Bhānutīrtha (Abhishṭuta’s yajña)

Bhānutīrtha · bhānu-tīrtha, “the tīrtha of Bhānu, Sūrya”

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

Bhānutīrtha is a tīrtha on the Gautamī (the Godāvarī), named after Bhānu, Bhagavān Sūrya. It is the place where Sūrya, the divine kshatriya, came to grant King Abhishṭuta the ground for his aśvamedha yajña. It is the first of six tīrthas that arose from that yajña: Bhānutīrtha, Tvāshṭra, Māheśvara, Aindra, Yāmya and Āgneya, which together destroy all pāpas. Brahmā tells Nārada the account in the Gautamī Māhātmya of the Brahma Purāṇa. A holy bath in Bhānutīrtha grants all riches, and a hundred tīrthas are there.

Abhishṭuta’s aśvamedha

There was a king of very pleasing appearance named Abhishṭuta. He began an aśvamedha to honour the devas, with sixteen ṛtvijas (officiating priests) led by Vasishṭha and Atri. A doubt arose among them: “When a brāhmaṇa takes dīkshā for a yajña, the king makes the yajña ground ready. But when the king himself takes dīkshā, who is to make the vedi (altar)? If a brāhmaṇa did it, it would be a pāpa and bring every kind of unhappiness.”

Vasishṭha, foremost among the knowers of dharma, answered: when the king has taken dīkshā, Sūrya should be asked to do the work. The king should pray: “O Savitṛ, prepare on my behalf the yajña ground fit for the devas. You are the divine kshatriya, O ruler of beings. Namaskāra to you.” Asked thus, Savitṛ would surely grant it.

Sūrya grants the yajña ground

Saying “So be it,” Abhishṭuta prayed with faith to Sūrya, ruler of the devas, Ravi, who is one with Hari, Śiva and Brahmā: “O Savitṛ, namaskāra to you. Grant us the yajña ground of the devas.” Because Sūrya is the divine kshatriya, he gave the ground to the king. Savitṛ, ruler of the chiefs of the devas, said: “I shall give.” Brahmā says that one who performs a yajña in this way never meets misfortune. When the brāhmaṇas, masters of the Vedas, had begun the aśvamedha, the king praised Sūrya.

The place where Sūrya came to grant the divine yajña ground is called Bhānutīrtha.

The other tīrthas of the yajña

  • Tvāshṭra Tīrtha. Daityas and dānavas in the guise of brāhmaṇas entered the yajña, chanting like Sāman singers. Some mocked the ladle and vessels, the ring of the yūpa, the Sāman, the drinking of Soma, the havis, the priests and the king; others threw the yajña articles about; others laughed. Only Viśvarūpa knew them, and told his father Tvashṭṛ. Tvashṭṛ told the devas to take water and kuśa grass and sprinkle all round, saying: “All those who censure the holy yajña, the ladle, the vessel and the Soma have been removed by me.” The devas and Tvashṭṛ did so, and the asuras were burned to ashes and fled. The place where Tvashṭṛ, the Prajāpati of the worlds, sprinkled the water is Tvāshṭra Tīrtha; it destroys all pāpas.
  • Yāmya (Yamatīrtha). Yama slew the daityas who had fallen at Tvashṭṛ’s words, with the Kāladaṇḍa, the Kālapāśa and the cakra. There one should offer tarpaṇa for the pitṛs.
  • Agnitīrtha (Āgneya). Where the yajña was completed with the offering of amṛta into the fire, and Agni, satisfied by an unbroken stream of offerings poured like a flight of arrows, was pleased with Abhishṭuta. It gives the fruit of the aśvamedha.
  • Indratīrtha (Aindra). Indra with the Maruts told the king: “You will become the emperor of both worlds, and my lasting dear friend.” One who offers water libations (tarpaṇa) in Indratīrtha is the most blessed in the mortal world.
  • Māheśvara-tīrtha. Where the brāhmaṇas praised and worshipped Śiva, and the king worshipped Maheśvara with Vedic mantras and other stotras, dances, songs and instruments, pañcāmṛta, prostrations, pradakshiṇas, incense, lamps, flowers, scents and naivedya. The rulers of the devas granted him bhukti and moksha, and power to the tīrtha, which is called Śaiva and Vaishṇava. Bath and gifts of wealth there grant every cherished desire.

The phala

  • One who remembers or reads of all these tīrthas is freed from all pāpas and goes to the cities of Śiva and Vishṇu.
  • Above all, a holy bath in Bhānutīrtha grants all riches.
  • In this holy place there are a hundred tīrthas.

Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 98

Sources

  • Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 98