Mahābalīśvara at Gokarṇa

Gokarṇa is an ancient tīrtha (holy place) on the western coast of Karnataka. The Koti Rudra Saṃhitā of the Śiva Purāṇa tells how the Mahābalīśvara Śivaliṅga came to be there. Rāvaṇa received a living liṅga from Bhagavān Śiva and was told never to put it on the ground before he reached Laṅkā. A brāhmaṇa boy, who was Gaṇeśa, made him hand it over. The boy set it down at Gokarṇa, and it stayed there, and Rāvaṇa could not lift it again.

Gokarṇa and the Sahyādri

The name Gokarṇa means “cow’s ear”. Gokarṇa is an ancient tīrtha on the Arabian Sea, in what is now the Uttara Kannada district of Karnataka. It lies in the Sahyādri (Western Ghats) region, where the mountains meet the sea. Since ancient times it has been counted among the most sacred places of South India, a tīrtha where the holiness of the earth is especially strong.

Rāvaṇa’s tapas at Gokarṇa

Rāvaṇa was the rākshasa king of Laṅkā and a great devotee of Bhagavān Śiva. He came to Gokarṇa wanting a Śivaliṅga of great power for his capital. Such a liṅga set up in Laṅkā would make his kingdom unbeatable and place Śiva’s living presence as the protector of the rākshasa realm.

Rāvaṇa did fierce tapas (austerity) at Gokarṇa on the holy Sahyādri coast. His tapas was very strong and lasted a long time. Parameśvara was pleased with his devotion. He appeared and offered him the Prāṇaliṅga, a liṅga filled with divine life-force, a living form of Śiva’s presence.

Śiva gave the Prāṇaliṅga to Rāvaṇa on one important condition: it must never be put on the ground before it reached Laṅkā. Once set down anywhere on earth, it would stay fixed at that spot for ever. Rāvaṇa agreed and set out for Laṅkā with the divine liṅga.

The devas step in

The devas were alarmed. If Rāvaṇa set up this Prāṇaliṅga in Laṅkā, the rākshasa kingdom would become impossible to attack, and Rāvaṇa’s power would grow until it threatened the order of the whole cosmos. They looked for a way to stop the liṅga from reaching Laṅkā.

Gaṇeśa took on the task. He appeared by the roadside as a young brāhmaṇa boy. At that moment Rāvaṇa needed to do his sandhyā-vandana (the prayers of twilight). This ritual needs both hands, and he could not do it while holding the liṅga. He met the boy.

The boy offered to hold the liṅga while Rāvaṇa said his prayers, on one condition. If the liṅga became too heavy, the boy would call Rāvaṇa three times. If Rāvaṇa did not come to take it back by then, the boy would put it down.

Rāvaṇa needed to say his prayers and trusted a brāhmaṇa boy. He agreed and handed over the liṅga.

The liṅga is set down

Before Rāvaṇa finished his prayers, Gaṇeśa, in the form of the brāhmaṇa boy, called Rāvaṇa three times. Rāvaṇa was in the middle of his prayers and could not answer at once. After the third call went unanswered, the boy set the Prāṇaliṅga on the ground at Gokarṇa. The condition had been met. The liṅga became immovable.

When Rāvaṇa finished his prayers and came back, he found the liṅga fixed in the earth. He used all his great strength to pull it up. He pressed down on it in his anger, and still he could not move it. The liṅga at Gokarṇa bears the impression of Rāvaṇa’s grip.

Mahābalīśvara is established

The Prāṇaliṅga stayed fixed at Gokarṇa and became the lasting shrine of Mahābalīśvara, the master of great strength (mahābala). The name has more than one meaning. Not even Rāvaṇa, one of the strongest beings in creation, could move the liṅga. And the liṅga is the living presence of Śiva in all his great power.

Gokarṇa, with the Mahābalīśvara liṅga, became one of the most important Śiva tīrthas of South India. Śiva’s living presence is there in the form of the Prāṇaliṅga that even Rāvaṇa could not carry away.

Sources

• Śiva Purāṇa, Koti Rudra Saṃhitā, Chapter 8 (Gokarṇa, Rāvaṇa’s tapas)
• Śiva Purāṇa, Koti Rudra Saṃhitā, Chapters 8–9 (the gift of the Prāṇaliṅga and its condition)
• Śiva Purāṇa, Koti Rudra Saṃhitā, Chapter 9 (the devas’ step, the brāhmaṇa boy)
• Śiva Purāṇa, Koti Rudra Saṃhitā, Chapter 10 (the liṅga set down, Mahābalīśvara)