Chapter 13 - The Greatness of Kapoteśa and Bilveśvara

[Sanskrit text for this chapter is available]

Note: Kapoteśa is at Chandanpur (Puri) and Bilveśa on the seashore to the east of Gundicā house.

The sages enquired:

1. It behoves you to recount to us why this site of Kapoteśa became famous, O great sage. Who Kapota was and who was the Lord, O great sage?

Jaimini replied:

2. Formerly Kuśasthalī became inhospitable for habitation of creatures because it was fully overgrown with Kuśa grass having keen edges and thorns.

3-4. It was devoid of trees. It had no water-reservoirs. It was like an abode of Piśācas (ghosts). Formerly no Deva other than the Lord (Viṣṇu) was worshipped. A desire to compete with (Viṣṇu) and a feeling of rivalry arose in Dhūrjaṭi (Śiva) who thought, ‘Let me too be worshipped’. Thinking thus he turned his mind to the devotion of the same Viṣṇu.

5-8. ‘I shall propitiate Hari by resorting to a very great penance, staying in a place devoid of all objects. I shall have no personal possessions. What is it that I should speak to the Lord of Ramā? What can be the eulogy for Śāradāpati(?)? What else can give satisfaction to the deity who is the lord of the whole universe? Hence no external thing can be of any use to him. Therefore, I shall adopt Antaryāga (‘Internal sacrifice’ i.e. Mātṛkā Nyāsa etc.) with a pure mind. I shall propitiate Hari, the sire of mobile and immobile beings, the Lord who offers his own soul unto the devotees. By his grace I shall be worthy of being worshipped by all.’

9-10. Thinking thus in his mind, he went to the holy spot Kuśasthalī. He performed a very severe penance near Nīla mountain. Maheśvara avoided all Dvandvas (i.e. pairs of opposites e.g. heat-cold, pleasure-pain). He took in only air. Eight-formed^[1] though he was, the Lord was reduced to the size of a dove.

11. The delighted Lord granted him supremacy, so that he became equal (to Viṣṇu) in respect of worship, reverence etc.

12. By the power of his penance that holy spot became one comparable to Vṛndāvana, the forest near Gokula. Its interior was rendered splendid by lakes, ponds, reservoirs and rivers.

13. It was full of different kinds of trees and creepers (laden) with fruits and flowers of all seasons. It was resonant with the humming sounds of bees inebriated with honey.

14-15. It was full of different kinds of flocks of birds. It was a comfortable place of resort for all creatures. Since by means of his penance Śiva became (small) like a dove, he came to be called Kapoteśvara^[2] at the behest of Murāri (Viṣṇu). It is at his bidding that the Three-eyed Lord always stays here along with Mṛḍānī (Pārvatī).

16. Those who worship, eulogize and bow down to Kapoteśa shall get rid of all their sins and attain Puruṣottama.

17-22. Henceforth I shall narrate the greatness of Bilveśa, O Brāhmaṇas.

Formerly Daityas who were the residents of Pātāla pierced through the surface of the earth and began to harass Bhūrloka. They used to devour people.

When the Lord incarnated as the son of Devakī in order to reduce the burden on the earth, and protected the earth along with the Yādavas and the Pāṇḍavas, he once came to that spot.

He took his bath in the water of the Tīrtharāja (the ocean) and paid obeisance to Nīla Mādhava from a great distance mentally. Then he came to the entrance (of the abode of) Daityas.

He found that the underground passage was awful and impenetrable for human beings. He deluded the worlds with wrong notions (?) and desirous of spreading (the idea of) the venerability of Śiva, he took up a fruit of a Bilva tree and invoked the Three-eyed Lord there. After worshipping the Destroyer of the Puras, Śrīkṛṣṇa eulogized him.

Śrī Bhagavān prayed:

23. Obeisance to you, O Lord beyond the three Guṇas, O Lord who divides the three Guṇas, O Lord, embodiment of the three Vedas, O Lord beyond the three (Vedas). Obeisance to the knower of the three divisions of time (viz. Past, Present and Future).

24. To the Lord with the Moon, the Sun and Fire as eyes, obeisance to the excellent Ātman favourable to Brāhmaṇas. Salute to you, the storehouse of eightfold prosperity, to the eight-formed Lord.

25. Obeisance to the Lord devoid of Tamas, the Lord whose form is beyond darkness, who is immutable and is destructive of darkness and who dispels the darkness of ignorance.

26. After eulogizing his own Ātman by means of his own Ātman, the Lord saw that the passage had become easily penetrable by his favour.

27-29a. Through that passage the Lord went to Pātāla along with his army. There he slew the Daityas who were fierce and powerful and removed the burden (of the earth).

He then came back to the same place. There the Lord worshipped the Bull-emblemed Lord. Desirous of establishing Śiva there in order to block the passage, the highly intelligent Gadādhara (Kṛṣṇa), the Lord who can be won over by devotion, said thus:

29b-33. “O Dhūrjaṭi (Śiva), stay here in the place preventing Asuras from coming out. Who else, O Śaṃbhu, is competent to destroy the army of Rākṣasas?”

After establishing Mahādeva he returned to Dvārakā. Since then Bilveśa became famous on the earth.

O Brāhmaṇas, that Bilveśa is the first creator of the prominent sacred place. By visiting that immutable Lord of Mṛḍānī, the Lord who destroys sins, one shall derive all the desired results. One shall surmount adversity very difficult to cross.

The greatness of Kapoteśa and Bilveśvara has been recounted to you, O sages. Henceforth, what else do you wish to hear?

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

The following are the eight forms of Śiva: (The special name of that form is given in the bracket) 1. Earth (Śarva); 2. Water (Bhava); 3. Fire (Rudra); 4. Wind (Ugra); 5. Ether (Bhīma); 6. The sacrificer i.e. Yajamāna (Paśupati); 7. The Moon (Mahādeva); 8. The Sun (Īśāna).

[2]:

The above is an explanatory legend to support the derivation of the name Kapoteśvara.