Ātreya (son of Atri)

Ātreya, “the son of Atri”

Ātreya has other meanings too: see all meanings of Ātreya.

Ātreya, the son of Atri Maharshi, was a lordly ṛshi who lived on the banks of the Gautamī. By the power of his tapas (austerity) he could go at will to svarga, to the abode of Indra and to the nether worlds. Once, dazzled by the glory of Indra’s court, he longed for the state of Indra, and he made Tvashṭṛ build a copy of svarga at his own āśrama, with a made Śacī for his bride. When the daityas, dānavas and rākshasas attacked that copied city, he declared that he was no Indra, but only a brāhmaṇa of the Gautamī, and had Tvashṭṛ take it all away. He returned to his tapas, ashamed of his error, and the devas comforted him and promised him lasting fame. The tīrtha on the Gautamī called Anvindra, Ātreya and Daiteya bears the memory of his deeds.

The satras on the Gautamī

Brahmā tells this account as the glory of the Anvindra tīrtha, also called the Ātreya tīrtha, which is able to give back a lost kingdom. Ātreya, surrounded by ṛtvijas (officiating priests) and ṛshis, began to perform satras, long sessions of yajña, on the northern bank of the Gautamī. Agni, the carrier of offerings, became his hotṛ priest, and so the Māheśvara yajña, offered to Parameśvara, was performed. By it the great brāhmaṇa gained prosperity and the power to go everywhere, and by his auspicious tapas he could visit svarga, the beautiful abode of Indra, and the nether worlds (pātāla) as he wished.

Ātreya in Indra’s court

Once he went to svarga, to the world of Indra. There he saw Indra, the thousand-eyed, surrounded by the splendid devas and praised by the Siddhas and Sādhyas. Indra sat on a grand throne, watching fine dance and hearing sweet music, fanned by the apsarās and honoured by the leading devas seated near him. His son Jayanta was on his lap and Śacī was at his side. Seeing Mahendra, the giver of varas, in whom the good take refuge, the brāhmaṇa was overcome by Indra’s prosperity and glory, and he longed for the kingdom of Indra.

The devas honoured him duly, and he came back to his āśrama. After Indra’s city, beautiful, full of every good quality and adorned with jewels, his own āśrama, dull and without gold, gave him great pain. Wanting the kingdom of the devas at once, he said to his beloved wife: “When I remember the sacred amṛta there, the many kinds of food, the fine seats, the praise, the gifts, the splendid assembly, the wondrous weapons, the clothes, the city and the parks, I cannot eat these fruits and roots, though they are excellent and well consecrated.”

Tvashṭṛ’s copy of svarga

Strong in his tapas, Ātreya called Tvashṭṛ and said: “O noble one, I wish to have the state of Indra. Quickly make the region of Indra here. If you refuse, I shall surely burn you to ashes.”

At his command Tvashṭṛ, the prajāpati Viśvakarman, built in haste Meru, the city of the devas; the kalpa trees and the kalpa creeper; the divine cow; splendid many-coloured houses set with diamonds; a new Śacī, flawless in every limb; within a moment, the divine assembly hall Sudharmā; lovely apsarās; the horse Uccaiḥśravas; the elephant Airāvata; the vajra and the other weapons; in truth, he made all the devas. Though his own beloved wife tried to stop him, Ātreya took the made Śacī as his bride. Accompanied by those headed by Atri, he made weapons in the form of the vajra and the rest, and he brought back the dance and music he had seen in Indra’s city. Having gained all this, the ṛshi was greatly delighted. The Purāṇa says here that the objects of the senses are lovely only for a moment, and yet who does not desire them?

The asuras’ attack

Hearing of this, the daityas, dānavas and rākshasas were at once enraged. “Why has Indra left svarga and come down to earth?” they said. “Was it for some secret enjoyment? Let us go and fight the slayer of Vṛtra.” They came and surrounded the city built at Ātreya’s command, called Indrapura, and attacked him. Tormented by the storm of weapons, Ātreya grew afraid, and he praised Indra with a stotra: “Even as he was born, Indra, full of wisdom, first adorned the devas by yajñas. By his might svarga and earth are held aloft, by the greatness of him who protects men.”

Then he said to his enemies: “I am not Indra, and this Śacī is not mine. This is not Indra’s city, and this park is not Indra’s. He alone is Indra: the slayer of Vṛtra, the wielder of the vajra, the thousand-eyed, the subduer of mountains, the one with the vajra in his arm. I am only a brāhmaṇa who knows the Vedas, living with learned men on the banks of the Gautamī. Through evil fate I have done a deed that brings no happiness, now or later.”

The asuras answered: “O Ātreya, take back all these copies of Indra’s things. Then happiness will truly come to you; you need not worry.” Ātreya said: “O fortunate ones, I shall surely do as you say,” and he touched fire as a pledge of his truth.

The return to tapas

Then he said to Tvashṭṛ: “O Tvashṭṛ, take back the state of Indra that you made for love of me. Hurry to protect a brāhmaṇa. Give me back my own state, my āśrama, the old animals and birds, the trees, the water, all that was here before. I have no use for these divine things. Nothing gained wrongly leads to happiness.” Saying “So be it”, Tvashṭṛ withdrew everything and went laughing to his own abode, and the daityas left the land in peace and went to theirs.

With his disciples and his wife, Ātreya went back to the banks of the Gautamī and took delight in tapas. As a great yajña was being performed he was overcome with shame and cried: “Oh, the power of delusion! Oh, the confusion of my mind! Did I gain the place of Mahendra? What was it I did?” The devas came to him and said: “O mighty-armed one, give up your shame. You will have excellent fame.” They declared that those who bathe in the Ātreya tīrtha would at once become Indras, that merely by remembering it beings would enjoy happiness, that the wise count five thousand tīrthas there, and that they are glorified as Anvindra, Ātreya and Daiteya. Having said this, the devas went away, and the ṛshi was content.

Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 70

Sources

• Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 70