Siddheśvara (Govinda-tīrtha)
Siddheśvara · siddha-īśvara, “the lord of the siddhas”
Siddheśvara has other meanings too: see all meanings of Siddheśvara.
Siddheśvara, “the Īśvara of the siddhas”, is Bhagavān Śiva in the form of a liṅga at Govinda-tīrtha on the Gautamī (the Godāvarī). The liṅga is worshipped by the devas. Brahmā tells Nārada in the Gautamī Māhātmya of the Brahma Purāṇa that Govinda-tīrtha is the place where Bṛhaspati, the guru of the devas, praised Maheśvara so that the kingdom of Indra (Devendra) might be stable for ever, and that “the deity there is Siddheśvara”. Siddheśvara is named again just beyond, at the Bārhaspatya tīrtha, where the deity is Siddheśvara, Vishṇu and Govinda. A bath, dāna or any act of puṇya (merit) in these tīrthas bears everlasting fruit.
The account of the place
Indra had been ousted from his kingdom three times: by Nahusha after the slaying of Vṛtra, on the killing of Sindhusena, and for his wrong towards Ahalyā. Bṛhaspati took him to Brahmā, who named the cause khaṇḍa-dharma, dharma left broken or incomplete, and said: “Go to the Gautamī, the divine river, and praise Bhagavān Vishṇu and Bhagavān Śaṅkara.” Indra and Bṛhaspati bathed in the Gautamī and praised them, and Hari and Hara appeared together, smiling, and granted Indra a kingdom that would stay steady. Bṛhaspati performed the great ablution (mahābhisheka) of Indra, and from it the river Maṅgalā arose; its confluence with the Gaṅgā is Pūrṇatīrtha. Indra received the kingdom of the three worlds from Hari, and it was made stable by Maheśvara, ruler of the devas.
The place where Bṛhaspati praised Maheśvara for the stability of Devendra’s kingdom became the tīrtha known as Govinda. The deity there is Siddheśvara, and the liṅga is worshipped by the devas.
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 52
Siddheśvara at Bārhaspatya
Beyond Govinda-tīrtha, Brahmā says, lie the tīrtha known as Indratīrtha and the tīrtha known as Bārhaspatya, where the deity is Siddheśvara, Vishṇu and Govinda.
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 52
The phala
- A holy bath, the giving of dāna (gifts) and any other act of puṇya done in these tīrthas bear everlasting (akshaya) fruit.
- These tīrthas are very dear to the pitṛs.
- One who listens to the greatness of that tīrtha, reads it or remembers it every day regains a lost kingdom.
There are thirty-seven thousand tīrthas on both banks there, and they grant every siddhi.
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 52
Sources
- Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 52