Brahmā and the Daśāśvamedha

This is the account of how Brahmā came to Kāśī in disguise and led King Divodāsa to perform ten Aśvamedha yajñas. The place where they were held became Daśāśvamedha Tīrtha. Brahmā himself was won over by the holiness of Kāśī. He set up a Liṅga there and stayed for ever. That Liṅga is Brahmeśvara, one of the chief Liṅgas of the city.

Śiva sends Brahmā

Śiva was still at Mandara mountain. The Yoginīs, the Sun deva and several gaṇas had already gone to Kāśī, and they had not come back. The glory of that city had held them there for good. Mahādeva now decided to send Brahmā on the next mission.

He called the four-faced Brahmā and told him what to do. Brahmā was to go to Kāśī, take on a disguise, and find a way to disturb the rule of Divodāsa, so that Śiva himself could return to his everlasting city.

Brahmā enters Kāśī as an old brāhmaṇa

Brahmā came down from the higher worlds and entered Vārāṇasī as an old brāhmaṇa scholar. Śiva’s Māyā was so complete that even Divodāsa, a king of great intelligence, did not know him. In the same way, Chitragupta himself could not see the gaṇas who stood all through the city in different forms. Brahmā moved through the city and pleased the people with his wisdom. He won the trust of the king.

The ten Aśvamedhas

On the advice of Brahmā in disguise, Divodāsa was led to perform ten Aśvamedha yajñas (horse sacrifices). Each was done by the strictest rules of the Vedas, with all the needed priests, the proper dakshiṇā (gifts to the priests) and full observances.

The place on the bank of the Gaṅgā where these ten yajñas were held had been holy since ancient times, under the name Rudrasaras. Through the glory of the ten Aśvamedhas it became famous as Daśāśvamedha Tīrtha, the tīrtha of the ten horse sacrifices.

Brahmā too is won over by Kāśī

When the yajñas ended, the same thing happened to Brahmā that had happened to the earlier messengers. The matchless holiness of Kāśī overcame him. He set up a svayambhū (self-born) Liṅga at the place and stayed there for ever in devotion to Viśveśvara. This Liṅga became known as Brahmeśvara and Daśāśvamedhīśvara, the Liṅga of the Daśāśvamedha.

Śiva declared that those who have entered Kāśī have entered his own body. They do not return, just as offerings poured into a well-lit fire do not return.

The fruit of Daśāśvamedha Tīrtha

The Kāśī Khaṇḍa says that bathing at Daśāśvamedha Tīrtha gives puṇya (merit) without measure. This is most true on the day of Daśaharā, the tenth day of the bright half of Jyeshṭha, and during the bright fortnight of the month of Jyeshṭha. One bath here is held equal to the puṇya of performing an Aśvamedha.

The tīrtha is one of the Pañcatīrthī, the group of five great tīrthas on the northern bank of the Gaṅgā in Kāśī. It draws all other tīrthas to itself.

Sources

• Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Kāśī Khaṇḍa, Uttarārdha, Chapter 52