Vaibhīshaṇi
Vaibhīshaṇi, “the son of Vibhīshaṇa”
Vaibhīshaṇi is a rākshasa of the Gautamī Māhātmya of the Brahma Purāṇa, the son of Vibhīshaṇa, lord of Laṅkā. The Purāṇa calls him “like another Vibhīshaṇa”, a rākshasa who knew dharma and a mine of good qualities. On the southern bank of the Gautamī, before the shrine of Yogeśvara, he found the vaiśya Maṇikuṇḍala lying without hands and eyes, and with a branch of the tree where Hanumān‘s healing herb had fallen he made him whole again. “There is nothing in the three worlds more conducive to welfare than removing the anguish of others,” he told his father.
Vibhīshaṇa’s visits to Yogeśvara
Brahmā tells Nārada of the Cakshustīrtha on the southern bank of the Gautamī, where the deity is Yogeśvara, Hari, the master of yoga. The vaiśya Maṇikuṇḍala, who held to dharma, had been robbed of his wealth by his friend, the brāhmaṇa Gautama, and in wager after wager had lost his hands and then his eyes, because he would not stop praising dharma. Left alone before Yogeśvara, he sat on the ground, sunk in grief, still thinking only of dharma.
On the ekādaśī of the bright fortnight of every month, Vibhīshaṇa came there at night after the moon had risen. He came with his son, surrounded by the rākshasas, bathed in the Gautamī Gaṅgā and duly worshipped Yogeśvara.
Vaibhīshaṇi and the vaiśya
Vaibhīshaṇi saw the vaiśya and talked with him. When he had heard everything as it had happened, he told it to his father, the noble-souled lord of Laṅkā. Vibhīshaṇa spoke lovingly to his son. Rāma, he said, had been his honoured guru, and Rāma’s friend Hanumān was worthy of his reverence. When the need arose, Hanumān had brought a great mountain, a store of all healing herbs, and after it had served its purpose he carried it back to Himavān. Its chief herbs were Viśalyakaraṇī, which takes away the pain of wounds, and Mṛtasañjīvanī, which brings the dead back to life. As Hanumān went swiftly, the herb Viśalyakaraṇī fell on the bank of the Gautamī, where Hari is Yogeśvara, the master of yoga. “Bring that herb and, remembering Hari, place it on this vaiśya’s heart,” Vibhīshaṇa said.
Vaibhīshaṇi answered: “Show me that herb quickly, dear father; do not delay. There is nothing in the three worlds more conducive to welfare than removing the anguish of others.” Vibhīshaṇa said “So be it” and showed him the herb. Out of love for the vaiśya, Vaibhīshaṇi recited the Vedic mantra “Ishe tvā” and cut a branch of the tree, for good men are always engaged in the welfare of others. Vibhīshaṇa said that the tree on the spot where the herb fell had become powerful, and that as soon as a branch of it touched the vaiśya’s heart he would regain his former form.
Vaibhīshaṇi did as his father said and placed the piece of wood on the vaiśya’s heart, and the vaiśya regained his own form, with his hands and his eyes. “No one can fully understand the power of jewels, mantras and healing herbs,” the Purāṇa says.
What followed
The vaiśya kept the branch, bathed in the Gautamī, bowed to Hari Yogeśvara, and wandered through many lands. With the touch of the branch he gave sight to the blind daughter of the king of Mahāpura, and the king gave him his daughter and his kingdom. Later he found his old friend Gautama, robbed of everything by gamblers, honoured him, taught him the power of dharma and had him bathe in the Gaṅgā, and the two friends and their kinsmen performed yajñas near Yogeśvara and went to svarga. From then on the tīrtha is known as Mṛtasañjīvana, Cakshustīrtha and Yogeśa.
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 100
Sources
- Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 100