Chapter 73 - Karabheśvara (karabha-īśvara-liṅga)

[Sanskrit text for this chapter is available]

Note: King Vīraketu of Ayodhyā once, while hunting, was deluded by a camel which the king shot with an arrow. When he could not trace him, the sages told him that the camel was Dharmadhvaja of Haihaya family, who was cursed to be a camel and he will be absolved of the curse when he would be shot at and wounded by King Vīraketu and that the camel had gone to Mahākālavana. Vīraketu reached Mahākālavana only to find Dharmadhvaja (the camel) who, while going to heaven, thanked him for relieving him from beast-hood. The Liṅga being associated with a camel (Dharmadhvaja) came to be known as Karabheśvara.

Śrī Hara said:

1. O lady of excellent countenance, know the Karabheśa Liṅga as the seventy-third deity. Merely by seeing it, birth in base womb can be averted.

2-9. There was an intelligent king of Ayodhyā named Vīraketu. He was full of the nectar of learning, humility, conjugal bliss and exquisite physical charm. He efficiently protected his subjects like his own bosom-born sons. His mind perfectly dwelt on the knowledge of past and future.

One day, the king went to a dense forest infested with deer, elephants and lions and crowded with tigers and Saṃbaras (species of elks). The destroyer of the warriors of the enemy killed different kinds of wild animals—deer, buffaloes and boars in thousands. The entire forest teeming with beasts, birds and antelopes became fully agitated. The entire forest was rendered bereft of all beasts of prey by that king. When beasts of prey could not be seen in that dense forest, the king pierced a Karabha (a camel) with an arrow bent at the joints. But, O goddess, though he had been hit, that Karabha took away the arrow with him quickly. He slipped away even as the king stood watching. The mighty king rushed after the Karabha immediately. The flat-footed camel ran down the sloping region, O goddess, many Yojanas in a short while.

10-20. On account of his youthful spirit and the strength of his heart, the king on his horse pursued him, equipped with a bow and a sword. The king followed the wild beast crossing all the fordable rivers and streams, puddles and forests. The camel too, O goddess, sometimes came within the reach of the king but immediately sped away very quickly. Hit, agitated by manv arrows from behind and from the sides, the Karabha now and then came near him. Picking up speed again, he was seen at the sides now but soon in front.

Then entering an extremely terrible forest the Karabha quickly disappeared. The king entered deep into the forest. Proceeding further, the king came to a hermitage of sages. Finding his horse tired, he sat down.

On seeing the king armed with a bow but fatigued and hungry, the sages approached him and honoured him duly. Accepting the hospitality offered by them duly, the king enquired of them whether their penance and pious rites flourished. Responding to the words of the king suitably, the ascetics and the sages asked him about the purpose he had in view.

“O gentle Sir, what special pleasure made you come to this penance grove? O leader of men, you have come on foot with a sword on your person and holding a bow and arrows. O bestower of honour, we wish to know this. Whence have you come? In which family are you born? What is your name? Tell us, O king.”

21-42. Thereupon the king, the leader of men, told all those Brāhmaṇas everything truthfully regarding his family and Gotra:

“O eminent Brāhmaṇas, I am Vīraketu born of the Ikṣvāku family. I am wandering here and there hunting herds of deer in thousands. I had come accompanied by a great army as well as attendants and ministers. When I did not come across a deer, boar, buffalo, cittala, rabbit, or elk in the dense forest, a Karabha was hit with an arrow having curved joints. Even as I was watching he vanished in a moment taking away the arrow with him. Pursuing him as he sped away, I have come to this forest by chance. Having lost my splendour and hope and having become emaciated due to fatigue, I have come to you all. Indeed, ascetics are omniscient ones. Everything is known to you. You are esteemed ones. Hence I am putting this doubt for clarification. Where has that Karabha hit by me with an arrow gone? Where can I get at it? Do tell me with precision.”

