Chapter 236 - Greatness of Durvāsāditya (Durvāsa-āditya)

[Sanskrit text for this chapter is available]

Īśvara said:

1-3. Thereafter, O great goddess, a devotee should go to the excellent shrine of Durvāsāditya where penance was performed by sage Durvāsas for a period of a thousand years without taking any food. Eager for the propitiation of the Sun-god, he completely subdued the desire for food.

After the lapse of a long time, the Sun-god of divine splendour, the Lord protector of People, appeared personally before the great sage and said:

Sūrya said:

O Brāhmaṇa, do not be rash. O sage of excellent holy rites, choose your boon. I shall grant you whatever has been cherished in your mind even if it be inaccessible and rare.

Durvāsas said:

4-6. O Lord, if you are pleased, if I desire any boon, you must stay here in this spot as long as this world exists.

Let a beautiful icon of yours installed by me here become famous in the world after my name as Durvāsāditya.

O Lord of the universe, let there be your presence therein. So also let your daughter Yamunā be present. So also, your son of great splendour, the mighty Dharmarāja (Yama).

Sūrya said:

7-8. O excellent sage, all this sought by you shall take place. O great sage, another crore of the Tīrthas beginning with Gaṅgā, shall certainly come to your holy spot at my bidding. O holy Brāhmaṇa, I shall also be present in this spot along with Devas.

9. Aided by their greatness as well as the might of the Ādityas residing within the Cosmic Egg, O great sage, I shall be present here.

10. At the vision of Durvāsāditya, one shall get crore times the merit obtained when a thousand Savitṛs (Sun-gods) are viewed.

11. All living beings shall earn that merit and also the merit of a crore of Yajñas.

After saying thus, Sūrya remembered his daughter and also Dharmarāja, the controller of all living beings.

12. Immediately after being remembered, she pierced through the surface of the nether-worlds and rose up in the form of a river accompanied by a crore of Tīrthas.

13. Lord Yama too, holding the Kāladaṇḍa (Staff of Death) came out. Both of them told Sūrya, the witness unto the universe, with great feelings of affection.

Yama said:

14. May the Lord of the universe command me and Yamunā too. Undoubtedly I shall carry out the task necessary for the inevitable future.

Sūta (Sūrya?) said:

15-19. At my bidding you must stay here in this holy spot in your own form. Assiduously you must guard living beings and sinners. All householder Brāhmaṇas, devotees of the Sun-god, should always be protected.

O Yamunā, you too stay here, delighted in this holy spot originated by Durvāsas. You shall be in the company of a crore of Tīrthas.

After saying thus in the presence of Durvāsas the Lord of Devas vanished even as all the Devas were watching.

While the delighted Durvāsas was surveying his hermitage, Yamunā issued forth through the path of Pātāla. The delighted Lord Yama was also present there assuming the form of Kṣetrapa (Guardian of the holy spot).

Īśvara said:

20-22. It was in this manner that the Kuṇḍa of Yamunā originated there. It is to the south of Āditya (i.e. Durvāsāditya) and Dundubhi is to the east. It is the Kṣetrapāla, O great goddess, because he had the sound of Dundubhi (a drum).

If a devotee takes his holy bath in the great Kuṇḍa and offers libation to the Pitṛs, the grandfathers will be pleased for fifteen years. Rice-balls offered shall gratify the Pitṛs. There is no doubt about this that those who are in Naraka will become liberated.

23. A devotee who controls himself and worships Durvāsāditya on the seventh day in the bright half of the month of Māgha, shall become relieved of the sin of Brāhmaṇa-slaughter.

24. In the month of Mādhava, after taking holy bath in the Yamunākuṇḍa, the man (the devotee) should devoutly worship Ravi (Sun-god) who is the ornament unto firmament.

25. He should read (recite) the Thousand Names in the vicinity of Durvāsāditya. The man (the creature) shall become liberated even if he were a Brāhmaṇa-slayer.

26. Who will not worship the deity, the Sun-god named Durvāsāditya, the destroyer of all sins, and who is the most auspicious of all auspicious things!

27. O my beloved, there is no danger or fear that does not get dispelled by viewing the deity, Durvāsāditya, there.

28. All desires become realized whatever may be wished for. The deity accords the gain of a son unto even barren women. It destroys the terror of all those who are afraid.

29. The vision of Durvāsāditya bestows prosperity on the impoverished ones. It is the greatest antidote for lepers. It dispels (the effect of) malefic Planets and Rākṣasas (spirits) of all children. It suppresses great sins.

30. A golden horse should be gifted to a Brāhmaṇa well-versed in the Vedas with the Sun-god in view, O fair lady, which is as meritorious as though the entire earth is donated as a religious gift.

31. A man who worships Lord Kṣetrapāla, Dundubhi, shall become endowed with sons, cattle, intellect and prosperity.

32-33. O lady of excellent complexion, he will not have the threefold fear (bodily, caused by gods and those caused by living beings). There is not even half a Gavyūti there, where the name of Ravi is not remembered. No creature devoid of devotion to the Sun-god can enter that holy spot. Thus, O goddess, the greatness of the Sun-god has been told.