Ajagara and Giriśarmā
Ajagara Giriśarmā · ajagara-giri-śarmā, “Ajagara and Giriśarmā”
Ajagara and Giriśarmā is the account of a brāhmaṇa of Naimishāraṇya who rose to be the Rudra of Karka and then descended on earth as the vipra Giriśarmā. Devaguru Bṛhaspati tells it to Devendra in the Pratisarga Parva of the Bhavishya Purāṇa. Ajagara was expert in the Vedānta-śāstra, full of jñāna (true knowledge), and an upāsaka (devoted worshipper) of Bhagavān Śaṅkara. He pleased Bhagavān Rudra and then Bhagavān Saṅkarshaṇa, gained jīvanmukti (freedom while living) and sāyujya (union), and became a thousand-hooded serpent.
The tapas of Ajagara
Bṛhaspati said: “Devendra, long ago in Naimishāraṇya there was a brāhmaṇa named Ajagara.” Over twelve years he pleased Bhagavān Rudra by pārthiva-pūjā, the pūjā of a liṅga of earth. Bhagavān Śiva gave him jñāna and granted him jīvanmukti.
Then that best of dvijas performed ārādhanā of Saṅkarshaṇa and pleased him with many stutis. Bhagavān Saṅkarshaṇa granted him sāyujya, and at the end he became the serpent that is a divine ornament. He had a thousand hoods and a fair body, and his place was in the Kshīrasāgara.
The Rudra of Karka
Brahmā himself came and, when Sūrya stood in the rāśi Karka, established that Rudra in the nakshatra-maṇḍala of the Moon, and he became like the Moon.
Giriśarmā
Having heard these words spoken by the guru, Śeshanāga Rudra, glad at heart, brought forth tejas (radiant power) from his mouth and placed it in the house of the brāhmaṇa Devadatta at Vindhyādri. He became the vipra Giriśarmā. He defeated scholars, came to Kāśīpurī and became a disciple of Śaṅkara.
Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Pratisarga Parva, Khaṇḍa 4, Chapter 11
Sources
- Bhavishya Purāṇa, Pratisarga Parva, Khaṇḍa 4, Chapter 11