Devajā-saṅgama
Devajā-saṅgama · devajā-saṅgama, “the confluence of the Devajā”
Devajā-saṅgama is the confluence (saṅgama) where the river Devajā joins the Gaṅgā, the Gautamī. The Devajā is one of the holy rivers that came to the bank of the Gautamī for the sake of Soma, when the devas held a great yajña there to win Soma back from the gandharvas. Each of these rivers, the Brahma Purāṇa says, has a tīrtha in its own name where it joins the Gautamī. Bathing there, or performing japa, homa and pitṛ-tarpaṇa (water offered to the ancestors), fulfils every cherished desire and gives both enjoyment and moksha. Brahmā tells Nārada the account.
How the rivers came to the Gautamī
Brahmā tells Nārada that long ago Soma, full of amṛta, was the king of the gandharvas and not of the devas. The devas came to Brahmā and said: “Soma, who gives the breath of life to the devas, has been taken away by the gandharvas. The ṛshis and the devas are in great distress. Let some means be found so that Soma may be ours.”
Then Vāk, Devī Sarasvatī, said to the devas: “The gandharvas are drawn to women. Give me to them and bring back Soma.” The devas answered that they could not give her away, for they could live neither without Soma nor without her. Vāk said: “I shall come back to you. Let an excellent yajña be performed on the southern bank of the Gautamī. The gandharvas are always fond of women: exchange me for Soma.” The devas agreed.
Through messengers they invited the devas, yakshas, gandharvas and nāgas to the sacred mountain, which from then on was called Devagiri. There came devas, gandharvas, yakshas, rākshasas, siddhas, ṛshis and the eight kinds of devayoni (beings of divine birth). While the ṛshis performed the great yajña on the bank of the Gautamī, Indra of the thousand eyes, with the devas around him, honoured the gandharvas and said, in Sarasvatī’s presence: “Give us your Soma, whose very self is amṛta, in exchange for Sarasvatī.” The gandharvas gave Soma to the devas and took Sarasvatī. Yet every day she came secretly back to the devas, saying, “Let it remain a secret.” So the devas had both Soma and Sarasvatī, and the gandharvas had neither. “That is how Soma was bought,” Brahmā says, and so, when Soma is bought in a yajña, one speaks in a low voice.
For the sake of Soma there came to the Gautamī cows, devas, mountains, yakshas, rākshasas, siddhas, ṛshis, guhyakas, gandharvas, the Maruts, nāgas, the oshadhis (healing plants), the Mātṛs, the guardians of the quarters, the Rudras, the Ādityas, the Vasus, the Aśvins and the other devas who share in the yajña. Twenty-five rivers joined the Gaṅgā. The place where the pūrṇāhuti, the full offering of ghee, was given is called Pūrṇatīrtha.
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 35
The rivers and tīrthas by name
Brahmā names the tīrthas in this order: Somatīrtha, Gāndharva, Devatīrtha, Pūrṇatīrtha, Sala, Śrīparṇā-saṅgama, Ilā-saṅgama, the holy confluence of Kusumā, Pushṭi-saṅgama, the auspicious Karṇikā-saṅgama, Vaiṇavī-saṅgama, Kruśarā-saṅgama, Vāsavī-saṅgama, Śivaśarya, Śikhī, Kusumbhikā, Uparathya, Śāntijā, Devajā, Ajā, Vṛddhā, Surā and Bhadrā. “All these joined the Gautamī.”
These and many other holy rivers of the world went to the Devaparvata for the sake of Soma and joined the Gaṅgā in due order. Some flow east, some flow west, some are lakes and some are streams, and each tīrtha is known by its own name. Brahmā adds that twenty rivers are named between the Pūrṇā and the Pravarā, and that there are five more divine rivers, his own daughters: twenty-five in all.
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 35
The rite and its phala
- Bathing in these confluences, or performing japa, homa and pitṛ-tarpaṇa there, fulfils all the cherished desires of men and gives bhoga (enjoyment) and moksha.
- Those who read about these tīrthas, or remember them, are freed from every pāpa and go to the loka of Bhagavān Vishṇu.
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 35
Sources
- Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 35