Śaṅkha, the Vedas and Prayāga

The Padma Mahā Purāṇa tells this account in the Uttara Khaṇḍa, Chapters 90 and 91. The asura Śaṅkha, the son of the Ocean, conquered the three worlds and stole the Vedas while Bhagavān Vishṇu slept. The devas woke Vishṇu with song, music and pūjā. Vishṇu took the form of a small fish and killed Śaṅkha. The Vedas were brought up from the water, and Prayāga was blessed as the Tīrtharāja, the king of tīrthas (holy places).

The frame

Nārada tells this account to King Pṛthu, the son of Vena. Pṛthu had asked how Kārtika is the best of the months. The account sits inside another telling: Kṛshṇa tells Satyabhāmā what Nārada and Pṛthu said. Satyabhāmā had asked why Ekādaśī among the days and Kārtika among the months are especially dear to Bhagavān Vishṇu.

Śaṅkha’s conquest

Long ago there was an asura named Śaṅkha, the son of the Ocean. He had great power and courage and could destroy the three worlds. He defeated the devas and drove them out of svarga. He took away the powers of the guardians of the directions, Indra among them. The devas fled with their wives, led by Indra, to a cave in the Meru mountain. They lived there for many years.

Śaṅkha saw that the devas, though beaten, still had strength. He reasoned: “Even though they have been defeated and their powers snatched, they are still full of power. It is clear to me that the devas are endowed with the power of Vedic hymns. I shall snatch them — then all will be powerless.”

He saw that Bhagavān Vishṇu was asleep. The mighty asura quickly seized the whole group of the Vedas from Satyaloka. The Vedas fled from Śaṅkha, together with the sacrificial rites and the hymns, and entered the waters of the ocean. Śaṅkha searched for them through the depths of the ocean but could not find them gathered in one place.

The devas wake Vishṇu

Brahmā and all the devas took shelter with Bhagavān Vishṇu. They took the things for pūjā and went to his house. There the devas sang, played musical instruments, and again and again offered sandal paste, flowers, incense and lamps to the sleeping Bhagavān Vishṇu.

Pleased by their devotion, Vishṇu woke. He appeared before all the devas with the brightness of a thousand suns. The devas honoured him in sixteen ways and fell flat on the ground before him like staffs.

The words of Vishṇu

Bhagavān Vishṇu spoke to the devas:

“O groups of devas, by means of these auspicious acts — singing, playing musical instruments — I am pleased and shall grant you boons. From the Ekādaśī of the bright fortnight of Āśvina (this day of my awakening) till the Udbodhini Ekādaśī (the Prabodhini of Kārtika bright fortnight), men will daily do what you have done: singing, playing instruments, and offering worship. They will do what is dear to me and will ever remain in my vicinity.”

“All the Vedas snatched by Śaṅkha remain in the water. Having killed the Ocean’s son, I shall bring them back. May the Vedas with the basic hymns and sacrifices always rest in water from today in the month of Kārtika every year. From today I also shall remain in water (in Kārtika).”

“O Indra, those men who in Kārtika observe the vow and bathe every day in the morning are to be brought by you to my house on their death and always protected from dangers. O Varuṇa, you should give them progeny — sons and grandsons. O Kubera, you must increase their wealth by my order. Those men, liberated while alive, actually have my form. Since you awoke me on the day of Ekādaśī, therefore, this day is always venerable and gives me joy.”

Vishṇu takes the form of a fish

Bhagavān Vishṇu took the form of a small, shining fish. He entered the hollow of the hands of Kaśyapa at his home on the Vindhya mountain. The ṛshi, out of compassion, put the fish into his water-pot. When the fish grew too big for the pot, he moved it to a well. When it was too big for the well, he moved it to a lake. When it was too big for the lake, he put it into the sea.

In the ocean, Vishṇu as the fish grew to his full size and killed Śaṅkha. He then came with Śaṅkha’s body to the Badarī forest. He called all the ṛshis and commanded: “Remove the Vedas dropped into the water. Quickly bring them with the Upanishads from the interior of the water.”

The Vedas are recovered at Prayāga

The ṛshis had the power of tapas (austerity). They lifted out the Vedas together with the six Vedāṅgas and all the sacrificial rites. Each ṛshi who obtained a portion of the Vedas became the ṛshi of that portion. This is given as the account of how each section of the Vedas came to have its own ṛshi.

All the ṛshis then gathered at Prayāga. They gave the recovered Vedas to Bhagavān Vishṇu and to Brahmā. Brahmā was overjoyed to receive the Vedas with the sacrificial rites. He performed a great aśvamedha yajña (horse sacrifice) at Prayāga. All the lords of the devas, the siddhas, the serpents and the yakshas attended.

Prayāga blessed as Tīrtharāja

When the yajña was complete, the devas bowed before Bhagavān Vishṇu and asked:

“O Deva of devas, O Bhagavān Vishṇu, O master of the world, O master — this is a time for our joy. May this place always be, by your grace, the best one on earth. May it increase religious merit and give pleasures and salvation. May this time also be highly meritorious, purifying even the killers of brāhmaṇas. May it give inexhaustible (results). Grant us this boon.”

Bhagavān Vishṇu answered:

“O devas, I think in the same way. Let it be so. May this be famous as Brahma-kshetra. A king born in the solar dynasty will bring Gaṅgā here; she will be united here with Yamunā, the daughter of the Sun. All of you — Brahmā and others — shall live here with me. This holy place will be well-known as Tīrtharāja (‘king of holy places’).”

“May acts performed here — gifts, tapas, vows, sacrifice, mantra-recitation, and worship — give inexhaustible fruits. May they always give proximity with me. May pāpa like the murder of a brāhmaṇa committed during many existences perish the very moment at the sight of this holy place. May the groups of dead ancestors of those who offer śrāddha here attain the same world as mine. May those who bathe at Prayāga when the Sun is in Capricorn (Māgha) have their pāpa perish completely; even the sight of such bathers destroys pāpa. As a result of daily bathing in Māgha with the Sun in Capricorn, I grant the triad: the same world, the same form, and proximity with me. What is achieved at other holy places in ten years of tapas is achieved here in a single day.”

Having spoken, Vishṇu vanished at Prayāga together with Brahmā. The devas also stayed there in portions.

Sources

• Padma Mahā Purāṇa, Uttara Khaṇḍa, Chapter 90
• Padma Mahā Purāṇa, Uttara Khaṇḍa, Chapter 91