Vīravarman

Vīravarman was a king in the Uttara Khaṇḍa of the Padma Mahā Purāṇa. He was the husband of the very virtuous queen Hemāṅgī. His name points to a brave king (vīra means brave).

Background

Vīravarman was a ruling king. Queen Hemāṅgī was born as his wife. In her earlier life she had been the courtesan (veśyā) Mohinī of Māhiṣmatī. The Purāṇa shows his household as one where dharma and the virtue of a devoted wife (pātivratā) came first (Padma Mahā Purāṇa, Uttara Khaṇḍa, Chapter 221).

Hemāṅgī and Vīravarman

Vīravarman matters in the account mainly as Hemāṅgī’s royal husband. Her great virtues are at the centre of the account. In his household the ātmā (soul) of Mohinī, born again as Hemāṅgī, reached the high point of her spiritual journey. There she showed the full growth of the puṇya (merit) she had gathered in her earlier life as a courtesan (Padma Mahā Purāṇa, Uttara Khaṇḍa, Chapters 220–221).

Sources

• Padma Mahā Purāṇa, Uttara Khaṇḍa, Chapters 220–221