Puranic encyclopaedia
by Vettam Mani | 1975 | 609,556 words | ISBN-10: 0842608222
This page describes the Story of Samantapancaka included the Puranic encyclopaedia by Vettam Mani that was translated into English in 1975. The Puranas have for centuries profoundly influenced Indian life and Culture and are defined by their characteristic features (panca-lakshana, literally, ‘the five characteristics of a Purana’).
Story of Samantapañcaka
A holy tīrtha (bath) founded by Paraśurāma.
General information.
See under Paraśurāma, Para 7.
Other details.
(i) Paraśurāma made here five rivers through which blood flowed. There, with hands dipped in blood, he offered oblations to the manes. (Mahābhārata Ādi Parva, Chapter 2, Verse 4).
(ii) By the blessings of the ancestors of Paraśurāma this place became a holy bath. (Mahābhārata Ādi Parva, Chapter 2, Verse 8).
(iii) At the ending and the beginning periods of the two yugas Dvāpara and Kali, the Kauravas and the Pāṇḍavas fought the great battle at this place. Because of that this place got the name Samantapañcaka. (Mahābhārata Ādi Parva, Chapter 2, Verse 13).
(iv) It was according to the advice of Balabhadrarāma that this place was selected as the battlefield. (Śalya Parva, Chapter 55, Verse 5).
(v) Duryodhana was killed at Samantapañcaka. (Śalya Parva, Chapter 89, Verse 40).