Balarāma Tīrtha Yātrā

When the Kurukshetra war came near, Balarāma did not want to take either side. He left Dvārakā on a journey to the tīrthas (holy places). This account retells that journey: the killing of Romaharshaṇa and the asura Balvala at Naimiśāraṇya, the long circuit of holy rivers and places, and his return to Prabhāsa.

The Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa tells this in the tenth skanda, chapter 79.

The decision to go on pilgrimage

When the war broke out between the Kauravas and the Pāṇḍavas, Balarāma was at heart unwilling to take either side. He chose to go to the tīrthas as a reason to leave. He set out with brāhmaṇas. First he went to Prabhāsa Tīrtha, bathed there, and offered tarpaṇa (water offerings) to the devas and the pitṛs (ancestors).

Romaharshaṇa and Balvala at Naimiśāraṇya

Balarāma went on to Naimiśāraṇya, where the ṛshis were performing a great satra-yajña. He found Vyāsa’s disciple Romaharshaṇa sitting on a high seat above the assembly and above the ṛshis. Romaharshaṇa did not rise to greet Balarāma or bow to him. Balarāma knew him to be proud and lacking in humility, in spite of his great learning. He was angry and said:

“This man, born of mixed parentage, sits on a seat above the brāhmaṇas who guard dharma, and above us. He is learned but not humbled by his learning. His knowledge is like an actor’s performance, only a show with no benefit. One who claims to know dharma but does not practise it carries more pāpa (sin). I have come down for the punishment of the wicked.”

He struck Romaharshaṇa with a blade of darbha grass. With that slight touch the sūta died.

The ṛshis were troubled. They had given Romaharshaṇa a long life and sharp senses for as long as the satra lasted. They told Balarāma that he had killed a brāhmaṇa, however just his reason, and asked him to perform prāyaścitta (atonement). Balarāma agreed. By his yogamāyā he promised that the life, the vital power and the understanding promised to the teacher would now pass to his son Ugraśravas. The ṛshis were pleased.

They then asked Balarāma to destroy Balvala, the son of Ilvala. On every new-moon and full-moon night Balvala came and defiled the yajña, raining filth and blood from the sky. On the next appointed day he appeared. He was a terrible asura. His body was like a heap of darkness, his hair and beard like burning copper, and his face was fierce with fangs. Balarāma called for his plough (hala) and his club (musala). He hooked the asura with the ploughshare and dragged him down from the sky. Then he struck him on the head with the musala. Balvala fell with a split skull, bleeding heavily, like a mountain struck by Indra’s vajra.

The ṛshis honoured Balarāma with an auspicious garland of unfading lotuses, bright garments and ornaments.

The great circuit of tīrthas

With the ṛshis’ leave, Balarāma travelled to the holy places of the land.

North and east. He bathed in the Kauśikī river and visited the source-lake of the Sarayū. He travelled along the Sarayū and bathed at Prayāga. He offered tarpaṇa at the āśrama of Pulaha Maharshi. He bathed in the Gomatī, Gaṇḍakī and Vipāśā rivers. He went to Gayā to honour the pitṛs, and to the meeting of the Gaṅgā and the sea, where he saluted Paraśurāma.

South. He visited the Saptāgodāvarī. He bathed in the Veṇā, Pampā and Bhīmarathī rivers. He had darśana of Kumārasvāmī (Skanda). He visited Śrīśaila, the home of Mahādeva in Draviḍadeśa, and then Veṅkaṭādri. He visited Kāmākshī, Kāñcīpura, the Kāvērī, and Śrīraṅgam, the great Vaikuṇṭha on earth. He went to Rishabha Parvata (a Kṛshṇa-kshetra), to Dakshiṇa Mathurā and to the Rāma Setu. At the Setu he gave ten thousand cows to brāhmaṇas. He bathed in the Kṛtamālā and Tāmraparṇī rivers and went to the Malaya mountains to bow to Agastya Maharshi. He then went south to Kanyākumārī and had darśana of Durgādevī there.

South-west and west. He visited Phālguna (Anantaśayana) kshetra, where Śrīhari is always present. He bathed at the Pañcāpsaras Tīrtha and gave ten thousand more cows. He visited Kerala and Trigarta. He had darśana at Gokarṇa, the Śiva kshetra where Mahādeva is always present. He visited Dvīpavāsinī Durgādevī and Śūrvāraka kshetra. He bathed in the Tāpī, Payoshṇī and Nirvindhyā rivers and entered the Daṇḍakāraṇya. He visited the Narmadā, went to Māhishmatī, and bathed at Manu Tīrtha.

The end of the circuit. Balarāma returned to Prabhāsa Tīrtha.

The Kurukshetra battle

At Prabhāsa Balarāma heard that the war between the Kauravas and the Pāṇḍavas was going on. He went to Kurukshetra and found Bhīma and Duryodhana fighting their famous gadā duel. He tried to make them stop:

“You are both warriors of equal strength. One is greater in vital force, the other in skill. There is no clear advantage by which to tell who will win. Stop this useless fight.”

Neither heard him, for their enmity ran too deep and their karma was ripening. Balarāma saw that this was prārabdha (the karma already in motion) working itself out, and he went back to Dvārakā.

Then at Naimiśāraṇya the ṛshis held the great close of their satra. Balarāma taught them the highest ātma-jñāna (knowledge of the Self):

“By knowing the Self, one realises that all the worlds are within oneself and that one is spread through all worlds.”

He took the avabhṛtha bath (the closing bath of a yajña) with Revatī at his side, shining like the moon among the stars. He put on new garments and was resplendent.

Sources

• Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, 10th Skanda, Chapter 79