041 Putradā Ekādaśī

Yudhiṣṭhira said:

1-2. O Kṛṣṇa, you have told (me about) the auspicious (vow of) the Saphalā Ekādaśī. Favour me and tell me about the one that would fall in the bright fortnight (of the month of Pauṣa). What is its name? What is the manner of it (i.e. in which way is it) to be observed? Which is the deity that is propitiated on that (day)? With whom are you, Puruṣottama himself, pleased?

Śrīkṛṣṇa said:

3-12. O king, listen, I shall tell (you about) the one that would fall in the bright half (of Pauṣa). O great king, with a desire for the good of the people, I shall tell about it. O king, it is to be carefully observed in the manner (as told) before. Its name is Putradā. It is great, and removes all sins. Its superintending deity is Viṣṇu. He gives (all) desired objects and all prosperity. No greater (vow) than this (exists) in the three worlds with the mobile and the immobile. Viṣṇu makes a man possessed with knowledge and makes him successful. O king, listen. I shall tell you an auspicious tale that removes sins. Formerly there lived king Suketumat in the city of Bhadrāvatī. His queen was Campakā by name. The sonless king passed his time in (entertaining) desires. The king did not obtain a son who would continue his line. Then the king thought of righteous deeds for a long time. ‘What should I do? Where should I go? How can I have a son?’ King Suketumat did not derive pleasure from his kingdom or his city. Every day, along with his chaste wife, he became unhappy. The couple was always full of anxiety and grief. His (dead) ancestors drank lukewarm water offered by him. ‘We do not see anybody who will gratify us after the king’. Thinking like this his manes were unhappy.

13-19a. The king did not find pleasure in his kinsmen, allies, ministers, friends, so also elephants, horses and foot-soldiers. Despondency always prevailed in the king’s mind. ‘A man who is without a son does not get the fruit of his existence. The house of a sonless person is always desolate. His heart is always unhappy. Without a son freedom from the debt of (one’s) ancestors, deities and men is not possible. Therefore, with all efforts a man should produce a son. Those with religious merit, in whose house a son would be born, get success in this world, and an auspicious position in the next world. In the house of those men who practise righteous deeds long life, (good) health, and wealth prevail. O king, (these) cannot be had without religious merit and devotion to Viṣṇu. I think that sons are certainly the wealth (of a person).’

19b-31. Thinking like this the king did not get happiness. King Suketumat thought (like this) in the early morning and at night. He thought of destroying himself. Then the king, seeing misfortune in (i.e. due to) suicide, saw his body fallen and his sonlessness. Then according to his intellect, he saw (i.e. thought about) his welfare. Then the king mounted upon a horse, went to a dense forest. The family-priest and others did not know (that) the king had gone. In the dense forest resorted to by beasts and birds, the king roamed, observing the forest-trees like vaṭa, aśvattha, bilva, kharjūra, and panasa, so also bakula, saptaparṇa, tinduka, and tila. The king also saw (trees like) śāla, tamāla and sarala. (He also saw) trees like iṅgudī, kakubha, śleṣmātaka, sallaka, karamarda, pāṭala and badara also. He also saw aśoka (trees), palāśa (trees), wolves, hares, wild cats, buffaloes, porcupines and camara (deer). The king saw serpents that had half come out from the ant-hills, and wild intoxicated elephants with their young ones. (He saw) lords of herds having four tusks and accompanied by the female elephants and herds. Seeing the elephants of him, the king thought: ‘The lord moving among them obtained great beauty.’ The king observed the forest full of great wonders. Hearing on his way the cries of jackals and of owls, and seeing various bears and deer, he roamed in the forest.

32-36a. In this way the king saw the forest. When the Sun had gone to the middle (of the sky), he being oppressed with hunger and thirst, ran here and there. The king with his throat and neck dry thought: ‘What deed have I done (by which) I have met with such grief? With sacrifices and worships I have pleased the deities. I have pleased brāhmaṇas with gifts and desired meals. I have always greatly looked after my subjects like my (own) son. Due to what have I met with this great, terrible distress?’ The king who was thinking like this, went ahead in the forest.

36b-42. By the efficacy of his good deeds, he saw an excellent lake. It was being touched by (i.e. had the contact of) fish. It looked very beautiful due to lotuses. It also looked beautiful with ducks, ruddy geese and royal swans. It was full of many alligators, fishes and other aquatic animals. The fortunate king saw many hermitages of sages near the lake, along with many omens suggesting auspiciousness. His right eye throbbed. So also his right hand, indicating auspicious fruit, throbbed. Seeing on its lake sages muttering Vedic prayers in an undertone, the king stood in front of the sages. The king saluted separately (i.e. individually) the sages of praise-worthy vows by joining the palms of his hands and repeatedly prostrating before them in the manner of a staff. The sages also said (to him): “O king, we are pleased with you.”

The king said:

43. Who are you here? Tell me what your names are. Why have you assembled here? Tell the truth to me.

The sages said:

44-45. O king, we are Viśvedevāḥ.¹ We have come here for a bath. Māgha has come near (i.e. will commence) on the fifth day from today. O king, today is Ekādaśi called Putradā. Viṣṇu gives a son to those who observe this (Ekādaśī), O king.

The king said:

46. I have a great uncertainty about producing a son. If you are pleased, then give me a son.

The sages said:

47-53. O king, today only it is the Ekādaśī called Putradā. Do this well-known vow, which is the best (vow). O lord of kings, after ablution and by the favour of us and of Viṣṇu, you will certainly have a son.

By these words of them, and the advice of the sages, the king observed the excellent vow which is (that of) Putradā, according to the (proper) rules. Having broken his fast on Dvādaśī the king came home. Then the queen conceived. At the time of her delivery a bright son was born. By means of his righteous deeds he pleased his father. He became a king (later). Therefore, O king, the excellent vow of Putradā should be observed. I told it to you for the good of the people. Those who, with a concentrated mind, observe this Putradā vow, obtain sons in this world and after death go to heaven. O king, by reciting and listening to it, a man would obtain the fruit of (having performed) the Agniṣṭoma sacrifice.