Yajnamali and Sumali
You will remember that Devamali had two sons named Yajnamali and Sumali. Yajnamali was the elder of the two.
Yajnamali divided whatever riches he had received from his father into two parts and gave one part to Sumali. But Sumali spent all his wealth on idle and evil pursuits. When his money was exhausted, he resorted to theft and robbery.
Yajnamali tried to restrain his brother. “Please mend your ways,” he told Sumali. “What you are doing is evil. Do not bring ill repute to our family.”
These words of advice only served to anger Sumali and he took up a sword to kill his borther. But the city-guards came and arrested Sumali before he could cause his brother any harm. Yajnamali used his good offices to free Sumali. He divided whatever riches he then possessed into two parts and gave one part to Sumali. As had happened earlier, Sumali again spent this money on evil and idle pursuits.
Sumali’s friends and associates were evil and outcasts. He was punished by the king and banished to the forest. When this happened, all his co-called friends deserted him.
Yajnamali was righteous. He associated with holy people, donated alms and dug ponds. Soon his wealth was also exhausted, being spent on all these good pursuits. Yajnamali retired to a temple of Vishnu and there spent his time in worshipping Vishnu.
By a curious quirk of fate, Yajnamali and Sumali died at the same time. A vimana arrived to take Yajnamali to heaven. While travelling in this wonderful vehicle, Yajnamali noticed that his brother was being taken to hell. Yama’s servants were beating Sumali and the poor fellow was suffering from hunger and thirst.
Yajnamali asked Vishnu’s companions, who had come to take him up to heaven, “How can my brother be freed of his sins?”
“Let us tell you your story,” replied the Companions. “In your earlier life you were born as a vaishya named Vishvambhara. You were evil and committed many sins. You were so evil that you deserted your parents and all your firends, in turn, deserted you. Once you were hungry and thirsty and sought refuge in a temple of Vishnu. Your feet were dirty and when you tried to clean them, part of the temple also got cleaned. This was a punya that was credited to your account. Since you had no food, you fasted throughout the night. And in the morning you died of snake-bite. But the little bit of punya was enough to ensure that you became devoted to Vishnu in your next life, when you were born as Yajnamali. So far as your brother is concerned, there is indeed a way to free him. Give him the punya that you had acquired as a result of cleaning part of the temple and your brother shall go free.”
Yajnamali did as he had been bidden. Yama’s servants immediately left Sumali and fled. A wonderful vimana came down to take Sumali as well to heaven. The two brothers were delighted to see each other. So great was Yajnamali’s punya that he did not have to be born again. But after spending some time in heaven. Sumali had to be born again. In his next life, he was devoted to Vishnu and performed only good deeds. Eventually, he too was freed.
Such is the wonderful punya that can be acquired from something so trivial as cleaning a tiny part of Vishnu’s temple.
Kanika
A house where Vishnu is not worshipped is like a cremation ground and a person who does not pray to Vishnu is like a dead body. Humans who do not worship Vishnu and do not revere the Vedas, brahmanas and cows are like rakshasa (demons). But devotion to Vishnu does not come automatically. It itself is earned through the punya of many lives. Even a little bit of devotion to Vishnu destroys the accumulated sins of many lives. This is irrespective of whether this devotion is conscious or not. Inadvertent prayers to Vishnu also confer on one the right to live in heaven.
In satya yuga there lived a hunter named Kanika. He was a robber and stole other people’s property. He oppressed others and killed hundreds of cows and brahmanas. He even stole objects from temples. So myriad were his sins that it would take millions of years to catalogue them all.
One day, the hunter went to the city of Soubira. There was a temple to Vishnu there and a number of golden pots adorned the top of the temple. Kanika was delighted to see these golden pots. He thought that he would be able to steal a lot of gold. Accordingly, he entered the premises of the temple at night.
A sage named Utanaka was sleeping in the courtyard of the temple. Kanika decided that the sage was an obstacle to his stealing the golden pots. He therefore placed his feet on the sage’s chest and prepared to behead him with a sword.
