Even one who is utterly destitute, but devoted to Mādhava, should perform the Vibhūti Dvādaśī vow for two years, worshipping with flowers. Whoever observes this sacred vow in the prescribed manner becomes free from sin and delivers a hundred ancestors from suffering. For a hundred thousand births, such a person is not subject to the fruits of sorrow; neither disease, nor poverty, nor bondage afflict them—whether they are devotees of Vishnu or Shiva, this holds true in every birth. For one hundred and eight thousand ages, O Brahman, they dwell in heaven, and then again become a king on earth. In the ancient Rāthantara kalpa, there lived a king named Puṣpavāhana, renowned among the worlds, whose brilliance was like the sun. Through his austerity, O Nārada, he pleased the Four-faced One, Brahmā, who granted him a golden lotus able to travel wherever the king wished. Accompanied by all his people and city-dwellers, Puṣpavāhana freely roamed the islands and the world of the gods as he desired. At the beginning of the kalpa, he inhabited the seventh island, which, honored in the world, came to be called Puṣkara Island. Because Brahmā gave him a lotus as his vehicle, both gods and demons called him Puṣpavāhana. Nothing was inaccessible to him in the three worlds, owing to the power of his austerity while seated on Brahmā’s lotus. His wife, Lāvaṇyavatī, was unrivaled, surrounded by thousands of women, and most beloved of Bhava, like Pārvatī herself. He had ten thousand sons, all righteous and foremost among archers. Observing all this grandeur, the king was repeatedly amazed. When he saw the eminent sage, son of Pracetas, who had arrived, Puṣpavāhana spoke: “Why has this pure glory arisen, honored by gods and mortals, victorious over all? Why do I, with little austerity, possess as wife the most beautiful among all women, and this lotus-palace given to me by the Creator, O chief of sages? Even if a hundred million kings with their ministers, elephants, chariots, and hosts of people enter it, no one knows where they have gone—just as the moon disappears among the stars shining in the sky. Therefore, what is the cause of all this—whether from my own actions, or those of my sons, or of this lady? Tell me, O Pracetas, what is the auspicious reason for these complete results?” The sage, observing the extraordinary and wondrous events that had occurred to the king, spoke: “In a former birth, you were born in a family of hunters, exceedingly harsh, committing sinful acts every day. Your body then was human, but joined with the limbs of animals, surrounded by foul-smelling serpents. You had no friends, sons, relatives, father, sister, or mother—thus you were cursed. The woman you loved most turned away from you, O king, becoming extremely hostile, like a terrible drought. Sometimes, tormented by hunger, you found nothing—no grain, fruit, or meat. Then you saw a great lake filled with lotuses, though its banks were muddy. Taking many lotuses from there, you went to the city called Vaidiśa. Wishing to sell those lotuses, you wandered throughout the city, but that day, no one was found to buy them. Exhausted and greatly afflicted by hunger, you sat down with your wife in the courtyard of a house. During the night, you heard a great, auspicious sound. With your wife, you went to where that sound was heard; in the center of a pavilion, you beheld the image of Vishnu. A courtesan named Anangavati, having completed the Vibhūti Dvādaśī vow at the end of the month of Māgha, at the excellent Lavana mountain, informed her teacher, and having adorned a bed with its furnishings, decorated Hrishikesha (Vishnu) with a golden wish-fulfilling tree. Seeing her, you and your wife reflected, ‘What is the use of these lotuses? It is better that Vishnu be adorned.’ Thus, devotion arose in both of you. On that occasion, you worshipped Keshava at Lavana mountain, honoring the bed with heaps of flowers, and the ground everywhere as well. Anangavati, pleased, ordered that three hundred coins of wealth and three hundred garments washed with alkali be given to you. But you did not accept, relying on great virtue. Anangavati then brought four kinds of food for you and said, ‘Please eat this, O king.’ But you declined, saying, ‘O beautiful one, because of this observance and fasting, today happiness is ours.’ ‘From birth we have been most sinful, engaged in evil deeds with firm resolve; yet, because of this observance, a trace of righteousness has arisen between us, O sinless one.’ Thus, because of that observance, you kept vigil; and in the morning, the bed with Lavana mountain was given. Villages, twelve in number, with devotion to the teacher, and cows with calves, adorned with garments and ornaments, were also given to the Brahmins. Food was shared equally with friends, companions, the poor, the blind, and the miserable; and that greedy couple, having worshipped, were then dismissed. O king of kings, you were that hunter with your wife. Because Keshava was not worshipped with heaps of lotuses, your lotus pavilion, O king, has destroyed all your sins; by the greatness of that virtue, with little austerity, as you wished, the Lord of the worlds, the Four-faced One, was manifested. Janardana in the form of Brahma was satisfied with you. That courtesan Anangavati has now become the wife and co-wife of Kamadeva; it is heard in the world that she is the beloved of Rati, the bringer of joy, worshipped by all the gods. Therefore, O king, abandoning that lotus pavilion on earth, resort to the bank of the Ganga and perform the Vibhūti Dvādaśī vow; you will surely attain liberation. Having said this, the sage vanished there itself; and the king, as instructed, again performed the worship of Puṣpavāhana. O Brahmin, one should observe this unbroken vow, practicing it as best as one can, offering lotuses for twelve consecutive Dvādaśī days. Gifts should be given to Brāhmaṇas according to one’s ability, O sinless one, and one should not act with deceit regarding wealth; Keśava is pleased by devotion.