Varāha Mahā Purana
65 - Särvabhaumavrata
Agastya said:
1. I shall now tell you briefly about the Särvabhaumavrata (vow for emperorship) by performing which properly, a king can become an emperor.
2-4. On the Dašhami tithi in the bright half of the month of Kärttika, one should take food only in the night and offer pure bali to the different quarters with flowers of various kinds, after offering worship to Brahmins, and pray with devotion to the quarters saying, “May you all be favourable to me in life after life”. So saying bali should be offered to them with pure mind.
5. Food should not be taken in the night, but well-cooked food with curd may be taken before and after.
6. He who performs so, for one year, gains victory in different quarters.
7. If he performs this in the prescribed manner without food starting from Ekädašhi in the bright half of the month of Märgašhirsha and continues for one year, Kubera gets pleased and grants abundant wealth.
8. It is a great vrata relating to Vishnu if on Ekädašhi, whether in the bright half or dark half of the month, one fasts and takes food on Dvädašhi day.
9. Such observance destroys even great sins.
10. Then there is Dharmavrata, which should be started in the night of Trayodašhi in the bright half of the month Phälguna. It is Raudravrata starting in Chaturdašhi in the dark half, from the month of Mägha and continuing for one year.
11. It is Pitrivrata when it is performed on the Amäväsyä day. All these have been now told to you.
12. If one continues these vratas for fifteen years, one gets reward according to their intensity.
13. O king, performing them according to the prescribed rules, is equivalent to performing thousands of Ašhvamedha and hundreds of Räjasüya sacrifices.
14-15. Even a single vrata is capable of destroying all sins. A king who performs all of them gets the whole universe under his control and finally attains the celestial region called Viräja.
Summary of chapter 65 of the Varāha Mahā Purana is as follows:
The Purāṇa recounts the magnificent narrative of Gajendra, the majestic king of elephants, who entered a beautiful lotus lake on Mount Trikūṭa to quench his thirst alongside his herd. A formidable aquatic crocodile seized Gajendra's leg in a death grip, sparking a fierce struggle that lasted for a thousand years until the elephant's physical strength was completely exhausted. Realizing the futility of mortal effort, Gajendra lifted a lotus flower with his trunk and sang the transcendent Gajendra-Stuti, surrendering completely to the Supreme Prabhu, whereupon Bhagavān Vishṇu arrived swiftly on Garuḍa, severed the crocodile's jaws with His discus, and liberated Gajendra into His eternal service.