Durvāsa at Kāśī
Chapter 85 of the Kāśī Khaṇḍa (Uttarārdha) of the Skanda Mahā Purāṇa tells how Durvāsa Maharshi came to Kāśī. Durvāsa was a fiery ṛshi (seer) who was quick to anger. He grew impatient at Kāśī, and was about to put a śāpa (curse) on the city. Bhagavān Śiva laughed, and a Liṅga appeared from his laughter. Then Bhagavān Śiva himself came out and stopped both his gaṇas and the ṛshi.
The chapter ends with the naming of the Liṅga Kāmeśvara and the tank Kāmakuṇḍa.
Durvāsa arrives at Kāśī
Durvāsa was the son of Anasūyā and a portion of Bhagavān Śiva himself. He was among the fiercest and most powerful of all the great ṛshis. He had wandered through all the worlds and had visited every tīrtha (holy place), mountain, city and forest. At last he came to Kāśī.
The difference from everything he had seen elsewhere struck him at once. He marvelled at the Pāśupata ascetics with ash-smeared bodies. He marvelled at the Tridaṇḍins who owned nothing, and at the Brāhmaṇas whose hair had turned tawny from bathing in the Gaṅgā every day. Even the tame animals shone with a special peace and joy.
Durvāsa said: “The whole earth, svarga (heaven) and the world of serpents do not draw my mind as this city of Bhagavān Viśveśvara does. I have wandered all over the earth, but nowhere else did my mind become steady.”
The tapas that seemed to fail
Durvāsa himself had said that Kāśī was the greatest of places. Even so, he settled there and performed hard tapas (austerity) for a long time. But he saw no direct fruit and no sign of grace from Bhagavān Śiva.
Long austerity and no answer kindled his famous temper. He thought: “Shame on me, a defiled ascetic! Shame on this holy place of Śambhu, which deceives everyone!” He raised his hand to pronounce a śāpa on Kāśī.
Bhagavān Śiva laughs
At that very moment Bhagavān Śiva, who sees everything and is never shaken, laughed loudly at the scene. From that laughter a Liṅga appeared by itself on the spot. It is Prahasiteśvara, the Īśvara of loud laughter.
Bhagavān Śiva thought: “I bow again and again to ascetics like this. These Brāhmaṇas grow angry at the very place where they have chosen to do tapas. Yet ascetics should always be honoured by those who want their own good.”
The gaṇas arm themselves
The fire of Durvāsa’s anger spread through the sky in columns of smoke. The gaṇas of Bhagavān Śiva were alarmed. They were led by Nandī, Somanadī, Mahodara, Mahākāla, Bhīma, Ghaṇṭākarṇa and Vīrabhadra, with many others. They took up their weapons to guard Kāśī.
They boasted: “Who is Yama? Who is Kāla? Who is Mṛtyu? Who are these devas? We shall drink fire like water. We shall grind mountains to powder. We shall not let the universe be harmed while Kāśī stands.”
Bhagavān Śiva himself stepped in and held back his gaṇas. He said: “This ṛshi, the son of Anasūyā, is a part of mine.”
Bhagavān Śiva appears and Durvāsa is ashamed
Bhagavān Śiva came out directly from inside the Liṅga that Durvāsa had installed. He stood before the ṛshi and said: “I am pleased, O ṛshi of great anger. Ask for any vara (boon) you wish.”
When Durvāsa saw Bhagavān Śiva, he was at once filled with shame and regret. He fell at the feet of Bhagavān Śiva and spoke of his own fault: “I became blind with anger, and in my wrong thinking I have done a serious wrong. Shame on me, who tried to put a śāpa on Kāśī! Kāśī is the mother of the whole universe. A mother carries you in the womb, but Kāśī frees you from the womb. If anyone puts a śāpa on Kāśī, the śāpa falls on him. Kāśī is never harmed.”
What Bhagavān Śiva said about praise of Kāśī
Bhagavān Śiva was glad at Durvāsa’s praise of Kāśī. He said:
“A Dīkshita who praises and adores me is not as dear to me as one who loves to praise Kāśī. This is the truth. When Kāśī is praised, I feel a joy that I never get from gifts, yajñas (fire rituals) or tapas done by my devotees. If Ānandakānana is praised with a truly honest mind, it is as if I had been praised perfectly with all the Sūktas of the Śrutis.”
Bhagavān Śiva also said that the knowledge Durvāsa now had, won through his praise of Kāśī, was greater than all he had gained from his earlier tapas.
Kāmeśvara and Kāmakuṇḍa
Durvāsa asked for his vara. He asked that the Liṅga he had installed be known as Kāmada (giver of desires), and the pond beside it as Kāmakuṇḍa. Bhagavān Śiva granted both.
The Liṅga that Durvāsa installed became known as Durvāseśvara and also as Kāmeśvara. It is one of the fourteen great Liṅgas of Kāśī, the mukti-kshetra (place of liberation).
The rule of worship is this. Bathe in Kāmakuṇḍa at Pradosha time when Trayodaśī falls on a Saturday, and then worship Kāmeśvara. This frees a person from the pāpa (sin) of lust gathered over many births.
Sources
- Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Kāśī Khaṇḍa (Uttarārdha), Chapter 85