Caṇḍa the Hunter and Śivarātri

Caṇḍa was a hunter who killed fish, deer and birds for a living. One night he sat in a bilva tree to wait for a boar. At the foot of the tree stood a Śivaliṅga, the Khadgadhāreśvara, and he did not know it. Through the night he worshipped it without meaning to, and in the end Bhagavān Śiva’s attendant took him and his wife to Śiva’s world. Chapter 154 of the Uttara Khaṇḍa of the Padma Mahā Purāṇa tells this.

The hunter

Caṇḍa lived in the mountains and killed fish, deer and birds. His wife was named Caṇḍā. She was just as deep in pāpa as he was, and she suffered from disease as the fruit of her past karma. Caṇḍa was what the śāstras call a pāpī (a person of deeply impure conduct).

Worship without knowing

One night Caṇḍa climbed a bilva tree while he lay in wait for a boar. Directly at the root of the tree stood a Śivaliṅga, the Khadgadhāreśvara. Caṇḍa did not know this. During the night:

• The bilva leaves that he shook loose as he shifted his place fell on the liṅga below. This was, without his knowing, an offering of bilva leaves to Śiva.
• Water from his mouth fell as he breathed. This was, without his knowing, an abhisheka (a bathing) of the liṅga.
• He stayed awake the whole Śivarātri night, only to hunt, close to a Śivaliṅga. Without knowing it, he performed the five-fold worship through the bilva leaves and water that fell by themselves.

Caṇḍa knew nothing about the worship of Śiva and never meant to worship. Yet this worship of Śivarātri gathered great puṇya (merit) through the power of Śiva’s own grace.

The morning

In the morning a dog ate all of Caṇḍa’s food and left him with nothing. His wife Caṇḍā was angry at this bad luck. But the night spent close to Śiva had already changed Caṇḍa inside. He was suddenly full of purity and devotion. He decided to keep the Khadgadhāra vow, a fierce vow of offering oneself. He raised his own sword to cut off his head as an offering to Śiva.

Before he could do it, Vīrabhadra came with divine vimānas (flying chariots) and took both Caṇḍa and his wife Caṇḍā to Śiva’s world.

Viśvāmitra’s curse and the hidden liṅga

The chapter also says that Viśvāmitra had cursed the Khadgadhāreśvara liṅga to stay hidden in the Kali age. The reason was that a wicked hunter had once laid flesh on the liṅga, and Śiva had not punished him. Viśvāmitra felt that Śiva’s acceptance of this impure offering was a disgrace, and that it deserved the punishment of being hidden.

The liṅga has four names in the four ages:

Sources

• Padma Mahā Purāṇa, Uttara Khaṇḍa, Chapter 154