Vidāruṇa of Campaka

Vidāruṇa, simply known as Vidaruna, Sanskrit: विदारुण, Telugu: విదారుణుడు, Hindi: विदारुण.

Vidāruṇa was a king who ruled the city of Campaka. The Padma Mahā Purāṇa shows him as a bitter enemy of Bhagavān Vishṇu, a Vaishṇava-dveshin (one who hates Vishṇu and his devotees). Because of this enmity he was afflicted with leprosy (kushṭha).

His life changed by chance. While travelling through the region, he drank water from the Vetravatī river by accident. The water cured his leprosy at once. He then turned from enmity to devotion and became a devotee of Bhagavān Vishṇu. The account ties his liberation (moksha) to this meeting with the sacred river.

Enmity toward Vishṇu

The Uttara Khaṇḍa of the Padma Purāṇa returns again and again to kings who hated Bhagavān Vishṇu and were still saved. One such king is Citra of Drāviḍa. Vidāruṇa is another. Each was saved by an unplanned meeting with the holy presence of Bhagavān Vishṇu.

Leprosy

Vidāruṇa was struck with leprosy because of his hatred of Bhagavān Vishṇu. The disease made his cure by the Vetravatī plain to all.

The unplanned cure

While travelling, Vidāruṇa drank water from the Vetravatī river. He did not know that it was holy. He did not mean to make a pilgrimage to a tīrtha (sacred place). The power of the water worked all the same, and his leprosy was cured at once. The holiness of the Vetravatī does not depend on the faith, wish or worth of the one who drinks.

Change of heart and liberation

The cure turned the king’s whole faith around. A king who had been a sure enemy of Bhagavān Vishṇu became his devotee after he saw the power of Bhagavān Vishṇu working through the sacred river. The Padma Purāṇa does not tell at length how his devotion grew afterwards. His liberation follows from this change, and it began with bhakti (devotion) that started from the unplanned touch of holy water.

Sources

• Padma Mahā Purāṇa, Uttara Khaṇḍa, Chapter 134