Vipratīrtha
Vipratīrtha · vipra-tīrtha, “the tīrtha of the brāhmaṇa”
Vipratīrtha, the tīrtha of the brāhmaṇa, also called Nārāyaṇatīrtha, is a tīrtha on the Gautamī (the Godāvarī) where Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa slew the rākshasī Kaṅkālinī with his divine Sudarśana cakra to save the young brāhmaṇa Āsandiva. Brahmā tells Nārada its account, an account that causes wonder, in the Gautamī Māhātmya of the Brahma Purāṇa. The rākshasī had carried Āsandiva off from Antarvedī to the southern bank of the Gautamī and passed herself off as his mother; on his wife’s counsel he bathed in the Gautamī, was freed of every pāpa and praised Nārāyaṇa, who answered his plea. At this tīrtha desired things are gained by a holy bath, dāna, pūjā and the like.
Āsandiva carried off
In Antarvedī, the land between the Gaṅgā and the Yamunā, there lived a brāhmaṇa who had mastered the Vedas. His sons were wise, good, handsome and kind. The youngest, Āsandiva, was quiet, highly intelligent and knew everything perfectly, and his father was making every effort for his marriage. One night Āsandiva went to sleep without remembering Bhagavān Vishṇu, without purity and concentration of mind, and with his head to the north.
So a rākshasī of cruel features, able to take any form she wished, carried him off and quickly took him to a town on the southern bank of the Gautamī, to the north of Śrīgiri. That town was home to many brāhmaṇas, an abode of dharma and prosperity, and its king was Bṛhatkīrti, endowed with the virtues of a kshatriya. She reached his flourishing city at the end of the night, and every day she took enchanting forms.
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 97
The rākshasī as his mother
Taking any form she pleased, the rākshasī wandered over the whole earth with the brāhmaṇa. Once, in the form of an old woman, she came to the southern bank of the Godāvarī and said to him: “Here is the Gaṅgā. Perform your sandhyā with the leading brāhmaṇas, for great ṛshis count brāhmaṇas who neglect the sandhyā at its proper time among the lowest of men. Tell them that I am your mother. If not, you will be ruined now. If you do as I say, I shall make you happy and take you back to your home and your people.”
He asked her who she was, and she said: “I am famous throughout the world by the name Kaṅkālinī.” The brāhmaṇa, his mind confused, promised to do and say as she wished. She became an old woman still lovely of limb, with divine ornaments, and wandered everywhere with him, saying, “He is my son, a man of good qualities.” Seeing the young brāhmaṇa, rich in beauty, fortune, youth and learning, and the gracious old woman, people took her for his mother. A worthy brāhmaṇa honoured her and gave his daughter, adorned with ornaments, to Āsandiva in marriage.
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 97
The wife’s counsel
The girl counted herself blessed in her husband, but Āsandiva, seeing how good his wife was, was deeply miserable: “This rākshasī may swallow me. Where shall I go, and to whom shall I tell this? Who will save me? And she may devour my good and lovely wife too at any time.”
When the old woman had gone off somewhere, his wife, a pativratā (a wife devoted to her husband), saw his sorrow and asked him gently in private what troubled him. He told her everything as it had happened, for what should not be told to a dear friend or a wife of noble birth? The wise wife said: “To a foolish man without self-restraint there is fear from every side, even in his own house; but what can the self-possessed fear, and more so on the banks of the Gautamī? What fear can there be for the devotees of Vishṇu who live on the banks of the Gautamī, free of attachment and rich in viveka (discernment)? Bathe here, be pure, and praise Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa, who is free from every ailment.”
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 97
Āsandiva’s stotra and the Sudarśana cakra
Āsandiva bathed in the Gaṅgā and was freed of all pāpas. On the banks of the Gautamī he praised Nārāyaṇa:
- “O Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa, you are the viśvātmā, the ātmā within the universe.”
- “O Mukunda, you are its maker, its destroyer and its protector.”
- “O Narasiṃha, friend of those who have no one, why do you not protect me, a wretched one?”
Hearing his plea, Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa, who takes away the sorrow of the universe, slew that rākshasī of pāpa with his radiant divine Sudarśana cakra of a thousand spokes. He granted Āsandiva all the varas he desired and brought him back to his father.
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 97
The names and the phala
From then on the tīrtha is known as Vipra, Vipratīrtha, and as Nārāyaṇa, Nārāyaṇatīrtha. It is a place where desired things are gained by the holy bath (snāna), dāna, pūjā and the like.
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 97
Sources
- Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 97