Sūratha
Sūratha was a righteous king who ruled the whole earth with justice. His enemies defeated him and his own ministers took his treasury and army, so he went alone into the forest. There he met the ṛṣi (seer) Medhasa, who taught him about Mahāmāyā, the great power of delusion that belongs to Devī Durgā. Sūratha then did tapas (austerity) to please Devī Durgā. She was pleased, and she gave him two vara (boons). In his next birth he would be Sāvarṇi Manu, the eighth Manu. A Manu is the ruler of one manvantara, an age of the world.
The Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa, the Umā Saṃhitā of the Śiva Purāṇa and the Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa each tell his story. Each account is given in turn below.
The Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa account
Defeat and retreat
Sūratha ruled with complete justice and dharma. He guarded his subjects as a father guards his children. Even so, the Kolāvidhvaṃsī, enemies smaller and weaker than he, defeated him in battle. His own ministers added to his shame by taking his treasury and his army. He had nothing left to support him. Sūratha went alone into the forest, with no followers and no wealth, a king in name only (Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa, Chapters 78–79).
Meeting Medhasa and Samādhi
As he wandered in the forest, Sūratha came to the āśrama (hermitage) of the ṛṣi Medhasa. There he met Samādhi, a merchant of the vaiśya class, whose wife and sons had also turned against him and cast him out. Both men were puzzled by the same thing. They still felt love and longing for the people who had betrayed them. They put this question to Medhasa: “Why do we love those who have wronged us?”
Medhasa answered that this is the work of Mahāmāyā, the great cosmic delusion that Devī Durgā wields. She binds even the wise and pulls the heart toward those who bring pain. He then gave them the teaching that became the Devī Māhātmya, the great praise of Devī and her three forms: Mahākālī, Mahālakṣmī and Mahāsarasvatī (Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa, Chapters 78–80).
Tapas and the blessing of Devī Durgā
Sūratha heard the Devī Māhātmya and its deep teaching on Mahāmāyā, and he wished to please Devī Durgā herself. He did tapas on the bank of a river for three years. He kept strict austerities and offered pūjā. At the end of this time Durgā appeared before him and asked what vara he wanted (Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa, Chapters 88–90).
Two vara
Sūratha asked for two vara. The first was for this world: to win back his kingdom and defeat his enemies in this very life. The second reached beyond it: that in his next birth he would be born as Sāvarṇi Manu, the eighth Manu and a son of Sūrya, and would rule over the eighth manvantara. Devī Durgā gave him both (Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa, Chapters 89–90).
His part in the Devī Māhātmya
Sūratha’s question and his tapas gave rise to the whole Devī Māhātmya, one of the most sacred texts of the Śākta tradition. He went from a beaten and wandering king to a future Manu (Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa, Chapters 78–90).
The Umā Saṃhitā account of the Śiva Purāṇa
The Umā Saṃhitā of the Śiva Purāṇa tells Sūratha’s story as the frame for the whole account of Devī that the ṛṣi Mēdhasa narrates. It places the story in the Svārocisa Manvantara (Umā Saṃhitā, Chapter 45).
Family and character
In this account Sūratha is the son of Viratha and belongs to the Caitra dynasty (Caitra-vaṃśa). He is a man of great strength and courage, known for giving gifts and for speaking truth. He knows his own dharma well and is devoted to Devī Durgā, who is an ocean of compassion. He rules his people with excellence.
Defeat and retreat
Sūratha ruled the earth with the splendour of Indra. Nine kings, who were busy taking over the lands around them, joined together and surrounded his capital, Kolānagara. A fierce and terrible battle followed. Despite his courage, their combined strength overcame him and he was driven out of Kolānagara. He withdrew to a smaller stronghold and tried to rule from there, but the enemies beat him again. His ministers and officers, tempted by the chance, turned against him and took all the royal treasury. With no support left, Sūratha rode out of the city as if going to hunt, entered a thick forest and did not return.
The āśrama of Mēdhasa
Wandering in the forest, Sūratha came to a splendid ṛṣi’s āśrama. It shone with flower gardens on every side and rang with the sound of Vedic recitation. It was full of students, their students, and their students’ students, a gurukula (a school of learning around a teacher) of many generations. The power of the ṛṣi could be seen in one wonder: fierce animals such as tigers and lions lived in the āśrama and did not harm the weaker creatures. The tejas (spiritual radiance) of the ṛṣi had made the whole forest peaceful.
The maharṣi Mēdhasa was great in compassion, learning and spiritual authority. He welcomed the king with kind words, gave him food and shelter, and let him stay as long as he wished.
