Kshudhā
Kshudhā, “hunger”
Kuśa has other meanings too: see all meanings of Kuśa. Māyā has other meanings too: see all meanings of Māyā.
Kshudhā is Hunger in her devī form. She came out of the mouth of Mahāmṛtyu, the great Death, and she brings agony, distress and pāpa to all beings. When Kaṇva Ṛshi praised her together with the Gautamī Gaṅgā, she appeared before him in a terrible form beside the gentle form of Gaṅgā, and at his prayer she promised never to dwell in him or in his family. The place is the Kshudhā Tīrtha on the Gautamī.
Kaṇva at the Gautamī
Brahmā tells Nārada of the Kshudhā Tīrtha, which is of great puṇya and grants men every desire. Once the ṛshi Kaṇva, rich in tapas and foremost among the knowers of the Veda, was wandering among the tapovanas when hunger came upon him. The āśrama of Gautama was rich in food and water. Kaṇva saw that he was hungry while Gautama was prosperous, and detachment arose in him. “Gautama is an excellent brāhmaṇa, and I too am established in tapas,” he thought. “To beg from my equal is not proper. Though hunger overcomes me, I will not eat in Gautama’s home. I shall go to the Gautamī Gaṅgā and gain wealth there.” He went to the sacred river, bathed, sat on kuśa grass with a controlled mind, and praised the Gautamī Gaṅgā and Kshudhā together.
Kaṇva’s stotras
In his first stotra the verses turn from one to the other:
- “Gaṅgā, namaskāra to you, destroyer of agony and distress; and to you, O Hunger, cause of agony and distress to all people.”
- To Gaṅgā: “Namaskāra, O splendid one, born of the jaṭā of Maheśāna.”
- To Kshudhā: “Namaskāra, O Kshudhā, who came out of the mouth of the great Mṛtyu.”
- To Gaṅgā: “O Gautamī, gentle towards the meritorious and fierce towards the wicked, destroyer of the distress and pāpas of all, in the form of a river!”
- To Kshudhā: “Namaskāra to you, giver of agony, distress and pāpa to all, in the form of hunger.”
- To Gaṅgā: “Namaskāra, O devī, cause of welfare and suppressor of pāpas; namaskāra, cause of peace; namaskāra, destroyer of poverty.”
As he praised, two forms appeared before him: the gentle form of Gaṅgā and the terrible form of Kshudhā. Kaṇva bowed with joined palms and praised them again. He hailed Godāvarī as the cause of all that is auspicious, Brāhmī, Māheśvarī, Vaishṇavī and Trinetrā, born of the jaṭā of the three-eyed Śiva, the remover of Gautama‘s pāpa, flowing into the sea in seven streams. And to Kshudhā he said: “O devī Hunger, namaskāra, namaskāra to you, who are a pāpī towards all pāpīs, destroyer of dharma, kāma and artha, full of misery and greed!”
The varas
Both were pleased and said: “O you of good vratas, state your desire. Choose varas.” Kaṇva bowed to each in turn. From Gaṅgā he asked wealth and every cherished desire, long life, bhukti and moksha. To Kshudhā he said: “O Hunger, O Thirst, never be in me or in anyone born of my family. Go away.” He asked further:
- that those afflicted by hunger who praise her with this stotra should not suffer the miseries of poverty;
- that those who devoutly bathe, give dāna and do japa at this tīrtha should become rich;
- that whoever reads this stotra, at the tīrtha or at home, should have no fear of poverty and misery.
Gaṅgā and Kshudhā said “So be it” and went to their own abodes.
The Kshudhā Tīrtha
From then on the tīrtha was called Kaṇva, Gāṅga and Kshudhā. Brahmā says it dispels every pāpa and increases the delight of the pitṛs.
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 15
Sources
- Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 15