The Story of Atmadeva and Dunduli | Stories From Bhagavatham
Once there lived a pious Brahmin called Atmadeva near the banks of River Tungabhadra. He was a learned scholar well-versed in the Vedas. His wife Dunduli was very unlike him. She was physically beautiful but did not possess any other virtues. The couple didn’t have any children. Atmadeva was very unhappy about this. He desperately wanted a child. When he couldn’t have a child even after being married for several years, Atmadeva left his home one day and went to the forest. There he met a sage who advised him to give up this desire for a child.
‘You are not destined to have an offspring in this life or in the 7 lives hereafter,’ said the sage. He also advised Atmadeva to renounce this worldly life and embrace Sanyasa.
Atmadeva was devastated to hear this. He started crying and insisted on being blessed with a child.
The sage had divine powers that he acquired from doing tapas for years and years. He could even change another man’s destiny.
So, he gave Atmadeva a fruit and told him that if his wife ate that fruit, she would conceive a baby.
Overjoyed to hear this, Atmadeva rushed home. He gave Dunduli the magical fruit and told her everything. However, she was not all that excited about conceiving a baby. She did not want to bear the pain of childbirth. So, she devised a plan after consulting her sister who was pregnant at that time. Her sister told Dunduli that she would give her baby to Dunduli when he is born. She also advised Dunduli to give the fruit to a cow. To prevent her husband from learning anything about this, Dunduli asked Atmadeva to go on a pilgrimage before the baby arrived. Atmadeva readily agreed. In due course, Dunduli’s sister gave birth to a boy. The cow also gave birth to a human child with the ears of a cow. When Atmadeva returned home, he was delighted to find the two boys. He called the former boy Dundukari and the latter was named Gokarna. He believed that Dundukari was indeed his son and raised him affectionately. He was equally fond of Gokarna. As expected, Gokarna possessed all the virtues whereas Dundukari was full of vices.
As years went by, Dundukari started abusing his parents. This really worried Atmadeva. Once he kicked his father out of the house. He cried out to Gokarna, ‘I can’t bear this pain. My son has kicked me out.’
Gokarna was reciting the tenth chapter of Srimad Bhagavatham at that time. Seeing his father in such a sorry state, he advised him about the futilities of continuing the worldly life. He urged his father to renounce and lead the life of an ascetic. Interestingly, this was the same advice that Atmadeva had received from the sage. This time around, however, he had become convinced of the perils of being attached to worldly possessions and relations.
Atmadeva promptly abided by Gokarna’s words and left home. He reached the forest where he led an austere life for many years and eventually reached the lotus feet of Lord Vishnu.
Meanwhile, Dundukari squandered away all the wealth of his parents. He brought home women of illicit character. He threatened his mother and abused her. Unable to bear this, Dunduli committed suicide by jumping into a well.
Dundukari soon lost all his wealth and was eventually killed by the women he had been sleeping with.
Gokarna left home shortly after Atmadeva had gone to the forest. When he learned about Dundukari’s untimely demise, he went to Gaya to perform the final rites. After this he returned home. Upon reaching home, he started being haunted by a terrible voice. Gokarna enquired whose voice he was hearing and learned that it was the ghost of Dundukari. Dundukari told Gokarna that he was undergoing inexplicable pain and suffering due to the numerous sins he had committed. He urged Gokarna to find a way to relieve him of his suffering. Gokarna went around asking people how he could alleviate the suffering of his brother. Everyone told him that the final rites he had performed at Gaya were enough and if that didn’t suffice nothing else would help.
Gokarna didn’t give up. He continued searching for a remedy and eventually Lord Sun advised him to perform Bhagavatha Saptaham. Surya told Gokarna that if Dundukari listened to the Saptaham, he would be cleansed of his sins and become eligible for Moksha or eternal liberation.
Gokarna started making all the arrangements for the Saptaha. He wanted Dundukari to be able to listen to it. So, he bought a bamboo shoot with 7 nodes and installed it near the stage where he was going to recite Bhagavatham. Dundukari entered this bamboo shoot. As Gokarna recited verses from Bhagavatham, Dundukari listened to it intently. When the first day’s recital was over, one of the nodes of the bamboo shoot burst open. This was a sign that Dundukari had been cleansed of some of his sins. The next evening another node burst open. At the end of the seventh day, the last node too had burst open. Soon, the messengers of Lord Vishnu arrived and they took Dundukari to Vaikunda.
Dundukari was not the only person who listened to that Saptaham. Yet, only he had the fortune to reach Viakunda. Not even Gokarna who recited the verses could achieve Mokha. Why? Because Dundukari listened with intense devotion. He had a desperate yearning to be relieved of his sufferings. There are two takeaways from this story. First, no matter how many sins you commit, you are never doomed for good. Liberation is possible if you yearn for it. Second, Moksha is possible only when you feel that unquenchable thirst for union with Narayana.