Daksha Yajña (Brahma Purāṇa)

Daksha Yajña · daksha-yajña, “the yajña of Daksha”

Kalpa has other meanings too: see all meanings of Kalpa. Prāṇa has other meanings too: see all meanings of Prāṇa. Jaya has other meanings too: see all meanings of Jaya. Kalpavṛksha has other meanings too: see all meanings of Kalpavṛksha. Bhadrakālī has other meanings too: see all meanings of Bhadrakālī. Lokapāla has other meanings too: see all meanings of Lokapāla. Pushṭi has other meanings too: see all meanings of Pushṭi. Ushā has other meanings too: see all meanings of Ushā.

The Daksha Yajña is the yajña of Daksha Prajāpati that Bhagavān Śiva caused to be destroyed because Daksha gave him no share in it, and that Śiva himself then made complete and fruitful. The Brahma Purāṇa tells it three times. Brahmā tells the munis how Daksha, who hated Rudra, did not invite his eldest daughter Satī; how Satī, slighted in her father’s house, gave up her body in fire; and how Rudra and Daksha pronounced śāpas on each other, so that Daksha was born again as the son of the Pracetases and Satī as Umā, daughter of Himavat (Chapter 34).

Then, in the Vaivasvata manvantara, Daksha, son of the Pracetases, began an aśvamedha at Gaṅgādvāra. All the devas, with Śrī Mahāvishṇu, came for their shares, but Śiva was given none, though Dadhīci warned Daksha that the yajña would not be fulfilled without Śaṅkara. At Umā’s word, Bhagavān Śiva brought forth Vīrabhadra from the fire of his mouth; Maheśvarī became Bhadrakālī; and with the gaṇas born from Vīrabhadra’s body they destroyed the yajña, while from a drop of Vīrabhadra’s sweat arose Jvara and burned what was left. At Brahmā’s plea Śiva was given his share; he granted that Daksha’s yajña should bear fruit, Daksha praised him with a stuti of his names, and Śiva gave him the fruit of a thousand aśvamedhas and a hundred vājapeyas, taught him the Vedas, sāṅkhya and yoga and a twelve-year observance that frees all beings from their bonds, and divided Jvara among all beings (Chapters 39–40).

The Gautamī Māhātmya tells the account once more as the origin of Cakratīrtha on the Godāvarī: Satī gave up her body by yoga, Vīrabhadra and Bhadrakālī went before Bhagavān Śiva and his bhūtas, Vīrabhadra struck Pūshan, Indra, Bhaga and Sūrya and seized the cakra that Bhagavān Vishṇu released at him, and Daksha’s stotra won Śiva’s grace (Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 39).

Satī in her father’s house

Brahmā tells the munis that Rudra, the indweller of all, to do what was dear to Umā Devī, drove away all the devatās, siddhas, vidyādharas, ṛshis, gandharvas, nāgas, yakshas and all who had come to the yajña, and destroyed the yajña, full of the finest things, with all its materials. Indra and the others, finding no peace before his might, went to Kailāsa and took refuge in Bhagavān Śūlapāṇi, the bearer of the trident, the giver of varas, the destroyer of Daksha’s yajña. At that time Parama-Śiva was dwelling at the kshetra of Ekāmraka, granting all desires.

The munis asked: “Śiva wishes the good of all beings. Why did he destroy that yajña, which all the devatās had adorned? It cannot have been for a small reason.” Brahmā told them.

Daksha had eight daughters, all married. He invited them and honoured them in his house. The eldest was Satī, the wife of Śiva, and because Daksha hated Rudra, he did not invite her: Parameśvara, standing by his own nature in his own power, showed his father-in-law no humility. Learning that all her sisters had gone to her father’s house, Satī Devī went there herself, uninvited, and her father honoured her less than all his other daughters.

Satī Devī said to her father: “These daughters are younger than I. I am the eldest of the house and the greatest in worth. You have not honoured me; you have slighted me. You are bound to honour me.” Daksha’s eyes turned red, and he said: “These daughters of mine are better than you in every way, and their husbands are dear to me: Vasishṭha, Atri, Pulastya, Aṅgiras, Pulaha, Kratu, Bhṛgu and Marīci. They are established in Brahman, in vratas, in dharma and in yoga, and worthy of praise far more than the fire-browed one. Paśupati vies with them, and they too dislike him. Therefore I will not honour you. Śiva is hostile to me.” So Daksha, his mind deluded, reviled the ṛshis and his son-in-law, as the destiny by which he was to receive a śāpa required.

