Daṇḍapāṇi: Guardian of Kāśī and Son of Pauṇḍraka

The name Daṇḍapāṇi, “the bearer of the rod”, belongs to two figures in the Purāṇas. The first is the Yaksha Harikeśa, whom Bhagavān Śiva named the guardian of Kāśī. The second is the son of Pauṇḍraka Vāsudeva, who sent a Kṛtyā against Bhagavān Kṛshṇa and was destroyed by the Sudarśana cakra. Each account is given below.

Daṇḍapāṇi, the Yaksha guardian of Kāśī

Daṇḍapāṇi is also known as Harikeśa and Piṅgala. He is the chief Yaksha guardian of Kāśī. Parameśvara himself appointed him as its Daṇḍanāyaka, the one who holds the rod of justice, the protector and gatekeeper of the city. He was born on the Gandhamādana mountain as the son of the Yaksha Pūrṇabhadra. He came to Kāśī as a child devotee of Bhagavān Śiva and did fierce tapas (austerity) in Ānandakānana.

When Bhagavān Śiva himself appeared and touched him, he gave Harikeśa the rule over the moral order of the city. He was to drive out those full of pāpa (sin), welcome those with puṇya (merit), give food and a home to those who deserve it, and offer moksha (liberation) through Śiva’s own grace. The Kāśī Khaṇḍa teaches that no devotee, however devoted to Śiva, can live in Kāśī without first winning the favour of Daṇḍapāṇi.

Birth and childhood

On the Gandhamādana mountain lived a righteous and prosperous Yaksha. After a life of puṇya and the practice of Śāmbhava Yoga, he passed away in peace. His son Pūrṇabhadra inherited his wealth, but he had no child. For all its grandeur, his house felt empty without the lisping voice of a child.

His wife Kanakakundalā advised him: “Only contemptible fellows speak of fate as the unchanging cause of things. That fate is nothing but the karma one has done before. So turn to Parameśvara. All desires, the eight siddhis and even moksha are at the door of one who does the ārādhanā of Śambhu.” Pūrṇabhadra was skilled in music, and he pleased Śrī Mahādeva through his art. Soon his wish was granted. (Skanda Purāṇa, Kāśī Khaṇḍa, Chapter 32)

A son was born, as beautiful as the full moon and as handsome as the deva of love. He was named Harikeśa. From his eighth year the child was wholly absorbed in Bhagavān Śiva. At play he made liṅgas out of dust and did pūjā with grass and leaves. He called all his friends by the names of Śiva: Candraśekhara, Bhūteśa, Mṛtyuñjaya, Trilocana, Paśupati and many more. He never let his ears hear, his eyes see or his mind think of anything but Hara. Even in sleep he would wake up calling, “O Three-eyed One, where do you go?” (Chapter 32)

Coming to Kāśī

Pūrṇabhadra was upset that the child had no interest in worldly life, and he scolded him sharply. Harikeśa was frightened by his father’s anger and left home. As he wandered about in confusion, he remembered a teaching he had once overheard: “Vārāṇasī is the last refuge: for those left by mother and father, for those bound by karma, for those weighed down by pāpa, for those who have slipped from Yoga and given up tapas, for those insulted by their kinsmen at every step. In Kāśī, the Mahāśmaśāna, the seeds of karma are roasted in the fire of Viśveśa.”

With these thoughts Harikeśa went to Vārāṇasī. At the foot of an Aśoka tree in Ānandavana, the pleasure grove of Bhagavān Śiva within Kāśī, he took up fierce tapas. It was so hard that his body was reduced to a skeleton held together only by dry sinews. Yet his eyes sent out rays of light that lit up the directions, and the forest itself seemed scorched by the fire of his tapas. (Chapter 32)

Śiva’s appearance and the vara

At this time Bhagavān Śambhu himself entered Ānandakānana. He showed its beauty to Pārvatī and called it “the second most beloved of mine, after you yourself, O devī.” Bhagavān Śiva praised Kāśī. He said it is the city where the tāraka-mantra is whispered into the ear of every dying person. Even fallen Yogins do not fall again at the great dissolution (mahālaya). Karma is burned beyond all prāyaścitta (atonement). Whoever stays there in kshetrasannyāsa (the vow to live in the holy place) becomes a jīvanmukta (one freed while alive). In the midst of this praise, Śiva saw Harikeśa at his tapas.

Pārvatī pleaded for the devotee. Bhagavān Śiva came down and touched the Yaksha with his own hand, the hand of the ruler of the devas. Harikeśa opened his eyes and saw Śiva shining like a thousand rising suns. At the touch of that lotus hand, his body became immortal. (Chapter 32)

The commission as Daṇḍapāṇi

Bhagavān Śiva then gave the Yaksha his charge, and with it the rule over the moral order of Kāśī.

