Maṅkaṇaka and the Seven Sarasvatīs

This account comes from the Saro Māhātmya of the Vāmana Mahā Purāṇa. Maṅkaṇaka is a ṛshi born from the mind of Kaśyapa. The text tells how seven Maruts were born from him, how he danced for joy when plant sap flowed from his finger, and how Bhagavān Śiva humbled him with ash from his own thumb. It also tells how Maṅkaṇaka drew the seven forms of Sarasvatī to Kurukshetra, where the Saptasārasvata tīrtha (holy place) was founded.

Maṅkaṇaka’s birth and family

Maṅkaṇaka was the mānasa-putra (mind-born son) of Kaśyapa Mahāṛshi, one of the first progenitors. He was born from mind and will, not from the usual birth, and so he had spiritual power from the start.

The Vāmana Purāṇa says that he did long and hard tapas (austerity) and became one of the powerful siddha-ṛshis of the Vedic tradition. The Purāṇa names him as the chief person through whom the Saptasārasvata tīrtha was founded at Kurukshetra.

Rambhā and the seven Maruts

One day Maṅkaṇaka was getting ready to bathe, dressed in his bark garments (valkala). The apsarā Rambhā and other beautiful women of the devas came to the same place and bathed beside the ṛshi. The sight of the apsarās shook his calm, and his seed fell into the water. He quickly gathered himself and collected the seed in a kalaśa (water-pot).

In the pot the seed divided into seven parts. From each part one of the seven Marut-gaṇas, the powerful wind devas, was born:

  1. Vāyuvega
  2. Vāyubala
  3. Vāyuhā
  4. Vāyumaṇḍala
  5. Vāyujvāla
  6. Vāyureta
  7. Vāyucakra

These seven sons of Maṅkaṇaka hold up the whole moving and unmoving creation by the power of the wind.

The dance and the sap from his finger

At another time Maṅkaṇaka was cutting something with kuśa grass, the sharp grass used in rituals, and the tip of his finger was cut. To his own surprise, plant sap (śākarasa) flowed from the wound and not blood. Maṅkaṇaka was filled with great joy.

In his joy he began to dance. It was no ordinary dance. His happiness spread out with such force and tejas (radiance) that all creation, the sthāvara (unmoving) and the jaṅgama (moving), was drawn into dancing with him. The whole universe moved with the beat of his steps, and all ordinary work was upset.

The devas were alarmed. They went to Bhagavān Brahmā and then to Bhagavān Śiva, and asked him to stop Maṅkaṇaka’s dance and set the order of the world right again.

Bhagavān Śiva humbles Maṅkaṇaka with ash

Bhagavān Śiva came to Maṅkaṇaka and asked why he was dancing with such joy. Maṅkaṇaka was still full of delight. He showed Bhagavān Śiva the sap flowing from his finger and said:

“Look, Bhagavān Śiva, śākarasa flows from my wound! Is this not wonderful?”

Bhagavān Śiva smiled and answered: “I see nothing remarkable in this.” Then he pressed his own thumb. From it flowed no sap but pure white bhasma (sacred ash). Ash flowed from the thumb of Bhagavān Śiva as easily as blood flows from an ordinary person.

Maṅkaṇaka was ashamed and humbled, and at once stopped dancing. He bowed at the feet of Bhagavān Śiva and offered a stotra (hymn of praise) that named his supreme place. He said: “There is no deva greater than you. In all creation, moving and unmoving, you are the greatest. It is by your grace that all the devas, Bhagavān Brahmā among them, live without fear.” He asked for the grace of Bhagavān Śiva so that his tapas would not be wasted.

Bhagavān Śiva’s promise

Bhagavān Śiva was pleased with the stotra and with Maṅkaṇaka’s surrender. He made a promise: “I will always be present with you in this āśrama (hermitage). Whoever bathes at the Saptasārasvata tīrtha and worships me here will lack nothing, in this world or the next. By the grace of Bhagavān Śiva they will reach the highest state and enjoy the pleasures of Saptasārasvatī svarga.”

How Maṅkaṇaka drew the seven Sarasvatīs to Kurukshetra

Chapter 16 tells how the seven forms of Sarasvatī came to Kurukshetra. In each case Maṅkaṇaka is the one who drew her there.

  1. Suprabhā, the first form and the most luminous. Bhagavān Brahmā was performing a yajña (fire ritual) at Pushkara. The ṛshis said that a yajña without Sarasvatī bears no fruit. Bhagavān Brahmā meditated on her, and Suprabhā came to Pushkara. She was then brought to Kurukshetra at Maṅkaṇaka’s invitation.
  2. Kāñcanākshī, the golden-eyed form. She came from Naimishāraṇya when Maṅkaṇaka, called Maṅkaja there, meditated on her for the sake of the ṛshis who were performing a yajña there.
  3. Viśālā, the wide-flowing form. She had come to Gayā at the invitation of King Gaya for his great yajña. From Gayā, Maṅkaṇaka’s prayer drew her to Kurukshetra.
  4. Manoharā, the form that charms the mind. She had come to Uttarakośala, a holy region in the north, when the muni Uddālaka meditated on her. Maṅkaṇaka’s invitation drew her to the Saptasārasvata.
  5. Oghāvatī, also called Oghanamasarasvatī, the form of the flood. She had been living at Kedāra tīrtha, served by ṛshis and siddhas. Maṅkaṇaka himself worshipped Parameśvara and drew her to Kurukshetra.
  6. Suvenu. She was at Kedāra tīrtha in the form that serves Kedāreśvara. Maṅkaṇaka brought her too by his prayer.
  7. Vimalodakā, the form of pure water. She had been drawn out at Gaṅgādvāra, the place where the Gaṅgā comes down from the mountains, in connection with Daksha Prajāpati. Maṅkaṇaka’s prayer drew her to Kurukshetra as well.

At the Saptasārasvata tīrtha these seven forms of Sarasvatī meet in one place and flow together.

The stotra of Mārkaṇḍeya in Chapter 11, spoken to Sarasvatī as she came out from the Plaksha tree, is also linked with this founding. Sarasvatī herself said that she would follow Mārkaṇḍeya wherever he led her. He led her to Brahmasarovara and through Kurukshetra.

The account in Chapter 36

The main text of the Vāmana Purāṇa also tells of Maṅkaṇaka, in Chapter 36. There his tapas bore fruit and Bhagavān Śiva showed the ash from his thumb. In that account Bhagavān Śiva shows his Hariharasvarūpa (the form of Hari and Hara in one) to the devas who had lost their sight. The Saro Māhātmya account in Chapter 17 gives the longer life of Maṅkaṇaka, with the Rambhā event and the seven Maruts.

Sources

  • Vāmana Mahā Purāṇa, Saro Māhātmya, Chapter 16 (the seven Sarasvatīs, and the link with Mārkaṇḍeya’s stotra of Chapter 11)
  • Vāmana Mahā Purāṇa, Saro Māhātmya, Chapter 17 (Maṅkaṇaka’s birth, Rambhā and the seven Maruts, the dance, the ash, the promise of Bhagavān Śiva)
  • Vāmana Mahā Purāṇa, Chapter 36 (the account of Maṅkaṇaka in the main text)
  • Vāmana Mahā Purāṇa, Chapter 11 (the stotra of Mārkaṇḍeya)