Chapter 38 - The Greatness of Narmadeśvara (narmadā-īśvara-tīrtha)

[Sanskrit text for this chapter is available]

Śrī Mārkaṇḍeya said:

1-12. Therefrom, O great king, one should go to the excellent Tīrtha named Guhāvāsī where Mahādeva spent millions of years as a Siddha staying in a cave.

Yudhiṣṭhira said:

For what reason, O dear one, did Mahādeva, the preceptor of the universe, spend so long a period in the cave, O excellent Brāhmaṇa? O sinless one, narrate this completely in detail to me. I wish to hear everything in full. I am extremely interested.

Śrī Mārkaṇḍeya said:

Excellent! O great king, an excellent question has been put by you. This is fully explained in the Purāṇa. Now that I am pretty old, it is difficult for me to expatiate upon it. It occurred pretty long back. It is a matter of hoary antiquity. Hence I shall succinctly tell you, O dear one. Know it from me.

Formerly, O king, in Kṛtayuga, there was a great forest named Dāruvana. It was overgrown with many trees and creepers. It was splendidly beautified by various tender creepers. It was resorted to by lions, tigers, boars, elephants and rhinoceroses. There were many birds there. It was like the divine park Caitraratha.

There some highly wise men of very severe austerities lived devoutly, strictly adhering to the system of four Āśramas (stages of life), viz. celibate student, householder, retired hermit and recluse. All of them desired the greatest state (Mokṣa). They strictly practised their own respective duties.

Once, during spring, for some undisclosed reason, Mahādeva was proceeding in an aerial chariot along with Umā. There he saw a hermitage in water reverberating with the Ṛk, Sāman and Yajus hymns. The way in and out could not be seen. It was conducive to the destruction of all sins. On seeing it, the goddess was delighted. She asked the Lord of the chiefs of Devas with the moon for his crest jewel, in words choked with excessive delight:

The Devī said:

13-22. O Lord, whose is this hermitage echoing with the sounds of the Vedic texts? On seeing this one becomes rid of all tiresome feelings of hunger, thirst etc.

Maheśvara said:

O goddess, have you not heard about this great Dāruvana? Many Brāhmaṇas dwell here as householders. All the womenfolk there are engaged solely in attending on their husbands. O Daughter of the Mountain, no other deity is known to them. No other sacred duty is practised by them.

On hearing this excellent statement uttered by the Lord of Devas, she became overcome by curiosity and said to Saṅkara again: “O Lord, O Mahādeva, it has been stated by you that the women are engaged in the sacred duty of attending on their husbands. Be like Maḍana (god of love) and upset their fidelity.”

Īśvara said:

O my beloved, I do not approve of what has been spoken by you. Indeed the Brāhmaṇas are great beings. One should not act antagonistically to them or displease them. Anger is the striking weapon of Brāhmaṇas. Discus is the striking weapon of Hari. (Their) Anger is more ruthless than the discus. Hence one should not infuriate a Brāhmaṇa.

Neither Devas nor common people, neither Nāgas nor Asuras in all the three worlds, have survived from being destroyed after being (angrily) looked at by them.

Salvation, Svarga (heavenly pleasure), earthly benefit and welfare in the mortal world all come only to those towards whom the highly esteemed Brāhmaṇas, the deities of the earth, are well-disposed.

By realizing this, O highly esteemed lady, leave your improper insistence on the proposed act. That wherewith Brāhmaṇas become angry is antagonistic to the other world as well.

The goddess said:

23-38. O Lord, the honour of those ladies is highly esteemed by the Suras unless you suppress it and keep it low. I am not your beloved nor am I subservient to you. O Mahādeva, in the Lokāloka there is nothing which cannot be accomplished by you. O most excellent one among Suras, may at least this single task (request) of mine be carried out.

On being told thus by the goddess, Mahādeva who is favourably disposed towards the inclinations and behests of the goddess, adopted the form of a Kāpālika and went to Dāruvana. He adjusted the dishevelled matted hairs and retained only the moon as his crest-jewel and a chain round the neck along with the earrings. He wore the hide of a tiger and was bedecked in girdle and necklaces. He seemed to cause tremor in the earth through the loud jingling sounds of the anklets. The matted hairs were tied up and the great Lord had smeared his body with holy ash. In his hand he retained the skull of the ṇoble-souled Brahmā. He played on his big Ḍamaru (drum) causing the earth to quake. He reached Dāruvana in the morning.