Then the Devī said to her father: “You have reproached me, who am pure in thought, word and deed. See, I give up this body that came from you. Leaving this body and shining in another, established in dharma, may I become the dharma-patnī of Parameśvara.” Saying this, she sat down there and held fire within herself, and that fire, driven by Vāyu, came out of all her limbs and burned her to ash.

Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Chapter 34

The śāpas of Rudra and Daksha

Śūlapāṇi heard of her going and of all that father and daughter had said, and Bhagavān Śaṅkara turned to the destruction of Daksha. He said: “O Daksha, Satī Devī came uninvited and was insulted by you, while your other daughters and their husbands are the best, as you say. So in the Vaivasvata manvantara these maharshis of yours will be born not from a womb and will come to the yajña, when the homa takes place in the satra-yāga that Brahmā performs in the Cākshusha manvantara.” So Rudra pronounced a śāpa on the saptarshis. And he pronounced a śāpa on Daksha: “In the Cākshusha manvantara you will be born with this same name, Daksha, the grandson of Prācīnabarhi and son of Pracetas, from Mārishā, who will be born the daughter of the trees. There too, you of evil mind, I will again and again put obstacles in your rites of dharma, kāma and artha.”

Daksha answered with a śāpa of his own: “O cruel one, for my sake you have reviled even these maharshis. Therefore in yajñas no one will offer to you together with the devas. Even if someone gives you an āhuti, after the āhuti to Rudra they will touch water to become pure. Till the end of the yuga you will stay in this world alone, with no pūjā together with the devas.” Rudra answered: “The devas eat together; I will not eat with them; I eat apart. Bhūloka is called the first of all lokas, and I alone hold it, not by your command. By my holding this karma-bhūmi all the worlds stand firm for ever. So I stay on this bhūloka, and not by your command.”

Struck by these words of Rudra, of boundless tejas, Daksha left his Svāyambhuva form and lost his place as Prajāpati. He was born among men with the same name, Daksha, became a householder and performed all the yajñas with the devas as their yajamāna. In the Cākshusha manvantara he was born, at the yajña of Brahmā, as the grandson of Prācīnabarhi and son of the Pracetases from Mārishā; the Purāṇa says too that this birth took place in the Tretā yuga, in the time of Vaivasvata Manu, at the yajña Brahmā performed in a form whose devatā was Varuṇa. When the Vaivasvata manvantara came, Satī Devī was born to Himavat and Menakā with the name Umā. She is the sahadharmacāriṇī (partner in dharma) of Śambhu and is never apart from him, as Aditi never leaves Kaśyapa, Śrī Devī Nārāyaṇa, Śacī Devī Indra, Kīrti Vishṇu, Ushā Sūrya and Arundhatī Vasishṭha.

The Purāṇa teaches that the enmity of son-in-law and father-in-law passed on into another birth, and so good people should not make enmity with one another.

Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Chapter 34

Daksha’s aśvamedha at Gaṅgādvāra

The munis asked Brahmā how, in the Vaivasvata manvantara, the aśvamedha of Daksha Prajāpati, son of the Pracetases, came to be destroyed by Mahādeva. Brahmā told them.

On Meru there is a peak named Jyotisthala, adorned with every jewel, delightful to the worlds. There Indudhara, who bears the moon, dwells with Śailakanyā, the daughter of the mountain, served by the Ādityas, the Vasus, the Aśvins, Kubera, Sanatkumāra and the others and the apsarasas, and the Gaṅgā herself, taking a bodily form, attended on him.

Daksha Prajāpati began his yajña. Indra and the other devas came on vimānas, shining like fire, to Gaṅgādvāra, also called Haridvāra. The gandharvas and apsarasas danced and sang, and all served Daksha with folded hands. With Śrī Mahāvishṇu came, seeking their shares of the yajña, the Vasus, the Rudras, the Ādityas, the Sādhyas, the Marudgaṇas, the Ūshmapas, the Ājyapas, the Somapas and the Aśvinī devatās. The four kinds of beings came too, born from the womb, from eggs, from moisture and from the earth, and the devas and ṛshis came with their wives.

