Kapilā-saṅgama
Kapilā-saṅgama · kapilā-saṅgama, “the confluence of the Kapilā”
Kapilā has other meanings too: see all meanings of Kapilā.
Kapilā-saṅgama is a tīrtha on the Gaṅgā, the Gautamī, famous in the three worlds. Brahmā tells Nārada its account in the Gautamī Māhātmya of the Brahma Purāṇa. After the death of King Vena, the ṛshis, counselled by Kapila on the bank of the Gautamī, churned Vena’s body and brought forth King Pṛthu. To feed the people, Pṛthu milked the great herbs from the Earth, who had taken the form of a tawny cow (kapilā) and stood near Kapila. The milk became a river of sacred waters that joined the Gautamī, and from then on the place is known as Kapilāsaṅgama. Eighty-eight thousand tīrthas are there.
Kapila and the churning of Vena
There was a ṛshi of very great fame named Kapila, a Siddha who knew the truth of things, sometimes stern and sometimes gracious, devoted to tapas and sacred rites. As he performed tapas on the bank of the Gautamī, Vāmadeva and other ṛshis came to him. Vena had already been slain by the śāpas of these brāhmaṇas; the land was without a king, and the practice of dharma had vanished. “When the Veda has gone and the sacred rites have gone, what should be done?” they asked.
Kapila meditated a short while and said: “The thigh of Vena should be churned. Then someone will come out of it.” The ṛshis did so, and from it came a black being of terrible strength. Afraid, they said to him, “Be seated”, and so he became Nishāda; from him the Nishādas of the hills were born. Then they churned the right arm of Vena, which was endowed with dharma, and from it was born the glorious King Pṛthu, of loud voice, bearing every auspicious mark. The devas came, congratulated him, granted him excellent varas, and gave him wondrous weapons and their mantras.
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 71
The milking of the Earth
The ṛshis, with Kapila, said to Pṛthu: “Give food to the living beings. Give them the medicinal herbs (oshadhis) the Earth has swallowed.” Pṛthu took up his bow and told the Earth to give back the herbs. Frightened, she said they had been digested within her. Pṛthu, furious, threatened to kill her and take them. The Earth asked how he could kill a woman, and how he would sustain the people without her. Pṛthu answered that he would sustain them by the power of his tapas, and that when one is killed so that many may be happy, the ṛshis count it higher than a hundred aśvamedhas.
The devas and ṛshis calmed the king, and the devas said to the Earth, the divine mother: “Take the form of a cow and give the great herbs to King Pṛthu as milk. Then the king will be pleased, and the people will be protected.”
The Earth took the form of the Kapilā, the tawny cow, and stood near the ṛshi Kapila, and the king born of Vena‘s arm milked the great herbs from her. The devas with the Gandharvas, Kapila and others were present. Pṛthu milked much milk from the Earth into the Narmadā, the Bhāgīrathī, the Sarasvatī and especially the Godāvarī, and into all the great rivers. The milk became a river of sacred waters and joined the Gautamī, as though a miracle had happened.
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 71
The name and the phala
From then on that tīrtha is known as Kapilāsaṅgama, and it is famous in the three worlds. The ṛshis say there are eighty-eight thousand tīrthas there, worthy of pūjā; merely by being remembered, they sanctify this world in their proper order.
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 71
Sources
- Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 71