Daṇḍaka the Thief

Daṇḍaka was a well-known thief who lived in the Dvāpara Yuga. He did every kind of pāpa (sin) listed in the Brahma Khaṇḍa. He robbed brāhmaṇas, killed his friends, took other men’s wives, ate cow-flesh, drank liquor, kept company with heretics and killed those who came to him for shelter.

Yet one accidental act freed him. He once went to rob a Vishṇu temple. The mud on his feet filled and levelled the uneven ground at the temple door. For this single act Citragupta reported to Yama that Daṇḍaka had earned moksha (liberation) and a place in Vaikuṇṭha.

His life of pāpa

Daṇḍaka was a terror to the people. He seized the wealth of brāhmaṇas and killed his friends. He told lies all the time, acted with cruelty and took the wives of others. He ate cow-flesh, drank liquor and kept company with heretics.

He cut off the means of living of brāhmaṇas. He kept for himself the deposits that people had trusted to him. He killed those who sought his protection and he visited prostitutes. The Purāṇa shows him as a man in whom there was no deliberate act of puṇya (merit).

The Vishṇu temple

Daṇḍaka once went to a Vishṇu temple that belonged to a brāhmaṇa. He meant to rob it. When he stepped across the low threshold, the mud caked on his feet filled and levelled the uneven ground at the door, without his intending it.

He opened the temple with iron rods and went in. He saw Bhagavān Vishṇu lying with Rādhā on a divine bed. On seeing Bhagavān Vishṇu he bowed without meaning to. Then he gathered the silk garments and other articles of the temple. They fell with a terrible crash. People came running, and Daṇḍaka fled empty-handed. A poisonous snake bit him and he died.

Before Yama and Citragupta

Yama’s messengers brought Daṇḍaka before Yama. Citragupta listed his deeds. He confirmed that Daṇḍaka had done every pāpa there is. But he said Daṇḍaka also had one act of puṇya. At the temple threshold, the mud from his feet had levelled the ground.

By the power of this one unintended act of service to the temple, all of Daṇḍaka’s pāpa was wiped away. Yama declared that he was beyond his authority. Yama honoured him with a golden seat and sent him in a divine chariot to Vaikuṇṭha. Daṇḍaka lived there for a long time.

Sources

• Padma Mahā Purāṇa, Brahma Khaṇḍa, Chapter 2