Jalodbhava and the Vitastā

Chapter 55 of the Vāmana Mahā Purāṇa tells how the daitya Jalodbhava was destroyed in the Kashmir valley. Bhagavān Vishṇu and Bhagavān Śiva acted together to overcome him. From the place of their joint work the river Vitastā, today called the Jhelum, began to flow.

The same chapter also holds the short upākhyāna (side account) of Upamanyu and his mother Dharmaśīlā.

Jalodbhava

Jalodbhava was a daitya. His name means “born of water” or “arisen from water”, and it fits his nature. He lived in the waters of the land that later became the Kashmir valley. The lake was his refuge, and from it he attacked the regions around it.

He could go back into the water whenever he wished, so ordinary battle could not reach him. His presence made the valley unfit to live in, and the waters were dangerous.

Bhagavān Śiva and Bhagavān Vishṇu act together

The Vāmana Purāṇa shows Bhagavān Śiva and Bhagavān Vishṇu working together in many places, and it does so here. The two devas made a plan in which each had a part.

Bhagavān Vishṇu used his Sudarśana cakra (discus) to pierce through the earth. This made an opening through which the waters of the valley could drain. As the water fell, Jalodbhava’s refuge was destroyed little by little. In the end the daitya was forced up to the surface, where he stood exposed. There Bhagavān Śiva cut off his head.

The origin of the Vitastā

The river Vitastā began at this place. Bhagavān Vishṇu’s cakra had made the passage through the earth, the waters had drained through it, and Bhagavān Śiva’s presence had made the ground holy. From this joint act the Vitastā arose and began to flow.

So the Vāmana Purāṇa makes the Vitastā a river born from the work of Bhagavān Śiva and Bhagavān Vishṇu together.

Upamanyu and Dharmaśīlā

The same chapter tells of Upamanyu, the son of Ātreya, and his mother Dharmaśīlā.

As a child, Upamanyu wanted very much to drink milk, but his family was too poor to buy it. His mother gave him rice-water made white. But Upamanyu had once tasted real milk at a neighbour’s house, and he could not accept the substitute.

He then performed tapas (austerity) to Bhagavān Śiva and asked for milk. Bhagavān Śiva was pleased and granted his wish. The family received divine milk, and the child became famous as a devotee.

This short account sits inside the larger chapter. It shows what single-minded tapas to Bhagavān Śiva can win, even for an earthly wish.

Sources

• Vāmana Mahā Purāṇa, Chapter 55