Maharishi Kardama

At a glance

• Name & meaning: Kardama (कर्दम) — literally "clay" or "mud", the earth from which things are shaped; a fitting name for a Prajapati charged with bringing forth creatures.
• Category: Maharshi and Prajapati.
• Father: Brahma — the Bhagavata Purana says Kardama was born from Brahma's shadow (chhaya).
• Spouse: Devahuti, daughter of Svayambhuva Manu and Shatarupa.
• Children: nine daughters, who married the great rishis, and one son, the sage Kapila.
• Associated places: his ashram on the Sarasvati at Bindu Sarovar, traditionally identified with Bindu Sarovar at Sidhpur in Gujarat.
• Source: chiefly the Bhagavata Purana, Book 3, chapters 21 to 24.
• Best known for: his tapas and vision of Vishnu, his marriage to Devahuti, and fathering Kapila.

Birth and family background

The Bhagavata Purana (3.12) lists the beings Brahma brought forth at the start of creation and the parts of his body they came from. Kardama is said to come from Brahma's shadow. Like the other early Prajapatis he has no mother, and from the start he is given one task: to have children and people the world.

His family matters far beyond himself. Through his marriage to Devahuti, Kardama became the son-in-law of Svayambhuva Manu, the first man. Through his nine daughters he became the father-in-law of the great seers. Many of the most famous figures in Hindu tradition are his grandchildren: Kashyapa, Dattatreya, Durvasa, Brihaspati and others.

Life and key episodes

Tapas on the Sarasvati and the tears of Vishnu

Told by Brahma to beget children, Kardama went to the bank of the Sarasvati and performed austerities for ten thousand years. Vishnu appeared to him, riding Garuda, and promised that Svayambhuva Manu would soon arrive with his daughter to offer her in marriage, and that Vishnu himself would be born as their son. The Bhagavata (3.21) says that tears of compassion fell from the Lord's eyes as he spoke, and the lake they formed was called Bindu Sarovar — "the lake of drops".

Marriage to Devahuti

Manu came as foretold, with his queen Shatarupa and their daughter Devahuti, who had set her heart on Kardama after hearing of his virtues from Narada. Kardama agreed to the marriage on one condition: once she had borne children, he would take sannyasa. Devahuti served him with such devotion that she grew thin and frail. When he saw this, Kardama used his yogic power to create a flying palace of many storeys, and she was restored to youth and beauty when she bathed in Bindu Sarovar. The two travelled through the worlds in it for many years.

Nine daughters and a son

Devahuti bore nine daughters. When Kardama prepared to leave as he had promised, she asked him who would free her from fear of the world. He told her that Vishnu himself would soon be born to her. The child was Kapila. After giving his daughters in marriage to the great sages, Kardama asked Kapila's leave and went away as a renunciant, meditating on the Lord in his heart until he attained him. Later Kapila taught his mother the Sankhya and bhakti teaching that the Bhagavata calls the Kapila Gita.

Achievements and contributions

• Father of Kapila: through his son he stands at the source of Sankhya, one of the six classical darshanas.
• The great marriage alliance: his daughters' marriages join the lines of Marichi, Atri, Angiras, Pulastya, Pulaha, Kratu, Bhrigu, Vasishtha and Atharvan in one family.
• A model householder-turned-renunciant: the Bhagavata presents him as fulfilling every stage of life in order — student, ascetic, householder, and finally sannyasi.

Why he is revered today

Kardama is remembered above all at Bindu Sarovar in Sidhpur, Gujarat, which tradition identifies as the lake of the Bhagavata story and the place where Kapila taught Devahuti. It is one of India's few places for matru shraddha, rites performed specifically for one's mother, a practice connected with Devahuti's liberation there. Readers of the Bhagavata also know him as the sage at the start of the Kapila Gita, the father whose leaving made room for the son's teaching.

Variant traditions and a historical note

Kardama's full story belongs to the Bhagavata Purana; other Puranas mention him more briefly as a Prajapati. The Vishnu Purana, for instance, gives several of the great sages different wives (often daughters of Daksha rather than Kardama), so the list of nine marriages is specifically the Bhagavata's. The identification of the Bhagavata's Bindu Sarovar with the lake at Sidhpur is a living tradition rather than something the text itself states.

Frequently asked questions

Who was Kardama Rishi?

A Prajapati born from Brahma, husband of Devahuti and father of the sage Kapila, whose story is told in the third book of the Bhagavata Purana.

Who was Kardama's wife?

Devahuti, the daughter of Svayambhuva Manu and Shatarupa.

What were the names of Kardama's nine daughters?

Kala (married to Marichi), Anasuya (Atri), Shraddha (Angiras), Havirbhu (Pulastya), Gati (Pulaha), Kriya (Kratu), Khyati (Bhrigu), Arundhati (Vasishtha) and Shanti (Atharvan), according to the Bhagavata Purana.

Who was Kardama's son?

Kapila, the sage counted among Vishnu's avatars in the Bhagavata and remembered as the founder of Sankhya.

How was Bindu Sarovar formed?

According to the Bhagavata, it was formed by the tears that fell from Vishnu's eyes when he appeared to Kardama after his long tapas on the Sarasvati.

Where is Kardama's ashram?

The Bhagavata places it on the Sarasvati at Bindu Sarovar. Tradition identifies this with Bindu Sarovar at Sidhpur in Patan district, Gujarat.

Why is Sidhpur known for matru shraddha?

Because it is linked with Devahuti, who attained liberation after her son Kapila taught her there. Shraddha for one's mother is performed at Bindu Sarovar for this reason.