Dvijeśvara Avatāra

Chapter 27 of the Śata Rudra Saṃhitā of the Śiva Purāṇa tells of the Dvijeśvara Avatāra. In it Bhagavān Śiva comes down with Pārvatī as a brāhmaṇa (priest) couple. He wishes to test the steadfastness in dharma of King Bhadrāyu. Bhadrāyu was a righteous king who had earlier received the grace of Bhagavān Śiva in the Ṛshabha episode.

The test grows harder step by step. There is an illusory tiger, the carrying away of the king’s wife, and a brāhmaṇa’s demand for the queen. Bhadrāyu comes to the edge of entering the fire. Then Bhagavān Śiva shows his supreme form and grants great varas (boons) to the people the king names. Nandīśvara is the narrator.

Bhadrāyu, the righteous king

Nandīśvara says that King Bhadrāyu had earlier received the grace of Bhagavān Śiva in the form of Ṛshabha. By the power of that grace he beat his enemies in battle and took his throne.

His wife was Kīrtimālinī. She was the daughter of Sīmantinī and Candrāṅgada. She had many auspicious qualities and was a great sādhvī (faithful wife).

The brāhmaṇa couple and the tiger

One day in the spring season, Bhadrāyu went into a thick forest with his beloved queen for a pleasure outing. Parameśvara Śaṃkara wished to see the king’s steadfastness in dharma for himself. Together with Pārvatī he set up a test in that same forest.

Bhagavān Śiva and Pārvatī changed by their divine power into a brāhmaṇa couple and appeared in the forest. By their māyā (power of illusion) they also made an illusory tiger. The couple seemed to run in fear just ahead of the raging tiger, crying out in terror and distress.

Bhadrāyu was a brave kshatriya, known for protecting all who came to him for refuge. He saw them and at once took up his bow. But at that moment the māyā tiger sprang swiftly. From the space between the king and the brāhmaṇa, it snatched up the king’s own wife Kīrtimālinī and carried her off. She cried out, “Nātha! Nātha! O Priya! O Śambhu! O Jagadguro!” and the fierce tiger devoured her.

Bhadrāyu shot a volley of sharp arrows at the tiger. They had no more effect than rain on a mountain, because the tiger was wholly a creation of the māyā of Bhagavān Śiva. The great tiger paid no attention to the king’s arrows. It seized the young woman by force and went away.

The brāhmaṇa’s reproach

The brāhmaṇa was Bhagavān Śiva in disguise. Following the ways of the world, he wept loudly many times in seeming grief. Then he turned to Bhadrāyu with sharp words.

“O king, where are your great weapons now? Where is your great bow that protects others? Where is your strength equal to twelve thousand great elephants? What use is your sword, your conch, your mantras, your knowledge of astras (divine weapons), your great mahimā (glory), if you could not protect those who had taken refuge in this forest?

“The highest dharma of a kshatriya is to protect those in distress. When that kula-dharma (family duty) has been lost, what purpose does your life serve? Righteous kings protect those who seek refuge even at the cost of their own life and wealth. Those who cannot do so are no better than the dead. Death is better than a life that cannot protect those in need.”

Bhadrāyu offers everything

The brāhmaṇa’s words cut the king to the heart. He thought to himself, “Alas, today by hard fate my courage and good name are destroyed, and terrible pāpa (sin) has come upon me. My kshatriya dharma is lost. I will comfort this grieving brāhmaṇa even at the cost of my own dear life.”

He fell at the brāhmaṇa’s feet and comforted him. He said, “O brāhmaṇa, forgive this wretched kshatriya. Do not grieve. Whatever you want, I will give you this very moment. This kingdom, this mahārāṇī (great queen), this body of mine, all are yours.”

The brāhmaṇa answered, “What use has a blind man for a mirror? What use has a beggar for a house? What use has a fool for books? What use has a man without his wife for wealth? My wife has been taken. I have never enjoyed pleasures. I want your queen Kīrtimālinī. Give her to me.”

The crisis of dharma

Bhadrāyu stood firm. He said, “I will give my kingdom, my elephants, my horses and even my body. But under no condition, to no one, will I give my wife. Even a hundred prāyaścittas (acts of atonement) cannot wash away the pāpa that comes from para-bhāryā-saṃbhoga (taking another man’s wife).”

