Devatīrtha (Devasthāna)
Devatīrtha · deva-tīrtha, “the tīrtha of the devas”
Deva-tīrtha has other meanings too: see all meanings of Deva-tīrtha.
Devatīrtha is the spot within Devasthāna, on the bank of the Gaṅgā, the Gautamī, where the ruler of the devas stayed when the devas and ṛshis came before the daitya Meghahāsa, son of Rāhu, and granted him all he asked. Devasthāna, “the place of the devas”, is named for their presence there; it is famous in all three worlds and hard to reach even for the devas. Eighteen tīrthas there are honoured by the daityas, and snāna (holy bathing) and dāna (gifts) there destroy great pāpas. Brahmā tells Nārada the account.
The account of Devasthāna
Brahmā tells Nārada that at the beginning of the Kṛta yuga there was a battle between the devas and the dānavas. The daitya woman Siṃhikā had a mighty son, Rāhu, and at the churning of the ocean of milk, when the amṛta came forth, Saiṃhikeya, the son of Siṃhikā, was cut in two.
Rāhu’s son, the great daitya Meghahāsa, hearing of the attack on his father, grew dejected and performed tapas on the bank of the Gautamī. The devas and ṛshis came to him, as though afraid, and asked him to cut short his tapas: everything in his mind would be fulfilled by the grace of Śiva and Gaṅgā. Meghahāsa answered that his father, his deity, had been insulted by them; if his father and he were properly honoured, he would give up his tapas and his enmity, for it is a son’s duty to take due revenge for his father.
Then the devas made Rāhu one of the grahas (the planets) and made Meghahāsa honoured by the rākshasas, and he became their chief and lord. Meghahāsa asked that the power of the holy place be granted in his name, so that he might win renown, and the devas said, “So be it.” The tīrtha is called by his name; since the devas were present there it is also called Devasthāna; and the place where the ruler of the devas stayed is remembered as Devatīrtha.
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 72
The phala
There are eighteen tīrthas at Devasthāna, worthy of being honoured by the daityas. Snāna and dāna there destroy great pāpas.
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 72
Sources
- Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 72