Prākārakarṇa

Prākārakarṇa was an owl who lived on Kailāsa, the mountain of Bhagavān Śiva. In truth he was a brahmin named Ghaṇṭa from Vārāṇasī, a devoted Śiva-bhakta. Ghaṇṭa had worshipped Bhagavān Śiva with unbroken bilva leaves for one hundred years without a break. Bhagavān Śiva appeared before him and gave him a vara (a boon) of freedom from old age and death.

Ghaṇṭa then fell from this high state through uncontrolled kāma (desire). He carried off a brahmin girl, and her father pronounced a śāpa (a curse) that made him an owl. He had lived for twenty-eight kalpas on Kailāsa when king Indradyumna and the ṛshi Mārkaṇḍeya came there to look for a witness to Indradyumna’s kīrti (fame). Ghaṇṭa’s account is also the place where the Bilvadala Māhātmya, the teaching on the glory of the unbroken bilva leaf, is given.

Past life: the brahmin Ghaṇṭa

In an earlier life, Prākārakarṇa was born as a brahmin of the Vasa-gotra in Vārāṇasī. His name was Ghaṇṭa. He was a sincere Śiva-bhakta. He loved to hear dharma and to attend the talks of sādhus (holy men). He learned that, among all offerings to Bhagavān Śiva, none was dearer than the unbroken bilva leaf. A single akhaṇḍa bilvadala (a three-lobed bilva leaf offered whole) pleased Bhagavān Śiva more than crores of other flowers.

Ghaṇṭa took this to heart. He began to worship the Śiva-liṅga three times a day with unbroken bilva leaves. He kept this up without a break for a hundred years. At the end of that time, Bhagavān Parameśvara, also called Candraśekhara, appeared before him. His voice was like a thundercloud. He said:

“O best of brāhmaṇas! Your unbroken bilva worship for one hundred years has greatly pleased me. Ask for any vara. A single unbroken bilvadala brings me great joy, not crores of other flowers.”

Ghaṇṭa asked: “Make me free from jarā and mṛtyu, old age and death.” Bhagavān Śiva gave this vara and went away. The Skanda Mahā Purāṇa tells this in the Māheśvara Khaṇḍa, Kaumārika Khaṇḍa, Chapter 8.

Bilvadala Māhātmya

The account records the declaration of Bhagavān Śiva himself on the glory of the bilva leaf.

• A single akhaṇḍa bilvadala offered to him equals crores of other flowers.
• One who worships Bhagavān Śiva with bilva lives in svarga (heaven) for one hundred thousand years.
• Mālatī, mandāra, śatapatra and mallikā flowers are sweet-smelling, but they are not as dear to Bhagavān Śiva as the bilva.

The fall: desire and abduction

With immortality secured, Ghaṇṭa fell into desire. One day he was walking through the city. He saw the daughter of a Bhārgava brahmin. She was unmarried, very beautiful, and playing with her friends. He went to her father and said he wished to marry her. Her father gave his word that the girl would be given to Ghaṇṭa.

But Ghaṇṭa had a repellent look, in spite of his tapas (austerity) and learning. When the daughter saw him, she wept. She said she would rather drink poison than marry such a man. Her mother took the daughter’s side. Under this pressure the father gave the girl to someone else.

Ghaṇṭa was shamed before his companions and burned with kāma. He waited for the night. In the dark he carried off the sleeping girl to a lonely place and married her by a gāndharva marriage. In the morning the father tracked them down and saw what had been done. In anger he pronounced a śāpa: “You acted like a niśācara (a night-creature) in taking my daughter. You shall become a niśācara! Be an owl!” The Skanda Mahā Purāṇa tells this in the Māheśvara Khaṇḍa, Kaumārika Khaṇḍa, Chapter 8.

Ghaṇṭa pleaded that the father had first given his word and then broken it by giving the girl to another man. That was against dharma. The father saw some truth in this and changed the śāpa. Ghaṇṭa would be an owl on Kailāsa, and his freedom would come when he helped to identify king Indradyumna’s kīrti.

Role in the Indradyumna account

The crane Nāḍījaṅgha sent the group to Kailāsa. Prākārakarṇa welcomed them warmly. The owl and the crane greeted each other with the respect due to long-lived forest dwellers. The group asked about Indradyumna. The owl answered: “I have lived through twenty-eight kalpas but have no memory of any king by that name.”

Even so, he sent them to the older Garuḍa Kuśadhvaja on Gandhamādana, and he offered to go with them. The group now was Indradyumna, Mārkaṇḍeya, the crane and the owl. They went to Gandhamādana, then to Mānasasarovara, and at last to the Mahīsāgara Saṃgama.

There the testimony of the turtle Jayadata restored Indradyumna’s kīrti, and a divine vimāna (a celestial chariot) came down. All the witnesses were freed at the same moment. The owl’s form dissolved, and his true brahmin nature came back. He went on to moksha (liberation) with the whole group. The Skanda Mahā Purāṇa tells this in the Māheśvara Khaṇḍa, Kaumārika Khaṇḍa, Chapters 8 to 13.

Sources

• Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Māheśvara Khaṇḍa, Kaumārika Khaṇḍa, Chapter 8
• Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Māheśvara Khaṇḍa, Kaumārika Khaṇḍa, Chapters 8–13