Tripurāsura Vadha

Tripura means three cities. Three asura brothers, Tārakāksha, Kamalāksha and Vidyunmālin, held the three worlds from three flying cities that nothing could break. The Gaṇeśa Purāṇa tells in the Upāsanā Khaṇḍa how Bhagavān Śiva could not defeat them until he first worshipped Gaṇeśa. With Gaṇeśa’s grace he destroyed all three cities with one arrow. The account is told in Chapters 1 to 55.

The frame of the account

The Upāsanā Khaṇḍa opens in the holy forest of Naimishāraṇya. The great ṛshis, led by Śaunaka, are there for a satra (long yajña) of twelve years. They ask Sūta Maharshi to tell the Gaṇeśa Purāṇa. Sūta says he heard it from his guru Bhṛgu Maharshi. Bhṛgu had told it to King Saumakānta of the Śūrasena line, who was sick with a terrible disease. The innermost frame is the teaching of Brahmā to the ṛshi Kṛshṇadvaipāyana Vyāsa. So the holy teaching has come down from Gaṇeśa to Brahmā, to Vyāsa, to Bhṛgu, to Sūta and to the gathered ṛshis. (Gaṇeśa Purāṇa, Upāsanā Khaṇḍa, Chapters 1–5)

The three asura brothers

Long ago there were three strong asuras, Tārakāksha, Kamalāksha and Vidyunmālin. They were sons of an earlier asura who had been killed by the devas. They did hard tapas (austerity) to please Brahmā, and it was so fierce that the three worlds shook. Brahmā was pleased and appeared before them and gave them varas (boons). The brothers asked for cities of gold, silver and iron that could not be destroyed and could move by themselves, one in svarga (heaven), one in the antariksha (the space between) and one on the earth. They also asked for protection from all beings. Brahmā gave the vara on one condition. The three cities could be destroyed only when they stood in one straight line and were struck by one arrow. The brothers were so sure this could never happen that they took the condition without a pause.

The divine builder Maya made the three cities, called Tripura. Tārakāksha received the golden city in svarga, Kamalāksha the silver city in the sky and Vidyunmālin the iron city on the earth. The three cities turned in their own spheres, and every thousand years they came into line for a short time. The brothers lived in their safe homes and overcame the devas, the ṛshis and all three worlds. Yajña, veda-pāṭha (recitation of the Veda) and devapūjā stopped. The devas ran in fear to mountain caves. (Gaṇeśa Purāṇa, Upāsanā Khaṇḍa, Chapters 6–15)

The Cintāmaṇi episode

In a wonderful līlā (divine play), Gaṇeśa himself came among the Tripura asuras in the form of a brāhmaṇa named Kalādhara. In this form he did a great kindness to Tripura and gave them certain varas and powers. In return he asked that the Cintāmaṇi, his own holy image, be given to him. Tripura held the Cintāmaṇi and showed it as a prize of divine power. But whenever they tried to use it and keep it, it slipped out of their hands again and again. This restlessness of the Cintāmaṇi pointed ahead to the part Gaṇeśa would take in the end of Tripura. (Gaṇeśa Purāṇa, Upāsanā Khaṇḍa, Chapters 41–43)

Śiva’s first try and its failure

The devas could not stand against the might of Tripura. They went to Bhagavān Śiva on Kailāsa and begged him to destroy the asuras. Bhagavān Śiva agreed and told the divine craftsmen to build a great chariot for the battle. Everything was made ready in a wonderful way. The Earth itself became the chariot. Mount Meru became the bow. The Sun and Moon were the two wheels. Brahmā was the charioteer. All the devas and ṛshis were the horses. Bhagavān Vishṇu was the arrow, with fire and wind as its feather and its tip. The Vedas were the armour, and all the great ṛshis went along as warriors. This preparation took a long time.

But when the time for battle came and Bhagavān Śiva took his place to strike, the chariot fell down. The arrow would not fly, and Bhagavān Śiva found himself without power before Tripura. All this great effort came to nothing. The devas stood stunned. (Gaṇeśa Purāṇa, Upāsanā Khaṇḍa, Chapters 16–33)

Nārada’s counsel

In this hour of crisis, Nārada Maharshi came and named the one mistake. He spoke to Bhagavān Śiva in gentle but clear words:

“O Mahādeva! You gathered all these great powers, but you forgot the most needed step. You did not first worship Gaṇeśa, who rules all beginnings. Without his anugraha (grace) no work can succeed. Even you, who bring creation to its end, cannot finish any task without the grace of Gaṇeśa. Go back to your tapas, worship him first, and then you will be able to destroy Tripura.”

Nārada’s words settled the matter. Bhagavān Śiva, the supreme yogī, took them without complaint. He understood that this was the law of the worlds. It was not a limit placed on him from outside, but a truth woven into dharma itself. (Gaṇeśa Purāṇa, Upāsanā Khaṇḍa, Chapter 44)

Śiva’s tapas to Gaṇeśa

Bhagavān Śiva went into the great forest of Daṇḍakāraṇya and did tapas to Gaṇeśa for a hundred years. His worship had no equal. He gave up food and held his breath. He fixed his mind on the divine form of Gaṇeśa. Day and night, without a break, he chanted the Ekāksharī mantra of Gaṇeśa. The devas watched in wonder that their own Maheśvara was doing this tapas. The forest of Daṇḍakāraṇya shone with the strong devotion of Bhagavān Śiva.

