Pṛthuśravas and Ṛṇamocana

Pṛthuśravas Ṛṇamocana · pṛthu-śravas ṛṇa-mocana, “Pṛthuśravas and the release from debt”

Pṛthuśravas and Ṛṇamocana is the account, in the Gautamī Māhātmya of the Brahma Purāṇa, of how the tīrtha Ṛṇamocana, “release from debt”, got its name. Brahmā tells it to Nārada. Pṛthuśravas, the favourite son of Kakshīvān, would not marry, and his younger brother would not marry before him. The pitṛs sent both to bathe in the Gautamī and offer tarpaṇa, and there Pṛthuśravas was freed of his debt to the pitṛs.

The two brothers

Brahmā said: those who know the Vedas know the tīrtha Ṛṇapramocana; “I will tell its features, O Nārada; listen attentively.”

Kakshīvān had a favourite son named Pṛthuśravas. Because of his vairāgya he did not marry, nor did he tend the sacred fire. His younger brother was capable, but out of fear of incurring pāpa he would not marry before his elder brother.

Then the pitṛs spoke separately to the elder and the younger son of Kakshīvān: “Let the marriage be performed, to remove the threefold debt (ṛṇa).” The elder son said: “No. What is the debt? By whom is it incurred?” The younger said to the pitṛs: “Out of fear of pāpa, O wise ones, it is not proper for me to marry while I have an elder brother.”

Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 29

The pitṛs’ counsel

The pitṛs spoke to both of them again: “O sons of Kakshīvān, both of you go to the holy Gautamī and bathe there. The holy bath in the Gautamī fulfils all cherished desires. Go to Gautamī Gaṅgā, who sanctifies the three worlds, and perform snāna and tarpaṇa in that river with śraddhā.”

“The Gautamī gives all cherished things when she is seen, meditated upon or bathed in. There is no restriction of place, time, varṇa or the like for bathing in her. The elder brother will be freed from the pāpa of debt, and the younger will not incur the pāpa of marrying before his elder brother.”

Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 29

Ṛṇamocana

Then the elder brother Pṛthuśravas bathed and offered tarpaṇa, and he became free of his debt to the pitṛs. From then on that tīrtha is called Ṛṇamocana.

Phala. By bathing or giving dāna there, a debtor becomes free of all debts: those spoken of in the Vedas and the Smṛtis, and also the ordinary debts he has incurred.

Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 29

Sources

• Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 29