa, Mārgaśīrsha Māsa Māhātmya, Chapter 11)

The kind act and the brāhmaṇa Devaśarmā

One day in the forest, the brāhmaṇa Devaśarmā, on his way to Prayāga, lost his way. He fell down in the midday sun, weak with hunger and thirst. The Śūdra saw this old brāhmaṇa, a stranger, and felt pity for him. He took the fallen man’s hand and lifted him up. He spoke kind words of welcome: “O brāhmaṇa ṛshi! Be pleased and come to my āśrama (dwelling). There is a lake full of water, decorated with clusters of lotuses, with trees heavy with sweet fruit and sweet-smelling flowers. Bathe in the cool water and do your daily duties. Eat the fruit and drink the cool water. Rest in peace, guarded by me. Stay in my dwelling until you are fully content.”

The brāhmaṇa came back to his senses and went to the lake. He bathed, worshipped Keśava, offered water to the ancestors, and drank the cool water. He rested at the foot of a tree. The Śūdra bowed at his feet with his wife and said: “You have come as our guest to lift us both up. By seeing you, our pāpa is gone.” He told his wife to bring ripe, soft, juicy fruits for the brāhmaṇa.

Devaśarmā asked the Śūdra about his varṇa. The man answered with full honesty: “I am a Śūdra, O tiger among brāhmaṇas. You need have no doubt. My own kinsmen, who are wicked and vicious, have left me.” As they talked, the Śūdra’s wife brought the fruits, and Devaśarmā ate them happily.

Then the Śūdra spoke the words that showed how deeply his heart had turned: “I am sick of my bad deeds. Be kind to me although I have done pāpa. It is because of my puṇya that you have come here. I want nothing at all except Janārdana. Bless me. Grant me this favour.” (Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Vaishṇava Khaṇḍa, Mārgaśīrsha Māsa Māhātmya, Chapter 11)

Devaśarmā tells of three lives

Devaśarmā went into meditation. Then he laughed and told the whole story across three lives.

The latest turn. “Your mind has suddenly turned towards Keśava. So the pāpa gathered in hundreds of earlier births has gone. Without holy rites and without tīrthas, you have been freed from crores of pāpa, because you welcomed me with kindness and devotion. You have reached the region of Hari.”

The second earlier birth. Before the Śūdra birth, Virabāhu had been a good brāhmaṇa at Avantī. He loved dharma, studied the Vedas always, and kept holy rites. But once he kept the Dvādaśī vrata when the Daśamī tithi overlapped it. This one mistake wiped out all his puṇya. He suffered the pains of naraka (hell) for many thousands of years. Then he was born as a Śūdra with a mind that leaned to pāpa.

The turning point. Virabāhu’s daughter’s son lived in Vidarbha. He had kept the Akhaṇḍa Ekādaśī vrata in the right way and had formally given its merit to his mother’s father. This merit, together with the freeing from pāpa that Yama granted for the act of welcome, brought full release. “By the power of that merit, and of the Ekādaśī vrata, Yama wrote off the pāpa of the overlapping Daśamī. All the pāpa done in ten thousand births, and the pāpa of this birth, have now been wiped away by Yama himself.” (Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Vaishṇava Khaṇḍa, Mārgaśīrsha Māsa Māhātmya, Chapter 12)

Vishvaksena appears

While Devaśarmā and the Śūdra were still talking, Vishvaksena, who is Bhagavān Vishṇu himself, appeared and spoke to them: “O you who are lower in varṇa, welcome. I am Janārdana, and I am pleased with you. Because you welcomed the brāhmaṇa, your pāpa is destroyed. By the merit given by another through the Ekādaśī vrata, O Śūdra, your pāpa from the overlapping of Daśamī is destroyed. After keeping the vrata, your grandson has offered you the merit. So you are set free. Together with your wife, O very fortunate one, climb onto this Garuḍa.”

Bhagavān Vishṇu seated the Śūdra and his wife in the flying chariot, and they went to svarga (heaven). The brāhmaṇa Devaśarmā went on to the great tīrtha of Prayāga. The Śūdra and Kāntimātī were born again as King Virabāhu and his queen, the very pair who sat before the ṛshi on the day Bhāradvāja came to tell them the reason for their fortune. (Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Vaishṇava Khaṇḍa, Mārgaśīrsha Māsa Māhātmya, Chapter 12)

What the account teaches

Giving merit to an ancestor. The merit of a rightly kept Akhaṇḍa Ekādaśī vrata can be given by the one who kept it to an ancestor. Together with an act of pure kindness, this merit wipes out even the heaviest pāpa.

Welcome to a guest. The Śūdra’s kindness to the lost brāhmaṇa came from pity alone, with no thought of merit. It turned his mind to Janārdana and began his freedom. Devaśarmā says: “Without holy rites, without Tīrthas, you have been liberated from crores of pāpa since you welcomed me with hospitality and devotion.”

The Dvādaśī vrata and Daśamī. Keeping the Dvādaśī vrata while Daśamī overlaps it wiped out the puṇya of a whole life. This is why the vrata must be akhaṇḍa (unbroken and correct).

Sources

• Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Vaishṇava Khaṇḍa, Mārgaśīrsha Māsa Māhātmya, Chapters 11–12