Mitra Tīrtha
Mitra Tīrtha · mitra-tīrtha, “the tīrtha of friendship”
Mitra Tīrtha is a tīrtha on the Gautamī Gaṅgā (the Godāvarī), at the place where the friendship of Indra and the Maruts came about. It is one of four tīrthas named together, Putratīrtha, Mitra Tīrtha, Śakratīrtha and Kamalatīrtha, all of which give every cherished desire. Brahmā tells their account to Nārada in the Gautamī Māhātmya of the Brahma Purāṇa.
Diti’s sons and Indra
Grieved that the sons of Aditi had grown greater than her own, Diti pleased her husband Kaśyapa Prajāpati and asked for a son who would conquer the universe. Kaśyapa taught her a vrata of twelve years and, when it was done, made her pregnant, giving her rules to keep. The daitya Maya, Indra‘s friend, told Indra everything. Indra came to serve Diti and waited for his chance. When he found her asleep at dusk with her head to the north, he entered her womb with his vajra. The child in the womb begged him not to kill his brother, but Indra cut him, and cut the pieces again, into forty-nine. When they wept, Indra said “Mā rudaḥ” (“do not weep”), and so they became the Maruts. Agastya Maharshi, in whose āśrama Diti was staying, and Diti herself pronounced śāpas (curses) on Indra.
Kaśyapa at the Gautamī
Kaśyapa came to Brahmā and asked, among other things, how the beings in the womb could be made friends with Indra. Brahmā sent him to the Gautamī with Indra, the Vasus and the guardians of the quarters, to bathe and praise Maheśāna. Kaśyapa bathed and praised Bhagavān Śiva with a stotra in which every line begins “Protect”. Śiva appeared and said: “The Maruts, your forty-nine sons, shall be fortunate and take their shares in the yajñas. They will always be with Indra and will be joyous; wherever Indra has a share of the havis in any yajña, the Maruts will have priority there. No one will ever conquer Indra when the Maruts are with him.” He told Agastya to be calm, for the Maruts had become immortal, and at Diti‘s request he made bathing at that place on the Gautamī the giver of sons.
The tīrthas and their phala
Brahmā says that from then on that tīrtha is called Putratīrtha. The place where the friendship with the Maruts came about is called Mitra Tīrtha. Because the tīrtha made Indra free of pāpa it is called Śakratīrtha, and where Indra obtained his glory it is named Kamalatīrtha. All these tīrthas give all cherished desires. Saying “All will happen”, Bhagavān Śiva withdrew from sight. It is well known that there are a hundred thousand tīrthas there that give puṇya (merit).
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 54
Sources
- Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 54