Dhānya Tīrtha
Dhānya Tīrtha · dhānya-tīrtha, “the tīrtha of grain”
Dhānya Tīrtha is a tīrtha on the bank of the Gaṅgā, the Gautamī, where the oshadhis, the healing plants that are the mothers of the worlds, having gained Soma as their husband and king, spoke in his company a sacred teaching from the Vedas: the one who gives land full of plants, or gives the oshadhis themselves, near the Gaṅgā and to the worthy, attains every desire and is uplifted by King Soma. The Brahma Purāṇa says Dhānya Tīrtha gives all cherished desires, prosperity and welfare, and removes all misfortune. It is also called Aushadhya, Saumya, Amṛta, Vedagāta and Mātṛtīrtha. Bathing, japa, homa, gifts, tarpaṇa to the pitṛs (water offered to the ancestors) and anna-dāna (the gift of food) there bring endless fruit, and sixteen hundred tīrthas stand on both banks. Brahmā tells Nārada the account.
How the oshadhis gained their king
Brahmā tells Nārada, in the chapter before, that long ago the oshadhis were the mothers of the worlds, honoured by all beings, and Brahmā’s own divine mothers, the most ancient of all. Dharma is rooted in them, and the study of the Vedas and the rites of yajña; the three worlds are sustained by them; all ailments are cured by them, and food comes from them. Free from pride, they asked Brahmā for a king and a husband. Brahmā sent them to the Gautamī, and they praised her. Devī Gaṅgā said: “I am of the nature of amṛta, and the oshadhis are mothers of amṛta-nature. I shall give you Soma as your husband, for he has amṛta within.” The place where they gained Soma is Somatīrtha.
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 49
The teaching of the oshadhis
Having gained Soma as their husband, the oshadhis were joyful, and they spoke words dear to Gaṅgā and to the whole world. “There is a sacred account in the Vedas,” they said, “which those who know the Vedas know”:
- He who, near the Gaṅgā, gives away land full of plants, land equal to his mother, nay, his very mother, attains all cherished desires.
- If a man gladly and with bhakti gives land full of plants, cows and oshadhis to one who is in the form of Vishṇu, Brahmā or Īśa, he attains all cherished desires. Whatever is given is of akshaya (everlasting) fruit.
- The oshadhis have Soma as their king; Soma is the ruler of the oshadhis. He who, knowing this, gives oshadhis to one who knows Brahman attains all cherished desires and is honoured in Brahmaloka, the world of Brahmā.
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 50
The oshadhis’ words to King Soma
Then the same oshadhis, delighted, with Soma as their king, said again and again:
- “O king, you uplift him who gives us away on the Gaṅgā. You are the excellent one, O ruler of the oshadhis; moving and unmoving beings depend on you.”
- “O king, you uplift him who gives us to brāhmaṇas.”
- “We are in the form of Brahman; we are in the form of the prāṇas (the breaths of life). O king, you uplift him who gives us to brāhmaṇas.”
- “O king, you uplift him who duly performs the holy rites and always gives us away to brāhmaṇas. That is an ārādhana (honouring) of us.”
- “Whatever there is in the world, moving or unmoving, is pervaded by us. O king, you uplift him who gives us away to brāhmaṇas.”
- “O king, you uplift him who gives away havya (offering to the devas) or kavya (offering to the pitṛs), which is like amṛta and is eaten, or something weightier.”
- “O king, you uplift him who with bhakti hears, remembers or reads this account from the Vedic text.”
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 50
The names of the tīrtha
The place on the bank of the Gaṅgā where the oshadhis told this account in the company of the shining Soma is called Dhānya Tīrtha. From then on it is also called Aushadhya, Saumya, Amṛta, Vedagāta and Mātṛtīrtha.
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 50
The rites and their phala
- Dhānya Tīrtha gives all cherished desires, prosperity and welfare, and removes all misfortune.
- Bathing, japa, homa, charitable gifts, tarpaṇa to the pitṛs and anna-dāna done there bring endless fruit.
- On both banks there are in all one thousand six hundred (1,600) tīrthas, which remove all pāpas and increase wealth.
- In the oshadhis’ own words, the one who with bhakti hears, remembers or reads this account is uplifted by King Soma.
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 50
Sources
- Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapters 49–50