Utanka woke up. “Why are you trying to kill me?” he asked. “I have done you no harm. People only kill those who have done them some harm. It is a sin to punish those who have not committed any transgression. One might commit sins to feed one’s near and dear relatives. But the sins do not accrue to the accounts of the relatives; they are one’s own. Relatives are meaningless; they do not last beyond the earthly life. It is only the papa and the punya that are carried over beyond death.”
These words struck terror in Kanika’s heart. He begged forgiveness from the sage and became penitent.
“It is my great good fortune that I have met you,” he told the sage. “I am a sinner. What can I do to free myself? Where shall I seek refuge? To whom shall I pray? I must have committed many sins in my ealier life to have been born as a hunter in this life. But woe and alas, I have committed sins in this life as well. What is to become of me? For how many lives more must I suffer?”
So great was Kanika’s shame and mortification that he died on the spot. Taking pity on the poor hunter, the sage sprinkled some holy water on the dead body. The water was holy because it had been used to wash the feet of one of Vishnu’s images.
Wonder of wonders – as soon as the sanctified water was sprinkled on the dead body, all of Kanika’s sins were forgiven. A vimana descended to take him up to heaven.
Utanka ws thunderstuck to see this wonderful happening. He started to pray to Vishnu. And Vishnu appeared before the sage and granted him the boon that he would be rendered free of all wordly bonds.
Yajnadhvaja
Many years ago, there used to be a king named Yajnadhvaja. He was born in the lunar dynasty.
The king was devoted to Vishnu. He got all of Vishnu’s temples cleaned regularly. He made sure that lamps were lit in the temples at night.
Yajnadhvaja also had a temple to Vishu built on the banks of the river Reva. There too, he made arrangements for the temple to be swept regularly. And he also made sure that lamps wre lit in the temple at night.
The king had a priest named Vitahotra.
Vitahotra once asked the king. “Please tell me what is so special about cleaning temples and lighting lamps in them at night. There are many other tasks that are regarded as being sacred to Vishu. Why do you devotee special attention to these two tasks?”
“Let me tell you my story,” replied Yajnadhvaja.
The king remembered the story because he was a jatismara.
Many years ago, in satya yuga, there was a brahmana named Raivata. The brahmana had studied the shastras well. Nevertheless, he acted as priest for people whom no brahmana should serve as priest. Raivata was also cruel and he traded in goods that no brahmana should touch. Because of these evil ways, the brahmana’s friends and relatives deserted him. Raivata had no opiton but to wander around from country to country. In a poor and diseased state, he finally died on the banks of the river Narmada.
Raivata’s wife was named Bandhumati. She too was evil and gave birth to a son named Dandaketu. This turned out to be a sinner. He oppressed brahmanas, stole other people’s property, drank wine and killed many living beings.
One night, Dandaketu happened to turn up at a temple of Vishu. He decided to spend the night there. To clean a place for him to sleep at night, Dandaketu swept part of the temple with his clothing. Although he did not realize it then, this act of piety pardoned many of his sins and gave hima lot of punya. The sinner then lit a lamp so that he could see better. And this additional act of piety pardoned all his ealier sins.
Meanwhile, the city-guards arrived at the temple. They took Dandaketu to be a thief and killed him. But since Dandaketu had now acquired such a lot of punya, a vimana descended and took him straight up to heaven. After spending some time there, he was born again as the king Yajnadhvaja.
Yajnadhvaja told Vitahotra, “Now yu realize the increditble amount of punya that I accumulated by sweepinga temple and lighting a lamp, there inadvertently. Can you imagine what the punya would be like if I did these things consciously? Thankfully, I am a jatismara and I remember the events tha ttranspired in my earlier life. No wonder then that I devote so much of attention to the cleaning of temples and to the lighting of lamps there. I am sure that your question is now answered.
Vitahotra marvelled at the story and became even more devoted to Vishnu.
If one wants to overcome the miseries of life, one has to pray to Vishnu. There is no other way. Great punya is also acquired by serving those who are devoted to Vishnu. If a person serves Vishnu’s devotees, twenty-one of his ancestral generations ascend to heaven. All the gods and Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth, are ever-present in a house where Vishnu is worshipped. A house where the basil tree, sacred to Vishnu, is planted, is eternally blessed. Also blessed is a house where there is a shalagrama, Vishnu’s image.