By that time all those meritorious people who desired (to collect) flowers, leaves and fruits went with others. The wind was blowing. On seeing the miraculous form of the Lord, O descendant of Bharata, the minds of those young women became defiled by Kāma (God of Love).

On seeing the splendid male, all those excellent ladies, the womenfolk of Dāruvana, experienced exudation of perspiration in their bodies due to exhilaration.

On seeing the miraculous Lord, there were various types of outbursts of emotional excitement among those ladies, O best of men. (Those wives of the Brāhmaṇas were upset emotionally.) Some of them could not know where their garments were. Others lost their upper garment on seeing the wonderful form of the Lord. They were extremely enchanted and fascinated. The tresses of hairs of some of them got dishevelled. Some stood up from their seats desirous of offering alms but could not even stir. One lady who was overproud of her beauty and youthful form forgot to breast-feed her son lying on her lap. On seeing Mahādeva, another lady became struck by the arrows of Kāma. She pressed down her protruding breasts with her arms. Sighing and expelling hot breaths, she ceased to talk. Thus Parameśvara made all those womenfolk excited in a wonderful way and went off.

39-46. By that time, all those Brāhmaṇas after wandering all over the great forest came back to their abodes and saw their wives weak and for splendour. Those ladies who had great devotion towards their husbands formerly had now slipped down from chastity. On coming to know of this, those excellent Brāhmaṇas came out. They consulted one another and understood that Lord Maheśvara had vanished after upsetting the minds of their ladies. One infuriated Brāhmaṇa lifted a stick and ran. Another raised up a Kalmāṣayaṣṭi (spotted stick?) and still others a handful of Darbha grass. They ran about here and there in the forest, O king; the noble-souled ones gathered together and said in anger:

“If we have performed any Homas, if we have propitiated our preceptors, then, by the strength of that truth let the excellent Liṅga (Penis) of the Lord fall down. If we have gone from one Āśrama (stage of life) to another in the due order as laid down in the scriptures, then by the strength of that truth, let the Liṅga of the Lord fall on the ground. Thus, by the power of the truth of the Brāhmaṇas repeated thrice, even as Śiva stood seeing, his Liṅga fell down on the ground. [see notes below]

47-54. In Lokāloka there was a great lamentation, O descendant of Bharata, when the Liṅga of the Lord fell down and the great destruction of the whole universe became imminent..

The sound of the Liṅga falling down was extremely terrible. There were terrible earthquakes and falling of comets and meteors when the Liṅga of the Lord fell down. The tops of mountains fell down and the seas became dried up. The Devas became moody and dispirited.

All of them collected together and approached Brahmā Parameṣṭhin. With their palms joined in reverence they eulogized him with different kinds of hymns. The Lord of the universe with four lotus-like faces became delighted. He said to the distressed Suras: “Do not be grief-stricken. The Three-eyed Lord of Devas has been affected by the curse of Brāhmaṇas. When those Brāhmaṇas endowed with penance are pleased, he will become free (from the effect of the curse) again.” O suppressor of enemies, on hearing this the Devas went back. All of them and the sages thought together, O descendant of Bharata. Along with Viśvāmitra, Vasiṣṭha, Jābāli, Kaśyapa and others they said to the Slayer of Tripura:

55-59. “O Lord of Suras, the spiritual splendour of the twice-born is extremely powerful. Endowed with forbearance and performing the penance, you shall become devoid of fatigue. Since it was due to the resentment of the sages that the excellent Liṅga of yours, O Mahādeva, fell down, it will not become worthy of being worshipped. The merit that men attain by worshipping the Liṅga cannot be obtained either by performing Agnihotra or Agniṣṭoma. By the words of Devas, Dānavas, Yakṣas, Gandharvas, Uragas, Rākṣasas and the Brāhmaṇas it will be worthy of being worshipped. It will be worthy of being worshipped by Brahmā, Viṣṇu, Indra and Candra. It is the benefit of your Liṅga in this world as well as in the other.”

