Guptahari and Cakrahari

In one age the daityas won great varas (boons) and became very strong. They attacked the devas and beat them. Bhagavān Śiva led the devas to Bhagavān Vishṇu at the Kshīrasāgara (the Ocean of Milk). Bhagavān Vishṇu promised to do tapas (austerity) in secret at Ayodhyā to increase the devas’ radiance. Because the tapas was hidden (gupta), he became known there as Guptahari. The devas then won the war, came to Ayodhyā to give thanks, and settled there. This account is from the Ayodhyā Māhātmya of the Skanda Mahā Purāṇa.

The defeat of the devas

In that age the daityas had received great varas, and their strength swelled beyond measure. They made a terrible attack on the devas. The battle was fierce, and the devas were completely beaten. The asuras were swollen with pride and drove the devas from their own regions. The devas were routed and began to run.

Mahādeva Śiva stopped the running devas and gathered them. He knew that only Bhagavān Vishṇu could help. So Śiva led the devas, with Brahmā at their head, to the Kshīrasāgara. There Bhagavān Vishṇu lay on his couch Ādiśesha, with Śrī Lakshmī beside him.

The vision at the Kshīrasāgara

The Māhātmya describes what the devas saw. Bhagavān Vishṇu wore yellow robes and large pearl earrings. His crown was set with rubies, and the Kaustubha jewel blazed on his chest. A bright creeper of jewels from Śvetadvīpa decorated his form. Nārada and the great ṛshis were praising his qualities. Garuḍa stood before him with folded hands, praising him without pause. Śrī Lakshmī sat at his side and touched his lotus feet.

Bhagavān Śiva and all the devas bowed low and offered the Īśvara Stotra, one of the great stotras (hymns of praise) of the Māhātmya. In it Śiva praised Bhagavān Vishṇu in these ways:

  • the one who takes beings across the ocean of worldly life
  • the moonlight that drives away the darkness of delusion
  • the Vaishṇavī power that fills all three worlds
  • the one cause of support for creatures about to fall
  • the Sun of knowledge
  • the storehouse of Dharma
  • the one who is the same as Ātman and Jīva
  • the master from whose navel rises the lotus seat of Brahmā
  • the one with the nature of a proud lion, who destroys the daityas
  • Rudra, who lives in the cave of the heart
  • the great giver of new life
  • the supreme peaceful one
  • the one beyond all darkness

These verses are Chapter 6, verses 24–37.

Bhagavān Vishṇu’s promise

When Bhagavān Vishṇu heard the prayer of the devas, he looked on them all with a glance like nectar. He spoke with kindness:

“O devas, I know everything that you think. I know that your region has been attacked with fierce force by the daityas, who are proud of their skill in battle. Now I shall do tapas to give you more strength. I shall go to the city of Ayodhyā and do an excellent tapas. I shall stay unseen there and do the tapas to increase your radiance and to put down the daityas. You too must do hard tapas, going quickly to Ayodhyā, O devas, to destroy the daityas.”

With these words Bhagavān Vishṇu vanished from the Kshīrasāgara.

The secret tapas at Ayodhyā

Bhagavān Vishṇu came to Ayodhyā and did an excellent tapas in secret (gupta). He stayed hidden and unseen, while his tapas added to the radiance of the devas. Because the tapas was done in hiding for the good of the suras, he became famous as Guptahari, the Hidden Hari.

When Bhagavān Vishṇu arrived at Ayodhyā, the Sudarśana Cakra fell from his hand. The spot where it landed became Cakrahari, the place that marks where the cakra fell.

The devas win

The power of Bhagavān Vishṇu’s secret tapas flowed unseen to the devas. They went to Ayodhyā and did their own tapas. Their radiance grew and their strength came back. They went again to fight the daityas, and this time they won completely. They defeated all the asuras and took back their old places in the world.

The devas come to worship

After their victory, all the devas gathered with joy and came back to Ayodhyā to worship Bhagavān Vishṇu, who had secretly given them the victory. Bṛhaspati, the teacher of the devas, led them. They came to the spot where Bhagavān Vishṇu had done his hidden tapas. They bowed their heads to the ground and worshipped him with devotion. They laid at his lotus feet the garlands from their own crowns.

Bhagavān Vishṇu, the yellow-robed Janārdana, was glad that they had come. He said to them:

“O devas, after a long time you have come within my sight. What wish of yours, O suras, shall I fulfil now?”

The devas asked Bhagavān Vishṇu to stay at Ayodhyā for ever and always be near to protect them. He gave them this vara:

“So I shall bring about the victory over your enemies. O suras, I shall increase your radiance for ever. This Bhagavān Vishṇu will become well known in all the worlds by the name Guptahari. My place of hiding will become famous.”

The devas settle at Ayodhyā

The devas were drawn by the excellent qualities of Bhagavān Hari and by the wonder of this holy spot. After their worship, they all settled at Ayodhyā for good. So Ayodhyā became the home not only of the kings of the Sūryavaṃśa and the ṛshis of the tradition, but of the whole company of the devas.

The yearly festival of Guptahari is on Kārttikī Pūrṇimā, the full-moon day of Kārttika. The yearly festival of Cakrahari is on the eleventh day of the bright half of Mārgaśīrsha.

Sources

  • Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Vaishṇava Khaṇḍa, Ayodhyā Māhātmya, Chapter 6
  • Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Vaishṇava Khaṇḍa, Ayodhyā Māhātmya, Chapter 6, verses 24–37 (the Īśvara Stotra)