Kāśirāja of the Krīḍā Khaṇḍa

Kāśirāja is the king of Kāśī in the Krīḍā Khaṇḍa of the Gaṇeśa Purāṇa. He brought the seven-year-old Mahotkaṭa from the āśrama of Kāśyapa to Kāśī. All the great battles of the Kṛta yuga were fought in his city. His devotion to Mahotkaṭa grew through the trials of those years. In the end he was taken on a journey through all the lokas of the cosmos and saw Bhagavān Gaṇeśa in his own high realm, Svānandabhuvana. He stayed there for koṭi kalpas (ten million ages of the world).

The king who brought the child

In Mahotkaṭa’s childhood, Kāśirāja came to Kāśyapa’s āśrama with a clear purpose. He wanted to bring the divine child to Kāśī to bless the wedding of his son to the daughter of the king of Magadha. Kāśī, the eternal city of Bhagavān Śiva, would be the place. Mahotkaṭa’s presence would make the day holy beyond all measure. Kāśirāja received the seven-year-old Mahotkaṭa and brought him to Kāśī. The Gaṇeśa Purāṇa tells this in the Krīḍā Khaṇḍa, Chapter 12.

In this first act of devotion, Kāśirāja knew the child’s divine nature, honoured him and escorted him himself to the holy city. It set the tone for all that followed between Kāśirāja and Mahotkaṭa.

Through the battles

A journey for a wedding became years of living through the great struggles of the Kṛta yuga. Mahotkaṭa fought one wave of enemies after another in Kāśī. Kāśirāja was there throughout, as host and as guardian of the city’s people. His queen Ambā wept in the darkest hours. Bhagavān Gaṇeśa saw both his sorrow and his joy.

In Narāntaka’s great war the city was burned and its people were taken captive. Kāśirāja fought bravely but was captured himself. He entered Mahotkaṭa’s belly with others and saw the whole universe inside Mahotkaṭa’s divine body. This is one of the most remarkable spiritual experiences in the Krīḍā Khaṇḍa. The Gaṇeśa Purāṇa tells this in the Krīḍā Khaṇḍa, Chapters 57–58.

The journey to Svānandabhuvana

When the great wars were over and peace was back, Bhagavān Gaṇeśa sent two of his chief gaṇas, Pramoda and Āmoda, with a divine vimāna (flying chariot) to take Kāśirāja on the highest journey. The tour took in every loka of the cosmos. It went through:

  • the realms of bhūtas and pretas
  • the gandharva lokas
  • Amarāvatī
  • the realms of Yama, with the Kumbhīpāka naraka (hell)
  • the realms of Kubera, Varuṇa and Vāyu
  • the realm of the Sun
  • Nakshatra-Candra
  • Goloka
  • Satyaloka
  • Vaikuṇṭha
  • Kailāsa

He visited each in turn and went beyond each. The Gaṇeśa Purāṇa tells this in the Krīḍā Khaṇḍa, Chapters 51–52.

Beyond all these stood Svānandabhuvana in the Ikshusāgara, the high realm of Bhagavān Gaṇeśa himself. Kāśirāja arrived there and saw Bhagavān Gaṇeśa resting on the Kāmadāyinī pīṭha (seat), served by Siddhi and Buddhi, while the Sāmaveda was sung there without end. He offered his stotra (hymn of praise) in a voice that shook with devotion. Bhagavān Gaṇeśa embraced him. The Gaṇeśa Purāṇa tells this in the Krīḍā Khaṇḍa, Chapter 53.

Kāśirāja stayed in Svānandabhuvana for koṭi kalpas, a span beyond human reckoning.

The wedding

When Mahotkaṭa’s work was done and Devāntaka had been killed, Kāśirāja finished what he had first come for: the wedding of his son to the daughter of the king of Magadha. The rite was completed with joy. The purpose that had first brought the divine child to Kāśī was fulfilled in due time. The Gaṇeśa Purāṇa tells this in the Krīḍā Khaṇḍa, Chapter 71.

The setting up of Ḍhuṇḍhirāja

After Mahotkaṭa returned to Kāśyapa’s āśrama, Kāśirāja set up a fine four-armed, three-eyed metal mūrti of Ḍhuṇḍhirāja in Kāśī, with a beautiful temple. The people of Kāśī could then always reach the divine presence of the avatāra of the Kṛta yuga. From then on they worshipped this mūrti every day. The Gaṇeśa Purāṇa tells this in the Krīḍā Khaṇḍa, Chapter 72.

Sources

  • Gaṇeśa Purāṇa, Krīḍā Khaṇḍa, Chapters 12–72