Kāśirāja’s Journey to Svānandabhuvana

Kāśirāja, the king of Kāśī, was taken by two of Gaṇeśa’s gaṇas through every loka of the cosmos. At the end of the journey he came to Svānandabhuvana, the own realm of Gaṇeśa, in the Ikshusāgara, the ocean of sugarcane juice. There he saw Gaṇeśa, sang a stotra and was embraced. This account is in Chapters 51 to 53 of the Krīḍā Khaṇḍa of the Gaṇeśa Purāṇa.

Kāśirāja was a king and a householder. He had brought a seven-year-old child to his city for a wedding, and he had served Mahōtkaṭa.

The escort: Pramoda and Āmoda

Gaṇeśa sent two of his chief gaṇas, Pramoda (“joy”) and Āmoda (“delight”), to take Kāśirāja on the journey through the cosmos. They are among the most auspicious of his followers. They came to Kāśī in a divine vimāna (flying vehicle) and asked Kāśirāja to climb in for the journey through all the worlds. (Gaṇeśa Purāṇa, Krīḍā Khaṇḍa, Chapter 51)

The tour of all the lokas

The journey to Svānandabhuvana was not a straight flight. It was a tour of the whole cosmos. These are the lokas Kāśirāja saw.

Lower realms

  • Bhūta-preta lokas: the realms of the departed, wandering spirits and those passing from one life to the next.
  • Asura lokas: the realms of the asuras, seen from above as Kāśirāja passed.
  • Gandharva lokas: the realms of the celestial musicians, full of beauty and art.

Middle realms

  • Amarāvatī: the svarga (heaven) of Indra, with its jewels, divine trees, apsarās and celebration.
  • The realm of Agni: the fiery realm of the deva of fire.
  • The realm of Yama: the realm of the dead. Kāśirāja saw how the justice of karma works, including the fearful Kumbhīpāka naraka (hell), where those who have done grave pāpa (sin) are purified.
  • The realm of Kubera: the jewelled treasure-world of the deva of wealth.
  • The realm of Varuṇa: the watery realm of the deva of the waters.
  • The realm of Vāyu: the realm of wind and breath.

Higher realms

  • The realm of Sūrya: the blazing world of the sun.
  • The realm of Nakshatra and Candra: the world of the moon and the star groups.
  • Goloka: the divine realm of the eternal play of Bhagavān Kṛshṇa, the Vṛndāvana beyond time.
  • Satyaloka: the realm of Brahmā, the highest of the created worlds.
  • Vaikuṇṭha: the high abode of Bhagavān Vishṇu, beyond the three guṇas and full of endless light.
  • Kailāsa: the mountain realm of Bhagavān Śiva.

(Gaṇeśa Purāṇa, Krīḍā Khaṇḍa, Chapters 51–52)

Beyond all of these, beyond even Vaikuṇṭha and Kailāsa, lay Svānandabhuvana.

Arrival at Svānandabhuvana

Svānandabhuvana is also called Nijloka (“the own realm”) and Divyaloka. It stands in the Ikshusāgara, the ocean of sugarcane juice, one of the seven oceans that ring the cosmos. Ordinary travellers through the cosmos cannot reach it. Only those escorted by Gaṇeśa’s own gaṇas can come near. (Gaṇeśa Purāṇa, Krīḍā Khaṇḍa, Chapter 52)

As Kāśirāja entered the realm, he met these.

  • Bhramikā-śakti: a divine power that turns round.
  • Ādhāraśakti: the base power that holds up all that exists.
  • The Kāmadāyinī pīṭha: the wish-granting seat on which Gaṇeśa rests, “the seat that gives all desires”. The pīṭha is itself a holy object of supreme power.

The darśana of Gaṇeśa

On the Kāmadāyinī pīṭha, Kāśirāja saw Bhagavān Gaṇeśa at divine rest, the master of all worlds at ease in his own realm. Siddhi (accomplishment) and Buddhi (wisdom), his two consorts and śaktis, stood in his service. The Sāmaveda itself sang for ever in Svānandabhuvana. The kalpavṛksha (wish-granting tree) was there. The ṛshis Mudgala and Kapila were there too, as its everlasting residents. (Gaṇeśa Purāṇa, Krīḍā Khaṇḍa, Chapter 53)

In this account, the divine form of Gaṇeśa holds within it the shaṭ-cakras, the six centres of the subtle body.

Kāśirāja’s stotra and the embrace

Kāśirāja was overcome by the sight of Bhagavān Gaṇeśa in his own realm. He offered a stotra (hymn of praise) of full surrender and devotion. Gaṇeśa received the stotra and embraced Kāśirāja, as a father welcomes a beloved child home. (Gaṇeśa Purāṇa, Krīḍā Khaṇḍa, Chapter 53)

Kāśirāja stayed in Svānandabhuvana for koṭi kalpas, hundreds of millions of cosmic cycles. In the created worlds, ages came and went. For Kāśirāja in Svānandabhuvana, only the bliss of being near Gaṇeśa was real.

Sources

  • Gaṇeśa Purāṇa, Krīḍā Khaṇḍa, Chapters 51–53
  • Chapter 51: the escort, Pramoda and Āmoda
  • Chapters 51–52: the tour of the lokas
  • Chapter 52: Svānandabhuvana in the Ikshusāgara
  • Chapter 53: the darśana of Gaṇeśa, the stotra and the embrace