Śiva Kapālī and Kapālamocana Tīrtha

Chapters 2 and 3 of the Vāmana Mahā Purāṇa tell how Bhagavān Śiva cut off Brahmā’s fifth head and was seized by brahmahatyā, the pāpa (sin) of killing a brāhmaṇa. He walked through the tīrthas of Bhārata as the Kapālī, with Brahmā’s skull in his hand. Only in Vārāṇasī did the skull fall away. The place where it fell is Kapālamocana tīrtha.

The brahmahatyā

Before the yajña of Daksha, a quarrel arose in the assembly between Brahmā and Rudra. Brahmā’s fifth head had spoken with pride and falsehood about Bhagavān Śiva. Bhagavān Śiva’s anger rose and he struck off that head. This was brahmahatyā, the killing of a brāhmaṇa. The pāpa took the shape of a dreadful figure that clung to Bhagavān Śiva like a shadow. Brahmā’s skull stuck to his hand and could not be shaken off. (Chapter 2)

Wandering through the tīrthas

Bhagavān Śiva carried Brahmā’s skull as a kapāla (begging bowl) in his hand. He became a wandering ascetic, the Kapālī, and went to every great tīrtha of Bhārata to seek prāyaścitta (atonement). He visited the great river meetings, the holy rivers and the forest āśramas. He bathed in each of them with full ritual purity. Yet the brahmahatyā would not leave him. None of the tīrthas had the power to wash away this pāpa. (Chapter 3)

Bhagavān Vishṇu’s guidance

After long wandering, Bhagavān Vishṇu appeared and spoke to Bhagavān Śiva. He said that in this case no tīrtha but Vārāṇasī could set him free from brahmahatyā. Vārāṇasī is Bhagavān Śiva’s own holy city, the Avimukta kshetra, where he always lives as Kāśīviśvanātha. Only inside Kāśī, under the grace of Mahādeva who lives there, could Brahmā’s skull fall away by itself. (Chapter 3)

Kapālamocana Tīrtha

Bhagavān Śiva accepted the advice of Bhagavān Vishṇu and entered Vārāṇasī. The moment he set foot in the holy city, Brahmā’s skull fell from his palm of its own accord, and the brahmahatyā was gone. The exact spot where the skull was set free became holy as Kapālamocana tīrtha, the tīrtha of the release of the skull. This place in Vārāṇasī is still one of the most important of the city’s countless tīrthas. (Chapter 3)

In Chapter 16 the Vāmana Purāṇa comes back to describe Vārāṇasī more fully. It names Lolārka tīrtha. It also says that Vārāṇasī is the place where Bhagavān Śiva whispers the tāraka mantra into the ears of the dying. (Chapter 16)

Sources

• Vāmana Mahā Purāṇa, Chapter 2
• Vāmana Mahā Purāṇa, Chapter 3
• Vāmana Mahā Purāṇa, Chapter 16