Soma-śarma and Vishṇu-māyā

This account is told in chapter 124 of the Varāha Purāṇa. It is the main example given there of Vishṇu-māyā, the power of illusion of Bhagavān Vishṇu. A learned brahmin named Soma-śarma asked to see māyā with his own eyes. He was sent to the Gaṅgā at Kubja-āmraka and lived fifty years as another person, in a single morning.

The brahmin’s wish

Soma-śarma was a brahmin of great learning. For many years he had given his devotion to Bhagavān Vishṇu. Even so, he held one strong wish: to see Vishṇu-māyā with his own eyes. He wanted to know it directly and not only to understand it in thought. He went to Bhagavān Vishṇu with this request.

The direction to Kubja-āmraka

Bhagavān Vishṇu told Soma-śarma to go to the tīrtha (holy place) called Kubja-āmraka and bathe in the holy Gaṅgā at that kshetra (sacred ground). Soma-śarma obeyed. When he stepped into the Gaṅgā and dipped himself in its water, he was changed at once.

Fifty years as a Nishāda woman

Soma-śarma came out of the Gaṅgā as a Nishāda woman, with a different varṇa, a different body and a different identity. In this form he lived a whole life. He was married to a Nishāda husband and bore seven children. He lived the life of a householder, with work in the home, love in marriage, the raising of children, the passing years, grief and joy. Fifty years passed in this way.

The return

After fifty years the Nishāda woman went back to the Gaṅgā at Kubja-āmraka and bathed again. As she entered the water, the māyā ended. He came out as Soma-śarma, in the same brahmin body as before, and at the same morning hour at which he had entered the river. The brahmins who had watched him walk into the water saw that no time had passed. What Soma-śarma lived as fifty years, with marriage, children, work and loss, had been one morning.

Bhagavān Vishṇu explains

Soma-śarma stood before Bhagavān Vishṇu and told him all he had lived through. Bhagavān Vishṇu then told him the meaning of it.

It had not been only a showing of māyā. It was a prāyaścitta (act of atonement). Soma-śarma’s fault was that he had failed to honour the Bhāgavatas, the devotees of Bhagavān Vishṇu, although he was a long-time devotee himself. Bhagavān Vishṇu declared Soma-śarma forgiven, and the atonement was complete.

Śveta-dvīpa

After the explanation and the pardon, Soma-śarma received the highest vara (a boon). He went to Śveta-dvīpa in the company of Bhagavān Vishṇu. This is the shining world where the most devoted servants of Bhagavān Vishṇu live close to him for ever.

Sources

• Varāha Mahā Purāṇa, Chapter 124