Kusumbhikā-saṅgama
Kusumbhikā-saṅgama · kusumbhikā-saṅgama, “the confluence of the Kusumbhikā”
Kusumbhikā-saṅgama is the tīrtha at the confluence (saṅgama) where the river Kusumbhikā joins the Gaṅgā, the Gautamī (the Godāvarī). It is one of the confluences of the rivers that came to the Gautamī for the sake of Soma, when the devas won Soma back from the gandharvas at a great yajña on the southern bank of the river. Brahmā names it to Nārada in the Gautamī Māhātmya of the Brahma Purāṇa. Bathing there, japa, homa and offerings to the pitṛs fulfil every cherished desire and give bhoga and moksha.
How the rivers came to the Gautamī
Brahmā tells Nārada that Soma, full of amṛta, was once with the gandharvas and not with the devas, and the devas and ṛshis were in distress without him. Vāk (Sarasvatī) offered herself in exchange, for the gandharvas were fond of women, and promised to come back; she asked that a great yajña be held on the southern bank of the Gautamī. The devas invited the devas, yakshas, gandharvas and nāgas to the sacred mountain, which from then on was called Devagiri. There Indra gave Sarasvatī to the gandharvas for Soma, and Sarasvatī came back to the devas in secret every day; so the devas had both Soma and Sarasvatī. For the sake of Soma, cows, devas, mountains, yakshas, rākshasas, siddhas, ṛshis, guhyakas, gandharvas, Maruts, nāgas, healing herbs, the Mothers, the guardians of the quarters, the Rudras, the Ādityas, the Vasus, the Aśvins and the other devas came to the Gautamī, and twenty-five rivers joined the Gaṅgā. Each river that joined the Gautamī has a tīrtha in its own name.
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 35
The confluence
Brahmā names the tīrthas of the rivers in order: Somatīrtha, Gāndharva, Devatīrtha, Pūrṇatīrtha, Sala, Śrīparṇā-saṅgama, Ilā-saṅgama, the holy confluence of Kusumā, Pushṭi-saṅgama, Karṇikā-saṅgama, Vaiṇavī-saṅgama, Kruśarā-saṅgama, Vāsavī-saṅgama, Śivaśarya, Śikhī, Kusumbhikā, Uparathya, Śāntijā, Devajā, Ajā, Vṛddhā, Surā and Bhadrā, “all these joined the Gautamī“. The Kusumbhikā is sixteenth in this list; the river joined the Gautamī, and a tīrtha bears its name. Some of these rivers flow east, some west, some are lakes and some streams, and each tīrtha is well known by its own name. Twenty rivers are named between Pūrṇā and Pravarā, and with them are five divine rivers whom Brahmā calls his daughters: twenty-five in all.
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 35
The phala
- Bathing in these tīrthas, or performing japa, homa and pitṛ-tarpaṇa (water offerings to the ancestors) 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 all pāpas and go to the loka of Bhagavān Vishṇu.
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 35
Sources
- Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 35