Bindu Sara is a holy lake on the river Sarasvatī. The Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa (3rd Skandha) tells that Kardama Prajāpati did ten thousand years of tapas (austerity) here, that he married Devahūti here, and that Devahūti was changed by the lake’s waters and later reached moksha (liberation). The Mahābhārata also names Bindu Sarovara, in its description of Jambū Dvīpa, as the place where Gaṅgā first settled.

Origin: Bhagavān Vishṇu’s tears of joy

The Bhāgavatam says that Bindu Sara was made from the blissful tears (ānanda-bāshpa) of Bhagavān Vishṇu. These tears fell when He saw the devotion of His great bhaktas. The waters of the lake are held to fulfil every desire of those who bathe in them with a sincere heart. (Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, 3rd Skandha, Chapter 23)

Kardama’s tapas

Kardama Prajāpati was one of the ten mind-born prajāpatis (progenitors) of Brahmā. At Bindu Sara he did his ten thousand years of tapas, worshipping Bhagavān Vishṇu with a one-pointed mind. He was kept alive through this long time not by food but by the kind glance of Bhagavān Vishṇu. The text gives this as the reason Kardama stayed bright and did not grow thin.

At the end of his tapas, Bhagavān Vishṇu appeared to Kardama here. He came on Garuḍa, in His full form, with His four āyudhas (weapons). He gave Kardama a promise that shaped what came next. (Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, 3rd Skandha, Chapter 21)

The lake and Kardama’s āśrama

The Bhāgavatam describes Bindu Sara and Kardama’s āśrama (hermitage) as a paradise on earth:

Trees flower in every season, and birds with golden wings sing without a pause.
Peacocks and cranes move in the breeze near the water.
The lake is sweet with blooming lotuses.
Breezes carry the scent of the holy water in every direction.
Kardama’s āśrama stands near the water, lit by the glow of his tapas (tapas-tejas).

Svāyambhuva Manu came with Devahūti and Śatarūpā on a golden chariot. The Bhāgavatam says he saw the āśrama as svarga (heaven) come down to earth. (Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, 3rd Skandha, Chapter 22)

The Brāhma marriage at Bindu Sara

The marriage of Kardama and Devahūti took place at Bindu Sara. It was in the Brāhma form. This is the highest form of marriage: the father gives his daughter as a pure gift to a worthy groom, with no dowry and no bargaining. Śatarūpā brought rich gifts of ornaments, clothes and household goods. Manu could not bear to leave his daughter and held her for a long time before he went. (Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, 3rd Skandha, Chapter 22)

Devahūti’s change at Bindu Sara

After years of loving service to Kardama, Devahūti’s body had grown thin. Kardama was moved by her selfless care. He brought forth a divine vimāna (flying palace) and told her to bathe in Bindu Sara before she entered it.

When Devahūti went into the lake, one thousand vidyādhara-kanyās (vidyādhara maidens) rose from the water and served her. They bathed her in sweet-smelling water, dressed her in fine clothes, adorned her with jewels, fed her divine food, and showed her to herself in a mirror. She was changed: bright, and given back full youth and beauty. She came out amazed at what the tears of Bhagavān Vishṇu had done.

This change in the waters of Bindu Sara marks the start of the vimāna-yātrā (the journey through the sky in the vimāna) that Kardama and Devahūti made for one hundred years. (Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, 3rd Skandha, Chapter 23)

Devahūti’s liberation: Siddhapada

Kardama left for sannyāsa (renunciation). Devahūti stayed at Bindu Sara with Bhagavān Kapila. Here Bhagavān Kapila gave His full teaching, the Bhāgavata Sāṃkhya, which runs through nine chapters. Here Devahūti lived by what she had received. She gained brahma-jñāna (knowledge of Brahman), saw Paramātmā in samādhi (deep absorption), and reached pūrṇa-mukti (complete liberation).

At the moment of her full liberation, her body melted and became a holy river. It flows from the ground of Bindu Sara where she reached siddhi (perfection). This river and the place of her liberation became known in the three worlds as Siddhapada, “the place of the accomplished one”. Siddhas and great munis came from every part of creation to bathe in this river and to honour the place. (Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, 3rd Skandha, Chapter 33)

Bindu Sara and its history

In the Bhāgavatam, the history of Bindu Sara holds these events: the lake born from the tears of Bhagavān Vishṇu; the tapas of Kardama kept up by His glance; the marriage of a prajāpati and the daughter of Manu; the birth of an avatāra (Bhagavān Kapila) from the waters near its shores; and the liberation of Devahūti, who turned from household pleasures to brahma-jñāna.

Bindu Sarovara in the Mahābhārata

The Bhīshma Parva (in its Bhūmi Parva section, Chapter 6) describes Bindu Sarovara in the geography of Jambū Dvīpa. It does not speak of Kardama and Devahūti there.

Where it lies

In the Bhīshma Parva, Bindu Sarovara stands on the northern side of the Hiraṇyaśṛṅga mountain. The text describes it as:

ativistāram: very wide
divyam: divine
kāntimantam: shining
full of golden sand
ramaṇīyam: beautiful

Bhagīratha at Bindu Sarovara

The Bhīshma Parva says that King Bhagīratha, who brought Gaṅgā to earth, lived at Bindu Sarovara for many years doing tapas so that he might see Gaṅgā. Here he first had darśana (sight) of Gaṅgā Devī. In this account Bindu Sarovara is the place on earth where Gaṅgā first came down from Brahmaloka. (Bhīshma Parva)

The seven streams of Gaṅgā

The Bhīshma Parva says that the divine Gaṅgā, who travels by three paths (tripathagāminī), came down from Brahmaloka and first settled in Bindu Sarovara. From there she flowed out in seven streams:

Vasvokasārā
Nalinī
Sarasvatī (the celestial stream, seen in some places and unseen in others)
Jāmbūnadī (the golden stream that rises from the jambū fruit)
Sītā
Gaṅgā (the main stream on earth)
Sindhu

The text says that of these seven, Sarasvatī is sometimes seen and sometimes not. All seven are divine and are known in the three worlds. (Bhīshma Parva)

Who is present at Bindu Sarovara

The Bhīshma Parva adds that the ṛshis Nara and Nārāyaṇa, Brahmā Deva, Manu and Bhagavān Śiva are always present at Bindu Sarovara. Its shores have yūpa posts (sacrificial posts) made of jewels, and golden buildings. Indra himself performed yajñas (fire rituals) here and won great glory. (Bhīshma Parva)

Sources

Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, 3rd Skandha, Chapters 21–24 and 33
Mahābhārata, Bhīshma Parva (Bhūmi Parva), Chapter 6