Dadhīci’s warning

Seeing them, Dadhīci was angered and said: “One who worships those not worthy of pūjā, or does not worship those who are worthy, becomes a great pāpī.” Looking at Daksha, he asked: “Why do you not worship Paśupati, Parameśvara, who is worthy of pūjā?” Daksha answered: “I have the eleven Rudras, who bear tridents and wear matted locks. We know no other Maheśvara.” Dadhīci said: “You have not invited our Maheśvara, the one form of all the Īśvaras. I see no deity greater than Śaṅkara. This yajña will not be fulfilled.” Daksha said: “We have given the havis-portion to Vishṇu and to the Rudras, and to all the other devas I give their own shares. Only to Śaṅkara I will not give.”

Umā’s question

Girirāja-kumārī, the daughter of the king of mountains, learning that all the devas had set out for her father’s yajña, said to her husband Paśupati: “Svāmī, where are Indra and the devas going? You know every secret; tell me.” Bhagavān Śiva said: “The great Prajāpati named Daksha is performing an aśvamedha.” “Why do you not go to this yajña?” she asked. “What hinders you?” Bhagavān Śiva said: “This is a plan the devas have made. In all the yajñas no share is given to me. By dharma the devas ought to give me a share of the yajña, by the path laid down of old; here it is not so.”

Umā said: “My Svāmī is unconquerable among all the devas in power, in virtues, in tejas, in fame and in the wealth of aṇimā. My husband is Bhagavān Śiva himself, beyond the reach even of dhyāna, and this share of the havis is not given to him. What dāna, what niyama, what tapas shall I perform, so that my husband receives his share of the yajña?” Seeing her so, Bhagavān Śiva was filled with delight and said: “O Kṛśodarī (slender-waisted one), Latāṅgī (with limbs like a creeper), you do not know me. Viśālākshī (wide-eyed one), I know what all the great ones say of me. They call me Yajñeśvara, the Īśvara of yajña. The knowers of the Veda praise me with the Rathantara sāman, the brāhmaṇas worship me with the Veda mantras, and the adhvaryus give me a share in the yajñas.” Umā said: “Like an ordinary man you praise yourself among women.” Bhagavān Śiva answered: “Sureśvarī, I do not praise myself, as you think. Now I go to ask for my share of the yajña.”

Vīrabhadra and Bhadrakālī

Having said this to Umā Devī, dearer to him than life, Bhagavān Śiva brought forth a son from his mouth, from fire, and said to him: “Go to Daksha’s yajña. By my command, destroy the kratu (yajña) he is performing.” Maheśvarī took a most fierce form and became Bhadrakālī, and since she is the witness of all action, she went with him. He received the name Vīrabhadra. He dwells in the cremation ground. From the pores of his body he created gaṇeśvaras of fierce form, the very strength and valour of Rudra, and Rudra’s attendants came down there in hundreds and thousands.

At the terrible cries of the Rudra-gaṇas, which filled the sky, the devas were terrified, the mountains split, the earth quaked, storm winds blew, the ocean was churned up, the fires would not burn, the sun grew pale, the nakshatras, stars and planets lost their light, and the ṛshis, devas and dānavas were without radiance. In that thick darkness the gaṇeśvaras set the yajñaśālā on fire and broke it apart, tore up the yūpa posts and flung them away, and ground the yajña vessels and altars to powder; it was as if the stars were falling from the sky in pieces. They fell upon the mountain-heaps of divine food and drink: rivers of milk, thick ghee, pāyasa, honey, sugar candy lying like dunes of sand, streams of jaggery syrup, and every kind of food, to be chewed, licked, sucked and drunk. Fierce as Kālāgni, the fire at the end of time, like walking mountains, they ate with many mouths and scattered it on every side. They took many forms, leapt about, and seized the wives of the devas and flung them about.

So the mighty Vīrabhadra, with the gaṇas, burned that great yajña, which stood under the protection of all the devas, while Bhadrakālī was present. Some of the leaders of the gaṇas roared, terrifying all beings, split the head of the Yajña-purusha (the yajña in person) and thundered. Then Indra and the devas and Daksha Prajāpati, with folded hands, asked him who he was. Vīrabhadra answered: “I am not a deva, nor a daitya. I have not come to enjoy the feast, nor to see your festival. I have come to destroy Daksha’s yajña. I came forth from Rudra, and I bear the name Vīrabhadra. She who came forth from the Devī bears the name Bhadrakālī; sent by Devadeva, she came to this yajña. O king of kings, take refuge with Devadeva Umāpati.”

