Gṛtsamada
Gṛtsamada · gṛtsa-mada
Gṛtsamada is a ṛshi of the Ṛg-Veda. He is the main ṛshi of the second maṇḍala (book) of the Ṛg-Veda. He is counted among the great mantra-drashṭās (seers of mantras).
The Bhāgavata Purāṇa places him in the line of Purūravas: he was a son of Suhotra, the son of Kshatravṛddha, and his son Śunaka was the father of Śaunaka Maharshi, best among those who study the Ṛg-Veda. Gṛtsamada was among the maharshis who came with their disciples to Bhīshma‘s side at Kurukshetra.
Two different accounts speak of him. The Gaṇeśa Purāṇa tells of his pūjā to Bhagavān Gaṇeśa with śamī leaves, and of the puṇya (merit) he gave to a dying child. The Mahābhārata tells how a śāpa turned him into a beast and how Bhagavān Śiva set him free.
Gṛtsamada in the Gaṇeśa Purāṇa
In the Purāṇas Gṛtsamada is a ṛshi of great tapas (austerity) and devotion. The Gaṇeśa Purāṇa speaks of him through his devotion to Bhagavān Gaṇeśa, shown in the śamī leaf pūjā.
The śamī pūjā
For a long time Gṛtsamada kept up a steady practice. He placed the śamī leaf on the mūrti of Bhagavān Gaṇeśa. Bhagavān Gaṇeśa had said that this leaf is supremely dear to Him. In this way Gṛtsamada gathered a great store of puṇya.
The gift of puṇya
Kshipraprasādana was poisoned at birth. He lay dying in the court of King Priyavrata of Madra deśa (country). Gṛtsamada was there. Out of pure compassion he gave the whole store of puṇya from his śamī pūjā to the dying child, and asked that the child live. This puṇya reached the child through devotion to Bhagavān Gaṇeśa, and Kshipraprasādana was brought back to life.
The narrator of the Śamī Māhātmya
The Śamī Māhātmya section of the Krīḍā Khaṇḍa (Chapters 33–35) is told by Gṛtsamada himself. He is both the one who tells the glory of śamī pūjā and the one who showed it by his own practice.
Turned into a beast by a śāpa and freed by Bhagavān Śiva
The Śiva-sahasranāma-mahimā in the Anuśāsana Parva of the Mahābhārata (Chapter 18) tells a very different account of Gṛtsamada. It describes him as of the Ajamīḍha line and as bright as Bṛhaspati, a dear friend of Indra.
A sattra (long sacrifice) of a thousand years was being held, with Indra (Śatakratu) as the yajamāna (the one who sponsors the rite). Gṛtsamada was singing the rathantara sāmagāna (a Sāma chant). A man named Variṭha, a son of Cākshusha Manu, accused him of singing carelessly. Gṛtsamada answered him. Variṭha was furious and gave him a śāpa (curse). Gṛtsamada would become a fierce beast (krūra-mṛga), without understanding, full of sorrow and always afraid. For eleven thousand eight hundred years he would roam a wilderness with no water and no wind. It had not even trees fit for a yajña, and lions and wild beasts lived there.
The śāpa took effect at once, and Gṛtsamada became a beast. In that state he took refuge in Bhagavān Śiva, the yogī. Bhagavān Śiva said, “Muni, you shall become ajara and amara (free from old age and death), free from duḥkha (sorrow), and my equal (sāmya). May good fortune be with you. May the very yajña in which you and Variṭha take part, as purohita (priest) and yajamāna, prosper.”
Later in the same chapter Bhagavān Vāsudeva explains this account. He says that the all-pervading Bhagavān Śaṅkara keeps all beings alive and feeds them at all times. He gives both sukha (joy) and duḥkha (sorrow) as is needed. No other paṇḍita (learned one) is equal to Him. Gṛtsamada says that he came to know this truth through this very ordeal and its end.
Gṛtsamada in the Bhāgavata Purāṇa
His line
Śuka Maharshi tells Parīkshit the line of Āyu, the son of Purūravas. Āyu’s sons were Nahusha, Kshatravṛddha, Raji, the valiant Rambha and Anenas. Kshatravṛddha’s son was Suhotra, and Suhotra had three sons: Kāśya, Kuśa and Gṛtsamada. Gṛtsamada’s son was Śunaka, and Śunaka’s son was Śaunaka Maharshi, best among those who study the Ṛg-Veda.
Source: Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 9, Chapter 17
At Bhīshma’s side
Sūta tells Śaunaka that after the war Dharmarāja went to Kurukshetra, where Bhīshma lay, to learn the dharmas from him, with his brothers, Vyāsa, Dhaumya and Śrī Kṛshṇa. Brahmarshis, devarshis and rājarshis gathered there to see Bhīshma, the crest-jewel of the Bharata line. Among the holy maharshis who came with their disciples were Parvata, Nārada, Dhaumya, the venerable Vyāsa, Bṛhadaśva, Bharadvāja, Paraśurāma, Vasishṭha, Indrapramada, Trita, Gṛtsamada, Asita, Kakshīvān, Gautama, Atri, Viśvāmitra, Sudarśana, Śuka, Kaśyapa and Aṅgiras. Bhīshma, who knew the dharmas, honoured them all.
Source: Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 1, Chapter 9
Sources
- Gaṇeśa Purāṇa, Krīḍā Khaṇḍa, Chapters 33–35
- Mahābhārata, Anuśāsana Parva, Chapter 18
- Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 1, Chapter 9; Skandha 9, Chapter 17