Vyāsa at Kāśī

Vyāsa Kṛshṇadvaipāyana is the compiler of the Vedas and the composer of the Mahābhārata and the eighteen Purāṇas. Chapters 95 and 96 of the Kāśī Khaṇḍa (Uttarārdha) tell what happened when he came to Kāśī. He declared that Bhagavān Hari alone is the ruler of all. Nandī, the guardian of Bhagavān Śiva’s home, then stopped his raised arm and his speech. Bhagavān Vishṇu himself told Vyāsa to praise Bhagavān Śiva. Vyāsa sang the Vyāsāshṭaka, set up the Vyāseśvara Liṅga, and was then tested by Bhagavān Śiva through withheld alms.

Vyāsa’s declaration at Naimishāraṇya

Vyāsa Kṛshṇadvaipāyana, son of Parāśara, came to Naimishāraṇya. Eighty-eight thousand ṛshis, all given to the devotion of Bhagavān Śiva and marked with tripuṇḍra (three lines of ash) and rudrāksha beads, were gathered there. Vyāsa saw them all at the pūjā of Bhagavān Śiva. He raised his index finger and said:

“After churning the vast expanse of words and coming to firm conclusions, this alone has been understood: Hari, the ruler of all, should be resorted to. There is no scripture other than the Veda; there is no Parameśvara other than Acyuta.”

The ṛshis were disturbed. They told him: “Go to Vārāṇasī and say the same before Viśveśvara.” (Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Kāśī Khaṇḍa, Chapter 95)

At Kāśī: Ādīkeśava and the Jñānavāpī

Vyāsa came to Kāśī with ten thousand disciples. He bathed at Pañcanada, did pūjā to Bindumādhava, and visited Pādodaka. He stayed five nights at the shrine of Ādīkeśava. There he praised Bhagavān Vishṇu with great devotion in a long Sanskrit stotra (hymn of praise) made of divine names.

Then he went to the home of Bhagavān Viśveśvara and stood before the Jñānavāpī. He wore a garland of tulasī, took cymbals in his hand, and danced and sang. Again he raised his left hand and made the same declaration, that Bhagavān Hari alone is the supreme ruler. (Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Kāśī Khaṇḍa, Chapter 95)

Nandī stops Vyāsa

Vyāsa raised his left hand and began to recite the verses that declared Hari supreme, in the sacred ground of Viśveśvara. At that moment Nandī, the foremost gaṇa of Bhagavān Śiva and his gatekeeper, paralysed Vyāsa’s arm with a playful glance. Nandī’s glance carried the power of Bhagavān Śiva, and Vyāsa’s raised arm froze completely. At the same moment Vyāsa’s speech was stopped too. He stood in the sacred ground with his arm held out and fixed, and with no voice. (Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Kāśī Khaṇḍa, Chapter 95)

Bhagavān Vishṇu speaks to Vyāsa

Bhagavān Vishṇu came to Vyāsa quietly and said:

“A great offence has been committed by you. There is only one ruler of the universe: Viśveśa. I am the bearer of the discus by his favour. I am the husband of Lakshmī by his power. It was Śambhu himself who gave me the power to hold up the three worlds. Through devotion to him I received all my prosperity as a vara (a boon) from him. If you wish for my welfare, praise Śambhu.”

Vyāsa could not speak, so he answered with signs: “Touch the root of my throat so that I can praise Bhavāṃśa.” Bhagavān Vishṇu touched his throat and gave him back his voice. Then he quietly withdrew. (Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Kāśī Khaṇḍa, Chapter 95)

The Vyāsāshṭaka: eight verses of praise

With his voice back, Vyāsa made and sang the famous Vyāsāshṭaka, eight verses in praise of Bhagavān Śiva. The verses say:

