Lakshmaṇa and Sahasradhārā

This account is from the Ayodhyā Māhātmya of the Skanda Mahā Purāṇa. It tells how Lakshmaṇa, Rāma’s younger brother, went back to his own form as Ādiśesha, the great serpent with a thousand hoods, on the bank of the Sarayū river. The place where Śesha rose from the earth became the tīrtha (holy place) called Sahasradhārā, “a thousand streams”.

The meeting with Kāla

Bhagavān Vishṇu had come down as Rāma for a purpose. He had slain Rāvaṇa and protected dharma. Now the time came for Rāma to end his stay on earth. Kāla (Time, Death) was sent by Brahmā. He came to Ayodhyā to hold a secret meeting with Rāma.

Rāma set one strict rule before the meeting. No one was to come near while they spoke. If anyone came near and saw them together, that person would be abandoned at once. Rāma chose Lakshmaṇa himself to stand guard at the entrance.

Durvāsa Maharshi arrives

While Rāma and Kāla were in council, Durvāsa Maharshi came to the entrance. He is the great ascetic known throughout the Purāṇas for the terrible power of his śāpa (curse). He was agitated and hungry. He spoke urgently to Lakshmaṇa:

“O son of Sumitrā, go quickly and report to Rāma that I am here on a job. It does not behove you to disobey this request of mine.”

Lakshmaṇa was caught between two terrible choices. If he went in, he would break the rule, and Rāma’s vow would force Rāma to abandon him. If he did not go in, Durvāsa would be kept waiting. Lakshmaṇa was afraid that Durvāsa’s śāpa would fall on others. So he chose to break the rule. He hurried inside and told Rāma that Durvāsa Maharshi had come and asked to see him.

Rāma’s decision

Rāma took leave of Kāla and sent him away. Then he came out and met Durvāsa with great respect. He served the muni himself, fed him and bowed down to him. Durvāsa left satisfied.

But now Rāma faced his own vow. The rule had been clear, and Lakshmaṇa had broken it. Rāma, “afraid of violating his own vow”, made the painful choice and abandoned Lakshmaṇa.

The great warrior Lakshmaṇa wanted to make his elder brother’s words come true. He did not want Rāma to carry a broken vow. So he decided to make the punishment real, and he went to the bank of the Sarayū.

Lakshmaṇa returns to his own form

On the bank of the Sarayū, Lakshmaṇa took his holy bath. Then, with a calm mind, he turned to deep meditation. He fixed his mind on Paramātmā, the Supreme Soul, and became perfectly still. He was getting ready to return to his original form.

In his deepest nature Lakshmaṇa was not a human being. He was the avatāra of Ādiśesha, the great serpent with a thousand hoods. Bhagavān Vishṇu rests on Ādiśesha between creations. So Lakshmaṇa’s tapas at the Sarayū was a return to his own form.

Śesha rises from the earth

Then Śesha, with a thousand shining hoods, pierced the ground in a thousand places and rose from the earth. The crest-jewels on each of the thousand hoods blazed with divine light. They lit the whole spot with a fire-like glow.

At that moment Indra came from svarga (heaven) with all the immortal beings. Lakshmaṇa merged into Śesha before the eyes of the assembled devas. Indra spoke to him with honour:

“O Lakshmaṇa, get up. Quickly go up to your own position. O heroic slayer of enemies, the task of the Devas has been accomplished by you. Attain the great eternal abode of Vishṇu. Your own original form, Śesha, has come with his graceful hoods.”

In plain words: Indra tells Lakshmaṇa to rise and go to his own place. He says that Lakshmaṇa has finished the work of the devas, and that he should now reach the great eternal abode of Bhagavān Vishṇu, because his own original form, Śesha, has come with his graceful hoods.

The tīrtha of a thousand streams

Indra then named the tīrtha that would stand at this spot for ever:

“Since he pierced the earth in a thousand places by means of his thousand hoods, since the places were burnt (brightly lit up) by the crest-jewels on the thousand hoods of Śesha, this splendid tīrtha on the banks of Sarayū shall become well-known as Sahasradhārā.”

Sahasradhārā means “a thousand streams”. It refers to the thousand openings through which Śesha came out. The tīrtha measures twenty-five Dhanus.

Indra then set up Śesha, with Lakshmaṇa merged in him, at this tīrtha. After that he went to svarga with Lakshmaṇa and Śesha.

The greatness of the tīrtha

Sahasradhārā is the tīrtha of Śesha and Lakshmaṇa on the eastern bank of the Sarayū. Its special day is the fifth day of the bright half of Śrāvaṇa. It is kept as a Nāga Pañchamī, with pūjā to serpents and prayers to please Śesha. Brāhmaṇas are to be honoured as living forms of the serpents, that is, of Śesha. Gold, cooked rice and clothes are to be given.

The text says that a bath at Sahasradhārā in the month of Vaiśākha has the highest puṇya (merit):

“Those who take holy bath here with concentration and mental purity in the month of Vaiśākha, will never return to the earth even in hundreds and crores of Kalpas.”

A gift of a milch cow with her calf to a worthy brāhmaṇa at this place gives a lasting home in Vaikuṇṭha.

Sources

• Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Vaishṇava Khaṇḍa, Ayodhyā Māhātmya, Chapter 2