Dundubhinirhāda Vadha

Dundubhinirhāda Vadha is the killing of the asura Dundubhinirhāda by Bhagavān Śiva in Kāśī. The Śiva Purāṇa tells it in the Rudra Saṃhitā, Yuddha Khaṇḍa, Chapter 58. Dundubhinirhāda planned to eat all the brāhmaṇas so that the devas would lose their strength. On the night of Śivarātri, Bhagavān Śiva came out of a liṅga and killed him. That liṅga is now known as the Vyāghreśvara Liṅga in Kāśī.

Dundubhinirhāda’s plan

Dundubhinirhāda was a great asura, a relative of Hiraṇyāksha and so an uncle of Prahlāda. He was clever at planning. He worked out how the devas get their strength. The devas depend for their power on the havis (offerings) given to them through yajña. Brāhmaṇas perform the yajñas. So if the brāhmaṇas were wiped out, the devas would grow weak and in time be destroyed. He decided to act on this and eat all the brāhmaṇas.

He went to Vārāṇasī, which is Kāśī. This city had more brāhmaṇas and ascetics than any other place in Bhārata. He took a disguise. By day he looked like a muni and moved among the ascetics and scholars. By night he changed into a tiger, and hunted and ate the brāhmaṇas of the city. As time passed, many brāhmaṇas vanished, and the holy city suffered. (Śiva Purāṇa, Rudra Saṃhitā, Yuddha Khaṇḍa, Chapter 58)

Śivarātri: the devotee who could not be touched

On the night of Śivarātri, Dundubhinirhāda in tiger form came to a brāhmaṇa devotee who was doing Śiva pūjā. The brāhmaṇa was doing astramantra-nyāsa, the rite of placing divine weapons into the body by mantra for protection. He was also lost in deep dhyāna (meditation) on Bhagavān Śiva.

The mantra shield (mantra-kavaca) around this devotee, and the special holiness of Śivarātri, made him completely safe from harm. The tiger could not come near him or hurt him. An unseen wall of divine protection held him back. This failure made Bhagavān Śiva aware of what was happening in his own holy city. (Śiva Purāṇa, Rudra Saṃhitā, Yuddha Khaṇḍa, Chapter 58)

Śiva appears and the Vyāghreśvara Liṅga

Bhagavān Śiva appeared directly out of the liṅga that was being worshipped on that Śivarātri night. He faced Dundubhinirhāda. The fight was short. Bhagavān Śiva seized Dundubhinirhāda in an arm-lock and killed him with a single blow of the fist (mushṭighāta). The asura fell dead. The ṛshis and devas gathered and praised Bhagavān Śiva for protecting Kāśī.

Bhagavān Śiva then promised protection. Any warrior or devotee who remembers this account of Dundubhinirhāda’s destruction before going into battle will be protected from all enemies. This vyāghreśvara-māhātmya (the glory of the Master of Tigers) was set down as a stava (hymn of praise) that protects.

The liṅga from which Bhagavān Śiva appeared that night became the Vyāghreśvara Liṅga, the Master of Tigers Liṅga, in Kāśī. It recalls how Bhagavān Śiva overcame the tiger and protected the brāhmaṇas. (Śiva Purāṇa, Rudra Saṃhitā, Yuddha Khaṇḍa, Chapter 58)

Sources

• Śiva Purāṇa, Rudra Saṃhitā, Yuddha Khaṇḍa, Chapter 58