“Be the permanent Daṇḍadhara of this holy place.” The Daṇḍadhara bears the rod of justice. He punishes the wicked and protects those with puṇya.
“You shall be named Daṇḍapāṇi.” The name means the staff-bearer. His attendants Sambhrama and Udbhrama were told to follow him. They bring confusion on those who are hostile to the kshetra and clarity to its devotees.
His form. A blue mark at the throat, serpents as bracelets, the third eye in the forehead, an elephant hide, a beautiful woman at his left, tawny matted hair, a body smeared with ash, the crescent moon on his head, and the slow, stately walk of a bull. This is the full form of a gaṇa of Śiva.
“You are always the giver of cooked food to those who live in Kāśī.” He feeds all who deserve it. He fills them with prāṇa (life breath). He gives them jñāna (knowledge) and guides them toward moksha.
“Even a person highly devoted to me shall not get an opportunity to stay in Kāśī without devotion to you.” This makes Daṇḍapāṇi the gateway to all the grace of Kāśī.
“Drive out those full of pāpa; bring devotees from afar.” He controls who may enter the holy city and sees puṇya and pāpa with perfect wisdom.
His place. “You be here always in the southern direction, just in front of my eyes.” He stands south of Jñānavāpī, facing Viśveśvara.

(Chapter 32)

The prayer to Daṇḍapāṇi

Skanda himself tells that Daṇḍapāṇi once drove even him out of Kāśī, because he had stayed there without first pleasing Daṇḍapāṇi. Now Skanda recites the Yaksharājāshṭaka, the eight verses to the king of the Yakshas, three times every day. He holds that it “leads to access to Vārāṇasī”. The eight-verse prayer calls Daṇḍapāṇi:

Son of Pūrṇabhadra and Kanakakundalā
Piṅgala, the tawny one, burnished by tapas
Ugratāpasa, the fierce ascetic
Daṇḍanāyaka of terrible face, beloved of Viśveśvara
Gentle to the gentle and terrible to the terrible
Death to those with pāpa in their minds within the kshetra
Skilled in the final decoration (the form of Śiva given at death)
Giver of the treasure of knowledge
A bee at the lotus feet of Gaurī

One who recites and hears the story of how Daṇḍapāṇi appeared will be born again in Kāśī, even if he dies elsewhere. (Chapter 32)

Daṇḍapāṇi, son of Pauṇḍraka Vāsudeva

This Daṇḍapāṇi was the son of Pauṇḍraka Vāsudeva, the king of Kāśī who copied Bhagavān Kṛshṇa and was slain by him. His mother and his priest urged him on. Daṇḍapāṇi did a great yajña to Bhagavān Śiva and received a terrible Kṛtyā. He sent her to kill Kṛshṇa. Kṛshṇa’s Sudarśana cakra turned the Kṛtyā back, chased her to Vārāṇasī, and destroyed Daṇḍapāṇi, his army and the whole city.

Parentage and motive

Pauṇḍraka Vāsudeva was the proud king of Kāśī. Through twelve years of ārādhanā of Bhagavān Śiva he had gained the divine form of Kṛshṇa. He then challenged Kṛshṇa at Dvārakā and was slain. Kṛshṇa’s Sudarśana cakra cut off Pauṇḍraka’s crowned head, and it fell into Pauṇḍraka’s own palace women’s quarters in Vārāṇasī. Daṇḍapāṇi saw this and was filled with grief and rage. His mother directed him and his royal priest advised him, and he resolved to avenge his father. (Padma Purāṇa, Uttara Khaṇḍa, Chapter 251)

The Māheśvara yajña and the Kṛtyā

Daṇḍapāṇi did a great fire yajña called the Māheśvara, in honour of Bhagavān Śaṅkara. Bhagavān Śiva was pleased with the yajña and gave him a Kṛtyā, a fearsome female being of destruction and great power, who belongs to Maheśvara. Her body blazed with fire. She had masses of flaming hair and fierce tawny eyes. She held a trident in her hand, her body was smeared with ash, and she wore a garland of human heads. She could make all the devas afraid. Daṇḍapāṇi told her to go to Dvārakā and kill Kṛshṇa, together with his sons, his wives and all his relations. (Chapter 251)

Destruction by Sudarśana

The Kṛtyā went toward Dvārakā, burning the earth with her flames. Bhagavān Kṛshṇa let loose his Sudarśana cakra, which blazed with the power of a crore (ten million) Suns. The Kṛtyā was overwhelmed by the Sudarśana and fled back to Vārāṇasī, crying out. The Sudarśana chased her. It entered Kāśī and destroyed the Kṛtyā. Then it burned Daṇḍapāṇi himself, with all his servants, his army and his elephants, to ash. The whole city of Vārāṇasī was burned, with its palaces, mansions, stores, streets and all its people. Only when this work of destruction was done was the Sudarśana satisfied, and it returned to Kṛshṇa’s hand. (Chapter 251)

Sources

Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Kāśī Khaṇḍa, Chapter 32
Padma Mahā Purāṇa, Uttara Khaṇḍa, Chapter 251