The Debate of the Ṛshis on Karma and Jñāna

Mārkaṇḍeyatīrtha · mārkaṇḍeya-tīrtha, “the tīrtha of Mārkaṇḍeya”

Mārkaṇḍeya has other meanings too: see all meanings of Mārkaṇḍeya.

The debate of the ṛshis on karma and jñāna is the account of Mārkaṇḍeyatīrtha on the northern bank of the Gautamī, a tīrtha that frees from every pāpa and gives the fruit of all yajñas. The Brahma Purāṇa tells it in Chapter 75 of the Gautamī Māhātmya. Mārkaṇḍeya, Bharadvāja, Vasishṭha, Atri, Gautama, Yājñavalkya, Jābāla and other great ṛshis, masters of the Vedas and the śāstras, were divided on what leads to moksha: some praised jñāna, some karma, some both. They asked Brahmā, then Bhagavān Vishṇu, and at last Bhagavān Śiva on the banks of the Gaṅgā, and Bhagavān Śiva declared that karma, the performance of holy rites, is itself what is called jñāna, and the sole means. The place is named after Mārkaṇḍeya, the chief of those ṛshis.

The ṛshis’ question

Brahmā tells Nārada: “The tīrtha known as Mārkaṇḍeya frees one from all pāpas. It is full of puṇya, gives the fruit of all yajñas and scatters heaps of pāpa. Listen attentively to its power.”

There was a gathering of ṛshis: Mārkaṇḍeya, Bharadvāja, Vasishṭha, Atri, Gautama, Yājñavalkya, Jābāla and others. They were the makers of the śāstras, masters of the Vedas and the Vedāṅgas, knowers of the Purāṇas and of Nyāya and Mīmāṃsā. These learned ṛshis spoke together about moksha, each as far as his understanding reached. Some praised jñāna, knowledge; some praised karma, the holy rites; and some praised both. After discussing it among themselves they asked Brahmā for his view. Having learned it, they went to Bhagavān Vishṇu, the bearer of the cakra and the gadā; having learned his view too, they discussed once more. Then they set out to ask Śaṅkara, and after worshipping Bhava at the Gaṅgā they put the same question to him.

Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 75

Bhagavān Śiva’s teaching

Bhagavān Śiva, Tripurāntaka, the destroyer of the three cities, declared the greatness of karma in the form of holy rites, and said that holy rite itself is what is called jñāna:

  • All living beings obtain siddhi only through karma.
  • Karma alone pervades the whole universe; without it nothing can be gained.
  • The performance of yajñas, the study of the Vedas (svādhyāya), the pūjā of Śiva and the practice of yoga are all karma. Nowhere does a living being exist without karma.
  • Karma alone is the cause of moksha; everything else is the doing of one who has lost his senses.

Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 75

The tīrtha and its phala

The place where the ṛshis held their discussion, and where Bhagavān Maheśvara decided that men gain everything through karma, is called Mārkaṇḍa, that is, Mārkaṇḍeya, because Mārkaṇḍeya was the chief of those ṛshis. This tīrtha, frequented by the ṛshis, is on the northern bank of the Gaṅgā.

The phala: it frees from all pāpas and gives the fruit of all yajñas; it purifies the pitṛs; it is always holy, and gives its fruit even when merely remembered. The Īśa who is one with the universe says that there are ninety-eight tīrthas there; the Vedas say the same, and the ṛshis have accepted it.

Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 75

Sources

  • Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 75