Bhīmāsura Vadha

Bhīmāsura was an asura, the son of Kumbhakarṇa, the brother of Rāvaṇa. He hated Bhagavān Vishṇu and Rāma, won great boons from Brahmā, and conquered the three worlds. He then took captive King Sudarśana of Kāmarūpa, a devotee of Śiva. In prison Sudarśana kept up his pūjā (worship) to a liṅga made of earth, and Bhagavān Śiva himself came out of that liṅga and destroyed the asura. The place became the Bhīmeśvara Jyotirliṅga.

Bhīmāsura’s birth

Bhīmāsura’s father was Kumbhakarṇa, the giant rākshasa brother of Rāvaṇa. Kumbhakarṇa had great bodily power, and most of his life was spent in a deep sleep. Rāma killed Kumbhakarṇa in the great battle of Laṅkā. After that, his companion, the rākshasī Karkaṭī, fled into the forest. She was carrying Kumbhakarṇa’s son.

Karkaṭī gave birth to Bhīmāsura in the forest and raised him alone. She told him of his father’s great strength and of how his father died at Rāma’s hands. Bhīmāsura grew up in grief and rage. He had one burning wish: to avenge his father and destroy Rāma and Vishṇu.

Tapas to Brahmā and the boons

With this purpose Bhīmāsura performed fierce tapas (austerity) to Brahmā for a long time. Brahmā appeared and offered him a vara (a boon). Bhīmāsura received:

• immense bodily strength and size
• invincibility against all ordinary means of opposition
• the power to terrify and conquer

With these boons the devas and all other beings could not stand against him.

Terror of the three worlds

Bhīmāsura conquered the three worlds one by one. He drove the devas from their high places. He stopped the yajñas (fire rituals) and Vedic practice everywhere. He forced all beings to worship him, and not the devas or Śiva.

He aimed especially at kingdoms with strong devotion to Śiva. He wanted to destroy that devotion because of his hatred of Vishṇu and of dharma.

Sudarśana of Kāmarūpa is taken

Sudarśana was the devout king of Kāmarūpa, in present-day Assam. His kingdom was known for the worship of Śiva by all. Every subject was devoted to Śiva, and yajñas and Śiva-pūjā filled the land. This made it a special target for Bhīmāsura.

Bhīmāsura attacked Kāmarūpa. He captured King Sudarśana together with his wife, his family and his subjects, and shut them in prison. He took over the kingdom and put down its worship of Śiva by force.

Sudarśana’s pārthiva pūjā in prison

Even in prison, without his kingdom, his freedom or any royal means of worship, Sudarśana did not give up his devotion. He used the only thing he had. He made a pārthiva liṅga, a liṅga of earth, from the earth of the prison floor, and he did pūjā to it every day with deep devotion. His subjects in the prison followed the king and joined him. The prison became a place of Śiva-pūjā.

Bhīmāsura’s mockery and threat

Bhīmāsura heard that Sudarśana was still worshipping, and he came to the prison himself. He openly mocked the king. The king of Kāmarūpa was a powerless prisoner, he said, praying to a lump of earth and hoping that Śiva would save him. Bhīmāsura declared that he would destroy both Sudarśana and the pārthiva liṅga. This was a direct challenge to Śiva’s power and presence.

He raised his weapon and moved against Sudarśana.

Śiva comes out of the liṅga

Just as Bhīmāsura moved to strike the liṅga and the king, the liṅga burst open. Parameśvara Śiva himself came out of it. He was bright with divine fire, in his terrible and beautiful battle form. The fight was short. Bhagavān Śiva destroyed Bhīmāsura completely. The devas rained flowers from the sky.

The three worlds were free of Bhīmāsura’s terror.

The founding of Bhīmeśvara

The devas, the ṛshis, King Sudarśana and all the freed devotees begged Bhagavān Śiva to stay at this place for ever. The place is in the Sahyādri range of Maharashtra. Śiva agreed and settled there as Bhīmeśvara, the one whose appearance destroyed Bhīma, that is Bhīmāsura. The prison, the pārthiva liṅga and the place of the battle became the lasting Jyotirliṅga.

Sources

• Śiva Purāṇa, Koti Rudra Saṃhitā, Chapter 20 (Bhīmāsura’s birth, tapas and boons, conquest of the three worlds, capture of Sudarśana)
• Śiva Purāṇa, Koti Rudra Saṃhitā, Chapter 21 (Sudarśana’s pārthiva pūjā, Bhīmāsura’s threat, Śiva’s coming out of the liṅga, the founding of Bhīmeśvara)