Sanājjāta

Sanājjāta

Mahī has other meanings too: see all meanings of Mahī.

Sanājjāta was a brāhmaṇa, the son of the brāhmaṇa Dhṛtavrata and his wife Mahī, radiant as the sun. Raised in the āśrama of the ṛshi Gālava, he mastered the Vedas and Vedāṅgas, but he fell into a life of desire and, by daiva, came to live with his own mother without either knowing the other. Yet through his father’s puṇya he kept a good mind and never gave up his morning sandhyā and his daily bath in the Gautamī, and the Gaṅgā purified him every day. When the truth came out, Gālava told him that his wrong had already perished in the Gaṅgā, and mother and son bathed in the tīrtha and were freed of their pāpas. That tīrtha is Dhautapāpa, also called Pāpapraṇāśana and Gālava.

Brahmā tells this to Nārada in the Gautamī Māhātmya of the Brahma Purāṇa.

His birth and upbringing

The brāhmaṇa Dhṛtavrata had a young wife named Mahī, the most beautiful woman in the world, and their son was Sanājjāta. Mṛtyu, urged by Kāla, took Dhṛtavrata away. The young widow, seeing no one to protect her, went with her son to the āśrama of the ṛshi Gālava, entrusted the boy to him, and then, deluded by pāpa, wandered from land to land, leading a life of desire. In Gālava’s āśrama the boy became a master of the Vedas and Vedāṅgas, and Gālava tied his sacred thread. Still, because of his mother’s faults, he too became given to desire.

At Janasthāna

Mahī came to live at Janasthāna as a veśyā. Her son, wandering from country to country, came there in time and lived there too, and by the turn of daiva mother and son came together as man and woman, neither recognising the other, for a long time.

Though his acts were bad, Sanājjāta kept a good mind because of the puṇya of his father. He never gave up his brāhmaṇa prayers. After his morning prayers he earned wealth by the power of his learning, and gave all of it to the woman. Every morning he rose early and went to the Gautamī, performed śauca, snāna and sandhyā, bowed to the brāhmaṇas and returned home.

His two forms

Each morning, as he went to the Gautamī, he was ugly: his limbs were afflicted with kushṭha and foul blood oozed from his body. When he returned after bathing in the Gautamī Gaṅgā he was handsome and calm, shining like Agni and Sūrya, like the sun in human form. He himself did not know of his two forms.

The ṛshi Gālava, who lived with other ṛshis in his āśrama on the bank of the Gautamī, saw him every day before and after his bath, and wondered. One day, as Sanājjāta was leaving after bowing to him, Gālava called him back: “Who are you? Where do you go? What do you do? Where do you eat and sleep? What is your name? Who is your wife? Tell me.” Sanājjāta promised to tell him everything the next day.

The truth

That night, remembering Gālava‘s words, he asked the woman: “You are endowed with every good quality; though you were a veśyā, you live now as a faithful wife. Tell me your name, your family, your native place and your relatives.” She said: “There was a pure, initiated brāhmaṇa named Dhṛtavrata. I am Mahī, his wife. My son, an intelligent boy named Sanājjāta, was left in the āśrama of Gālava. Because of my past faults I abandoned the dharma of my family and live here as a veśyā, but know me to be a brāhmaṇa woman.”

Hearing this, Sanājjāta fell to the ground as if struck in a vital spot. Steadying himself, he said: “My father was the brāhmaṇa Dhṛtavrata. I am his son Sanājjāta, and you are my mother Mahī.” She too was overcome with grief, and the two lamented the whole night.

Purified by the Gautamī

At dawn Sanājjāta went to Gālava: “I am the son of Dhṛtavrata. You brought me up and tied my sacred thread. This is Mahī, my mother. What shall I do? How can I make prāyaścitta?”

Gālava spoke kindly: “Every day I have seen in you this strange sign of two forms; that is why I asked. The wrong you committed has entirely perished in the Gaṅgā. By the sanctity of this tīrtha and the grace of this Devī, you have been purified every day; you need not worry. When you come, you are with pāpa; when you go, you are without it. Nothing remains for you to do. Your mother has repented much and has stopped committing pāpa; through the puṇya of her past acts she has repented enough. By bathing in this tīrtha she too will become pure.”

Mother and son both bathed there and were freed of their pāpas. From then on the tīrtha is called Dhautapāpa, where pāpa was washed away; it is also known as Pāpapraṇāśana and as Gālava.

Sources

• Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 22