Mahākāleśvara at Avantī
Avantī is the holy city that is today called Ujjain. The Koti Rudra Saṃhitā of the Śiva Purāṇa tells two connected narratives about Mahākāleśvara there. In the first, Bhagavān Śiva comes out of an earthen liṅga as Mahākāla and destroys the asura Dūshaṇāsura. He then stays at Avantī for ever as Mahākāleśvara. In the second, he answers the simple pūjā of a cowherd boy named Śrīkara and promises the birth of Bhagavān Kṛshṇa in the boy’s family line.
The terror of Dūshaṇāsura
A powerful asura named Dūshaṇāsura rose up and terrified the three worlds, most of all the region of Avantī (Ujjain). He drove the brāhmaṇas out of their settlements. He broke up and destroyed all yajñas and Vedic practice, and he set up his own order against dharma across the region. His power was so great that the brāhmaṇas who were left could not easily stand against him. They had no weapons and no worldly means to resist.
The brāhmaṇa community of Avantī lived under his rule. They could not leave, and they could not freely do their duties of dharma.
The four brāhmaṇa sons
Among the brāhmaṇas of Avantī lived a family known for its great devotion to Śiva. This brāhmaṇa had four sons, Devpriya, Priyamedha, Sukṛta and Dharmavāhi. They had been brought up from childhood in complete devotion to Śiva. Their daily practice was to make and worship pārthiva liṅgas (liṅgas made of earth). This is the plainest act of Śiva-bhakti, since it needs neither wealth nor long preparation.
Even while Dūshaṇāsura’s terror went on all around them, the four young men kept up their daily pārthiva liṅga pūjā without cutting it short or giving way.
The confrontation
Dūshaṇāsura himself came to face the four brothers. He mocked their pūjā and gave a plain ultimatum: give up this worship of Śiva or be destroyed. The four brothers answered without waiting. They would not stop worshipping Śiva for any reason: not for fear of death, not for the pleasure of any power, not for anything of this world. Their pūjā was not open to bargain.
Dūshaṇāsura was furious. He advanced with his army to destroy the four devotees and their pārthiva liṅga.
Śiva comes out as Mahākāla
As Dūshaṇāsura came toward the four brothers, the pārthiva liṅga burst open. Out of it came the fearsome form of Mahākāla, the Great Time, the master of death and destroyer of all that stands against dharma. The form of Mahākāla was blazing, terrible and shining. He bore the trident, the skull-staff and all the divine weapons of the cosmic warrior. Flames poured from his form.
In one swift and terrible fight, Mahākāleśvara destroyed Dūshaṇāsura. The asura’s forces were scattered or destroyed. The brāhmaṇa community of Avantī was freed from his terror.
Mahākāleśvara is established
The four brothers and the freed brāhmaṇas of Avantī begged Śiva to stay at this place for ever, as protector of the kshetra (sacred place) and as a source of moksha (liberation) for all who would come. Śiva agreed. He made himself present at Avantī for ever as Mahākāleśvara, the master of Mahākāla, the Great Time.
King Candrasena’s devotion
The king of Avantī, Candrasena, was a firm devotee of Śiva. He was known across the region for the depth and beauty of his worship. He had received a divine gemstone (cintāmaṇi), a jewel of great brilliance. Candrasena did his Śiva-pūjā with great care.
The cowherd boy Śrīkara
One day a cowherd boy named Śrīkara, also called Gopabālaka (the cowherd child), happened to pass near the place where King Candrasena was doing his pūjā. The boy stopped and watched, unable to look away from the king’s complete absorption in Śiva-pūjā. Something opened in the boy’s heart.
Śrīkara picked up an ordinary stone from the ground. Nobody had taught him. He had no formal initiation and no knowledge of ritual. He was only moved by what he had seen. He placed the stone in front of him and began to worship it as Śiva. He copied the king’s gestures and inner state as well as he could imagine them. He became completely absorbed, with his whole being fixed on this stone as Śiva.
His mother’s interruption
Śrīkara’s mother called him home again and again. It was time to eat, time to come back, time to stop playing. The boy heard nothing. He was so deep in his worship that the outside world did not reach him.
His mother came to him and threw away his stone, which broke his worship. She dragged him home. Śrīkara could not be comforted. He fell into grief as if a deep inner bond had been cut off by force, the grief of one parted from Bhagavān Śiva just at the moment of meeting. He refused to eat and could not sleep.
Śiva’s grace: the stone becomes a liṅga
When night came, Śrīkara at last fell asleep in his grief. When he woke in the morning, he found Śiva’s grace had reached him fully. His simple stone had become a true Śivaliṅga, and a splendid temple had risen around it. The place of his simple, childlike worship had been made holy by Śiva’s living presence.
Hanumān as protector of devotees
In this narrative Hanumān appears as a witness and protector. He is himself a Śiva devotee of the highest kind. He is present to watch over the sincere worship of others.
The prophecy of Kṛshṇa
In this scene Parameśvara himself gives a great prophecy: “In the eighth generation of this boy’s family line, a divine being will be born, one who is supreme and whose worship will make all the worlds holy.” The tradition understands this as a prophecy of the coming birth of Bhagavān Kṛshṇa, the supreme avatāra of Bhagavān Vishṇu. He would appear eight generations later in Śrīkara’s line, as the divine cowherd of Mathurā and Vṛndāvana.
This prophecy, given at Mahākāleśvara, joins the great Śaiva kshetra of Avantī to the Vaishṇava tradition by one simple link: a cowherd boy’s simple worship of a stone.
Sources
- Śiva Purāṇa, Koti Rudra Saṃhitā, Chapter 16 (Dūshaṇāsura, the four brāhmaṇa sons, Mahākāleśvara)
- Śiva Purāṇa, Koti Rudra Saṃhitā, Chapter 17 (Candrasena, Śrīkara, Hanumān, the prophecy of Kṛshṇa)