Bārhaspatya Tīrtha
Bārhaspatya Tīrtha · bārhaspatya-tīrtha, “the tīrtha of Bṛhaspati”
Indra Tīrtha has other meanings too: see all meanings of Indra Tīrtha. Siddheśvara has other meanings too: see all meanings of Siddheśvara.
Bārhaspatya Tīrtha, the tīrtha of Bṛhaspati, is a tīrtha on the Gautamī (the Godāvarī). Brahmā tells Nārada in the Gautamī Māhātmya of the Brahma Purāṇa that the devas worshipped Bṛhaspati, their guru, there, and that Bṛhaspati performed various yajñas there; hence it bears his name. Merely remembering it brings graha-śānti, the pacifying of the malignant grahas (planets). The Purāṇa also names Bārhaspatya beside Indratīrtha, at the close of the account of how Indra, ousted from his kingdom three times, regained it for ever through the grace of Bhagavān Vishṇu and Bhagavān Śiva; there the deities are Siddheśvara, Vishṇu and Govinda, and a bath, dāna or any act of puṇya bears everlasting fruit.
How it got its name
As the Gautamī nears the sea, Brahmā names the tīrthas along her course. After Āditya-tīrtha, where Sūrya comes every day in some other guise to see Brahmā, Śaṅkara and Hari, comes the Bārhaspatya tīrtha. Bṛhaspati was worshipped by the devas in that tīrtha, and he performed various yajñas there. “Hence they know this tīrtha as Bārhaspatya.”
Merely by remembering that tīrtha, the grahas are propitiated (graha-śānti).
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 104
Beside Indratīrtha
Brahmā also tells Nārada how Indra (Devendra) had been ousted from his kingdom three times: by Nahusha after the slaying of Vṛtra, on the slaying of Sindhusena, and for his wrong towards Ahalyā. Indra asked Bṛhaspati, master of speech, why, and Bṛhaspati took him to Brahmā, who named the fault khaṇḍa-dharma, dharma left broken or incomplete. At Brahmā’s word Indra and Bṛhaspati went to the Gautamī, bathed, and praised Bhagavān Vishṇu and Bhagavān Śiva. Hari and Hara appeared together, smiling, and granted Indra stable rule. Bṛhaspati performed the great ablution (mahābhisheka) of Indra, and from it arose the river Maṅgalā, whose confluence with the Gaṅgā is Pūrṇatīrtha. The place where Bṛhaspati praised Maheśvara for the stability of Indra’s kingdom became Govinda-tīrtha, where the deity is Siddheśvara.
Beyond that, Brahmā says, is the tīrtha known as Indratīrtha, and the tīrtha known as Bārhaspatya, where the deities are Siddheśvara, Vishṇu and Govinda.
The phala
- A holy bath, the giving of dāna, or any other act of puṇya done in these tīrthas bears everlasting (akshaya) fruit.
- They are very dear to the pitṛs.
- One who listens to the greatness of that tīrtha, reads it, or remembers it every day regains a lost kingdom.
Brahmā adds that there are thirty-seven thousand tīrthas on both banks there, bestowing all siddhis.
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 52
Sources
- Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapters 52, 104