Gālava and Cakratīrtha
Gālava was a ṛshi (seer) who came to Setu-kshetra. There he did hard tapas (austerity) at Cakratīrtha and beside the Dharma Pushkariṇī, and Bhagavān Vishṇu appeared before him. In answer to Gālava’s question, Bhagavān Vishṇu told him why Cakratīrtha is split into two parts. The Sudarśana Cakra had killed the asura Durgamu there. Three stotras (hymns of praise) belong to this episode.
Gālava arrives at Setu-kshetra
The ṛshi Gālava came to the Gandhamādana mountain in Setu-kshetra. He was at once drawn by the great beauty of the Dharma Pushkariṇī. It is a holy lake with crystal-clear water, ringed by divine trees, where divine beings live. He was also drawn by a strange sight: Cakratīrtha could be seen split into two parts.
The beauty and holy power of the kshetra moved him to choose this place for hard tapas to Bhagavān Vishṇu.
Tapas and the darśana of Bhagavān Vishṇu
Gālava did severe tapas at the tīrtha. Bhagavān Vishṇu was moved by the ṛshi’s devotion. He appeared before him and gave him darśana (a holy sight of himself). This meeting at Cakratīrtha became the time of three stotras:
- Gālava’s Vishṇu Stotra. Gālava offered a stotra to Bhagavān Vishṇu in praise of his divine nature and his qualities.
- Dharma’s Śiva Stotra. Dharma, in a person’s form, offered a stotra to Bhagavān Śiva at this tīrtha. This shows that the kshetra is a meeting place of both the Vaishṇava and the Śaiva traditions.
- Gālava’s Sudarśana Stotra. After Gālava heard how the Sudarśana Cakra had made the tīrtha’s strange split form, he composed a stotra in honour of the divine cakra.
The question about the split tīrtha
Gālava asked Bhagavān Vishṇu to explain the strange two-part shape of Cakratīrtha. In answer, Bhagavān Vishṇu told of Durgamu the gandharva and the Sudarśana Cakra.
Durgamu
A gandharva named Durgamu had received a śāpa (a curse) from the great ṛshi Vasishṭha. He fell from his divine nature and became an asura. He lived in the tīrtha-kshetra, frightened the whole area, and made it unclean with his presence.
The account ties his origin to the old story of why mountains no longer have wings. Indra’s vajra once struck the mountains and cut off their wings, and mountain ranges were split. As a part of that great event, the mountain range at Setu-kshetra was also struck and partly split. Durgamu took the tīrtha place that was formed at this split.
What the Sudarśana Cakra did
Bhagavān Vishṇu sent the Sudarśana Cakra to destroy Durgamu and make the tīrtha pure. The cakra cut through the mountain range at that spot with great force. It destroyed Durgamu and left the tīrtha divided into two parts for good, a plain sign of the cakra’s divine act. This stroke of the Sudarśana Cakra gives the tīrtha its name, Cakratīrtha.
Sources
- Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Brahma Khaṇḍa, Setu Māhātmya, Chapters 3 and 4