Śaṅkhabhūpati

Śaṅkhabhūpati, also called Śaṅkhu, was a king of the Haihaya vaṃśa (dynasty) and the son of King Śruta. All his life he was devoted to Bhagavān Viṣṇu alone. He performed yajñas, gave gifts, kept vows, did arcana (worship with offerings), sang the names of Bhagavān Viṣṇu and listened to the Purāṇas. Yet he could not obtain His darśana (sight). A voice from the sky told him to go to Veṅkaṭādri and do tapas for a thousand years. There he met Agastya, and both saw Bhagavān Viṣṇu in His universal form and then in His gentle four-armed form.

Background and devotion

Śaṅkhabhūpati was born in the Haihaya vaṃśa as the son of King Śruta. From early in life he turned away from the worship of all other devas. He built a firm and exclusive bhakti (devotion) for Puṇḍarīkākṣa Viṣṇu alone. For many years his devotion took these forms:

• Many vratas (vows) and gifts, for the pleasure of Bhagavān Viṣṇu
• The Aśvamedha and other yāgas (fire rituals), with the proper fees to the priests, done only to satisfy Bhagavān Viṣṇu
• Constant remembrance of Bhagavān Viṣṇu, with no laziness and no break
• Recitation of the names Govinda, Acyuta and Avyaya through the day
• Steady arcana of Puṇḍarīkākṣa
• Deep and attentive listening to the kathās (stories) of Bhagavān Viṣṇu as recited by the paurāṇikas (reciters of the Purāṇas)
• Honouring brāhmaṇas as a way of honouring Bhagavān Viṣṇu

Even so, Śaṅkhu could never see Bhagavān Viṣṇu with his own eyes. His longing turned into deep grief. He said that in thousands of past births he must have committed some pāpa (sin), and that this was why he could not see Bhagavān Viṣṇu. He asked what use this birth was, and what use his yajñas, his tapas and his learning were, if the eternal joy of seeing Madhusūdana with these very eyes had not come to him.

The voice from the sky

Śaṅkhu sat lost in this grief. Bhagavān Viṣṇu did not appear, but spoke to him through an ākāśavāṇī (a voice from the sky), which filled the space around the king. He said: “Do not grieve. I will tell you what will help you. You have taken refuge in me, so how can I ever give you up? Veṅkaṭādri is famous in the three worlds and is dearer to me than Vaikuṇṭha itself. Go there. Do tapas for a thousand years. I will appear to you. Agastya once asked Brahmā about darśana and was sent to Vṛṣabhādri. In the same way I tell you to go to that mountain, do tapas, and you will see me.”

Giving up the kingdom and the journey

Śaṅkhu’s heart overflowed with joy when he heard these words. He placed his son Śambhu on the throne and firmly told him to rule the earth and its people with dharma. Then he set out alone for Veṅkaṭādri. On reaching the holy mountain, he saw Svāmi Puṣkariṇī. Its water was sweet like nectar, and siddhas, gandharvas, devas and ṛṣis often came there. It was full of white lotuses, kuvalaya flowers and many water birds. He built a small hut on its bank, bathed in the Puṣkariṇī and drank its water. He gained control of his senses (indriya-nigraha) and offered all his actions to Bhagavān Jagadīśvara, that is, Bhagavān Viṣṇu.

Meeting Agastya

At the same time, Brahmā sent Agastya to the same mountain. Bṛhaspati, Indra and a Vasu named Uparicara came to Agastya with the message of Brahmā. At Veṅkaṭādri, Jagannātha (Bhagavān Viṣṇu) would show his true form to both Agastya and King Śaṅkhu. All the devas, ṛṣis, yakṣas and rākṣasas would also receive that darśana. Agastya came to Svāmi Puṣkariṇī and found Śaṅkhu deep in tapas. The great ṛṣi and the king, who was the best among the devotees of Bhagavān Viṣṇu, bowed to each other. They spent time together in happy and uplifting talk about Bhagavān Viṣṇu, and each felt fulfilled (kṛtārtha) in the company of the other.

The universal form

After three days of tapas together, in the last watch of the night before dawn on the fourth day, Agastya and Śaṅkhu both had the same wonderful dream. They saw Bhagavān Viṣṇu holding the śaṅkha (conch), cakra (discus) and gadā (mace), with smiling eyes and a gentle face, coming to grant a vara (boon). They woke with great joy and bathed in Svāmi Puṣkariṇī. They did all their morning duties and worshipped Bhagavān Viṣṇu. Good omens appeared everywhere. Together they praised Him with stotras (hymns of praise) from the Vedas.

Then Agastya and Śaṅkhu began the japa (silent repetition) of the Aṣṭākṣarī mantra. A great light that no words can describe appeared in the sky before them. It looked like many suns, moons and fires joined into one blazing mass. From within this light Bhagavān Viṣṇu showed His viśvarūpa (universal form). He had a thousand eyes, a thousand arms and a thousand feet. He shone like molten gold, with fearsome fangs and fire streaming from His form. The Kaustubha gem blazed on His chest, and Lakṣmī was present there. It was beyond words, both in its terror and in its splendour. The whole universe saw this form at the same moment. The Pāñcajanya conch sounded with a deep note. Brahmā, Śiva, Indra, all the ṛṣis, gandharvas, nāgas and other divine beings gathered at that moment. Flowers of the kalpavṛkṣa (the wish-granting tree) rained down, and the apsarās danced.

The gentle form and the boons

The devas who had gathered were overwhelmed by the universal form. They sang a great stotra and prayed that Bhagavān Viṣṇu would show His gentle form (śānta rūpa). He disappeared for a moment and appeared again in His beloved gentle four-armed form, inside a divine vimāna (heavenly chariot). His face was like the moon and His colour was dark like the blue lotus. He wore golden garments and ornaments of gems, and He held the śaṅkha, cakra, gadā and padma (lotus). He is Śrīkānta, the beloved of Ramā.

Bhagavān Viṣṇu spoke to Agastya first and granted his two requests. The first was lasting bhakti at His lotus feet. The second was the lasting blessing of the Svarṇamukhī river. Bathing in it, together with a pilgrimage to Veṅkaṭādri, would give bhakti and mukti (liberation) even to those with a short life and a scattered mind.

Then Bhagavān Viṣṇu turned to Śaṅkhu. He said: “Your bhakti has pleased me greatly. Ask for the thing you love most. I will surely give it to you.” Śaṅkhu bowed to the ground and said that he wanted only to live in the abode of Bhagavān Viṣṇu, the highest goal that His devotees reach. Bhagavān Viṣṇu replied: “It shall be so. You will enjoy Indraloka with all its pleasures for the rest of this kalpa (a very long age of the world), and then you will come to my loka (world).”

The close of the account

Bharadvāja ends the story of Śaṅkhu by telling Arjuna: “This is how Bhagavān Viṣṇu came to live for ever on Veṅkaṭādri, moved by the prayers of Agastya and Śaṅkhu. Whoever hears or reads this holy kathā will be freed from all pāpas. He will receive bhakti and mukti in this world and the next, and will reach Vaikuṇṭha. There is no mountain equal to Veṅkaṭādri in all the brahmāṇḍa (the whole universe).”

Sources

• Skanda Mahāpurāṇa, Vaiṣṇava Khaṇḍa, Veṅkaṭācala Māhātmya, Chapters 37–38 (Chapter 37: the devotion and grief of Śaṅkhu, the voice from the sky, the journey, the meeting with Agastya; Chapter 38: the universal form, the gentle form and the boons)