Pailūsha and the Sword of Jñāna
Khaḍgatīrtha · khaḍga-tīrtha, “the tīrtha of the sword”
Khaḍga has other meanings too: see all meanings of Khaḍga.
Pailūsha and the sword of jñāna is the account of Khaḍgatīrtha, “the tīrtha of the sword”, on the northern bank of the Gautamī, where snāna and dāna give moksha. The Brahma Purāṇa tells it in Chapter 69 of the Gautamī Māhātmya. Pailūsha, a poor brāhmaṇa, the son of Kavasha, found that all his striving for wealth came to nothing and turned to vairāgya, detachment. He asked his father how to cross saṃsāra with the sword of jñāna; on his father’s word he worshipped Īśvara, and Bhagavān Śiva as Īśāna granted him jñāna. Pailūsha then taught how anger, greed, attachment, doubt and hope are each cut down by the sword of jñāna, and on the banks of the Gaṅgā he cast off delusion and attained moksha.
Pailūsha’s vairāgya
Brahmā tells Nārada: “Khaḍgatīrtha is on the northern bank of the Gautamī. By snāna there and by giving dāna a man attains moksha. Listen attentively to what happened there.”
There was a brāhmaṇa named Pailūsha, the son of Kavasha. Burdened with a large family, he ran here and there seeking wealth and found nothing, and at last he turned away from worldly things. When fate is utterly against a man and effort comes to nothing, Brahmā says, nothing supports the learned but vairāgya.
Pailūsha sighed again and again and thought: “I have no wealth from my fathers, and many to support. Yet the self is proud and cannot bear the strain. Fie on the doings of ill fate!” Once he found some service but was not paid enough, and he said: “Service is forbidden to a brāhmaṇa; what is not forbidden is beyond my reach; tapas is very hard. Greed drags me by force toward wrong deeds. O Tṛshṇā, craving, it is out of ignorance that you have worked against me. So, namaskāra to you.” Then, considering how to cut all bonds, he spoke to his father.
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 69
The jñāna from Bhagavān Śiva
Pailūsha said: “Revered father, tell me the means by which I may calm anger and greed and cross the ocean of saṃsāra, which cannot be crossed, with the sword of jñāna.” Kavasha said: “The śruti says one should seek jñāna from Īśvara. So propitiate him; you will obtain jñāna from Īśvara.”
Saying “So be it”, Pailūsha worshipped Īśvara for the sake of jñāna, and Bhagavān Īśāna, delighted, granted him perfect knowledge. Then that brāhmaṇa of great understanding spoke these words, which give moksha to the seeker.
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 69
The five enemies and the sword
- Krodha (anger) is the first enemy. Even when it harms no one else, it burns one’s own body. Calming it by jñāna, one gains the supreme bliss.
- Lobha (greed) is of many kinds: deceiving, binding, the cause of pāpa. Slaying it with the sword of jñāna, a man becomes happy.
- Saṅga (attachment to the objects of the senses) is a great evil even for the devas, says the śruti, a great enemy of the ātmā, though the ātmā is by nature free of attachment. Destroying it with the sword of jñāna, one attains oneness with Śiva.
- Saṃśaya (doubt) is most destructive; it destroys dharma and artha. Destroying it, one gains the greatest of one’s desires.
- Āśā (hope, expectation) seizes a person like a possessing spirit and burns away all happiness. Destroying it, one attains the state of the free.
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 69
Moksha and the tīrtha
Having gained jñāna, Pailūsha went to the banks of the Gaṅgā. By jñāna he cast off delusion, and he attained moksha. From then on the tīrtha is remembered as Khaḍgatīrtha, and also as Jñānatīrtha, Kavasha and Pailūsha.
The phala: snāna and dāna at Khaḍgatīrtha give moksha, and it grants every cherished desire. The great ṛshis speak of six thousand other tīrthas there, which dispel every pāpa and every grief and grant what is desired.
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 69
Sources
- Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 69