60-68. On being told thus, the Lord of the cosmos bowed down to the excellent Brāhmaṇas. Endowed with great delight he joined his palms in reverence and spoke: “Brāhmaṇas are mobile Tīrthas bereft of water. They can be desired by all. Dirty (sinful) people become purified by the water of the words of these Brāhmaṇas. There is no holy spot, no Tīrtha where after causing the anger of a Brāhmaṇa one can go and get purified. Even Puṣkaras (holy places) are Ūṣaras (arid lands). That which is not composed by Brāhmaṇas is no Śāstra; that which is not offered to a Brāhmaṇa is no Dāna; that which is no outcome of the favour of a Brāhmaṇa'is no happiness; and that which is not caused by the anger of a Brāhmaṇa is no misery. All the Tīrthas throughout the earth and also Gaṅgā and other rivers do not deserve even a sixteenth part of one sentence of a Brāhmaṇa.”

After duly honouring all the Brāhmaṇas, after being permitted by the great sages, the Lord went to the excellent bank of Narmadā.

The Lord observed the great Vrata, became engaged in Japa and Snāna and performed the penance for an Arbuda (many millions) of years residing in a Guhā (cave). When the observance was concluded, the Lord installed Maheśvara. Being saluted by the Suras, the Lord went to Kailāsa along with them.

Since Parameśvara had been installed on the banks of Narmadā by him, for that reason he is called Narmadeśvara.^[1]

69-75. A Yati who has conquered all the sense-organs, who takes his holy bath and worships Mahādeva, Narmadeśvara (Lord of Narmadā), shall obtain the merit of a horse-sacrifice.

If anyone offers to the Pitṛs gingelly seeds, water, Kuśa grass and flowers, O son of Pāṇḍu, his ancestors of twenty-one generations rejoice in Svarga.

He who feeds Brāhmaṇas in that Tīrtha with milk pudding mixed with ghee, O king, obtains the merit accruing from a crore (i.e. feeding a crore of Brāhmaṇas elsewhere).

O Yudhiṣṭhira, he who stands in the middle of the water and offers gold or silver to Brāhmaṇas shall obtain the merit of Agniṣṭoma. He who approaches Narmadeśvara and stays there without food on the eighth or fourteenth lunar day shall attain the fruit of the (fulfilment of) birth.

He who enters burning fire in that Tīrtha, O king, shall be free from the fear of ailments for seven births, O descendant of Bharata.

He who abstains from food intake in that Tīrtha his goal shall be Rudraloka from where he will never return.

76-77. Thus the procedure of the pilgrimage and the origin thereof have been recounted to you, O excellent one among men. In the Purāṇa it has been laid down in detail. A man who glorifies the origin of Narmadeśvara and who listens to it with devotion shall obtain the merit of the holy ablution.

Notes regarding the identity of Rudra and Agni:

After the Vedic period, people seem to have forgotten the identity of Rudra and Agni. They forgot that the Liṅga is a symbol of blazing flame of sacrificial fire. Though the procedure of Liṅga-worship and Fire-worship was the same (G.B. Danḍage, Yajña, Rudra and Śivaliṅga) people in the Purāṇic period identified the Piṇḍī of Śiva with phallus. And to explain separateness of the Liṅga from Śiva’s body a story for its fall was created.

There are different versions of the fall of Siva’s penis:

I. Pārvatī instigates Śiva to tempt the wives of sages in Dāruvana—an indecent act for which sages forced him to drop his penis.

II. After self-immolation of Satī (Śiva’s first wife) Śiva in his bereavement went a-begging in Dāruvana—a colony of sages. Wives of sages went after him and as a penalty Śiva was made to drop his penis.

III. Śiva of his own accord cut down his own penis (Mbh, Sauptika 7.21). As Śiva is adorable, his penis too was regarded adorable. Versions (i) and (ii) above hint at the superiority of sages over Śiva.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

The Liṅga was installed by Lord Śiva himself on Narmadā and came to be called Narmadeśvara.