Chapter 71 - Prayāgeśvara (prayāga-īśvara-liṅga)

[Sanskrit text for this chapter is available]

Note: The story of the marriage of Śāntanu and Gaṅgā and her leaving him when he obstructed her when she was about to throw the eighth child (Bhīṣma) into Gaṅgā is given in Mahābhārata Ādi, chapters 96-99. Skanda Purāṇa uses the story to make Gaṅgā come to Prayāgeśvara at Mahākālavana, an episode not known to Mahābhārata.

1. Know that the seventy-first deity is the Liṅga named Prayāgeśvara and that it is without a second (i.e. matchless) and destructive of great sins.

2-8. In Vaivasvata Manvantara, in Dvāpara Yuga, there was a glorious king named Śāntanu in the city of Hastināpura. He was wonderfully endowed with great power. He was a young man with adamantine physical frame. He was a master of all Śāstras and an adept in all the arts. He was on a par with Viṣṇu in strength and in brilliance. He was comparable to the Sun. Once hat mighty king wandered alone near Gaṅgā resorted to by Siddhas and Cāraṇas. Accompanied by a large army and vehicles, he went to a dense forest with hundreds of horses and elephants. He sportingly killed deer and tigers. The excellent king killed buffaloes, (wild) horses and boars.

Once, in the forest, he saw a most excellent lady resplendent in her body like another Goddess Lakṣmī. He was struck with wonder and he experienced horripilation of joy at the sight of her wealth of physical beauty. He appeared as if to drink her with his eyes but was never satiated.

9-17. On seeing the king of great lustre moving about, the graceful lady felt extremely overwhelmed with love and she too never felt satiated. In soft conciliatory words, the king enquired: “Are you a goddess, a Dānavī, a Gandharvī, or an Apsaras? Are you a Yakṣī or Pannagī or a human being, O lady of excellent waistline? O lady having the softness of the inner core of a lotus, O splendid lady, I beg you to be my wife.”

On hearing these words of the king softly and sweetly presented, O goddess, she assçnted but requested the king to abide by conditions. “If I am restrained or if something I do not like, is done, I will undoubtedly leave you. O king, I am never to be asked: ‘Who are you? Whose are you? etc.’” The king said, “So be it.” The king was secretly glad at her truthfulness, good behaviour, excellent habits and conduct, good qualities of beauty and magnanimity and readiness to serve.

Indeed she was the divine Gaṅgā, the river of triple path, in the form of a goddess. Adopting human guise, the lady of excellent complexion gave pleasure to the glorious king so much so that he did not realize the many months, seasons and years that passed by on account of his attachment to the pleasure, as he was captivated by the qualities of an excellent lady (which she had).

18-27. Sporting about with her as he pleased, the king begot of her eight sons of divine complexion. As and when a son was born, she used to throw him into the sacred current of Gaṅgā saying, “I please you for the sake of your liberation.” This was not to the liking of King Śāntanu but he did not say anything then to the fair lady, because he was afraid of her leaving him.

When the eighth son was born the distressed king, seeking to retain his own son, said to her when she appeared to be in a laughing mood: “Do not kill (the child). Who are you? Whose are you? Why do you kill the sons? Do not incur the great sin of inflicting injury on your own son. O despicable woman, stop.”

Gaṅgā said:

O most excellent one among those blessed with sons, I too love the son. I will not kill your son. My stay here has come to an end in accordance with the condition stipulated. I am Gaṅgā, the daughter of Jaḥnu, served and attended upon by great sages. I spent my days with you for the task of Devas. These are the divine eight Vasus of great power, excessively awe-inspiring. It was on account of the curse of Vaśiṣṭha that they were born as human beings. There is no one on the earth except you who could bring them forth. No mortal woman can ever be a mother like me. Hence I adopted a human form for the sake of their conception. Hail unto you! I shall go, O king of great holy observances. Protect the son.