Thereupon Sage Ṛṣabha, the most excellent one of all those sages, recollected that Karabha, O goddess, and spoke thus: “O king, that Karabha has gone to that splendid Mahākālavana where in order to amuse Devas Lord Mahādeva adopted the form of a Karabha formerly and remained in the form of a Liṅga to the west of Kṣetrapāla of Kailāśa. O king, near it is Vighneśa named Modakapriya. O king, he was worshipped by Brahmā for the accomplishment of the task of Devas. Once king Dharmadhvaja, a scion of the family of Haihayas, was carried off by his horse to Badarikāśrama, famous in the three worlds as the hermitage of Nara and Nārāyaṇa. There, O mighty king, he saw a lean Brāhmaṇa clad in deerskin. His body was peculiar, unlike that of any other man. It was wrong on the part of the king who laughed at him. Thereupon the excellent king was cursed by the Brāhmaṇa: ‘Since you laugh at me, you will surely become a camel with hanging lips and teeth, ugly and deformed and awful in voice.’

The king pleaded to the Brāhmaṇa. He was pleased and pacified. He spoke thus: ‘O king, my words cannot be untrue. Certainly you will become a Karabha, but later on you will attain liberation, when you turn out to be a Karabha and become hit by Vīraketu, the king of Ayodhyā. After being hit by an arrow, you will go to the divine Mahākālavana. By seeing the Liṅga there you will attain the great region where there is Lord Maheśvara. That mighty Vīraketu born of Ikṣvāku race will attain Emperorship as a result of seeing the Liṅga.’ On being told thus, O king, that king became a Karabha. It is he whom you hit with an arrow bent at the joints. You will see him seated in the aerial chariot after being liberated by seeing the Liṅga.”

On being told thus by the Brāhmaṇa Ṛṣabha, the king (Vīraketu) hastened to the auspicious Mahākālavana.

43-52. There he saw the Liṅga always adored by Devas. In the meantime, that king heard a voice sweetly uttered by the Karabha seated in an aerial chariot: “O king, look at me (seated) in the splendid aerial chariot held aloft. The greatest goal has been acquired by me by seeing this Liṅga. I was hit by you with an arrow. Then I came into the forest near this Liṅga, Hence you are my great kinsman.” After saying this to the king in a sweet voice, O goddess, he went to the greatest region, eternal, immutable and everlasting. Thereupon groups of Devas, Kinnaras, great Serpents, Yakṣas, Rākṣasas, Gandharvas, Piśācas, celestial damsels, Devas, chief of whom were Brahmā, Indra and Viṣṇu—all these arrayed themselves in the sky. Eager to see the wonderful thing, they joyously came there.

On seeing the liberated Karabha shining and seated in the aerial chariot as a result of seeing the Liṅga, they eulogized it with different kinds of prayers. The crown was blazing refulgently with many excellent jewels. It had the brilliance of a crore of Suns. It delighted the whole universe. After observing the excellent greatness the Devas assigned a name to it. “Since the Karabha was liberated by seeing the Liṅga, it will undoubtedly be well-known as Karabheśvara in all the three worlds. It shall rid devotees of birth in brutish wombs.”

53-61. After saying thus, all the Devas went to their respective abodes. Vīraketu, the heroic Lord of Ayodhyā, went to his palace and then ruled unrivalled the flourishing kingdom.

One who visits the Liṅga named Karabheśvara, O goddess, proceeds to the everlasting worlds adored by the Lords of Gaṇas. The great Rājarājeśvara who comes here shall become the sole emperor of the earth and attain salvation in due course. Even if people see the Karabheśvara Liṅga incidentally, they will never experience misery, ailment, grief or fear. O goddess, by seeing Karabheśvara one gets more benefit than what is expected from all the Yajñas and all the Dānas. Ailments never harass him nor poverty at any time. By seeing the Liṅga unparalleled prosperity accrues to them. Those who have attained brutish womb, the miserable Pitṛs, stand in the sky thinking about a member to be born of their Gotra. ‘When will our great-great-grandson among our successors see the Lord of the Devas named Karabheśvara? Thereby, merely by seeing the Lord, we will certainly attain salvation. Whatever may be the desire with which he sees, he will realize it. After death he will attain the greatest goal.’

62. Thus the sin-destroying power of Karabheśvara Deva has been recounted to you, O goddess. Listen to that of Rājasthaleśvara.