At the end of a hundred years, Gaṇeśa was moved by the depth and purity of his father’s worship. He showed himself in a splendid form with five heads and ten arms. The five faces shone with a light beyond words. His crest had the crescent moon, and serpents were his ornaments. Before this form Bhagavān Śiva fell flat on the ground in a full daṇḍa-praṇāma (a prostration like a rod). (Gaṇeśa Purāṇa, Upāsanā Khaṇḍa, Chapter 44)

Śiva’s stotra and Gaṇeśa’s blessing

Bhagavān Śiva praised Gaṇeśa in a deep stotra (hymn of praise). He called him the Parabrahman, the source from which all the devas come and to which they all return. He called him the one who is beyond the three guṇas and yet is their master. He said:

“You are not Brahmā, nor Vishṇu, nor I. Yet from you alone Brahmā, Vishṇu and Śiva have come. You are the Parabrahman, the highest consciousness, the Reality that has no beginning and no end. The whole universe is a showing of your will. Even Brahmā’s power to create, Vishṇu’s grace that keeps the worlds, and my own power to bring them to an end come from you and return to you.”

Gaṇeśa was glad at this pure devotion. He gave Bhagavān Śiva a special blessed arrow and made a solemn promise: “Whenever you are in danger or need, remember me, and I will be there at that very moment.” He also taught Bhagavān Śiva the Gaṇeśa Sahasranāma, the thousand names of Gaṇeśa. He told him that victory in battle would be sure for the one who chants these names before the fight. (Gaṇeśa Purāṇa, Upāsanā Khaṇḍa, Chapters 44–46)

The Gaṇeśa Sahasranāma

At the request of Bhagavān Śiva, Gaṇeśa himself spoke the Gaṇeśa Sahasranāma. These are a thousand names that tell of his endless qualities, works and glories. They include Vighneśvara (remover of obstacles), Gaṇādhipa (chief of the gaṇas), Lambodara (the one with a large belly), Ekadanta (the one with a single tusk) and hundreds of other names that praise his form, his power and his grace, and his place as the first of all beginnings. Bhagavān Śiva held these names dear as his highest weapon against every trouble. (Gaṇeśa Purāṇa, Upāsanā Khaṇḍa, Chapter 46)

The destruction of Tripura

With the anugraha of Gaṇeśa, Bhagavān Śiva went back to the field of battle. The same great chariot was built again. The Earth was the chariot, the Moon and Sun were the wheels, Meru was the bow, Brahmā was the charioteer and Bhagavān Vishṇu was the arrow. This time, before he drew the bow, Bhagavān Śiva chanted the Gaṇeśa Sahasranāma and the Ekāksharī mahāmantra of Gaṇeśa. At the one moment when the three cities of Tripura came into line, for the first time in a thousand years, he let go the arrow.

One arrow, made strong by the grace of Gaṇeśa, passed through all three cities and destroyed them completely. Tārakāksha, Kamalāksha and Vidyunmālin were slain. And yet, in the great mercy of this event, the three brothers were freed at the moment of their death and reached paramāgati (the highest goal). They had first been pure beings who had gone astray into adharma. Bhagavān Śiva, who destroyed them with the arrow, won the lasting name Tripurāntaka, the destroyer of Tripura. The place of this great battle came to be known as the holy kshetra of Maṇipura. (Gaṇeśa Purāṇa, Upāsanā Khaṇḍa, Chapter 47)

Pārvatī’s return and the Gaṇeśa vrata

When Tripura beat Bhagavān Śiva in the first meeting, Pārvatī was afraid for her husband and ran to the home of her father Himavān. After Tripura was finally destroyed, Pārvatī came out of her cave and grieved over the stormy events. Himavān, who was wise, told her: “Instead of grief, keep the Gaṇeśa vrata (vow). It was the grace of Gaṇeśa that gave Śiva his victory in the end. His grace will bring back all harmony between you and Śiva.”

Himavān then taught Pārvatī the whole order of the Pārthiva Gaṇeśa pūjā, the worship of Gaṇeśa made from holy earth (mṛttikā). Pārvatī followed his words with full devotion and kept the vrata. Gaṇeśa was pleased. Bhagavān Śiva, restored and victorious, came to Pārvatī at Himavān’s home. All three worlds celebrated their reunion. In this happy gathering Himavān gave his daughter’s hand to Bhagavān Śiva, and so the round of the account was complete. (Gaṇeśa Purāṇa, Upāsanā Khaṇḍa, Chapters 48–55)

Sources

• Gaṇeśa Purāṇa, Upāsanā Khaṇḍa, Chapters 1–55
• Chapters 1–5: the frame of the account
• Chapters 6–15: the three asura brothers and their cities
• Chapters 41–43: the Cintāmaṇi episode
• Chapters 16–33: Bhagavān Śiva’s first try
• Chapter 44: Nārada’s counsel and Bhagavān Śiva’s tapas
• Chapters 44–46: the stotra and the blessing
• Chapter 46: the Gaṇeśa Sahasranāma
• Chapter 47: the destruction of Tripura
• Chapters 48–55: Pārvatī’s return and the Gaṇeśa vrata