Gautama and Tryambakeśvara
This narrative comes from the Koṭi Rudra Saṃhitā of the Śiva Purāṇa. It tells how the ṛshi (seer) Gautama fed a whole community of ṛshis through a drought of twelve years by the grace of Bhagavān Śiva. It tells how jealous ṛshis staged a false killing of a cow to drive him away, and how Gautama, by his tapas (austerity) on Brahmagiri, brought the Gaṅgā down from Śiva’s matted hair as the Godāvarī. Bhagavān Śiva then made his home on that mountain as Tryambakeśvara, and the place became a Jyotirliṅga.
The twelve-year drought
A great drought fell on the land around Brahmagiri, the holy mountain that was to become the source of the Godāvarī. For twelve years the rains failed. Crops dried up and the water sources ran dry. The ṛshis who had made their āśramas (hermitages) in that region faced starvation. Unable to keep their āśramas going, all the ṛshis prepared to leave.
The great ṛshi Gautama was already living on Brahmagiri as a devoted follower of Śiva. He saw how hard it was for the other ṛshis and he acted. He performed intense tapas to Parameśvara, asking for a way to feed the community. Bhagavān Śiva was pleased with his tapas and moved by his care for others. He gave Gautama a vara (a boon): a field that never ran short of grain and a supply of water enough for all. (Śiva Purāṇa, Koṭi Rudra Saṃhitā, Chapter 24)
Gautama feeds the ṛshis
By Śiva’s grace, Gautama’s āśrama became a place of plenty in the middle of the drought. He opened it to all. Thousands of ṛshis and their families came to him. For all twelve years of the drought, Gautama gave this whole community food, water and shelter out of the abundance Śiva had given. His giving was complete and had no conditions.
One ṛshi had fed thousands for twelve years by divine grace, and this gave Gautama a very high place among them. The drought ended, and the ṛshis got ready to return to their own āśramas. (Śiva Purāṇa, Koṭi Rudra Saṃhitā, Chapter 24)
The jealousy of the ṛshis
As the visiting ṛshis were about to leave, jealousy rose in some of them. Gautama alone had Śiva’s special favour, and he alone had been able to feed them all. Those who were proud of their own spiritual standing could not bear it. They made a plan.
Using māyā (illusion), the jealous ṛshis made a cow that was dying appear near Gautama’s grain field. When Gautama came near, the false cow fell dead as if he had struck it. This made it look as if he had committed go-hatyā (the killing of a cow), one of the gravest pāpas (sins) in dharma. The ṛshis declared that Gautama was stained by this terrible pāpa and must leave until he had made full atonement. (Śiva Purāṇa, Koṭi Rudra Saṃhitā, Chapters 24–25)
Gautama accepts the blame
The cow was not real, and the pāpa was only staged. Gautama knew he had not killed a cow. Even so, he answered with complete humility. He accepted the blame for the apparent go-hatyā without protest and without defending himself, and he resolved to make full atonement. (Śiva Purāṇa, Koṭi Rudra Saṃhitā, Chapter 25)
Tapas on Brahmagiri
Gautama went up Brahmagiri with his wife Ahalyā and performed intense tapas to Parameśvara. He worshipped Bhagavān Śiva with sincere devotion for a long time. He did not seek power. He wished only to be cleansed of the apparent pāpa and to bring holy water to a land struck by drought.
Bhagavān Śiva appeared before Gautama. (Śiva Purāṇa, Koṭi Rudra Saṃhitā, Chapter 26)
The descent of the Godāvarī
Śiva asked Gautama which vara he wanted. Gautama’s request was clear and asked nothing for himself. He said: “O Parameśvara, grant me the descent of the Gaṅgā here at Brahmagiri, so that I may be cleansed of this pāpa, and so that the Deccan may be made holy by sacred river water.”
Śiva was very pleased with this request. It asked nothing for Gautama himself, only the cleansing of the land and a holy gift for all beings. Śiva made the Godāvarī flow from his own jaṭā (matted hair), just as the Gaṅgā had flowed from his jaṭā for Bhagīratha. The Godāvarī came down at Brahmagiri and flowed from the mountain to water the whole Deccan.
The river has two names:
- Godāvarī, her main name, which means the giver of cows and prosperity.
- Gautamī, after Gautama, whose tapas brought her down.
(Śiva Purāṇa, Koṭi Rudra Saṃhitā, Chapter 26)
The conspirators are exposed
The account also tells how the jealous ṛshis who staged the false go-hatyā were in the end exposed and shamed. They had thought their plan would lower Gautama’s standing. Instead it became the reason for his greatest service to the world, the bringing of the Godāvarī to the Deccan. (Śiva Purāṇa, Koṭi Rudra Saṃhitā, Chapter 27)
Tryambakeśvara is established
Gautama, the assembled devas and ṛshis, and the freely flowing Godāvarī herself asked Bhagavān Śiva to stay on Brahmagiri for ever. Śiva agreed. He made his home there as Tryambakeśvara, the three-eyed one, on the mountain where the Godāvarī has her source. (Śiva Purāṇa, Koṭi Rudra Saṃhitā, Chapter 27)
Sources
- Śiva Purāṇa, Koṭi Rudra Saṃhitā, Chapters 24–27