Kṛshṇadvija

Kṛshṇadvija was a brāhmaṇa of the city of Daśapura in the Dvāpara Yuga. He had three sons and a devoted wife. He kept the sacred fire, served his parents, always spoke agreeably, and was always busy in the pūjā of Bhagavān Vishṇu. His middle son was taken for the Naramedha yajña of King Dīnanātha. Grief made Kṛshṇadvija and his wife blind. They were healed when the ṛshi Viśvāmitra brought the son back.

His life

Kṛshṇadvija lived in Daśapura as a devotee of Bhagavān Vishṇu. He always spoke agreeably and was engaged in the worship of Vishṇu. He kept the sacred fire and was devoted to his parents. He was also a benefactor of the devotees of Vishṇu.

The taking of his middle son

King Dīnanātha’s messengers came to take his middle son as the victim for the Naramedha yajña (a human sacrifice). Kṛshṇadvija pleaded with them: “What is the use of wealth, gold, life, or house? O messengers, if you have certainly come to take my son, who removes the darkness of grief from my life, then take me, an old brāhmaṇa, instead.”

The messengers refused. They left the gold in his house by force. Kṛshṇadvija could not bring himself to single out any one son. His wife protested violently against the taking of the youngest son. Then the middle son himself, full of modesty and weeping, went with the messengers of his own will. He said to his parents: “Who would be the protector if the mother gives poison to her son, or the father sells his son, or the king snatches away everything?”

After the son left, Kṛshṇadvija and his wife both became blind from grief.

The return of his son

Later Viśvāmitra brought the middle son back. Kṛshṇadvija’s eyes were healed by the siddhi (spiritual perfection) of the ṛshi’s presence. He saw his son and for a long time drank in his face with joyful eyes. He saluted Viśvāmitra again and again and said: “O ṛshi, you have indeed given us back our lives.”

Sources

• Padma Mahā Purāṇa, Brahma Khaṇḍa, Chapter 12