Pṛthuśravas (son of Kakshīvān)
Pṛthuśravas · pṛthu-śravas, “of wide fame”
Pṛthuśravas has other meanings too: see all meanings of Pṛthuśravas.
Pṛthuśravas was the favourite son of Kakshīvān, and his elder son. Out of vairāgya, detachment from the world, he did not marry and did not keep the household fires. The pitṛs, his forefathers, sent him and his younger brother to the Gautamī, and there, by bathing and offering tarpaṇa, he was freed from his debt to the pitṛs. From then on that tīrtha has been called Ṛṇamocana, “release from debt”. Brahmā tells the account to Nārada in the Gautamī Māhātmya of the Brahma Purāṇa.
The two sons of Kakshīvān
Brahmā tells Nārada that those who know the Vedas know the tīrtha Ṛṇapramocana, and he tells its features. Kakshīvān had a favourite son named Pṛthuśravas. Because of his detachment he did not marry, nor did he tend the sacred fire. His younger brother was able to marry, but out of fear of pāpa he would not marry before his elder brother.
Then the pitṛs spoke to the elder and the younger son of Kakshīvān. “Let the marriage be performed,” they said, “to remove the threefold debt.” The elder son answered, “No. What is the debt? By whom is it incurred?” The younger said to the pitṛs, “Out of fear of pāpa, O wise ones, it is not proper for me to marry while I have an elder brother.”
The bath at the Gautamī
The pitṛs spoke to both of them again. “O sons of Kakshīvān, both of you go to the holy Gautamī and take the holy bath there. The bath in the Gautamī fulfils every cherished desire. Go to Gautamī Gaṅgā, who sanctifies the three worlds, and offer bath and tarpaṇa in that river with śraddhā. The Gautamī gives all that is desired when she is seen, meditated upon or bathed in, and there is no restriction of place, time, varṇa or the like for bathing in her. The elder brother will be freed from the pāpa of indebtedness, and the younger will not incur the pāpa of marrying before his elder brother.”
Then Pṛthuśravas, the elder brother, took the holy bath and offered the tarpaṇa, and he became free of his debt to the pitṛs. From then on that tīrtha is called Ṛṇamocana. Brahmā tells Nārada that one who bathes or gives dāna there is freed from every debt: those spoken of in the Vedas and the Smṛtis, and the ordinary debts he has incurred as well.
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 29
Sources
- Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 29