28-38. After having said this, the lady in human form began to lament as she was deluded by the Māyā of Viṣṇu. “What a pity! The sons were killed by me, a wicked one. Out of delusion the boys were cast into water. Alas! My dear children, Oh my sons, Oh my sons, where have you gone forsaking me? How is it that my heart is not torn asunder! When will these come themselves crying piteously ‘Oh mother, Oh mother’? When will I embrace my sons with affection saying, ‘Dear child! Dear child!’ When will the limb of which son coming into contact with the tawny dusty particles of the ground spoil my lap and upper cloth? These dear children who were born out of my limbs, these who delight minds and hearts have been killed and taken to their death by me, the mother. Having perpetrated this hideous job what will be the worlds I will be going to? How can I, a merciless slaughterer of sons, be meritorious once again?” Thus she cried piteously again and again and fell into a swoon onto the ground, distressed and motionless.

In the meantime, O fair lady, Nārada, the excellent sage, reflected thus on hearing suddenly the sound of her lamentation and went near her. In surprise his eyes became dilated, ‘What is this? This Gaṅgā, the daughter of Jahnu, the holy one revered by Devas, the river of triple path, the meritoriously divine queen of the Ocean! Why does she cry in agitation in her mortal form?’

39-49. After thinking thus, Sage Nārada, the son of Brahmā, came near the lamenting Gaṅgā. Stationed in the firmament itself, he spoke to her loudly: “Obeisance to you, O goddess Gaṅgā. I am Nārada, O highly meritorious and holy one. Why do you weep? You are well-known as the daughter of Himālaya Mountain resorted to by Devas and Gandharvas. You have been held on his head by Śiva, the Parameṣṭhin (Supreme Absolute).” On hearing the words of Nārada and seeing the great sage seated in an aerial chariot, the celestial river said; “O Nārada, due to delusion, despicable (sinful) deed has been committed by me. Very great sin has been incurred by me knowingly. Seven sons were killed by me. As brought about by fate, my separation from Samudra (Ocean) took place and I became the wife of a man. Sons were born to me and they were killed too. Hence I lamented, deeply immersed in the sea of grief. Tell me, O celestial sage, whereby can I become meritorious once again?”

On hearing her words, Nārada, the excellent sage of pure soul, who could know the events of the three divisions of time, spoke to Gaṅgā these words.

Nārada said:

O divine one worthy of being revered by the whole universe! Has the sacred condition of the Devas been forgotten? O fair lady, it was promised by you for the cause of the liberation of the Vasus. Those Vasus have regained their worlds, with your favour, O lady of excellent vows. O goddess, Śāntanu is remembered as Samudra himself, whose incarnation was caused by you alone.

On hearing these words of the noble-souled Nārada, the holy Gaṅgā of triple path replied to the great sage:

50-60. “O holy Brāhmaṇa! What you say is the truth. Now I have understood everything. But I have become enchanted because of the human birth that I have had. I became afraid of the accusations and insinuations. Hence I sought refuge in you. May proper advice be given to me! Let an excellent holy spot be mentioned to me.”

Nārada said:

O worthy one deserving the veneration of the universe, has the agreement entered into with the Devas been forgotten, when you say, O goddess bestowing merit, that you are afraid of the accusations and insinuations? You are asking me about the greatest spot. Listen, I shall tell you, O lady of excellent vows. Avantī has been mentioned as the eternal one (place) lasting for seven Kalpas. There your companion Śiprā, the perpetual favourite of Brāhmaṇas, is always present. On the banks of the same there is the auspicious Liṅga to the south of Durddharṣeśvara. It is worthy of adoration of the Devas and it is resorted to by all the Tīrthas. Merely by perceiving it, you will have your purpose achieved. Hence go, O excessively meritorious Gaṅgā resorted to by the celestial sages.

