Kakudmi
Kakudmi was a king of Saurāshṭra. He is also called Kakudmin or Revata. He had a beautiful and virtuous daughter named Revatī. Because he found no king on earth worthy of her, he went to Brahmaloka, the world of Brahmā the Creator, to ask Brahmā for advice. There he learned that many yugas had passed on earth while he waited. Brahmā told him to give Revatī to Balarāma, so Kakudmi became the father-in-law of Balarāma across the span of ages.
Three Purāṇas tell this account: the Brahma Vaivarta Mahā Purāṇa, the Brahmāṇḍa Mahā Purāṇa and the Devī Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa.
The journey to Brahmaloka
Kakudmi was a powerful king of Saurāshṭra. He could not find a king on earth whom he thought worthy of Revatī. So he travelled straight to Brahmaloka.
When Kakudmi and Revatī arrived, a musical gathering was going on in Brahmā’s assembly. They waited with respect. The performance ended after what seemed a short time. Then Kakudmi gave Brahmā his list of possible husbands. He heard astonishing news. Twenty-seven yugas had passed on earth during that short wait. Every king on his list was long gone.
The Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa tells this in the Śrī Kṛshṇa Janana Khaṇḍa, Chapter 105.
Giving Revatī to Balarāma
Kakudmi did as Brahmā directed. He came back to earth in the Dvāpara Yuga and went to Mathurā, where Bhagavān Kṛshṇa and Balarāma were. He offered Revatī to Balarāma with fitting gifts, and the marriage was held with full honour. Kakudmi thus became the father-in-law of Balarāma, who is Śesha. The twenty-seven yugas lay between them.
The music of Brahmaloka in the Brahmāṇḍa Purāṇa
The Brahmāṇḍa Mahā Purāṇa (Madhyama Bhāga, Chapter 62) tells the account of Kakudmi inside a teaching on Gāndharva Veda, the science of music. The chapter describes the concert that the gandharvas were giving in Brahmaloka when Kakudmi and Revatī arrived. In that concert they showed:
- the seven svaras (notes), and how they match animals and elements
- the three grāmas (scales): Shaḍja, Madhyama and Gāndhāra
- the mūrchanā sequences, twenty-one in all
- the forty-five tānas
In this account, the time that passed for Kakudmi comes within a teaching on the nature of divine music in the realm of the devas. Like the Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa, it gives the time that passed on earth as twenty-seven yugas.
The Devī Bhāgavata account
The Devī Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa tells the episode of Revata and Brahmaloka (Skanda 7, Chapter 8) as part of the account of the Sūrya line. After the story of Cyavana, Vyāsa tells that the son of Śaryāti was Anarta, and the son of Anarta was Revata. Revata ruled Kuśasthalī, which is Dvārakā, in the sea. He had a hundred sons, the eldest being Kukudmī, and a beautiful daughter, Revatī.
When it was time for Revatī’s marriage, Revata could find no fit husband among the kings of earth. He went to Brahmaloka in his own body with Revatī, to ask Brahmā’s advice.
When he arrived, a musical gathering was going on in Brahmā’s assembly. He waited with respect until it ended. Then he asked about a worthy husband for Revatī. Brahmā smiled at the play of kāla (time) and told him that 108 yugas had passed on earth during that short wait. The world Revata had left was no more. Every king he had thought of was dead, and so were all their descendants.
Brahmā told him to give Revatī to Balarāma, the aṃśa (part) of Śesha who had come as an avatāra. Balarāma was then on earth in the twenty-seventh Dvāpara Yuga. Brahmā explained that Śrī Kṛshṇa, the avatāra of Nārāyaṇa, had been born in the Yādava line, and that Balarāma, his elder brother, was the right husband for Revatī.
Revata came down to earth in the Dvāpara Yuga and found Dvārakā ruled by Ugrasena. He went there and gave his daughter Revatī to Balarāma in marriage. After the wedding Revata went to the forests at Badarikāśrama for tapas (austerity). In the end he reached svarga (heaven).
The Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa and the Brahmāṇḍa Purāṇa give the time that passed as twenty-seven yugas. The Devī Bhāgavata Purāṇa gives 108 yugas. In all three accounts, Brahmā tells the king to give Revatī to Balarāma.
Sources
- Brahma Vaivarta Mahā Purāṇa, Śrī Kṛshṇa Janana Khaṇḍa, Chapter 105
- Brahmāṇḍa Mahā Purāṇa, Madhyama Bhāga, Chapter 62
- Devī Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, Skanda 7, Chapter 8