Vallabha of Kāñcana

Vallabha was a wealthy man of the city of Kāñcana. He was as rich as Kubera. His wife was Hemaprabhā, who was quarrelsome, unfaithful and full of pāpa (sin). Vallabha himself plays only a small part in the account. His household is the place where Hemaprabhā kept an Ekādaśī vow by chance. This became the reason for Bhagavān Vishṇu’s mercy on her, in spite of her pāpa.

Vallabha and Hemaprabhā

Vallabha lived in Kāñcana and had wealth like the treasury of Kubera. Hemaprabhā was his wife. She gave him constant grief by her quarrels, her lies and her unfaithfulness.

The Brahma Khaṇḍa says she had all the typical evils of the Kali Yuga. She quarrelled with her husband all the time. She spoke against her elders. She ate in secret from the cooking pots. She gave only leftover food to her elders. She kept her mind on a lover while she claimed in public to be faithful.

The accidental Ekādaśī

One day, in a quarrel, Vallabha scolded Hemaprabhā and struck her. She left the house in anger and went to an empty house. She slept there alone, without food or water.

That day was the Pārśvaparivartana Ekādaśī. The next day was Dvādaśī with the Śravaṇa nakshatra (star), a very holy combination. Her fast, kept in anger over both days, was a chance keeping of this great vow. She died on the night of Jayantī. The messengers of Bhagavān Vishṇu freed her from the bonds of Yama and took her to the holy abode of Bhagavān Vishṇu.

The Padma Mahā Purāṇa tells this in the Brahma Khaṇḍa, Chapter 15.

Sources

• Padma Mahā Purāṇa, Brahma Khaṇḍa, Chapter 15