Vishṇuśarma
Vishṇuśarma · vishṇu-śarman
Vishṇuśarmā has other meanings too: see all meanings of Vishṇuśarmā.
Vishṇuśarma is the fourth of the five sons of Śivaśarma, a brāhmaṇa householder of Dvārakā. His story is told in the Bhūmi Khaṇḍa of the Padma Purāṇa. Śivaśarma tested each of his sons for pitṛ-bhakti (devotion to the father). Vishṇuśarma’s test came through tapas (austerity).
The test through temptation
Indra felt threatened by the strength of Vishṇuśarma’s tapas. In the Purāṇas, Indra often sends apsarās to break the tapas of great ṛshis. Here Indra sent his most beautiful apsarā, Menakā, to disturb the son who sat in meditation and to draw him away.
Vishṇuśarma stayed completely still when Menakā came near. The Bhūmi Khaṇḍa does not describe any struggle. His tapas was completed. Menakā went back to Indra, and Indra himself came forward and gave Vishṇuśarma amṛta (the nectar of immortality) as the fruit of his tapas.
Ascent to Vishṇuloka
After he received the amṛta and finished his test, Vishṇuśarma went up to Vishṇuloka. His brothers Yajñaśarma, Vedaśarma and Dharmaśarma went with him. The youngest brother, Somaśarma, was still going through his own test at that time, so their ascent came before it was finished.
Sources
- Padma Purāṇa, Bhūmi Khaṇḍa, chapters 1–5 (the test through temptation: chapters 3–4)