Indratīrtha (Indreśvara)

Indratīrtha · indra-tīrtha, “the tīrtha of Indra”

Indra Tīrtha has other meanings too: see all meanings of Indra Tīrtha.

Indratīrtha is a tīrtha on the Gautamī, the Godāvarī, named in the Gautamī Māhātmya of the Brahma Purāṇa at the head of a group of tīrthas: Indratīrtha, Vṛshākapatīrtha, the confluence of the Phenā with the tīrtha of Hanūmanta, and Abjaka, where Bhagavān Vishṇu dwells as Trivikrama. Facing them across the river, on the northern bank, is Indreśvara, where Bhagavān Śiva dwells. Brahmā tells Nārada what happened here: Indra, captured and mocked by the daitya Mahāśani, came to the Gautamī on the counsel of his wife Indrāṇī, praised Bhagavān Śiva and Devī Pārvatī, then Bhagavān Vishṇu, and by the grace of Śiva, Vishṇu and the Gaṅgā a being named Abjaka Vṛshākapi rose from the water and slew his enemy. A holy bath and gifts in these tīrthas free one from return to saṃsāra (worldly existence).

The river Phenā

Brahmā says he will tell what happened on the southern bank of the Gaṅgā. Namuci, Indra‘s enemy, very proud and very strong, fought with Indra. Indra cut off his head with phena, the foam of the waters, which took the form of the vajra. The foam fell on the southern bank of the Gaṅgā, pierced the earth and entered pātāla, and the sacred water of the Gaṅgā that rises in pātāla came up to the earth along the path the vajra had made. That water is the river Phenā, named from the foam. Its confluence with the Gaṅgā is known in all the worlds and destroys all pāpas, like the confluence of the Gaṅgā and the Yamunā.

The tīrtha where the stepmother of Hanūmān was freed from the state of a cat by a holy dip, through the grace of Bhagavān Vishṇu, is Mārjāra, also called Hanūmanta, and also Vārshākapa and Abjaka. Brahmā then tells how it came by the names Abjaka and Vṛshākapi.

Hiraṇya and Mahāśani

There was a mighty ancestor of the daityas named Hiraṇya, who by tapas became invincible to all the devas. His son Mahāśani was just as powerful; his wife was Aparājitā. A long war went on between Mahāśani and Indra. Again and again Mahāśani conquered Indra with his elephant, bound him and handed him to his father, and Hiraṇya kept Indra under guard in pātāla. Then Mahāśani marched against Varuṇa. Varuṇa gave him his daughter Vāruṇī in marriage and his own abode in the ocean, and so they became friends. In the three worlds Mahāśani had no equal.

With the universe left without Indra, the devas went to Bhagavān Vishṇu: “Vishṇu alone shall restore Indra. He alone slays the daityas.” Bhagavān Vishṇu said, “Mahāśani cannot be slain by me,” and went to Varuṇa, Mahāśani’s father-in-law: “Do something so that Indra comes out.” Varuṇa went to Mahāśani and said: “Give me Indra. He is always worthy of our honour. To free a captive enemy brings great glory among the good.” With great difficulty Mahāśani agreed and gave Indra, with his elephant, to Varuṇa.

Mahāśani’s taunts

Before letting him go, Mahāśani mocked Indra: “Who made you Indra? Your valour is useless. You were caught with your vāhana, your vajra is lost, you have lost the Cintāmaṇi jewel, the Nandana garden, the apsarās and your fame, and still you wish to live, freed by another’s word. Fame is life, and its loss is death; are you not ashamed? The devas praise you as slayer of Vṛtra and Namuci, breaker of cities, splitter of mountains. Give all that up.” Then he said: “From now on you are Varuṇa‘s disciple and his servant. Otherwise I will hurl you into pātāla again.” Laughing again and again, he said, “Go, go.”

Indrāṇī’s counsel

Indra reached his abode overwhelmed with shame and told his wife everything: “Tell me how I can console my heart.” Indrāṇī, the daughter of Puloman, said: “I know the origin of the dānavas, their māyā, their tapas, their varas and their death. Mahāśani is the son of Hiraṇya, my cousin. He gained great power by pleasing Brahmā with tapas; what cannot tapas achieve? There is nothing that cannot be achieved by tapas, by yajña, or by devotion to Bhagavān Vishṇu and Bhagavān Śiva. And nothing cannot be achieved by the earth and the waters, for through them alone tapas and yajña take place.”

She went on: “The Daṇḍaka forest is in the middle of the earth and is its essence, and the Gaṅgā, mother of the universe, flows there. Worship Bhagavān Śiva there, or Bhagavān Vishṇu, who removes the grief of the distressed. The only refuge of those drowning in the ocean of misery is Bhagavān Śiva, Bhagavān Vishṇu or Mother Gaṅgā. Perform the pūjā together with me. A rite done knowingly bears a hundredfold fruit, and a rite done with one’s wife bears everlasting fruit; done alone it gives half. Go with me to the Gautamī, which subdues all pāpas and grants all desires, and you will slay your enemies.”

