Viśvarūpa and Vṛtra

The Brahma Mahā Purāṇa, in the Gautamī Māhātmya, tells of a great satra (a long yajña) held by the seven ṛshis at Bhīmeśvara on the Gautamī. There they also divided the Gaṅgā into seven streams. The asura Viśvarūpa came to the satra and asked Viśvāmitra how he could have a son whom even the devas could not defeat. Viśvāmitra taught that the fruit of any karma (action) depends on the bhāva (feeling) with which it is done. Viśvarūpa chose a tāmasika feeling, entered the fire, and became the terrible Vṛtra. The place is Bhīmeśvara Tīrtha.

The seven ṛshis’ satra and the seven streams

At the place on the Gautamī where Bhagavān Śiva is called Bhīmeśvara, the seven great ṛshis gathered and held a great satra. At that time they also divided the Gautamī-Gaṅgā into seven named streams:

  1. Vāsishṭhī, the stream at the far right, named for Vasishṭha
  2. Vaiśvāmitrī, the stream next to it, named for Viśvāmitra
  3. Vāmadevī, another stream, named for Vāmadeva
  4. Gautamī, the central and most famous stream, named for Gautama
  5. Bharadvājī, named for Bharadvāja
  6. Ātreyī, named for Atri
  7. Jāmadagnī, the last, named for Jamadagni

So the seven streams of the Gautamī carry the names of the seven ṛshis of the Saptaṛshi Maṇḍala. (Brahma Mahā Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 103)

Viśvarūpa’s request

A powerful enemy of the devas, named Viśvarūpa, came to the satra of the seven ṛshis. By celibacy and tapas (austerity) he pleased all the ṛshis in the proper way. Then he asked them humbly: “O ṛshis, how can I have a powerful son who cannot be defeated even by the devas? Tell me whether it is to be by yajña or by tapas.” (Brahma Mahā Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 103)

Viśvāmitra’s teaching on karma and bhāva

The wise Viśvāmitra answered with this teaching:

“Different kinds of benefit come from pious rites and good works. There are three kinds of cause. Of these, karma is the first cause. Next is the doer. Then there is the material cause. Learned people know that the seed is karma. But sometimes, even when all the causes are present, the fruit comes, and sometimes it does not. So the fruit depends on karma.

“Karma is of two kinds: that which is being done and that which has been done. The fruits are gained according to the bhāva (feeling or idea) with which a living being does karma. If anyone does a karma correctly but without feeling, the fruit will be bad. Everything will match the feelings behind it. So tapas, vows, gifts, japa (repeated prayer), yajñas and other holy rites give benefits according to the feelings of the one who does them.

“There are three kinds of bhāva: sāttvika, rājasa and tāmasa. The benefit follows the karma and the feeling that goes with it. So a clever person should build the bhāva that matches his wish, and then do the karma. The fruit comes through the bhāvas. Karma alone is the cause of dharma (virtue), wealth, love and moksha (liberation). Karma held up by bhāva is the cause of bondage and also of moksha.” (Brahma Mahā Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 103)

Viśvarūpa’s tāmasika tapas and the birth of Vṛtra

Viśvarūpa heard Viśvāmitra’s teaching and understood what it meant. He chose a tāmasika bhāva for his own tapas. He did a terrible rite, and even the chief ṛshis who tried to stop him were frightened. He meditated on the Ātman in the cavity of the heart, as a terrifying presence in a terrible blazing fire, in a pit he had dug. As he blazed with this tapas, a divine voice with no body spoke:

“Consign yourself into the fire without the matted hair. You will have a son. He who consigns himself into fire shall become Indra, Varuṇa, indeed he shall become everything. But if one gives up himself with the tāmasika feeling, that one, born of pāpa, consigns himself into fire and leaves only the matted hair. He is called Vṛtra in the Veda. He too became wicked.”

Following this voice, Viśvarūpa entered the fire and left only his matted hair outside. Because of this act he became Vṛtra, the terrible asura known in the Vedas, who later became Indra’s enemy and was killed in the battle between the devas and the asuras. The divine voice added: “Who knows the greatness of the terrible master of the worlds? He creates everything but is not stained by the pāpa of this contact.”

The ṛshis saw all this. They bowed to Bhagavān Śiva as Bhīmeśvara and went to their own āśramas. Viśvarūpa, who became Vṛtra, had a tapas that was terrible in form, in feeling and in purpose. He had meditated on the Supreme in the form of a terrible one and entered the fire. For this reason Bhagavān Śiva at this place is named Bhīmeśvara, the terrible Īśvara. A holy bath and gifts at Bhīmeśvara give moksha. (Brahma Mahā Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 103)

Sources

  • Brahma Mahā Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 103