Kedāreśvara and Nara-Nārāyaṇa

Kedāreśvara is the Jyotirliṅga of Bhagavān Śiva at Kedāranātha in the high Himālaya, the fifth of the twelve. The Koti Rudra Saṃhitā of the Śiva Purāṇa tells how it was set up. Nara and Nārāyaṇa, the twin forms of Bhagavān Vishṇu who live at Badarikāśrama, made a pārthiva liṅga (a liṅga made of earth) and did pūjā to Śiva for countless yugas. Śiva was pleased and gave them a vara (boon). They asked him to stay for ever at Kedāra for the good of all devotees who make the hard pilgrimage there. The same chapter also tells the Pāṇḍava account of Kedāra and the five shrines called the Pañca Kedāra.

Nara and Nārāyaṇa at Badarikāśrama

In the high Himālaya lies Badarikāśrama, the holy forest of the badara (jujube) tree and the āśrama of the twin ṛshis. Here lived the divine pair Nara and Nārāyaṇa. They are the twin forms of Vishṇu: Nara as the human ṛshi, and Nārāyaṇa as the divine form of Vishṇu himself. They have been doing tapas (austerity) at Badarikāśrama through the ages.

As part of their tapas, Nara and Nārāyaṇa made a pārthiva liṅga and worshipped Śiva with great devotion for countless yugas without a break. They did this with full devotion, japa (repeating a name or mantra) and renunciation. Their pūjā was beyond compare in its depth and in its length. The Koti Rudra Saṃhitā tells this in Chapter 19.

Śiva appears and gives the vara

Parameśvara was very pleased with the tapas of Nara and Nārāyaṇa. He appeared at Badarikāśrama and offered them a vara. They asked as great devotees ask: not for power and not for worldly blessings, but for a gift to all devotees who would come later.

Nara and Nārāyaṇa said: “O Parameśvara, stay for ever at Kedāra, in this holy region of the Himālaya, within reach of all devotees who make the hard pilgrimage here. Let your presence as a Jyotirliṅga be set up in this place for the good of all, in all ages.”

Śiva agreed and made himself present as Kedāreśvara at this high Himālayan place. The Koti Rudra Saṃhitā tells this in Chapter 19.

The Pāṇḍava account

The Koti Rudra Saṃhitā keeps a second account that links Kedāra to the Pāṇḍavas. After the war at Kurukshetra, the five Pāṇḍavas carried the weight of brahmahatyā-dosha, the fault of killing their own kinsmen, a heavy pāpa (sin). They went to the Himālaya to seek relief and the darśana (sight) of Śiva.

Śiva did not wish to meet them face to face. He changed himself into a mahisha (water buffalo) and mixed with a herd of buffaloes in the forests of the Himālaya, hiding his divine form.

Bhīma, the strongest of the Pāṇḍavas, searched the herds and picked out the unusual buffalo that was Śiva. When Bhīma took hold of the buffalo to stop it from escaping, the divine buffalo dived into the earth. Bhīma caught the hump before it could disappear completely.

The body of the divine buffalo then came up again at five holy places in the high Himālaya:

• Hump: Kedāranātha (the main shrine, the Jyotirliṅga place)
• Face: Paśupatinātha, Kāṭhmāṇḍu (Nepal)
• Arms: Tungnātha
• Navel: Madhyamāheśvara
• Hair or head: Kalpanātha, also called Kalpamāheśvara

These five shrines together are the Pañca Kedāra, the five Śiva shrines of the high Himālaya. Each one holds a part of the buffalo form of Śiva. The Koti Rudra Saṃhitā tells this in Chapter 19.

The Pañca Kedāra

In the Pañca Kedāra account, the one event of Bhīma taking hold of Śiva’s buffalo form becomes a spreading of Śiva’s presence across the whole Himālayan kshetra (holy region). Each of the five shrines holds the form of one body part of the divine buffalo, so that the whole high Himālayan round is one unbroken darśana of Śiva.

Pilgrims in Uttarākhaṇḍa still keep the custom of the Pañca Kedāra pilgrimage, visiting all five shrines. The five shrines, each at a great height, call for hard effort of body and mind, as Himālayan pilgrimage does. The Koti Rudra Saṃhitā tells this in Chapter 19.

Sources

• Śiva Purāṇa, Koti Rudra Saṃhitā, Chapter 19 (Nara and Nārāyaṇa at Badarikāśrama; the Pāṇḍava account; the Pañca Kedāra)