Indra at Dharmāraṇya

Dharmāraṇya is a holy kshetra (sacred land) where, the Purāṇa says, all pāpa (sin) is destroyed. This is the account of how Indra came there, burdened by brahmahatyā (the pāpa of killing a brāhmaṇa) after he killed Vṛtrāsura. He did a hundred years of tapas (austerity) to Bhagavān Śiva. Bhagavān Śiva freed him and set up the Indreśvara liṅga there for good. Indra’s son Jayanta set up the Jayantīśvara liṅga. The account ends with the phala (fruit) of worship at these liṅgas.

Indra’s burden of brahmahatyā

Indra, the king of the devas, had killed the asura Vṛtrāsura in a great battle. Vṛtrāsura had taken the form of a brāhmaṇa, or was seen as one. The killing was needed to protect the worlds, yet it brought the terrible pāpa of brahmahatyā. This is the most dreadful of the mahāpāpas (great pāpas). It tormented Indra without rest and clung to him, though he was the king of the devas.

Seeking freedom from it, Indra came to Dharmāraṇya, the most holy kshetra, where all pāpa is destroyed.

Indra’s tapas

In Dharmāraṇya, to the north of the village (grāma), Indra stood on one big toe. Both his arms were raised to the sky and his face was turned to the sun. He did one hundred years of fierce tapas for Bhagavān Śiva. This mahāghora (very dreadful) tapas, standing on one toe with arms stretched up, was a great austerity for the king of the devas to take on.

Bhagavān Śiva appears and frees Indra

Bhagavān Śiva was pleased with this tapas. He appeared before Indra at Dharmāraṇya. He had matted hair (jaṭā) and wore bhasma (sacred ash). He rode the bull (vṛshabha). With him came bhūtas and pretas. He held the khaṭvāṅga, he had three eyes, and he carried Gaṅgā in his hair (Gaṅgādhara).

Bhagavān Śiva spoke to Indra with pity: “O King of the devas! Dharmāraṇya is supremely holy. In this kshetra, by the word of Brahmā, Keśava and Yama (and my own), brahmahatyā does not afflict anyone. The pāpa of killing cows, brāhmaṇas, children and women does not live here, O Devendra. Enter this kshetra and bathe here. All your pāpas are washed away.”

Indra was comforted. He bathed at the tīrtha (holy bathing place) linked with Bhagavān Śiva’s appearance.

The Indreśvara Liṅga

Indra then asked Bhagavān Śiva for one more vara (boon): “O Ocean of Mercy, O Mahādeva! If you are pleased with me, O Mahādeva Śaṅkara, let your lasting presence here be known by my name.”

Bhagavān Śiva agreed with kindness. By his yoga-śakti (yogic power) he showed himself there as a liṅga, rising from a tortoise (kūrma) at that spot. He said: “Let this be the Indreśvara liṅga, my lasting presence here, for the cleansing of all wrongdoers and the freedom of all seekers.” So the Indreśvara liṅga took its place in Dharmāraṇya for good, for the welfare of all the worlds.

Jayanta and the Jayantīśvara Liṅga

Indra’s son Jayanta also came to Dharmāraṇya. He set up a liṅga in the kshetra, the Jayantīśvara liṅga. Bhagavān Śiva was pleased with Jayanta’s pūjā. He declared that he would come every day with his son Skanda to worship at the Jayantīśvara liṅga, leaving even his own divine home to honour Jayanta’s devotion. So the Jayantīśvara liṅga is visited every day by Bhagavān Śiva himself.

Phala

  • Those who bathe in the Indra-tīrtha and see the Indreśvara liṅga are freed from the pāpas of seven births.
  • Those who offer water (jala-tarpaṇa) before the Indreśvara liṅga lift up their seven gotras and one hundred and one members of their kula (family).
  • Those who do sāṅga-rudra-japa there on the chaturdashī (fourteenth lunar day) are freed from all pāpa and reach Śivaloka.
  • Those who give a golden eye-stone on a stone placed in the middle of the tīrtha are freed from blindness for sixty births.
  • All kinds of jvara (fever) are destroyed by the grace of Indreśvara. These are the one-day, two-day, four-day and three-day fevers, the intermittent fever, masaka-jvara and vaksha-jvara.
  • Women who suffer from bandhyā-dosha (barrenness) and like troubles are freed if they bathe at the kuṇḍa (sacred pool) together with their husbands.

Sources

  • Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Brahma Khaṇḍa, Dharmāraṇya Khaṇḍa, Pūrvārdha, Chapter 19