Meeting Samādhi and going to Mēdhasa
While Sūratha lived in the āśrama, he met Samādhi, a vaiśya who had come there in the same state of worldly loss. Both men were troubled by the same thing: a strong and unexplained attachment to, and longing for, the people who had wronged them. They went to Mēdhasa together with their shared question: “Why does this moha (bewilderment) stay with us even though we are intelligent and know what happened? What force confuses even the wise?”
Mēdhasa taught them about Mahāmāyā. She is the śakti (power) of Parabrahman and Triguṇātmikā, the one who is made of the three guṇas. She creates, keeps and dissolves the world, and she binds even Brahmā and the other devas in delusion.
Sūratha then asked: “Who is this Mahāmāyā and how did she arise?” Mēdhasa answered by telling the whole account of Devī. He told of the prādurbhāvas (appearances) of Mahākālī, the killing of Mahiṣāsura, the wars against Śuṃbha and Niśuṃbha, the Umā Prādurbhāva in which she declares herself to be Parabrahman, and the Durgama-vadha, the killing of Durgama (Umā Saṃhitā, Chapters 45–50).
The Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa account
The Prakṛti Khaṇḍa of the Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa tells Sūratha’s story with the same outline as the Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa and with its own details of family line and teaching.
His line from Budha
In this account Sūratha comes down from Candra through this line:
- Budha, the son of Candra and Tārā
- Caitra, the son of Budha and Citrā, the daughter of Kubera
- Ādhīratha, the son of Caitra
- Sūratha, the son of Ādhīratha
He belongs to the lunar dynasty (candravaṃśa), descended from Candra through the account of Tārā, Candra and Bṛhaspati (Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa, Prakṛti Khaṇḍa, Chapters 60–61).
Defeat and retreat
A king named Nandi defeated Sūratha. Nandi was of the line of Svāyaṃbhuva Manu through Dhruva and Utkala. Sūratha lost his kingdom and fled alone into the forest. He came to the river Puṣpabhadrā, where he met Samādhi the vaiśya, who had also been wronged and cast out by his own wife and sons. The two went together to the āśrama of Medhā Maharṣi at Puṣkara (Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa, Prakṛti Khaṇḍa, Chapters 61–62).
Medhā Maharṣi
In this account Medhā Maharṣi is the son of Pracetas and the grandson of Brahmā. He had received Kṛṣṇa-jñāna (knowledge of Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa) directly from Bhagavān Śiva. He taught Sūratha and Samādhi the kavaca (protective prayer), stotra, dhyāna (meditation) and mantra of Durgā. These are the heart of the Durgā Upākhyāna in this khaṇḍa (Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa, Prakṛti Khaṇḍa, Chapter 62).
Tapas and the appearance of Devī Durgā
After he had received the Durgā sādhana (practice) from Medhā, Sūratha did the full Durgā pūjā for one whole year with a single mind. At the end of the year Devī Durgā appeared before him, blazing like the summer sun. Her form was saguṇā-nirguṇātmikā tejas, radiance that is both with and without qualities. She spoke to him (Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa, Prakṛti Khaṇḍa, Chapter 64).
The vara and the teaching of Devī Durgā
Sūratha asked for two things. He asked to win back his kingdom, and he received it. He also asked to be Sāvarṇi Manu in his next birth, and that too was given. Devī Durgā said to him: “You will destroy all your enemies, rule without opposition, and in the end become Sāvarṇi Manu, the eighth Manu. At the end of your time as Manu I will give you Kṛṣṇa-bhakti and Kṛṣṇa-dāsya (devotion to Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa and service to him).”
She also gave him jñāna (knowledge). She told Sūratha that although she had appeared before him, his asking for worldly things showed that he was still under māyā-moha, like a man who chooses poison when amṛta (the nectar of immortality) is there to be had. She said that all things in this world, from Brahmā down to a pillar, do not last, and that only Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa is nitya (eternal), satya (true), nirguṇa (without qualities) and paramātman (the highest self). Durgā herself also said: “My māyā is something no one can cross. Even learned people, like the unlearned, do not strive for mokṣa (liberation) because of me.”
After this teaching Durgā vanished. Sūratha went home, won back his kingdom and ruled for sixty thousand years. He then did tapas at Puṣkara and was born as Sāvarṇi Manu (Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa, Prakṛti Khaṇḍa, Chapter 64).
What Samādhi received
In this account Samādhi received a different gift. Devī Durgā gave him jñāna, which was the two-syllable mantra “Kṛṣṇa”. Through tapas at Puṣkara, Samādhi reached Goloka. The Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa gives his final goal as Goloka through Kṛṣṇa-jñāna, not a future birth. In the Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa, Sūratha and Samādhi both receive their vara from Devī together (Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa, Prakṛti Khaṇḍa, Chapter 64).
Sources
- Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa, Chapters 78–90
- Śiva Purāṇa, Umā Saṃhitā, Chapters 45–50
- Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa, Prakṛti Khaṇḍa, Chapters 60–62, 64