Dhanvantari (son of Āyus)
Dhanvantari · dhanvan-tari, “he who crosses the bow”
Dhanvantari has other meanings too: see all meanings of Dhanvantari.
Dhanvantari, son of Āyus, was a king who lived long ago, at the beginning of the kalpa. Brahmā tells Nārada of him in Chapter 52 of the Gautamī Māhātmya of the Brahma Purāṇa, in the account of Pūrṇatīrtha on the northern bank of the Gautamī, where both Bhagavān Vishṇu, who bears the cakra, and Bhagavān Śiva, who bears the Pināka bow, dwell. Dhanvantari performed the aśvamedha and other yajñas, gave many dānas and enjoyed every pleasure of the world, until, seeing how unsteady enjoyment is, he reached the highest vairāgya (detachment). Leaving his kingdom to his sons, he performed tapas at the feet of Bhīmeśa where the Gaṅgā joins the ocean. He was rich in wisdom and free of worldly desire, and in battle he had once humbled the great asura Tamas.
Tamas broke his tapas with a maiden made of māyā, and Brahmā, coming to grant him varas, found him fallen. On Brahmā’s counsel Dhanvantari went to the Himālaya and praised Bhagavān Vishṇu with a long stotra; Bhagavān Vishṇu granted him a vara, and the king gradually attained the sovereignty of the devas.
The king and his vairāgya
Dhanvantari reflected: “If one performs tapas, homa or japa on the top of a mountain, or beyond the ocean, or on the banks of the Gaṅgā, or in the temples of Śiva and Vishṇu, or above all at a holy saṅgama (confluence), every holy rite bears everlasting fruit.” Understanding this, he performed a great tapas. He took refuge at the feet of Bhīmeśa and performed an elaborate tapas at the place where the Gaṅgā joins the ocean. His sons ruled the kingdom, and the old king, free of interest in worldly affairs, lived on the bank of the Gaṅgā, ever engaged in japa and homa and eagerly pursuing brahma-jñāna, the knowledge of Brahman.
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 52
Tamas and the māyā-maiden
Long before, the great asura Tamas had been defeated by this king. He had fled the battlefield in fear and hidden in the ocean for a thousand years. When Dhanvantari had gone to the forest, Tamas came out of the ocean and came to the bank of the Gaṅgā where the king was at his tapas. “I have been ruined many times by this powerful king,” he thought. “I shall destroy this enemy who is performing tapas.”
By māyā Tamas took the form of a young maiden with fine brows and a captivating appearance. Laughing, singing and dancing, she came near the king. After seeing her for a long time, charming in every limb, the king was drawn to her; she stayed near him quietly, serving him faithfully with good conduct. Then, out of kindness, the king asked her: “Good lady, who are you? Why are you staying in this dense forest? Whose sight makes you so delighted? Tell me.”
The maiden said: “When you are here, who else could be the cause of my delight? I am the royal splendour of Indra, O king. Seeing you full of love, I am delighted, and so I move before you again and again. I cannot be reached by those who lack great merit.” Hearing this, the king at once gave up his most difficult tapas. He meditated on her and rested in her alone; she became his only refuge. Having destroyed the king’s great tapas, Tamas vanished.
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 52
Brahmā’s counsel
Meanwhile Brahmā came to the king to grant him varas for his tapas. He found the excellent king fallen from the height of his tapas, as though dead, and deeply shaken. Brahmā consoled him: “Your enemy named Tamas, O king, has made you fall from your tapas, and he is satisfied and gone. It does not befit you to lament. All young women delight men and also torment them; why should that maiden made of māyā not do the same?”
Freed from his bewilderment, the king joined his palms and said: “How shall I gain what I desire, Brahmā? What shall I do? How can I gain the full fruit of tapas?” Brahmā answered: “Praise Vishṇu, ruler of the devas, with every effort, and you will gain siddhi. He is the creator of the universe, the primordial one, known through the Vedas, the giver of every desired object. In the three worlds there is no other who can grant this to men.”
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 52
The stotra on the Himālaya
Dhanvantari went to the Himālaya, best of mountains, and with joined palms praised Bhagavān Vishṇu with bhakti. His stotra is a long chain of “Be victorious, O …” and “Obeisance to …”. He hailed Vishṇu as the unimaginable one, Acyuta, the protector of cows, Kṛshṇa, one with the universe, the one who lies on Śesha, the all-pervading one, Govinda, the maker, enjoyer and sustainer of the universe, Sat and Asat, Mādhava, Kāma the giver of love, Rāma the ocean of good qualities, Pītāmbara clad in yellow, the knower of the Vedas, Paramātmā, the giver of moksha who is moksha, Keśava the giver of enjoyment, the destroyer of pāpas, the one who loves his devotees, the holder of the cakra, the giver of dharma who is dharma, the giver of food who is food, the giver of yajñas who is Yajña, the lotus-eyed one, the slayer of Kaiṭabha, the purifier of purifiers, the giver of peace who is peace, the one whose form is a blazing flame, Vāmana and Dhūmaketu. He closed: “You alone can end the troubles of the beings of the three worlds, O Śrīpuṇḍarīkāksha, storehouse of mercy, O Vishṇu: place your hand on my head.”
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 52
The kingdom of the devas
As Dhanvantari praised him, Bhagavān Vishṇu, bearing the śaṅkha, the cakra and the gadā, the giver of plenty and of every cherished desire, told him to choose any vara he wished. Delighted, the king said humbly to Govinda, ruler of the devas, who stood before him: “The kingdom of the devas is what I desire. When you have granted it, O Vishṇu, I shall be content.” Praised and worshipped, Bhagavān Vishṇu withdrew from sight there, and in time the king attained the sovereignty of the devas.
Later, when Indra, ousted from his kingdom three times, came with Bṛhaspati to ask Brahmā the reason, Brahmā named the fault of khaṇḍa-dharma (dharma left broken or incomplete) and told them the earlier account of Dhanvantari, son of Āyus, glorious and generous: how the asura Tamas made an obstacle and how Vishṇu removed it, and the incidents of the previous birth.
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 52
Sources
- Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 52