Indra’s stotra to Bhagavān Śiva and Devī Pārvatī

Indra, Śatakratu, went with his wife and his guru to the Gautamī, flowing through the Daṇḍaka forest, to perform tapas to Bhagavān Śambhu. He bowed to the Gaṅgā, bathed, joined his palms and, taking refuge in Bhagavān Śiva alone, praised him:

1. “May the bearer of the Pināka be pleased with us, who creates, protects and withdraws the whole universe by his own māyā yet is not bound by it; who is one, independent, of the nature of non-dual knowledge and bliss.”
2. “May the consort of Pārvatī be pleased with me, whose truth even Sanaka and the knowers of Vedānta do not know; who grants all desires; the enemy of Andhaka.”
3. “Svayambhū, the self-born, created Brahmā, plucked off his terrible head with the tips of his nails and hurled it away, and from it arose dharma, kāma and artha. From it were born pāpa, poverty, greed, begging, delusion and adversity, and countless things besides, which spread through this whole world.”
4. “Seeing this, the ruler of the devas turned to Devī Pārvatī and said: ‘The whole universe is crumbling. O Devī of the worlds, protect it. O mother of the worlds, sole refuge, gentle one, fortunate one, giver of varas, foundation of the universe, be victorious. You are bhukti, you are dhāraṇā, you are the highest moksha. You are Svāhā, Svadhā and Svasti, the first siddhi, speech and intellect, deathless and ageless. At my word, protect the three worlds; let them be created by you, varied and wonderful.'”
5. “Then his beloved drew close to Bhagavān Śiva in love and became one with half of his body, and drops of sweat fell from her fingertips. From them came dharma first, then Lakshmī, dāna, good rain, animals of every kind, lakes, grains, flowers, fruits, all that brings conjugal happiness, good bearing and dress, the great herbs, dances, songs, amṛta, the Purāṇa, the Vedas, the Smṛtis, nīti, food, drink, weapons, the śāstras, household things, wondrous arrows, tīrthas, forests, yajñas, works of public good, auspicious vehicles, ornaments and seats.”
6. “O Devī, by your union with Bhava, by your splendour, your laughter, your sweat and your gentle words, all that moves and does not move became free of pāpa, and happiness and auspiciousness shine for ever. O mother of the universe, save me; I fear saṃsāra. Some become foolish through abstruse arguments; others merge there. I bow to that non-dual, beautiful body of Śiva and Śakti.”

Abjaka rises from the water

As Indra praised him, Bhagavān Śiva appeared: “What do you desire?” Indra said: “My enemy is like the vajra. I have been imprisoned, taken to pātāla and pierced by words sharp as arrows. Give me the strength to conquer him.” Bhagavān Śiva said: “Your enemy cannot be slain through me alone. Worship Bhagavān Vishṇu, Janārdana Nārāyaṇa, the sole refuge of the three worlds, with your wife, and you will gain your wish through him and through me. Mantra, tapas and yoga bring siddhi at any confluence; how much more at the confluence of the Gautamī with the ocean, in mountain caves and at the meeting of rivers! On the southern bank of the Gaṅgā lives the great ṛshi Āpastamba, whose mind is fixed on the feet of Mukunda; I am pleased with him too. Worship Gadādhara.”

Indra bathed at the holy confluence of the Phenā and the Gaṅgā, and on the southern bank, with Āpastamba, he praised Bhagavān Janārdana with many Vedic mantras and pleased him with tapas. Bhagavān Vishṇu, pleased, asked what he should give. “Give me a slayer of my enemy,” said Indra. “Know that it is already granted,” said Janārdana. By the grace of Bhagavān Śiva, Bhagavān Vishṇu and the Gaṅgā, a being rose from the water with the form of both Śiva and Vishṇu, holding a triśūla and a cakra. He went to pātāla and slew Mahāśani. He is called Abjaka, “born of water”, and Vṛshākapi, and he became Indra’s friend.

Indra and Śacī

Indra, though a dweller of svarga, always followed his friend Vṛshākapi, and Śacī, out of love, grew angry. Indra laughed, consoled her and said: “I seek no refuge but my friend Vṛshākapi, and I go nowhere else; I swear it by you. You are my chaste and beloved wife, my helper in holy rites and my counsel. At your word I came to the Gaṅgā, and by the grace of Bhagavān Vishṇu who bears the cakra, of Bhagavān Śiva, ruler of the bhūtas, and of my friend Abjaka, born of water, I have overcome my sorrows and am Indra again. What cannot be achieved if a wife acts according to her husband’s wish! A wife who seeks welfare in both worlds is the greatest friend. For dharma there is nothing like a good son, for the distressed nothing like a wife, for moksha and freedom from pāpa nothing like the Gaṅgā, and for dharma, artha, kāma and moksha nothing like knowing that Śiva and Vishṇu are not different. Among holy waters the Gautamī and the Gaṅgā are best, and among the devas Hari and Śaṅkara.”

Indra’s request and the phala

Indra said: “This tīrtha, known in the three worlds, is dear to me. Let the ṛshis, the Gaṅgā, the devas, Hari and Śaṅkara permit this: on one bank of the river is Bhagavān Śaṅkara in Indreśvara, and on the other Bhagavān Janārdana in Abjaka. Bhagavān Vishṇu as Trivikrama sanctifies the Daṇḍaka forest, and all the tīrthas between them grant every merit.” The devas and ṛshis said: “It will be so.”

• A holy bath and gifts in Indratīrtha, Vṛshākapatīrtha, the confluence of the Phenā with the Hanūmanta tīrtha, and Abjaka free one from return to saṃsāra.
• Merely by bathing here, one attains moksha together with one’s pitṛs of five generations.
• Whatever is given here to those who ask, even a sesame seed, bears everlasting fruit for the giver, grants all desires and gives moksha.
• This account of Bhagavān Vishṇu and Bhagavān Śambhu brings wealth, fame, long life, health and puṇya, and moksha through knowledge and the holy dip.
• Those who read or hear the glory of this tīrtha gain puṇya and the remembrance of Bhagavān Śiva and Bhagavān Vishṇu, which destroys all pāpas, the very thing ṛshis who have mastered the senses seek.

On the northern bank of the Gautamī there are seven thousand tīrthas that give moksha, resorted to by devas, ṛshis and siddhas, and on the southern bank eleven thousand. The great ṛshis call Abjaka the heart of the Godāvarī, the resting place of Īśa, Vishṇu and Brahmā.

Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 59

Sources

• Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 59