Guḍākeśa and the Origin of Copper
Guḍākeśa was an asura who performed tapas for 16,000 years at a place called Tāmrāśrama. The Varāha Purāṇa tells of him as the origin of copper (tāmra), which is among the most loved materials of Bhagavān Vishṇu in pūjā. Guḍākeśa gave his own body, and it became sacred metals. Then the Sudarśana cakra slew him on a dvādaśī, and he was freed.
Guḍākeśa’s tapas
Seven thousand yugas ago, an asura named Guḍākeśa performed great tapas at a place called Tāmrāśrama. His austerity lasted 16,000 years. It built up a mighty power of tapas and brought Bhagavān Vishṇu before him to grant a vara (a boon). (Varāha Mahā Purāṇa, Chapters 128–129)
The request
Guḍākeśa asked for the Sudarśana cakra, the divine discus of Bhagavān Vishṇu, so that he could slay Bhagavān Vishṇu himself. Bhagavān Vishṇu cannot be slain, and the Sudarśana acts only by his will and his dharma. Yet the 16,000 years of tapas called for an answer. (Varāha Mahā Purāṇa, Chapters 128–129)
The other vara
Bhagavān Vishṇu did not simply refuse Guḍākeśa. He accepted what the asura could give and made it an everlasting gift to his devotees. Guḍākeśa was asked to offer his own body. He agreed, and Bhagavān Vishṇu fixed how it would change:
- Flesh (māṃsa) became copper (tāmra).
- Blood (rakta) became tin.
- Bones (asthi) became gold.
- Excrement (mala) became bronze.
So the asura’s body, made holy by 16,000 years of tapas and by the direct will of Bhagavān Vishṇu, became the sacred metals of pūjā. Vessels made from these metals carry the power of his changed body. (Varāha Mahā Purāṇa, Chapters 128–129)
The slaying on Vaiśākha Śukla Dvādaśī
On Vaiśākha Śukla Dvādaśī at midday, the most auspicious tithi (lunar day) of Bhagavān Vishṇu at the peak of the year, the Sudarśana cakra came down and slew Guḍākeśa. The death the asura had asked for was granted, on the terms of Bhagavān Vishṇu and at the most auspicious moment. Dying by the hand of Bhagavān Vishṇu’s own cakra on dvādaśī, the asura was freed. (Varāha Mahā Purāṇa, Chapters 128–129)
The holiness of copper
From that day, the Varāha Purāṇa teaches, copper became the most sacred of the metals of pūjā. The body of the asura, made holy by 16,000 years of tapas and changed by Bhagavān Vishṇu himself, is present in every particle of copper in creation. Vessels made of it carry a holiness of their own.
The special merit: every grain of rice offered to Bhagavān Vishṇu in a copper vessel gives one thousand years of life in Vishṇu-loka. (Varāha Mahā Purāṇa, Chapters 128–129)
Tāmrāśrama
The place of Guḍākeśa’s tapas is called Tāmrāśrama, the āśrama of copper. Its name keeps alive the memory of the asura’s changed body (tāmra means copper). (Varāha Mahā Purāṇa, Chapters 128–129)
Sources
- Varāha Mahā Purāṇa, Chapters 128–129