The birth of Jvara

The yajña, destroyed by the Rudra-gaṇas, echoing with the cries of jackals, with vultures beating their wings over the broken yūpas, took the form of a deer and flew up into the sky. Seeing the Yajña-purusha going in that form, Vīrabhadra took his bow and arrows and went after him to slay him. Then a terrible drop of sweat fell from the forehead of that leader of the gaṇas, of boundless might, and from it, as it touched the ground, a man arose, blazing like Kālāgni. He was a dwarf, red-eyed, with a bushy beard, his hair standing on end and his body covered with hair, with red ears, of a frightening coal-black colour, wearing red clothes. That mighty one burned the yajña as fire burns dry grass. The devas fled in fear to the ten directions, and as Vīrabhadra moved about in his valour, the earth with its seven dvīpas shook.

Brahmā’s plea and the vara

Brahmā then worshipped Mahādeva and said: “All the devas will give you also a share of the yajña. Prabhu Mahādeva, you are the overlord of all the devas. Withdraw this fierce form. These devas and thousands of ṛshis find no peace. O Sureśvara, this man born of your sweat will move through the worlds by the name Jvara. The whole earth cannot bear his tejas while he is in one form; therefore make him many.”

When Brahmā had said this and a share of the yajña was given to him, Bhagavān Pinākapāṇi, who holds the Pināka bow, was supremely pleased, and Daksha too, with all his heart, took refuge in Bhava. Parameśvara, the many-eyed, held prāṇa and apāna at the place of the eye, turned back his outgoing gaze and held it still, smiled gently and said: “What shall I do for you? Tell me.”

Daksha Prajāpati, with folded hands, afraid and in tears, said: “If Bhagavān Śiva is gracious to me, if I am dear to you, grant me one vara. All the food gathered for this yajña with great effort over a long time has been eaten, all that was to be drunk has been drunk; it is scattered and broken to pieces. Even so, O Maheśvara, by your grace let this yajña not be in vain; let it bear fruit.” Hara, who made Bhaga‘s eyes fall, said: “Tathāstu (so be it).” Daksha set his knees on the ground and bowed to Mahādeva, the three-eyed overseer of dharma, and having gained the yajña made whole by Śiva, praised Vṛshabhadhvaja, whose banner bears the bull, with eight thousand names of Śiva.

Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Chapter 39

Daksha’s stuti

Seeing Śambhu‘s power, Daksha Prajāpati, with joined palms and bowed head, praised him. The stuti is a garland of the names of Śiva, a Śiva-sahasranāmāvali that praises Śiva in his cosmic form; its names (verses 2 to 81) are kept for recitation and not rendered in this copy of the Purāṇa. Its close, as printed, says:

• “O Sadāśiva, your eyes are the moon and the sun, your heart is Brahmā, and your body is the agnishṭoma, gained by dharma and karma. Your true greatness not even Brahmā, Hari and the ṛshis know.”
• “Your Śiva-mūrtis (auspicious forms) are subtle; may they grant me darśana. As a father guards the son he begot, guard me with your mūrtis; you are gracious to your devotees, and I am your devotee. May the mūrti that stands beyond the ocean, enveloping thousands of purushas, be my protection.”
• “Namaskāra to you, whose nature is yoga, whom those who have conquered sleep, restrained the breath, risen to sattva and see all equally behold as the Supreme Light, joining the mind at the point between the brows.”
• “Namaskāra to that Śiva who at pralaya devours all beings and lies in the midst of the waters; to that mūrti of yours which, entering the mouth of Rāhu, drinks Soma by night and swallows the sun by day.”
• “May the purushas the size of a thumb, who dwell as Soma and Agni in the bodies of all embodied beings, always protect, nourish and satisfy me.”
• “Namaskāra to those mūrtis of yours by whom the embryo comes to be, who dwell within the waters, who receive the havis with svāhā and svadhā, by whom beings are born, who make beings weep, who give them joy and who give them pain.”
• “Namaskāra to your mūrtis in the ocean, in river-forts, on mountains, in caves, at the roots of trees, in cowsheds, in forests and thickets, at crossroads, in streets and squares, in assemblies, in the stables of elephants and horses, in ruined gardens, in temples, in the five elements, in the directions and the intermediate directions, between Indra and Sūrya, in the rays of the sun and moon, in Pātāla and above it.”
• “Sattva is you; you are everywhere; you are the Īśvara of all beings and the inner Self of all beings. Therefore you are not one to be invited. You alone are worshipped by yajñas with their many dakshiṇās, and you are also their doer; therefore you are not one to be invited. The subtle māyā is you, and by it I too was deluded; for this reason too I did not invite you.”
• “Be gracious to me. You are my refuge, my goal and my support. I hold that there is none other than you.”