The brāhmaṇa pressed him further. “I can destroy even the pāpa of brahmahatyā (killing a brāhmaṇa) and madyapāna (drinking liquor) by the power of my tapas (austerity). The pāpa of para-dārābhigamana (going to another man’s wife) is nothing to me. Give me your wife. If you do not, you will surely go to naraka (hell) for failing to protect one who sought refuge.”

Bhadrāyu was now in deep anguish. He made up his mind. “Failing to protect one who has sought refuge is a great pāpa. So giving my wife is the lesser evil. I will give my wife to this brāhmaṇa, and then I will at once enter the fire myself.”

Having decided, he lit a fire. He formally gave his wife to the brāhmaṇa with an offering of water, the dāna-saṃkalpa (vow of gift). He bathed, bowed before the learned scholars who were present, and fixed his mind on Bhagavān Śiva alone. With devotion he walked three times around the fire, and he got ready to enter the flames.

Bhagavān Śiva shows his true form

Bhadrāyu’s mind was given up at the feet of Bhagavān Śiva. Just as he was about to fall into the blazing fire, the brāhmaṇa, who was Viśveśvara himself, appeared before him and held him back.

There stood Bhagavān Śiva in his supreme form. He had five faces and three eyes and carried the Pināka bow. The crescent moon was the ornament on his head. His beautiful jaṭājūṭa (matted hair) was golden. He blazed with the light of crores of fierce midday suns, and his colour was lotus-white. He wore an elephant skin as his garment. The waves of the Gaṅgā washed over his matted crown. He was garlanded with many serpents and adorned with a crown, armlets and bracelets. In his arms he held the triśūla (trident), khaḍga (sword), khaṭvāṅga, paraśu (axe), a shield, a deer, the abhaya-mudrā, the vara-mudrā and the Pināka. He sat on the vṛshabha (bull).

Flowers rained from the sky. Divine kettledrums sounded. Celestial women sang and danced. Bhagavān Vishṇu, Brahmā, Indra, Nārada and all the maharshis and devas arrived and praised him. Bhadrāyu’s heart was flooded with ānanda (joy). His body was wet with tears of joy and his voice was choked with feeling. He joined his hands and praised Bhagavān Śiva in eloquent words.

Parameśvara, together with Pārvatī, was very pleased with the king’s praise. He spoke.

“O king, I am greatly pleased with your bhakti (devotion) and your steadfastness in dharma. Ask for a vara together with your wife. The woman taken by the tiger was Pārvatī herself. The tiger was made by māyā. That is why your arrows could not harm it. I asked for your wife in order to test your courage and your resolve.”

The varas

Bhadrāyu bowed again and said, “O Nātha, the greatest vara is that you, Parameśvara, have appeared before me, who am hurt by the sorrows of saṃsāra (the cycle of birth and death). But you are the first among givers of varas, and you kindly offer one. So I ask only this. Give your constant nearness and the joy of your presence to my father Vajrabāhu, my mother, myself, my wife Kīrtimālinī, the vaiśya (merchant) Padmākara, and his son Sunaya. These are the six.”

Then Mahārāṇī Kīrtimālinī also asked Mahādeva for the same vara for her father Candrāṅgada and her mother Sīmantinī.

Pārvatīpati, who loves his devotees, gave all these varas with the words “So be it!” and vanished in an instant.

Bhadrāyu had received the anugraha (grace) of Parameśvara. He enjoyed many pleasures happily with Kīrtimālinī. He ruled his kingdom for ten thousand years. Then he gave the kingdom to his son and reached the abode of Bhagavān Śiva. Candrāṅgada and Sīmantinī also worshipped Bhagavān Śiva with bhakti and reached his padam (state).

The fruit of hearing this account

The Śata Rudra Saṃhitā says that this pure and wonderful Dvijeśvara Avatāra caritra (account) gave Bhadrāyu the highest ānanda and is a great purifier. Those who hear it or read it reach the padam of Śambhu. Those who hear it every day with śraddhā (faith), or make others hear it, will not fall from their dharma. After this life they will reach the paramagati (highest goal).

Sources

• Śiva Purāṇa, Śata Rudra Saṃhitā, Chapter 27