Ghṛtācī and Viśvakarmā

This episode is told in the Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa, Brahma Khaṇḍa, Chapter 10. It happens at Pushkara-tīrtha (a holy place). Viśvakarmā, the divine builder, meets the apsarā (heavenly dancer) Ghṛtācī there and is refused. They curse each other and are both born as humans. Later they meet again, and nine sons are born to them. These sons became the first fathers of nine artisan communities.

The meeting at Pushkara

Pushkara is the holy lake linked with Bhagavān Brahmā. At this tīrtha Viśvakarmā saw the apsarā Ghṛtācī. Her beauty drew him, and he told her his wish.

Ghṛtācī refused him. She gave two reasons.

1. That day belonged to Manmatha. She was under the rule of Manmatha on that day, and so she was not free to give herself.
2. On that day she stood to Viśvakarmā as guru-patnī-tulya, like a guru’s wife, and so she was to be held as one who must not be touched.

Viśvakarmā became angry.

The two śāpas

Viśvakarmā laid a śāpa (a curse) on Ghṛtācī: “Be born as a śūdra woman.”

Ghṛtācī answered with a śāpa on Viśvakarmā: “Be born as a human being.”

Both śāpas were spoken, and both were bound to take effect.

Their human births

Both of them took the births that the śāpas laid down.

• Ghṛtācī was born as a śūdra woman.
• Viśvakarmā was born as a human being.

In their human forms they met again at Gaṅgā-Prayāga, the meeting place of the holy rivers. They knew each other, and they went together to the Malaya mountain. This is the mountain of sandalwood forests in South India.

The nine sons

On the Malaya mountain nine sons were born to them. These sons became the founders and fathers of nine śilpī (artisan) communities.

1. Mālākāras: makers of garlands (mālā).
2. Karmakāras: workers in iron, the blacksmiths.
3. Śaṅkhakāras: workers in conch shells (śaṅkha), who make ritual instruments.
4. Kuvindakas: weavers.
5. Kumbhakāras: potters, who make vessels (kumbha) for ritual.
6. Sūtrakāras: carpenters and thread-workers.
7. Svarṇakāras: goldsmiths, who work in svarṇa (gold).
8. Citrakāras: painters and artists (citra means picture).

The text lists nine communities, but the ninth is not named here.

Three of the nine sons later became patita (fallen from the good standing of their community) because of a brahma-śāpa, a śāpa from a brahmin.

Where the account sits

Chapter 10 of the Brahma Khaṇḍa also holds a discourse on jāti-varṇa-nirṇaya, the settling of the social groups (jāti and varṇa) and their sacred origins. This account is part of it. The artisan communities have a divine origin: Ghṛtācī was an apsarā and Viśvakarmā is the divine builder.

Sources

• Brahma Vaivarta Mahā Purāṇa, Brahma Khaṇḍa (Chapter 10)