Jayadata

Jayadata was a king of Pratishṭhānapura in the solar dynasty. His story runs across three births. In each birth he worshipped Bhagavān Śiva, and the puṇya (merit) of that worship made him a king who won a vara (a boon) from Bhagavān Śiva. The boon later led to his fall. Bhagavān Śiva then gave him a śāpa (a curse) and he became a kūrma (turtle). As the turtle at Mānasasarovara, he gave the last proof that restored the fame of King Indradyumna.

First life: Śāṇḍilya, the brahmin boy

In a very ancient life, Jayadata’s ātmā (soul) was born as a brahmin boy named Śāṇḍilya. He was the son of the ṛshi Viśvarūpa, of the Paraśara gotra (family line). In the rainy season the boy and his friends were playing. In their play they built a Śiva temple from mud and sand.

The temple had prākāras (compound walls) and a pañcāyatana layout (five shrines). It had golden kalaśas (pot-shaped finials), dhvajamālās (rows of flags), wooden toraṇas (gateways) and a swing (ūyala). They made a liṅga and named it Jāgeśvara-liṅga. They washed it with rainwater and offered flowers to it. The flowers were white flowers, pumpkin blossoms, datura, mandāra, bilvapatra (bilva leaves), dūrvā grass and young leaves, all gathered from nearby fields. The children also sang before it in their untrained voices.

By the puṇya of this one unplanned act, the boy was reborn in Videśā-nagara as a brahmin. He had jātishmara (memory of his past births), and he began sincere worship of Bhagavān Śiva. The Skanda Mahā Purāṇa tells this in the Māheśvara Khaṇḍa, Kaumārikā Khaṇḍa, Chapter 11.

Second life: the devoted brahmin

In this birth he remembered the childhood temple clearly. He set up a liṅga and worshipped it regularly. He knew the teaching that a stone Śiva temple gives ten times the puṇya of a brick temple, and a brick temple gives ten times the puṇya of a mud temple. So he had a proper stone temple built by the Viśvakarma-vidhi (the rules of Viśvakarmā).

He bathed three times a day (trikāla-snāna). He lived on bhikshā (alms), wore matted hair (jaṭā) and put on bhasma (sacred ash) every day. He gave himself fully to ārādhana (worship) of Bhagavān Śiva for the rest of his life. The Skanda Mahā Purāṇa tells this in Chapter 11.

Third life: King Jayadata of Pratishṭhānapura

He was born again, this time in the solar dynasty, as King Jayadata of Pratishṭhānapura. He kept full jātishmara, and he used the lessons of his earlier births with a king’s wealth. He offered flowers made of gold and silver to the Śiva liṅga. He also offered flowers set with precious gems. He gave great annadāna (gifts of food to the hungry), and his whole kingdom praised his devotion.

Bhagavān Śiva was pleased by this worship that had lasted through many births, and appeared before him. Jayadata asked, “Grant me freedom from jarā and mṛtyu (old age and death).” Bhagavān Śiva gave this at once. The Skanda Mahā Purāṇa tells this in Chapter 11.

The fall

With the boon of deathlessness, Jayadata became proud and dizzy with it. He left his devotion to Bhagavān Śiva completely and gave himself to uncontrolled kāma (desire). The text states a clear teaching here. Whoever fixes his eyes on beautiful women loses his senses. The one who hears becomes deaf, the one who sees becomes blind, the one who speaks becomes mute, the wise become foolish.

Jayadata was sure that he could not grow old and could not die. He threw off fear of this world and the next. He began to torment the wives of other men and did acts of adharma without any restraint. The Skanda Mahā Purāṇa tells this in Chapter 11.

Yama’s complaint and Śiva’s curse

Even Yama, the ruler of death and dharma, could not control Jayadata. Bhagavān Śiva’s boon kept the king beyond Yama’s reach. Yama came before Bhagavān Śiva and complained:

“Deva! This Jayadata, protected by your boon, torments the wives of others and has overridden my authority. The pativratās, the cows, the brāhmaṇas who know the Veda, the givers of gifts, the people firm in truth — these are the foundations of the world, as you yourself declared. Jayadata has tormented these very pativratās. My work is disrupted.”

(Pativratās are wives devoted to their husbands.)

Bhagavān Śiva called Jayadata, who came trembling with folded hands. Bhagavān Śiva spoke the curse: “You of evil conduct! You were overcome by kāma and tormented the pativratās. Become a turtle at once!”

Jayadata begged for relief and said that Bhagavān Śiva himself had given the boon. Bhagavān Śiva then softened the curse: “In the fifty-sixth kalpa from now, your curse will end and you will join my gaṇas (attendants).” Jayadata became a turtle ten yojanas long and went down into the ocean. The Skanda Mahā Purāṇa tells this in Chapter 11.

The turtle at Mānasasarovara: witness for Indradyumna

As the turtle, in one of his many kalpas, Jayadata had been in the sea when King Indradyumna’s great yajña (fire ritual) heated the earth. That heat made the waters of all the tīrthas (holy places) come out of the ground. In that yajña, the turtle’s wide back served as the vedi (altar platform) for several cayana rituals, in which fire altars are built. The heat of those fires burned the turtle’s shell. The marks had not healed when Indradyumna, Mārkaṇḍeya and the three animal witnesses reached Mānasasarovara.

The turtle knew Indradyumna and feared another yajña, so it fled into the water at once. The owl Prākārakarṇa called it back with the teaching of atithi-dharma (the duty to a guest). The turtle came up and told of its fear and its memory. This gave the last and deciding proof: “Yes, there was a great king named Indradyumna. He performed a yajña so powerful that it shook all three worlds. My back still carries the marks of his fire.”

At that moment flowers rained from the sky and the divine vimāna (heavenly chariot) came down. The living turtle, with the burn scars on its body, was itself the proof that restored a king’s standing in the three worlds. The Skanda Mahā Purāṇa tells this in the Māheśvara Khaṇḍa, Kaumārikā Khaṇḍa, Chapter 10.

Freedom from the curse

When the group arrived, Jayadata had passed fifty-two kalpas of the fifty-six-kalpa curse. Only four were left. His testimony for Indradyumna, his help in guiding the group onward, and his journey with all of them to the Mahīsāgara Saṃgama, where Bhagavān Śiva appeared, together ended the rest of the curse. The turtle’s huge form fell away and his own divine form came back. Jayadata gained moksha (liberation) at the Mahīsāgara Saṃgama, together with the crane, the owl and Garuḍa. The Skanda Mahā Purāṇa tells this in Chapters 10 and 11.

Sources

• Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Māheśvara Khaṇḍa, Kaumārikā Khaṇḍa, Chapters 10–11