Sūkala
Sūkala is the supreme example of pātivratya, a wife’s devotion to her husband, in the Bhūmi Khaṇḍa of the Padma Mahā Purāṇa. She was the wife of Kṛkala, also called Vṛkala. He was a vaiśya (merchant) of honest conduct who lived in the region of Meru and Gaṅgā.
When Kṛkala went away on a tīrthayātrā (pilgrimage) lasting three years, Indra and Manmatha, the deva of desire (Kāmadeva), tried hard to break her loyalty. They sent a messenger woman with arguments in favour of pleasure. They sent Krīḍā, an ally of Manmatha, as a false friend. They filled a divine garden with delights of the senses, including Vasanta (Spring) himself. They sent Rati and Prīti. Last, Indra came before her in person. Every attempt failed.
Her answers show a deep understanding of the body, the ātman (the self) and the nature of pātivratya as a living satya-dharma (duty of truth). Her home is described as the dwelling of Satya, Dharma, Jñāna, all the devas, and even Bhagavān Śiva with Pārvatī.
Who she was
Sūkala was the wife of Kṛkala (Vṛkala), a vaiśya who was a merchant of honest conduct, satya-vatsala (a lover of truth) and dharmic by nature. The household had no great wealth, but it was rich in inner quality. Satya and Dharma stayed there as guests, and the devas were always present. This is from the Padma Mahā Purāṇa, Bhūmi Khaṇḍa, Chapter 53.
Kṛkala left on a pilgrimage with a servant as his companion. Three years passed. Sūkala kept her household and her patī-dhyāna (thought of her husband) while he was away. She was wholly devoted and wholly steady. Her main practice was bhartṛ-pāda-dhyāna, meditation on her husband’s feet, and she did it without a break. This is from the Bhūmi Khaṇḍa, Chapter 53.
Her answer to the messenger
Indra’s messenger came with the argument: “Your husband is away and may be dead. Youth passes. Why waste the flower of your life?” Sūkala answered with a full teaching.
She said that the jīva (the living self) has no childhood, youth or old age. Only the body has them. The jīva is svayaṃsiddha, complete in itself, eternal and deathless. The body is like a house that is built, decorated for a short season, and then falls into ruin. To call that house “young” or “old” says nothing about the ātman inside it.
She then described the body as it truly is. It is a home for mala-mūtra (waste). It decays. Tiny creatures called kṛmis live in its hollows. The pull of rāga (desire) is only a bodily irritation, a kandūti (itch) that arises through a nāḍī (channel) in the palate. It is no different from the relief of scratching an itch. She asked the messenger: “What new experience does your offer really hold?” Then she said: “There is nothing new. Go back.” This is from the Bhūmi Khaṇḍa, Chapter 53.
Unmoved in Manmatha’s garden
Krīḍā, Manmatha’s ally, took the form of a friendly fellow wife. She made friends with Sūkala and led her into a divine pleasure garden made to enchant. Vasanta (Spring) filled it with sweet-smelling blossoms, bees and birdsong. Every sense was called.
None of it reached Sūkala. The Purāṇa says plainly that she did not smell the flowers, and the scents did not come to her nose. Vasanta’s charms ran off to no purpose, like honey dripping to the ground from a flower that no one picks. Vasanta withdrew in shame, while the birds in the garden sang of his defeat.
Rati then came and told her of Indra’s desire. Sūkala said only: “Where my husband is, there I am. My body here has no place in itself.” This is from the Bhūmi Khaṇḍa, Chapter 57.
Facing Indra
Indra himself then appeared before Sūkala in all his divine glory, adorned with every ornament. Rati, Prīti and his messenger came with him. He told her of his desire. Her reply was complete.
She told him she was not unguarded. Dharma walks with her always, with indriya-nigraha (control of the senses) and śauca (purity). Śānti (peace) and Kshamā (forbearance) are her attendants. Satya walks before her. Jñāna guards her with measureless power. Her husband is present to her through his guṇas (good qualities) which she carries within her, so he is not absent. Her eyes will serve her only so long as her husband’s light fills them.
She said: “You come to me with desire, but I am bound by satya-pāśa, the rope of truth. I will not be cut loose from it. Even if Indra came, I would not give way. Even if Manmatha himself came. You are both here already, and I tell you now: leave, or my servants of dharma will kill you. Do not stay. You will be burned to ash.”
Indra, Manmatha and all their followers ran away in fear. The Purāṇa says they were “seized with terror of her śāpa” (curse). They left in disorder, just as they had come. Sūkala went home and took up her patī-dhyāna again, unmoved. This is from the Bhūmi Khaṇḍa, Chapter 58.
Sūkala and the nārī-tīrtha
In time Kṛkala came home. Dharmarāja stopped him and taught him how much a wife matters. The teaching ends with the saying nārī-tīrtha: the wife is the greatest tīrtha (holy place). Bhagavān Vishṇu tells the Sūkala Caritra to Brahmā and says: “I have told you the nārī-tīrtha. What greater teaching is there?”
At the end of the account a divine assembly comes down. Indra himself tells Kṛkala of Sūkala’s trial. He praises her as mahānubhāvurālu, a woman of great spiritual power. Out of deep respect for Sūkala’s satya (truth), he gives a vara (a boon) to the couple. This is from the Bhūmi Khaṇḍa, Chapter 60.
The fruit of hearing her story
A woman who hears the Sūkala Caritra with attention and śraddhā (faith) will stay joined to her husband in saubhāgya (good fortune in marriage). She will be a pativratā in every later birth and will never be parted from her children. A brāhmaṇa who hears it becomes learned in the Veda. A kshatriya gains victory. A vaiśya’s house fills with wealth and grain. A śūdra gains joy and prosperity. This is from the Bhūmi Khaṇḍa, Chapter 60.
Sources
- Padma Mahā Purāṇa, Bhūmi Khaṇḍa, Chapters 40–60
- Padma Mahā Purāṇa, Bhūmi Khaṇḍa, Chapter 53
- Padma Mahā Purāṇa, Bhūmi Khaṇḍa, Chapter 57
- Padma Mahā Purāṇa, Bhūmi Khaṇḍa, Chapter 58
- Padma Mahā Purāṇa, Bhūmi Khaṇḍa, Chapter 60