Kaliṅgabhadrā
Kaliṅgabhadrā · kaliṅga-bhadrā
Dilīpa has other meanings too: see all meanings of Dilīpa.
Kaliṅgabhadrā was a queen of Mahārāja Dilīpa at Vṛshasthala in the Madhya-deśa, endowed with every good quality. She always gave dāna to brāhmaṇas and performed the pūjā of the devatās. The Uttara Parva of the Bhavishya Purāṇa tells that she took up the Kṛttikā vrata and kept to it through three births: as queen, as a she-goat and as Yogalakshmī, the daughter of Ahalyā. By it she attained moksha. Bhagavān Śrī Kṛshṇa tells this to King Yudhishṭhira.
The queen
Once, in the month of Kārtika, she took the saṅkalpa (vow) of the Kṛttikā vrata “of six months”. At every pāraṇā she was intent on daily pūjā, dāna, feeding brāhmaṇas, homa and the rest. When a little of the vrata was still left, she was resting at night with her husband. A terrible serpent suddenly bit her, and her life left her.
The she-goat
In her next birth she became a she-goat. By the power of the vrata, the memory of her former birth stayed with her. She took up her Kṛttikā vrata again at once and began to fast, keeping apart.
Once, in the month of Kārtika, she was grazing in another man’s field. The owner seized her and brought her to his house. Atri Ṛshi, who remembered former births, saw the goat and knew that she was Queen Kaliṅgabhadrā. In his compassion he had her freed from the bonds.
Freed, she ate leaves of the ber tree and drank cool water, and so made the pāraṇā of the Kṛttikā vrata. Atri Ṛshi taught her yoga-jñāna and went to his āśrama. She, now a yogeśvarī, again applied herself to her vrata, and after some time she gave up her life by the strength of yoga.
Yogalakshmī
She was then born from the womb of Ahalyā, wife of Gautama Ṛshi, and her name was Yogalakshmī. Gautama Muni gave her in marriage to Maharshi Śāṇḍilya. In Śāṇḍilya’s house she shone like Sarasvatī, Svāhā, Śacī, Arundhatī, Gaurī, Rājī, Gāyatrī and Mahālakshmī. She was ever engaged in honouring the devatās, the pitṛs and guests, and she fed brāhmaṇas.
One day Atri Muni came there, knew the whole past by the strength of yoga, and asked: “Mahābhāge Yogalakshmī! How many are the Kṛttikās?”
Hearing this, the great satī too remembered what had gone before, and said: “Mahāyogin! The Kṛttikās are six.”
The compassionate Atri Muni again taught her the mantra and the Kṛttikā vrata. By performing it she enjoyed the happiness of saṃsāra for a long time and attained moksha.
Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Uttara Parva, Chapter 103
Sources
- Bhavishya Purāṇa, Uttara Parva, Chapter 103