On being told thus by the noble-souled Nārada, the river of triple path and of great merit, went there and saw her companion Śiprā. Getting into a confluence with her and having seen the highly sacred Liṅga, she adored it with great emotional fervour and remained there for a long time.

Then the divine Yamunā, the daughter of Sūrya, the destroyer of sins, came there affectionately where Gaṅgā was present. The goddess saw Gaṅgā meditating on Śiva, Śaṅkara. She too remained there adoring the great Śiva. Then, at the same time Sarasvatì, the Prācīdevī, came there well-concealed into the waters of Gaṅgā and Yamunā.

61-70. In the meantime, O goddess, Nārada spoke to Śakra: “Prayāga who had gone to Mahākālavana is not to be seen. The holy spot between Gaṅgā and Yamunā where Sarasvatì too is present in a concealed form should be known as Prayāga, the destoyer of all sins. Now for some reason not known to me, Prayāga has gone to the excellent Mahākālavana.”

On hearing these words of the noble-souled Nārada, all of them accompanied by Śakra went to Avantī eulogizing the splendid Gaṅgā of triple path by means of different kinds of prayers: “O Goddess Gaṅgā, O destroyer of all sins, obeisance to you. O goddess, you are the mother of Vasus and also the bestower of salvation on Vasus. You always sanctify the three worlds and you are held on his head by Hara. You are attended upon by Vālakhilyas and you are the supreme Kalā of Kṛṣṇa. O Yamuna, we bow down to you, O Kālindī, the most excellent river; O goddess, you are the sanctifying goddess, the daughter of Mārtaṇḍa, the Lord of Divas (heaven, day). O goddess Śiprā, O auspicious one originating from the body of Brahmā, obeisance to you. You alone are the well-known Prācī, the Sarasvatī of meritorious body. She who is Prācī in Kurukṣetra and Puṣkara and Mahālaya is famous as Śiprā, the destroyer of all sins. You are Dayā (Mercy) unto all creatures. You are the heaven, the refuge of men. You are the mother unto all creatures. You are sung about on the earth as Prācī.

71-83. On seeing the stain of the sins of many births of the embodied beings on the earth, O goddess, you wash it off, stationed in all the three worlds. The confluence of these is remembered as Prayāga by learned men. The deity installed and bathed by you all, after coming here, will from today be named Prayāgeśvara and well-known in all the three worlds. The deity when remembered is destructive of sins.

Those who come here and see Prayāgeśvara will become contented and blessed, devoid of all sins. The family of their mothers and fathers will become redeemed by them. By visiting Prayāgeśvara, the benefit of the four aims of life will be acquired through the merit that is three times more than that of Gaṅgā.

By seeing Prayāgeśvara merely for a period of a month, the Siddhi achieved shall be on a par with that attained in the course of twelve years by visiting these shrines: Prayāga on Gaṅgā, the auspicious Devadāruvana, Naimiṣa, Puṣkara, Śrīśaila, Tripuṣkara, Tryaṃbaka, Dhautapāpa, Bhairava, Mahendra, Gokarṇa and the confluence, named Suvarṇa, of Revā and Kapilā.

If the devotees visit devoutly the Liṅga named Prayāgeśvara after performing the requisite observances on the eighth and fourteenth lunar days in particular, they will never come back (to worldly life) even after hundreds and crores of Kalpas. The Liṅga will be the bestower of pleasures (while one is) on the earth as well as salvation. There shall be three Kalpas (units, aspects) in this splendid Liṅga that bestows salvation. They are Gaṅgā, Yamunā and Prācī that destroy all sins.”

After saying thus, Gaṅgā, Yamunā and Sarasvatī were eulogized by the Devas with prostrations. Then they went to their own places. After adoring and eulogizing the Liṅga named Prayāgeśvara by means of different kinds of prayers, the delighted Devas headed by Śakra went to Svarga.

84. Thus, O goddess, the sin-destroying power of Prayāgeśvara Deva has been recounted to you. Listen to the story of Candrādityeśvara.