Yamatīrtha of the Pigeon and the Owl
Yamatīrtha · yama-tīrtha, “the tīrtha of Yama”
Agni Tīrtha has other meanings too: see all meanings of Agni Tīrtha. Yamatīrtha has other meanings too: see all meanings of Yamatīrtha.
Yamatīrtha is a tīrtha on both banks of the Gaṅgā, the Gautamī (the Godāvarī), formed from the āśramas of two birds: the pigeon Anuhrāda, whose āśrama was on the northern bank, and Ulūka, the king of owls, who lived on the southern bank. In a war between their families the pigeon fought with the weapons of Yama and the owl with the fire of Agni; their wives saved them by their stotras, and Yama and Agni, pleased, offered the birds varas. The birds asked nothing for themselves, only that their two āśramas should become tīrthas for the good of the worlds. Brahmā tells Nārada its account in the Gautamī Māhātmya of the Brahma Purāṇa. The learned know it as Yāmyatīrtha, Āgneyatīrtha, Kapotatīrtha, Ulūkatīrtha and Hetyulūkatīrtha. It increases the satisfaction of the pitṛs (the ancestors), it is resorted to by all holy people, and it grants every desired thing, seen and unseen.
The pigeon and the owl
There was a powerful pigeon (kapota) named Anuhrāda. His wife was the she-pigeon Heti, who could take any form she wished. Anuhrāda was the grandson of Mṛtyu, and Heti was Mṛtyu’s granddaughter. In time they had sons and grandsons. Anuhrāda’s enemy was the powerful king of birds Ulūka, the owl, whose sons and grandsons were fiery and strong. Between these two families there was a long enmity. The pigeon’s āśrama was on the northern bank of the Gaṅgā, and Ulūka lived with his family on the southern bank. Surrounded by their sons and grandsons, the two birds fought for a long time, and neither won nor lost.
Then the pigeon worshipped Yama and his grandfather Mṛtyu, gained the wondrous astras of Yama and became superior to all. In the same way the owl worshipped Agni and became strong. Proud of the varas they had received, they fought a terrible battle. The owl discharged the Āgneya astra, the weapon of fire, at the pigeon; the pigeon hurled the noose (pāśa) of Yama at his enemy, and also the rod (daṇḍa) and the nooses of Mṛtyu.
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 55
Heti’s stotra to Agni
In that battle Heti, the faithful (pativratā) she-pigeon, saw the fire coming close to her husband and her sons surrounded by it. In distress she went to Agni and praised him:
- His giving of gifts and his form are not hidden; all things are his very self.
- Through him the devas partake of the offerings (havya). “I bow to that husband of Svāhā, the enjoyer of yajñas.”
- “I take refuge in that Agni Deva who is the mouth of the devas, the carrier of the offerings, the all-knowing, who performs homa for the devas, the messenger of the devas, the first deva, whose wealth is bright light.”
- Inside the body he dwells as the prāṇas; outside he cooks food. He is the means of yajña. “I take refuge in that Agni, the conqueror of wealth.”
Agni said: “O she-pigeon, this wondrous astra of mine, once discharged in battle, cannot fail. Where shall it come to rest? Tell me.” Heti answered: “Let it rest in me, not in my sons or my husband. O Havyapati, master of the offerings, be true to your word. O Jātavedas, namaskāra to you.” Jātavedas said: “I am delighted by your words and by your devotion to your husband. My astra will not burn you, your husband or your sons. Go happily, O she-pigeon.”
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 55
The she-owl’s stotra to Yama
Meanwhile the wife of Ulūka saw her husband bound by the nooses of Yama and struck by his rod. Distressed and afraid, she went to Yama and praised him as the one whose fear keeps the world in dharma:
- Because people fear you, they feel compassion for others; fearing you, they keep brahmacarya.
- Fearing you, they do good deeds and hold firmly to their own dharma.
- Fearing you, they refrain from harm as they go from village to forest, and they practise gentleness.
- Fearing you, they drink the Soma in yajña, and they keep up the gifts of cooked food and of cows.
- Fearing you, they expound the truths of Brahman.
Yama, the guardian of the southern quarter, said: “Welfare to you. Choose a vara; I shall give you whatever pleases your mind.” She said: “My husband is bound by your nooses and struck by your rod. O best of the devas, save my sons and my husband.” Moved to compassion, Yama asked again and again where the nooses and the rod should come to rest, and she said: “O Jagatpati, let your nooses enter me, and let the rod strike me.” Then Yama said: “Let your husband and all your sons come out alive and free from illness.” Yama withdrew his nooses and Agni withdrew his fiery astra.
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 55
The varas of the two birds
The two devas made the pigeons and the owls happy and said to them: “Choose the vara you desire.” The birds answered together: “Under the pretext of our enmity we have had your darśana, which is so hard to gain. We are birds of pāpa; what use is a vara to us? If you wish to give one, we will not ask it for ourselves, for one who begs for himself is to be pitied. Fruitful is the life of one who always works for others. Fire, water, the sun, the earth and the grains all exist for others, and good people too exist for others. Brahmā and the rest are bound by time; what Brahmā has fixed at a being’s birth cannot be otherwise, so striving for one’s own gain is vain. We will ask something auspicious for the welfare of the worlds.”
Then, for puṇya and fame and the good of the worlds, the two birds asked:
- “O rulers of the worlds, let our two āśramas be tīrthas on the two sides of the Gaṅgā.”
- “Whether snāna (holy bath), dāna, japa, homa or śrāddha is done there by a person of puṇya or by one of evil deeds, even carelessly, let all of it be meritorious and everlasting (akshaya).”
Yama and Agni said: “Let it be so. We are delighted, and we say one thing more.”
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 55
Yama’s vara
- In the families of those who recite Yama’s stotra on the northern bank of the Gautamī there will be no untimely death for seven generations.
- The self-controlled person who recites the stotra of Mṛtyu every day will gain all riches, and he will never be afflicted by the eighty-eight thousand kinds of disease.
- A faithful pregnant woman who bathes in this tīrtha for seven days within the first three months, and a woman who is nearly barren who bathes there within six months, will bear a heroic son who lives a hundred years, rich and intelligent, whose sons and grandsons flourish.
- By offering piṇḍas (rice balls) and giving dāna here, the pitṛs attain moksha. By bathing here one is freed from pāpas of thought, word and deed.
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 55
Agni’s vara
- “I shall give good health, prosperity and a beautiful form to those who keep sacred observances and recite my stotra on the southern bank.”
- “Wherever this stotra is recited, or wherever it is written and kept in the house, there will be no fear of fire.”
- “A pure person who bathes and gives dāna in Agnitīrtha will without doubt gain the fruit of the Agnishṭoma yajña.”
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 55
The names and the tīrthas
From then on the learned know that tīrtha by several names: Yāmyatīrtha, Āgneyatīrtha, Kapotatīrtha, Ulūkatīrtha and Hetyulūkatīrtha. There are three thousand three hundred and ninety (3,390) tīrthas there, and every one of them leads to moksha. Those who bathe in them and give dāna are purified even after death; they are blessed with wealth and sons, become radiant and reach svarga.
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 55
Sources
- Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 55