Niśākara Jāta-Smaraṇa

Niśākara was the son of the brāhmaṇa Kośakāra. He was born with jāta-smaraṇa, the memory of his past lives, and told his father of a long chain of births caused by unchecked lust in an earlier human life. This account is told by Bali to Śukrācārya, and it is found in Chapter 64 of the Vāmana Mahā Purāṇa, inside the account of Bhagavān Vishṇu’s Vāmana avatāra.

Why Bali tells this account

Śukrācārya advised Bali to give nothing to Vāmana, the brāhmaṇa who was coming to him. Bali answered that a king of his nature could not turn away a brāhmaṇa in need, whoever that brāhmaṇa might be. To show the force of pūrvābhyāsa (habit formed in earlier lives), which makes a true giver (dāta) unable to refuse, he told the account of Niśākara. (Chapter 64)

Kośakāra and his family

Kośakāra was a learned brāhmaṇa, the son of Mudgala muni. His wife was Dharmishṭhā, the daughter of Vātsyāyana, a devout and virtuous woman. Their child was born seeming to be mute, blind and dull. He sat still and gave no sign that he knew anything. Dharmishṭhā decided that the child was mūkha (dull and mute) and left him at the doorstep. (Chapter 64)

The rākshasī and the two children

At that same time the rākshasī Sūrpākshī came to the door with her own thin baby. She wanted to steal a human child. She left her rākshasa baby on the doorstep and took the brāhmaṇa child to Ghaṭodara, her blind husband, on the mountain Śālodara. Ghaṭodara warned her that stealing from a powerful brāhmaṇa was dangerous, because the ṛshi could pronounce a śāpa (a curse) on them. He sent her back at once.

Kośakāra found the rākshasa infant, thought it was his own child, and bound it with mantras. The rākshasī could not free her own child and flew away empty-handed. (Chapter 64)

Niśākara and Dīvākara

Kośakāra raised both children. His own brāhmaṇa son he named Niśākara, and the rākshasa child he named Dīvākara. Both had the upanayana (the sacred-thread ceremony). Dīvākara learned the Vedas easily. Niśākara seemed dull and could not learn. His parents, relatives, teachers and neighbours all mocked him and turned away from him for his seeming stupidity. In anger Kośakāra threw Niśākara into a dry well and closed it with a boulder.

Niśākara stayed in the well for ten years. Then his mother passed by and heard a voice from inside. She moved the boulder and found her son, unchanged in looks, the same boy. Kośakāra asked his son why he had seemed dull since birth. Niśākara answered with the full account of his past lives. (Chapter 64)

The past lives of Niśākara

Niśākara remembered an unbroken chain of past lives. All of them came from one root: unchecked kāma (lust) in an earlier human birth. In that birth he was a well-educated man of the Bṛndāraka line, son of Vṛshākapī and Mālā. His father had given him a full education in the śāstras of dharma, artha, kāma and moksha. But vidyāmada (pride in learning) and then lobha (greed) led him to become a seducer and a thief. The chain that followed was this.

  1. First human birth. He was educated and wise but spoiled by lust and pride in learning. He committed adultery and theft and was sentenced to death by hanging. Then he spent one thousand years in Raurava naraka.
  2. Tiger (vyāghra). He kept all his śāstra knowledge. A king caged him. Out of lust he spoke to the king’s wife, Jitā, then broke free to attack her, and the guards killed him. Another long stay in naraka followed.
  3. White donkey. He was born in the house of the brāhmaṇa Agniveśya, who had many wives. He carried the wife Vimati on his back. Lust overcame him and he attacked her on the road. He was tangled in bamboo and died. Naraka again.
  4. Parrot (śuka). A Śabara hunter caught him and sold him to a merchant’s son. He was kept in the inner rooms, where the young woman Candravalī petted him. Lust overcame him, he bit her, and he was killed. Naraka again.
  5. Bull (vṛshabha). He lived in a Cāṇḍāla household. The owner’s wife sang on the cart. Lust overcame him and he turned back to look at her. His neck caught in the yoke and he died. He spent one thousand years in naraka.

After all this he was born as the son of Kośakāra, with the memory of all these lives. A person born with the memory of earlier births is called jāta-smara. (Chapter 64)

Niśākara’s decision

After telling his parents of his past lives, Niśākara said that the force of pūrvābhyāsa had kept the good qualities of those births as well, not only the bondage of kāma but also his śāstra knowledge. He would go no further into household life. He named the rākshasa Dīvākara as the son of the family, since Dīvākara had been raised as their son. He bowed to his parents and left for Badarikāśrama to do tapas (austerity), to cut the last thread of pāpa (sin) by spiritual practice. (Chapter 64)

Sources

  • Vāmana Mahā Purāṇa, Chapter 64: Bali’s reply to Śukrācārya, Kośakāra and Dharmishṭhā, Sūrpākshī and Ghaṭodara, Niśākara and Dīvākara, the past lives of Niśākara, his departure for Badarikāśrama.