Caṇḍaka the Barber

Caṇḍaka was a barber (nāpita) in the Indraprastha region. He killed the brāhmaṇa Mukunda and so took on the heavy pāpa (wrong deed) of brahmahatyā, the killing of a brāhmaṇa. The Uttara Khaṇḍa of the Padma Mahā Purāṇa then tells that both the murdered brāhmaṇa and his murderer were freed at the Kośala tīrtha (sacred place) in Indraprastha.

Background

The Padma Mahā Purāṇa describes Caṇḍaka as a man deep in pāpa. He felt jealousy or greed toward the brāhmaṇa Mukunda, and this drove him to murder.

The murder and its results

Caṇḍaka killed Mukunda. In the Purāṇas, brahmahatyā is one of the mahāpātakas (the gravest pāpas). It brings heavy results in later births and after death. The pāpa and its results bound Caṇḍaka tightly in pāpa and karma.

Liberation at the Kośala tīrtha

Caṇḍaka’s pāpa was very great, yet he was freed through the power of the Kośala tīrtha in the holy ground of Indraprastha. Mukunda’s bones came into contact with the tīrtha. Caṇḍaka himself later came to the sacred place of the tīrtha, or was involved with it. Then even his pāpa of killing a brāhmaṇa was dissolved, and he too reached moksha (liberation). The grace of the Kośala tīrtha made no difference between the innocent victim and the guilty killer.

What the account shows

The Purāṇa uses the freeing of Caṇḍaka, the killer of a brāhmaṇa, to show the unconditional power of the tīrthas of Indraprastha. His story goes with the story of Mukunda. The Uttara Khaṇḍa teaches that Indraprastha was established by Bhagavān Vishṇu himself and that its grace goes beyond every kind of pāpa.

Sources

• Padma Mahā Purāṇa, Uttara Khaṇḍa, Chapters 209–212