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Veda Sharma — Second Son of Shiva Sharma, Scholar and Participant in the Pitru Bhakti Trial
Veda Sharma · Second Son of Shiva Sharma of Dwaraka
Veda Sharma is the second of the five sons of Shiva Sharma, a Brahmin Vedic scholar residing in the holy city of Dwaraka, as recorded in the Padma Purana. He and his brothers — Yagna Sharma (eldest), Dharma Sharma (third), Vishnu Sharma (fourth), and Soma Sharma (fifth) — were all distinguished for their scriptural knowledge and their unwavering devotion to their father. Veda Sharma participated in the celebrated Pitru Bhakti trial devised by Shiva Sharma to test his sons' absolute faith and obedience. Beyond his participation in this trial and his position within the family lineage, the available primary sources do not record individual episodes or roles specific to Veda Sharma alone. The specific chapter and verse reference within the Padma Purana has not been confirmed against a critically established edition.
✦ The Name
Veda Sharma takes its first element from the Sanskrit veda, meaning knowledge or that which is known, and referring specifically to the four revealed scriptures — the Rigveda, Yajurveda, Samaveda, and Atharvaveda — which form the foundational canonical corpus of the Hindu tradition. The name identifies this son directly with the sacred knowledge that defined the Brahminical vocation of his family. Sharma is the shared Brahminical honorific of all five brothers.
✦ Lineage
- Father: Shiva Sharma, Veda-Shastra Vidwan and householder of Dwaraka, known for his yogic powers and for the Pitru Bhakti trial through which he tested his five sons.
- Brothers: Yagna Sharma (eldest), Dharma Sharma (third son, whose daughter Iravati became a wife of Chitragupta, the divine scribe of Yama's court), Vishnu Sharma (fourth), and Soma Sharma (fifth).
✦ The Pitru Bhakti Trial
Veda Sharma, along with his four brothers, was subjected to Shiva Sharma's trial of filial devotion, in which their father used maya — the power of illusion — to simulate the death of their mother and issued to each son a command designed to test whether absolute trust in the father's word would hold under conditions of extreme distress and apparent moral contradiction. The tradition records that all five sons demonstrated the highest Pitru Bhakti by complying with their father's commands, and that the merit accumulated through this trial contributed to the divine honour later bestowed upon the family through the marriage of Dharma Sharma's daughter Iravati to Chitragupta. The primary sources do not record the specific nature of the command given to Veda Sharma individually as distinct from those given to his brothers.
✦ References
- Primary Sources
- Padma Purana (specific chapter and verse unconfirmed against a critical edition): Source for the family narrative of Shiva Sharma's five sons and the Pitru Bhakti trial in which Veda Sharma participated.
- Secondary and Reference Sources
- Kamakoti.org, summary of Padma Purana material (web resource): Secondary compilation used pending verification against a primary edition.