Chapter 55 - Kāśīrāja Attains Mokṣa

[Sanskrit text for this chapter is available]

Uttānapāda said:

1-5. On seeing the great efficacy of the Tīrtha, what did King Citrasena do? Where did he stay? What was his food?

Īśvara said:

After climbing on to the Bhṛgutuṅga peak and resorting to the north-eastern quarter the excellent king performed an elaborate penance in the Kuṇḍa there. Then he meditated upon all the Devas, Brahmā, Viṣṇu and Maheśvara and hurled himself down. Presently, Rudra and Keśava appeared before him and held him by the hand. Rudra spoke these words to the king;

Īśvara said:

O great king, do not unnecessarily abandon your life prematurely. You are still very young. It is not proper for you to die now. Hasten back to your abode. Enjoy all desired and desirable pleasures. Like another Śakra of heaven, rule your kingdom free from thorns (enemies).

Citrasena said:

6-12. O Lord, I desire neither the kingdom nor the sons nor kinsmen, neither the wife nor the treasury, neither elephants nor horses. Leave me, leave me, O great Lord, let there be no obstacles put in my way. With your favour, O Maheśvara, heaven has been attained by me today.

Īśvara said:

Of what avail is Svarga unto him, before 'whom there are Brahmā, Viṣṇu and Śaṃbhu? What will he do by going there? We three gods are pleased. Choose an excellent boon as you please. O great king, that shall undoubtedly be true.

Citrasena said:

If you, the three Lords: Brahmā, Viṣṇu and Maheśvara, are pleased, it behoves all the three of you to stay here permanently. In the same way as Gayāśiras has been rendered meritorious by all of you, this Śūlabheda also should be made sacred. I shall stay wherever all the three of you stay. Further, grant me the over-lordship of all the Gaṇas.

Īśvara said:

13-21. O king, we the three Devas, shall stay in Śūlabheda from today onwards in all the three divisions of time by means of a fraction. You shall certainly be the Lord of the Gaṇas. By the name ‘Nandin’ staying near me you shall be worshipped before I am. After your casting off the hones, as Dīrghatapas went to heaven seated in an aerial chariot along with the members of his family, so you too shall do.

Thus, O king, the Devas granted boons to Citrasena and stationed themselves on the top of the Kuṇḍa in the southern quarter. They said to one another, “This is a great meritorious Tīrtha. Just as Gayāśiras has already been cited as meritorious, so also on the banks of Revā this Śūlabheda is undoubtedly meritorious.”

Īśvara said:

This Tīrtha is as meritorious as Gayāśiras. By offering balls of rice and libation even once a man shall attain purity. Excepting only Gayāśiras, O king, no Tīrtha is equal to even a sixteenth fraction of the Śūlabheda Tīrtha. From north to south the Kunda [Kuṇḍa?] extends to ten Hastas and from north-east to west twenty-one Hastas. In regard to the rites of offering balls of rice and the like, that Tīrtha has these dimensions. Those who are engaged in impiety do not get a chance of offering Dāna here.

22-31. Viṣṇu stationed himself in the form of Pitṛ (i.e. father), Brahmā in the form of Pitāmaha (grandfather) and Rudra as Prapitāmaha (great-grandfather). Thus the three deities got themselves stationed, O king. The Pitṛs are always waiting like this: “When will my son visit the Tīrtha? When will he redeem us?” If a devotee takes the holy bath in Śūlabheda and visits but once Śūladhara (Trident-bearing Lord Śiva) he shall not be without sons or wealth for seven births. He will never become sick. He shall redeem twenty-one generations of his father’s family, twenty-one generations of the mother’s family and ten generations of his wife’s family. O king, if a single Brāhmaṇa is fed in the Śūlabheda Vana with even greens, roots and fruits, it amounts to the feeding of ten million persons elsewhere. A devout man who performs Śrāddha at the five spots shall redeem all the members of the family, who have become Pretas (ghosts), with the favour of Brāhmaṇas and deities as well as of the Pitṛs. A person who offers Śrāddha should stay there where Lord Maheśvara is present. If a devotee performs Śrāddha with devotion in that Tīrtha, the following persons shall attain liberation undoubtedly for a Yuga: They are: those who commit suicide, those who have killed cows and Brāhmaṇas, those who have been killed by animals with curved fangs, or drowned in water, or struck down by lightning, those who were not cremated or on whose death Āśauca^[1] was not observed or libation not offered. O king, merely by taking bath all the sins committed through ignorance or childish nature will be dispelled.

32-40. Just as a cloth washed by a washerman becomes pure and clean, so also a sinner who takes his bath in that Tīrtha becomes free from impurities. One who adopts Sannyāsa (life of a recluse) in this Tīrtha in accordance with the injunctions and meditates upon Mahādeva always shall attain the highest position. He shall sport about as he pleases and wishes for in the palace of Śiva and is later born in an auspicious family as one conversant with the principles of the Vedas and Vedāṅgas. He shall be endowed with handsome features and comeliness. He shall be devoid of all ailments. He may be born as a king or prince. He shall be endowed with piety and good conduct. Thus, O king, the excellent benefit of the Tīrtha has been recounted to you. On hearing this a man shall always be rid of all sins.

If one reads this narrative always to leading Brāhmaṇas, at the time of Śrāddha or in a temple during festival days, Devas become pleased with him. So also human beings along with the Pitṛs. All the sins of those who read or listen perish. He who writes the ‘Greatness of the Tīrtha’, and gives it to Brāhmaṇas attains the ability to recollect previous birth and also gets the desired benefit. He shall stay in Rudraloka as long as the written syllables stay on.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Non-performance of auspicious rites due to impurity caused by certain inauspicious happenings such as death etc.