Supriya and Nāgeśvara
Nāgeśvara is a Jyotirliṅga in the Dārukāvana forest. The Śiva Purāṇa tells how it came to be there. The rākshasī Dārukā carried the forest wherever she wished, raided the seas and held many captives, among them Supriya, a merchant and a devotee of Śiva. In prison Supriya made an earthen liṅga and led the other captives in its worship. When Dārukā moved to kill him, Bhagavān Śiva came out of the liṅga and destroyed her.
Dārukā and the moving forest
The rākshasī Dārukā was a being of great power. She and her husband Dāruka had received a special vara (a boon): they could carry the whole Dārukāvana, the forest of Dāru trees, with them wherever they wished. The forest was a moving fortress. It could be carried through the air and over the seas, so the rākshasas were almost impossible to find or face.
Dāruka was killed by Kārttikeya. After that Dārukā alone had the power of the forest, along with her own rākshasa strength. With her husband gone, nothing held her back, and she grew more and more fierce. She moved the Dārukāvana to a place in the sea near the Saurāshṭra coast and began to raid ships and coastal lands. She seized travellers, merchants and devotees, and she filled her rākshasa city inside the Dārukāvana with prisoners.
Supriya in prison
Among the devotees whom Dārukā seized was Supriya, a vaiśya (merchant) with great devotion to Śiva. The text stresses that he was a true devotee, a sincere bhakta, and that the worship of Śiva was the centre of his life.
In the rākshasa prison inside the moving Dārukāvana, Supriya was among other captives: travellers, merchants and devotees taken from the sea routes and the coasts. There was fear and despair on every side.
Pārthiva liṅga pūjā in prison
Supriya did not give way to despair. He looked at what he had in the prison and made a pārthiva liṅga from the earth at hand. He began his daily Śiva pūjā with the plain things he had: earth, simple offerings and deep devotion.
His example moved the other prisoners. They saw how fully he gave himself to his worship. Supriya gathered the captives into a company of worshippers and led them in pārthiva liṅga pūjā, and he set up a daily practice of devotion within the prison walls. The prison became a place of worship of Śiva.
Dārukā’s challenge
Dārukā found out what was going on in her prison and was furious. She came to Supriya herself. She told him that his Śiva had no power here, in her own land, and that he must give up this worship or she would destroy him.
She was threatening more than Supriya’s life. She was challenging the teaching that Śiva is present everywhere. Supriya refused to give up his worship. Dārukā got ready to kill him.
Śiva comes out and destroys Dārukā
As Dārukā moved on Supriya, the pārthiva liṅga burst open. Parameśvara came out in blazing divine power. The fight between Bhagavān Śiva and Dārukā was quick, and Bhagavān Śiva destroyed the rākshasī.
All the captives held in the Dārukāvana were set free. The moving forest was no longer Dārukā’s land. It was now the place where Bhagavān Śiva had shown himself.
Nāgeśvara is established
Supriya, the freed captives, the devas and the ṛshis asked Bhagavān Śiva to stay at that place in the Dārukāvana for ever. He agreed. He established himself there as Nāgeśvara, the master of serpents. The place is linked with the Saurāshṭra coast near Dvārakā.
Sources
- Śiva Purāṇa, Koti Rudra Saṃhitā, Chapter 29
- Śiva Purāṇa, Koti Rudra Saṃhitā, Chapter 30