Having praised Maheśvara thus, Daksha fell silent.

Śiva’s varas to Daksha

Bhagavān Śiva, pleased, said to Daksha: “I am satisfied by the stava you have made. You are steadfast in excellent vratas. You will come into my presence.” Then Bhava, Īśvara of the three worlds, the all-knowing, comforted him: “Daksha, do not grieve over the destruction of the yajña. You have seen that it was I who struck down the yajña. Receive again from me the excellent fruit of your yajña. By my prasāda you will now gain the fruit of a thousand aśvamedhas and a hundred vājapeyas. Know the Vedas with their six aṅgas, and the whole of sāṅkhya and yoga.”

He taught him an observance he had fashioned: one of twelve years, which devas and dānavas cannot perform and which those without wisdom censure; joined with the dharmas of varṇa and āśrama, unyielding and well ordered; fit for those of every āśrama; a mantra that frees all paśus (bound beings) from their bonds. “If it is well practised, abundant fruit arises. May it be yours to practise. Great one, let go of the fever of the mind.” Having said this, Deveśa withdrew from sight with Umā Devī and his retinue.

Jvara divided among beings

Then Bhava, knower of all dharma, for the peace of all beings, divided Jvara, whom he had caused to arise for the destruction of Daksha’s yajña:

“This is the very tejas of Maheśvara,” says the Purāṇa. “By the name Jvara, Śiva-jvara, it is most dreadful. Īśvara is to be bowed to by all beings and worshipped.” One who reads this account of the origin of Jvara with a full heart becomes free of disease, joyful, and gains all he desires.

The phalaśruti of Daksha’s stuti

• One who recites this Śiva-stava made by Daksha never meets with what is inauspicious and gains long life.
• As Mahādeva is the greatest of all the devas, so this stuti is the greatest of all stutis.
• Those who desire fame, svarga, the wealth of the devas, riches, victory or learning should read it with bhakti.
• One afflicted by disease, sorrow or fear, and one appointed to the king’s service, is freed from fear by reading it.
• With this very body he enjoys the company of Śiva‘s gaṇas and the bliss of Maheśvara, and becomes a gaṇādhipati.
• Yakshas, piśācas, nāgas and vināyakas cause that devotee no obstacles.
• A woman who hears this stuti with bhakti, her mind fixed on Śiva, is honoured in her father’s house and in her husband’s house.
• For one who hears or chants it, every undertaking succeeds without obstacle, and whatever is resolved in the mind and spoken in words is fulfilled.
• Before recitation one should offer bali separately to Kumārasvāmī, Gaurī and Nandīśvara and, with the senses controlled and keeping niyama, take up these names of Śiva in order. So a man gains what he desires, enjoyments and the purushārthas, and at death goes to svarga with a thousand apsarās.
• Even one full of desires and grave pāpas is freed of all pāpa by reading it; after the body falls he attains sāyujya with the gaṇas, is honoured by suras and asuras, and until the pralaya of beings rides on the bull-vāhana and on a vimāna as a follower of Rudra.
• Even those of pāpa-birth, vaiśyas, women and śūdras attain Rudra-loka by reading and hearing it; it should be recited to vipras at every parva, and by it the dvija attains Rudra-loka.

“Thus spoke Bhagavān Vyāsa, son of Parāśara,” the chapter closes. “It is a secret stava, equal to a mantra, not to be told to just anyone.”

When the munis had heard from Vyāsa this account of Pārvatī’s word, the coming of Vīrabhadra and Bhadrakālī, the destruction of Daksha’s yajña, Śaṅkara’s wondrous valour, how he again became gracious to Daksha, how the share of the yajña was given to Rudra and how Daksha gained the fruit of his yajña, they were filled with wonder and asked him for the rest of the account.

Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Chapters 40–41

In the Gautamī Māhātmya

Brahmā tells Nārada the account again as the origin of Cakratīrtha on the Godāvarī, where Bhagavān Hari won back his cakra.

Once Daksha began a yajña, and when the devas had gathered he slandered Bhagavān Śiva in their assembly and would not invite him. Satī, Daksha’s daughter, heard from Ahalyā why Śiva had not been invited. Hearing her father’s words against her husband, she said: “Where is the limit to the pāpa of women who listen to the censure of their husbands? The husband is the refuge of women; what doubt then of Mahādeva, the Īśvara of all, the guru of the universe? I have heard him censured, and I shall not keep this body.” The supremely chaste devī of the devas blazed with her own tejas and, her thoughts fixed on Śiva alone, gave up her body by the power of yoga.

