Kavasha
Kavasha
Kavasha is a brāhmaṇa, the father of the well-known brāhmaṇa Pailūsha. When his son, weary of the world, asked how to calm anger and greed and cross saṃsāra with the sword of jñāna, Kavasha told him that, as the śruti says, jñāna is to be sought from Īśvara, and sent him to worship Bhagavān Śiva. Pailūsha did so, received jñāna and reached moksha on the bank of the Gautamī, and the tīrtha there, Khaḍgatīrtha, is also called Kavasha after him. Brahmā tells the account to Nārada in the Gautamī Māhātmya of the Brahma Purāṇa.
Kavasha’s counsel to his son
Brahmā tells Nārada of Khaḍgatīrtha, “the tīrtha of the sword”, on the northern bank of the Gautamī. Pailūsha, the son of Kavasha, had a large family to maintain. He ran here and there seeking wealth and found none; the little service he found brought him too little. Then he grew detached from the world. Seeing that greed dragged him towards wrong acts and that tapas was hard to perform, he took leave of Tṛshṇā (craving) and went to his father.
“Dear father,” he said, “tell me the means by which I can calm anger and greed and cross the ocean of saṃsāra, which cannot be crossed, by the sword of jñāna.”
Kavasha answered: “One should seek jñāna from Īśvara: so says the Vedic text. Therefore propitiate him. You will obtain jñāna from Īśvara.”
What came of it
Saying “So be it”, Pailūsha worshipped Īśvara for the sake of jñāna, and Bhagavān Īśāna (Śiva), pleased, granted him perfect knowledge. Pailūsha then taught that anger, greed, attachment, doubt and hope are the enemies of the self, each to be cut down by the sword of jñāna. He went to the bank of the Gaṅgā, cast off delusion by jñāna and attained moksha.
From then on the tīrtha is remembered as Khaḍgatīrtha, and also as Jñānatīrtha, Kavasha and Pailūsha.
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 69
Sources
- Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 69