Durgamu
Durgamu was a gandharva, the son of Viśvāvasu. The ṛshi Vasishṭha gave him a śāpa (a curse) to become a rākshasa for sixteen years. He had shown no shame when bathing naked with a hundred women at a sacred lake, just as the ṛshis arrived for their midday sandhyā (prayer). As a fearful rākshasa he roamed the earth eating every creature. At the end of the sixteen years, fate drew him to the Dharma Pushkariṇī in the Setu-kshetra to eat the ṛshi Gālava. There the Sudarśana cakra, sent by Bhagavān Vishṇu to guard Gālava, cut off his head. This freed him from the śāpa at once. He took back his gandharva form, praised the Sudarśana cakra and returned to svarga (heaven). His account explains how Cakratīrtha at the Setu-kshetra got its name.
Vasishṭha’s śāpa
Durgamu was a gandharva of divine birth and the son of Viśvāvasu, the lord of the gandharvas. Once he was bathing in a sacred lake with a hundred beautiful women. The great ṛshi Vasishṭha came to that place with a company of maharshis for their midday sandhyāvandana (prayer). Durgamu showed no modesty. He did not dress when he saw the ṛshis, and he showed shamelessness before the whole company. Vasishṭha was angry at this insolence and gave a śāpa: “O gandharva Durgamu! Since you did not clothe yourself on seeing us, become a rākshasa.” (Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Brahma Khaṇḍa, Setu Māhātmya, chapter 4)
The hundred women with Durgamu had covered themselves when they saw the ṛshis. The śāpa did not touch them. Vasishṭha allowed them to go to svarga. They spoke to him with humility. They called him a son of Brahmā, a knower of all dharmas and an ocean of dayā (compassion). They asked him to show grace and not turn his anger on them for their husband’s fault. They pleaded that ṛshis who see the truth (tattvadarśī) should forgive a single wrong, and they begged compassion for their husband. (Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Brahma Khaṇḍa, Setu Māhātmya, chapter 4)
Vasishṭha’s softening of the śāpa
Vasishṭha was moved by the women’s plea. He told them that his word could not be taken back, but that he would set an end to the śāpa. For sixteen years Durgamu would stay in the form of a rākshasa. At the end of those years, driven by fate, the rākshasa would find his way to Cakratīrtha at the Setu-kshetra. There Gālava would be living, a great devotee of Vishṇu and a mahāyogī. The rākshasa would come to eat Gālava. But the cakra sent by Vishṇu to guard Gālava would cut off the rākshasa’s head and free Durgamu from the śāpa. After this śāpamoksha (release from the śāpa), Durgamu would join his wives in svarga again in a fine form. (Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Brahma Khaṇḍa, Setu Māhātmya, chapter 4)
Vasishṭha spoke these words and left in deep devotion toward Hālāsyeśvara. He soon returned to his āśrama. The grieving wives watched Durgamu change before their eyes. He grew long fangs, a huge body, a red moustache and red matted hair. He became a fearful rākshasa. In fear, the wives left for svarga. (Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Brahma Khaṇḍa, Setu Māhātmya, chapter 4)
Sixteen years as a rākshasa
In his rākshasa form Durgamu ranged over the earth as fast as the wind. He ate every living creature, going from country to country and forest to forest. He kept on like this for sixteen years. At last the fearful Durgamu came to the Dharma Pushkariṇī, the sacred tank of the Setu-kshetra. He was drawn by an unstoppable pull toward the place where Gālava lived. (Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Brahma Khaṇḍa, Setu Māhātmya, chapters 3–4)
Freedom at Cakratīrtha
At the end of the sixteenth year, Durgamu rushed at Gālava with the speed of the wind, to eat him. Gālava cried out to Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa for protection. Vishṇu heard the prayer of his devotee. He sent his Sudarśana cakra to guard Gālava. It blazed with the light of countless suns, was as hot as countless fires, and made a mighty sound. The rākshasa saw the Sudarśana coming and tried to flee, but the cakra cut off his head at once, and he fell to the ground. (Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Brahma Khaṇḍa, Setu Māhātmya, chapters 3–4)
As soon as the rākshasa body fell, Durgamu stood up in a divine form. He shone, wore divine garments and rose into a vimāna (a divine flying vehicle) while flowers rained from the sky. He joined his palms and praised the Sudarśana cakra, who had freed him.
Namaskāra to you, O Sudarśana! O ornament of Vishṇu’s hand! O slayer of rākshasas! O one blazing with the tejas of a thousand suns! By your grace I have shed the rākshasa form and regained my own svarūpa (true form). O cakra-āyudha (weapon-disc) of Vishṇumūrti, namaskāra to you. O beloved of Vishṇu, please let me now go back to svarga, where my wives wait with sorrowing hearts. May you show compassion to me, and fix my mind on you for as long as I live. O Cakra, namaskāra!
(Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Brahma Khaṇḍa, Setu Māhātmya, chapter 4)
The Sudarśana cakra gave its assent, and so did the munis who had gathered. Durgamu bowed to Gālava and took his leave. Freed in this way, the gandharva Durgamu rose to svarga, the tridiva, and was reunited with his wives. (Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Brahma Khaṇḍa, Setu Māhātmya, chapter 4)
How Cakratīrtha got its name
Durgamu’s account is part of the origin of Cakratīrtha at the Setu-kshetra. The Sudarśana cakra had freed the rākshasa and answered Gālava’s prayer. It then declared that it would live in the Dharma Pushkariṇī for ever, to guard all devotees and to free all who bathe there. Because the cakra took up its home there, the tīrtha became known as Cakratīrtha. (Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Brahma Khaṇḍa, Setu Māhātmya, chapters 3–4)
Sources
- Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Brahma Khaṇḍa, Setu Māhātmya, chapters 3–4