Manyu Tīrtha
Manyu Tīrtha · manyu-tīrtha, “the tīrtha of Manyu”
Manyu Tīrtha is a tīrtha on the banks of the Gautamī Gaṅgā (the Godāvarī) where the devas, defeated by the dānavas, propitiated Bhagavān Śiva and received from him Manyu, a mighty being born of Śiva’s own tejas (radiance), to lead their army; with Manyu they won the war. Brahmā tells its account to Nārada in the Gautamī Māhātmya of the Brahma Purāṇa. He says there is no tīrtha like it, for Śaṅkara is always directly present there in the form of Manyu. It destroys all pāpas and grants all desires, and it destroys pāpa merely by being remembered.
The devas come to the Gautamī
Long ago there was a war between the devas and the dānavas, and the dānavas won. The devas left the battle dejected, came to Brahmā and asked for abhaya (freedom from fear). Brahmā said: “Go to the Gaṅgā, and on the banks of the Gautamī praise Bhagavān Maheśvara, the beautiful one who gives bliss that comes freely. From him you will obtain the means of victory.” The devas did so: some performed tapas, some danced, some bathed the liṅga in abhisheka, and others performed pūjā.
The birth of Manyu
Then Bhagavān Maheśvara, who bears the triśūla, was pleased and said, “Ask for what you desire.” The devas said: “For our victory, give us a purusha worthy of the highest praise, to lead our army in battle, so that we may live happily in the strength of his arms.” Maheśvara said “So be it”, and by his own tejas he created a most terrible being named Manyu, to be the senāpati (commander) of the deva army. The devas bowed to Śiva and went home with Manyu, ready for battle again.
Before the battle the devas asked Manyu to show them his strength. Manyu smiled and said: “My father is the all-knowing ruler of the devas. He knows the name, abode and mind of every being, and no one knows him. He is the maker of the universe and one with it, with form and without form; he moves through svarga and the sky, and he is the maker even of the Creator. I am born of such a deva; how can you know me? Yet if you wish to see, see me.”
Then Manyu showed his form, born of the third eye of Bhagavān Śiva and gathered from pure tejas. That same form is called paurusha (manliness) in men, ahaṅkāra (the sense of “I”) in all creatures, and wrath in all, terrible, the cause of destruction. Seeing this embodiment of Śaṅkara, shining with its own light and holding every kind of weapon, the devas bowed with joined palms, and the daityas and dānavas were afraid. The devas said: “O Manyu, be our senāpati. We shall enjoy the kingdom you win. You are Indra and Varuṇa; you are the guardians of the quarters. Enter us, for the sake of our victory.” Manyu said: “There is nothing without me. I have entered everyone and am present in everyone, and no one knows me.” Manyu was Maheśvara himself, born from him in separate forms. The text says that he shall be in the form of Rudra, that Rudra became Manyu and Śiva, and that all that moves and does not move is pervaded by Manyu.
With Manyu the devas won the battle. Victory, manyu and heroism all arose from the splendour of Bhagavān Śiva, and the devas, protected by Manyu, went back the way they had come.
The tīrtha and its phala
The place on the banks of the Gautamī where the devas propitiated Śiva and obtained Manyu and victory in battle is called Manyu Tīrtha. One who stays pure and remembers the origin of Manyu is never harassed by anyone, and victory is his. Bathing there, giving dāna and remembering it fulfil all cherished desires.
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 92
Sources
- Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 92