Sudeha and Ghushmā

Ghuśmeśvara is the twelfth and last Jyotirliṅga. It stands at Veruḷā (Ellora) in Maharashtra. The Śiva Purāṇa tells how it came to be there. A brahmin had two wives, the childless Sudeha and her younger sister Ghushmā. Ghushmā made one hundred and one pārthiva liṅgas (earthen liṅgas) every day and was blessed with a son. Sudeha became jealous and killed the boy. Ghushmā kept up her worship, and her son was found alive. When Bhagavān Śiva offered to destroy Sudeha, Ghushmā asked him to spare her.

Sudharmā and his two wives

In the Devagiri region, near the great fort of Devagiri (Daulatabad) in Maharashtra, there lived a brahmin named Sudharmā. He was learned and followed dharma. His wife Sudeha was devoted to him and wise. But they had no children, year after year, and Sudeha’s grief grew.

Sudeha went to her own younger sister Ghushmā (also called Kusuma in some versions) and arranged for Ghushmā to become Sudharmā’s second wife. She gave her sister to her husband, hoping that Ghushmā would bear the children she could not.

Ghushmā’s pārthiva liṅga pūjā

Ghushmā was a great devotee of Śiva. Every day she made one hundred and one pārthiva liṅgas. She worshipped each one with full devotion and with the proper offerings (upacāras). Then she immersed all one hundred and one liṅgas in the lake near the āśrama. She did this every single day, the same number of liṅgas and the same lake, as a firm and complete devotion.

Śiva’s blessing and the son

Bhagavān Śiva was very pleased with Ghushmā’s daily pārthiva pūjā, its size, its care and its unbroken course over the years. He blessed her with a son. The child was born healthy and beautiful and grew well, and he brought joy to the house. When he came of age he was married. The household of Sudharmā and Ghushmā prospered.

Sudeha’s jealousy

Sudeha herself had arranged this marriage. She had given her own sister to her husband. Yet she could not bear to see Ghushmā’s family do so well, with the son and his wife. Her old jealousy grew into something active and harmful.

One night Sudeha made a terrible decision. She killed Ghushmā’s son, carried his body to the lake where Ghushmā made her daily immersions, and threw it in.

The morning and Ghushmā’s response

When morning came and the killing was found out, the whole household broke down in grief. Sudharmā and the son’s wife were crushed.

Ghushmā’s response is the centre of the narrative. After the first shock, she went to the lake as usual. She made her one hundred and one pārthiva liṅgas as usual, did her pūjā as usual and began to immerse the liṅgas in the lake. She went on with her daily practice without a break and without making her worship smaller. Even the killing of her son did not change her bond with Śiva.

The son is given back

As Ghushmā immersed her liṅgas in the lake where her son’s body had been thrown, she found her son there, alive, whole and unharmed. Bhagavān Śiva had restored him completely.

Śiva appears and offers to destroy Sudeha

Parameśvara himself appeared before Ghushmā in his shining form. Her son was alive, and the killing was undone. Bhagavān Śiva then offered to deal with Sudeha. He said:

This woman killed your son and brought disgrace on your worship. Say the word and I will destroy her.

Ghushmā refused. She told Bhagavān Śiva that Sudeha was her elder sister, that whatever Sudeha had done she had done out of pain, that she forgave her fully, and that she begged him not to harm her.

This plea came just after Ghushmā had received her son back from death, and it is the high point of the narrative. The one who had most reason to want revenge spoke for the one who had hurt her most.

Ghuśmeśvara is established

Bhagavān Śiva was deeply moved by Ghushmā’s compassion and forgiveness, and he granted her request. Sudeha was spared. Then Sudharmā, the son and his wife, the devas and the ṛshis asked Bhagavān Śiva to stay at that place for ever. He agreed, and he established himself as Ghuśmeśvara, the master honoured by Ghushmā, at Veruḷā near the fort of Devagiri.

Sources

• Śiva Purāṇa, Koti Rudra Saṃhitā, Chapter 32
• Śiva Purāṇa, Koti Rudra Saṃhitā, Chapter 33