Devamali

A person who is devoted to Vishnu is eternally blessed.

Many years ago, a brahmana named Devamali lived in the land of Raivata. He was learned in the Vedas, pitiful towards other living beings, and devoted to Vishnu. But unfortunately, he had many sons, friends and a wife to take care of. Making a living was difficult and Devamali was constrained to trade in objects that no brahmana should touch. He also interacted with outcasts. He thus committed many sins.

After some years, two sons named Yajnamali and Sumali were born to Devamali. With great care and perseverance, the father taught the sons how to make money.

By then, Devamali himself had made a lot of money and had accumulated a lot wealth. One day, he sat down to count his wealth and discovered that he had millions and millions of coins. He thought to himself, “I had made a lot of money; look at the number of coins I have accumulatd. Unfortunately, I have had to do this through evil means, by means of trading in objects that I should not even have touched. But is it not strange that, despite all my riches, my thirst for more wealth remains unsatiated? This conclusively proves that it is the craving for riches that is the root of all evil. One continues to want more wealth even if one’s teeth decay and one’s skin gets wrinkled. A person who wants peace should give up all hankering after riches. I think tha tI have had enough. I should now start to think about the life that comes hereafter.”

Thinking this, Devamali resolved that he would devote himself to the path of dharma. He divided his riches into four parts. He retained two parts for himself and distributed the remaining two parts to his sons Yajnamali and Sumali.

With a view to acquiring punya, Devamali constructed temples and gardens and had ponds constructed. He went to the banks of the Ganga and donated alms. In this fashion, he exhauted all his wealth. Eventually, he went off to perform tapasya in the forest known as vadrikashrama. In the hermitage there lived many sages. Devamali joined them in their meditations. He contemplated on the true nature of the brahman.

The sages gave Devamali plenty of good advice. One particular sage named Jananti taught Devamali the techniques of yoga. It was through the practice of yoga that Devamali was freed of all his illusions.