Maheśvara heard everything from Nārada. He asked Jayā and Vijayā, and they told him that Dākshāyaṇī’s last wish was the destruction of Daksha’s yajña. Then Maheśvara went to the yajña surrounded by his terrible gaṇas and the great bhūtas.

That yajña was sponsored by Brahmā and the devas and surrounded by them, and guarded by Daksha, its yajamāna, with a pure mind. Vasishṭha and other formidable ṛshis watched over it on every side, and Indra, the Ādityas, the Vasus and others protected it. It was adorned with the Ṛk, Yajus and Sāman and the calls of “svāhā”, and adorned all round by Śraddhā (faith), Pushṭi (nourishment), Tushṭi (contentment), Śānti (peace), Lajjā (modesty), Sarasvatī (speech), Bhūmi (earth), Dyau (sky), Śarvarī (night), Kshānti (forbearance), Ushā (dawn), Āśā (hope), Jayā (victory) and Mati (intellect), and others. Viśvakarman and Tvashṭṛ had built it. The divine cows Surabhi, Nandinī, Kāmadhuk and Kāmadohinī gave whatever anyone desired, and the wish-granting Kalpa tree, the Pārijāta and the Kalpalatā were there. Indra, Pūshan and Hari themselves protected it, and all round were heard the calls: “Let this be given”, “Let this be eaten”, “Let this be done”, “Stay here happily”.

Vīrabhadra went ahead with Bhadrakālī, and after him came Mahādeva, holding his divine śūla and the divine bow Pināka, attended by the great bhūtas. The bhūtas encircled the yajña around Maheśvara and destroyed it, and a great commotion arose. Some fled; some went to Śiva and praised him. When Pūshan came, Vīrabhadra uprooted his teeth; he routed Indra in a moment, pierced and split the eyes of Bhaga, and whirled Sūrya with his arms and hurled him down. All the devas took refuge in Bhagavān Vishṇu: “Save us, O holder of the gadā, from the leader of the bhūtas, a gaṇa of Maheśvara! Even as Hari watched over it, this whole yajña, which belongs to Vishṇu, has been destroyed.” To slay the leader of the bhūtas Hari released his cakra, and as it came near, the leader of the bhūtas seized it. The guardians of the quarters fled in fear.

Seeing the yajña and the devas so, Daksha Prajāpati praised Bhagavān Śiva with bhakti: “Jaya, O Śaṅkara, Īśvara of Soma! Jaya, O all-knowing one; namas to you. Jaya, O Śambhu, the benefactor. Salutation to the one who is Kāla; to the first maker; to Nīlakaṇṭha, the blue-throated; to the one fond of Brahman, whose form is Brahman; to Parameśvara of the three abodes, the three-formed; to the one whose form is everything; to the support of the three worlds, the giver of desires, who is known only through Vedānta; to the Paramātmā; to the one whose form is yajña, the abode of yajña, the giver of yajña, the bearer of the offerings, the destroyer of yajña, the giver of rewards, the Īśvara of the universe. Save me, save me, O you who love those who take refuge in you. You alone are the refuge of devotees and non-devotees alike.”

Pleased with him, Maheśvara said: “What shall I give you?” Daksha said: “O Prabhu Śiva, let my yajña be complete.” “So be it,” said Maheśvara, Śaṅkara, the ātmā of all beings and the ocean of mercy, and having made Daksha’s yajña complete, he withdrew with his bhūtas, and the devas went back to their abodes. The Purāṇa goes on to tell how Bhagavān Vishṇu, worshipping Bhagavān Śiva on the Godāvarī with a thousand golden lotuses and his own eye, received back the cakra, and how the place became Cakratīrtha.

Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 39

Śiva, destroyer of Daksha’s yajña

The Purāṇa remembers the account in the names of Bhagavān Śiva. Devī Pārvatī calls him Daksha-kratu-hara, the destroyer of Daksha’s yajña, with Bhaga-netra-nāśana and Pūsha-danta-vināśana (Chapter 223). The munis call him Trilocana, Daksha-yajña-vināśana and Jagannātha when they ask him how beings are freed from saṃsāra (Chapter 226). In the Gautamī Māhātmya, Śesha bows to him as the destroyer of Daksha’s yajña in his stotra at Śeshatīrtha (Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 45).

Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Chapters 223, 226; Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 45

Sources

• Brahma Purāṇa, Chapters 34, 39–41, 223, 226; Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapters 39, 45