Chapter 37 - Importance of Offering a Bracelet (kaṅkaṇa)

[Sanskrit text for this chapter is available]

The Devī said:

1-2. O Lord, what for is a gold bracelet [kaṅkaṇa] thrown into the Salt Sea? The merit acquired thereby has not been mentioned before. It behoves you to tell it exactly. What are the Mantras? What is the injunction? At what time is it highly efficacious? What is the episode associated with the gold bracelet [kaṅkaṇa], O holy Lord?

Īśvara said:

3. Formerly there was a king well-known as Bṛhadratha. He had a beloved wife, a chaste lady named Indumatī.

4. O great goddess, neither among the Deva women nor in Gandharvīs nor in Asurīs nor in Kinnarīs is (was) there a slenḍer-waisted lady like her (in beauty.).

5. She was endowed with good manners, beauty, and other qualities. She was always chaste. Like the chaste lady Arundhatī, she possessed all the womanly good qualities.

6. She was the most important one among a thousand inmates. Naturally she was proud of her conjugal felicity. Without her, the king did not divert himself even for a moment.

7. Once, she was occupying half the throne of the saintly king, when a sage named Kaṇva came near the saintly king. He was an ascetic of great refulgence and was a master of the Vedas.

8-9. Seeing him coming, the king promptly got up. He duly adored him and offered excellent Arghya. Assured that the leading sage was comfortably seated and relaxed, the king enquired after his health and well-being and the sage congratulated him.

10. Then the sage held discourse on piety in the audience with the king.

11. At the end of the discourse, the wife of the king stood there with palms joined in reverence and spoke these nectarine words:

Indumatī said:

12. O holy Sir, O Lord, you know everything past and future. Urged by curiosity I am asking you. So it behoves you to excuse me.

13. Do narrate to me all my Karmas done in the earlier bodies. Mine is such a great conjugal felicity. My husband is comparable to a son of Devas.

14. Due to my good fortune, I am having a husband as a Lord unto me whose good conduct is well-known all over the three worlds. Is this the result of any Vrata or that of a religious fast?

15. O leading sage, is this the efficacy of a Dana that I possess excellent conjugal felicity? The mighty king is under my control. He always acts according to what I say.

16. Do explain this to me entirely. My curiousity is excessive.

Sūta said:

17. On hearing her words, the sage meditated for a long time. Ultimately Kaṇva, the most excellent one among knowers of the Vedas, laughingly spoke these words:

Kaṇva said:

18. Listen, O queen. 1 shall tell the details of your previous birth. O lady of slender waist-line, you must not be angry. Nor is there any need to feel ashamed.

19. In the previous birth you were a cowherdess with five husbands in the land of Saurāṣṭra. When you became Hīnā (a widow devoid of husbands) you went to the deity Someśvara.

20. Then, for your holy bath, you entered the salty sea. On being struck by a series of waves, you became agitated.

21. From your forearm the gold bracelet [kaṅkaṇa] slipped down and got lost in the waters of the ocean. You began to regret it.

22. After a long time, you met with your death. Then, O beautiful woman, you were born in the abode of the king of Daśārṇa.

23-24a. Thanks to the power of the gold bracelet (lost in the sea), you were married to Bṛhadratha. O splendid lady, no Vrata, penance or Dāna was undertaken by you before. Here everything has been mentioned to you, all which you had asked me.

24b. On hearing those words the large-eyed lady stood with face down due to bashfulness. On hearing those words, the fair lady remained silent.

25. After intimating this to the wife of the king, O lady of excellent countenance (i.e. Gaurī), the sage took leave of the king and went to his abode.

26. Having understood that the benefit was a result of (offer of) gold bracelet [kaṅkaṇa] by the power of the sage, she went to Lord Someśvara and took her holy bath in the salty ocean.

27. O lady of great refulgence, every year she used to throw down a gold bracelet [kaṅkaṇa]. Then she attained the state of Deva, thanks to its power, O lady of great beauty.

Īśvara said:

28. This great power of (offering to sea) a gold bracelet [kaṅkaṇa] has been described. O goddess, it accords all desires. It is destructive of all sins.