Brahmā’s Daughters and the Hunter of the Stag
Mṛgavyādha · mṛga-vyādha, “the hunter of the stag”
Brahmā’s daughters and the hunter of the stag is the account of how Pañcatīrtha, the “five tīrthas” on the Gaṅgā, and the tīrtha of Mṛgavyādha got their names. Brahmā tells it to Nārada in the Gautamī Māhātmya of the Brahma Purāṇa, in his own words. Brahmā created a maiden, the most beautiful in the world, and went after her; she took the form of a hind and he the form of a stag. To protect dharma, Śambhu became the hunter of the stag, took up his bow and arrows, and declared that he would strike Brahmā; and Brahmā desisted and gave the maiden to Sūrya. His five eldest daughters, Sāvitrī, Gāyatrī, Śraddhā, Medhā and Sarasvatī, went to the great river Gaṅgā and flowed into her as rivers, and the place where they join her is Pañcatīrtha. The tīrtha of Mṛgavyādha, the hunter of the stag, is there too.
The five tīrthas
Brahmā says that the ṛshis know these five tīrthas as very holy: Sāvitrī, Gāyatrī, Śraddhā, Medhā and Sarasvatī. By bathing there and drinking their water one is released from all pāpas. Sāvitrī, Gāyatrī, Śraddhā, Medhā and Sarasvatī were Brahmā’s eldest daughters.
The stag and the hind
“Then I created the most beautiful woman in the world, the most excellent of all,” Brahmā tells Nārada, “and I went after her, and she fled.” The maiden took the form of a hind, and Brahmā became a stag. To protect dharma, Śambhu became Mṛgavyādha, the hunter of the stag.
Brahmā’s five daughters also went to the Gaṅgā, the great river, and Maheśvara went ahead to protect dharma. Then Hara, the hunter of the stag, took up his bow and arrows, and Īśa said to Brahmā: “I will slay you.” Brahmā desisted and gave the maiden to Sūrya.
The rivers and the name Pañcatīrtha
The five daughters, beginning with Sāvitrī, took the forms of rivers and flowed together, and they came again to Brahmā in svarga. The place where these rivers join the divine river Gaṅgā came to be called Pañcatīrtha. All the confluences are holy, and Sarasvatī is the chief of the five rivers.
The tīrtha of the hunter
The tīrtha of Mṛgavyādha, named after Bhagavān Śiva as the hunter of the stag, is also there. It gives men all they seek, it has the fruit of svarga and moksha, and it yields the fruit of Brahmatīrtha.
Phalaśruti
A holy bath, the giving of dāna, and whatever a man does in those rivers yields all he cherishes, and it yields moksha through naishkarmya, the ceasing of action.
Sources
- Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 32