  • Brahman is one alone. Rudra is one. There is no second beside him.
  • No one other than Maheśa could bear the Kālakūṭa poison that came from the Ocean of Milk. Bhagavān Vishṇu himself turned away from its flames.
  • For Bhagavān Śiva’s chariot, Śrīpati (Bhagavān Vishṇu) was the arrow, the whole earth was the chariot, Brahmā was the charioteer, and the Vedas were the horses. With one arrow he burned the three Puras.
  • Kandarpa had conquered the universe with his flower arrows. He took Rudra to be an equal among the devas, and he was reduced to ashes.
  • The Veda does not know him. Neither Vishṇu nor Brahmā knows him, and neither mind nor speech knows the master of the devas.
  • All things stand in him. He is everywhere and he is all. He makes, protects and destroys. He has no beginning, and he is the beginning of everything.
  • By saying his name once one gains the puṇya (merit) of a horse yajña (the aśvamedha). By one bow to him Indra won back Amarāvatī.
  • “I know no master other than Śrīmaheśa; I praise no master except Śambhu; I bow to no master other than the Three-eyed One.”

Nandī then released Vyāsa’s arm and said: “This Vyāsāshṭaka is highly meritorious. One who recites it in the morning wins over bad dreams, destroys pāpa (sin), and reaches the nearness of Bhagavān Śiva. Even those guilty of the gravest pāpa, such as killers of a father, a mother or brāhmaṇas, are freed by repeating it.” (Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Kāśī Khaṇḍa, Chapter 95)

The Vyāseśvara Liṅga

From that day Kṛshṇadvaipāyana was devoted to Śambhu. He set up a liṅga beyond the Ghaṇṭākarṇa Hrada (also called Ghaṇṭākarṇa Tīrtha), and it became known as Vyāseśvara. He smeared himself with holy ash, always wore rudrāksha, and became a constant worshipper of the liṅga. He gave up all other holy places. He knew the truth about this city that gives moksha (liberation), and to this day he does not leave Kāśī.

Anyone who bathes in Ghaṇṭākarṇa Hrada and sees Vyāseśvara dies, wherever the place of death may be, in the same state as one who dies in Vārāṇasī. (Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Kāśī Khaṇḍa, Chapter 95)

Bhagavān Śiva’s test: alms withheld

Bhagavān Śiva wished to test Vyāsa’s steadiness. He told Devī Pārvatī to stop every household in Kāśī from giving alms to Vyāsa or his disciples that day. Devī Pārvatī went round the city and forbade everyone to give.

For a whole day and night Vyāsa and his ten thousand disciples walked through Kāśī and received not one morsel. The next day it was the same. Vyāsa became troubled and began to think that some great obstacle stood in his way. He sent disciples to find out. They came back and told him that the city was very rich and full of food, yet no one would give anything to Vyāsa. (Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Kāśī Khaṇḍa, Chapter 96)

Devī Pārvatī as a housewife

At the end of the second day Vyāsa was weak with hunger and bewildered. He threw down his begging bowl and began to walk towards his āśrama (hermitage). Then Devī Pārvatī appeared as an ordinary housewife, sitting at the door of a magnificent house, and invited him to be her guest.

Vyāsa was struck by her great radiance. He made a series of beautiful verses naming her as the digit of the Moon, as Kamalā (Lakshmī), as the presiding devī of Vārāṇasī, as the glory of moksha in person, and as his own good fortune in the form of a woman.

She accepted his request, but said: “I have ten thousand guests; my husband’s grace will make sure there is enough.” She fed all ten thousand disciples with wonderful abundance. After the meal she asked Vyāsa about the duty of those who live in holy places. (Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Kāśī Khaṇḍa, Chapter 96)

Vyāsa’s teaching on dharma in Kāśī

In this conversation Vyāsa gave a full teaching on how the people who live in Kāśī should behave. The Kāśī Khaṇḍa presents it as the Purāṇic ideal of life in the sacred city. Its points are:

  • a daily bath at Manikarṇikā
  • daily pūjā of Viśveśvara
  • keeping one’s varṇāśrama duties
  • listening to the greatness of the holy place
  • giving alms in secret
  • helping everyone
  • keeping to truth even under the hardest pressure
  • never leaving Kāśī, even in a crisis
  • guarding all living beings of the city as one’s own

The teaching ends with the statement that the good earned in Kāśī in a single day is greater than what is earned elsewhere in a hundred years. (Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Kāśī Khaṇḍa, Chapter 96)

Sources

  • Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Kāśī Khaṇḍa, Uttarārdha, Chapters 95–96