Paulastyatīrtha
Paulastyatīrtha · paulastya-tīrtha, “the tīrtha of Pulastya’s line”
Paulastyatīrtha is a tīrtha on the Gautamī Gaṅgā (the Godāvarī), also called Dhanada tīrtha and Vaiśravasa tīrtha. Here Dhanada, the eldest son of Viśravas, driven out of Laṅkā by his step-brother Rāvaṇa, bathed in Gaṅgā and praised Bhagavān Śiva at the bidding of his grandfather Pulastya Maharshi, and Śiva made him the protector of wealth and lord of the northern quarter. Brahmā tells Nārada its account in the Gautamī Māhātmya of the Brahma Purāṇa. The tīrtha fulfils all the desires of men, and it has the power to give back a lost kingdom.
Dhanada and his step-brothers
Brahmā says he will tell the wondrous power of this tīrtha, which gives a lost kingdom back to one. The eldest son of Viśravas, who is now the lord of the northern quarter, was once rich in every kind of wealth and attainment, and he ruled Laṅkā. He had three step-brothers, Rāvaṇa, Kumbhakarṇa and Vibhīshaṇa, very powerful and of measureless lustre. They too were sons of Viśravas, but they were rākshasas, for they were born of a rākshasī, and they were his enemies. Every day Dhanada, seated in his vimāna (divine chariot), went with his step-brothers to Brahmā with great devotion, and returned after a while.
Rāvaṇa’s mother, enraged, spoke to her sons: “I shall die. I do not care to live, my sons, with this inequality. The devas and the dānavas were step-brothers, yet they were enemies; step-brothers seek each other’s death for the sake of victory and prosperity. But you do not desire victory, nor are you able to win it. Useless is the life of one who lets an enemy prosper.”
Hearing their mother, the three brothers went to the forest and performed tapas (austerity), and all three obtained varas (boons) from Brahmā. Urged by their uncle Mārīca and their maternal grandfather, and at the bidding of their mother, Rāvaṇa asked for Laṅkā. Because of their rākshasa nature and the faults of their mother, great enmity arose between the brothers.
A war broke out between them, like the war of the devas and the dānavas. In it Rāvaṇa conquered his calm and quiet elder brother Dhanada and seized the city of Laṅkā, the vimāna Pushpaka and much else. Then he proclaimed through the three worlds, to all moving and unmoving beings: “Whoever gives refuge to my step-brother will be slain by me.”
Pulastya’s counsel
Driven out by his brother, Dhanada found support nowhere. He went to his grandfather Pulastya, bowed to him and said: “I have been driven out by my wicked brother. What shall I do? Tell me where my support and refuge lies: in fate, or in a tīrtha?”
Pulastya said: “Dear child, go to the Gautamī and praise Maheśvara. There, in the middle of Gaṅgā, your wicked brother will have no access. You will gain prosperity and success. Do this at my bidding.”
Saying “So be it”, Dhanada went to the Gautamī with his wife, his parents and the aged Pulastya. Kubera bathed in Gaṅgā, and keeping every holy observance (niyama) he praised Bhagavān Śiva, the master of the rulers of the devas, the giver of bhukti (worldly enjoyment) and moksha (freedom).
Dhanada’s stotra to Bhagavān Śiva
Dhanada praised Śiva thus:
- O Śambhu, you alone are the master of this universe of moving and unmoving beings; there is no other.
- Whoever, out of delusion, slights you and swaggers is worthy of punishment.
- You sustain everything by your eight forms, the Ashṭamūrti; all things exist and act at your bidding.
- Yet those without knowledge never reach you, who are of ancient glory and splendid radiance.
- From the mala (the bodily dirt) of Ambā, Devī Pārvatī, a being was born, and Ambā said in jest, “O Īśa, this is your heroic son.” Śiva glanced at it, and it became Vighnarāja, Gaṇeśa. Such is the power of the glance of Īśa.
- Seeing Kāma and Rati parted in their married life, the eyes of Girijā, Devī Pārvatī, filled with tears, and she spoke of it to Īśa. So the bodiless Kāma received a body again, and Rati the good fortune of married bliss, from Umāpati, the husband of Umā.
The vara of the protector of wealth
Even as he praised, the three-eyed Bhagavān Śiva appeared before him and asked him to choose a vara as he wished. Filled with delight, Dhanada could not say a word. Dhanada and Pulastya both stood silent, and Bhagavān Śiva, delighted, said again and again: “Choose a vara! Choose a vara!”
Then a divine voice without a body (aśarīriṇī vāk) was heard, saying to Maheśvara: “Let the status of protector of wealth be granted to Dhanada.” The voice spoke this splendid wish only after knowing the silent wish of Pulastya and of Dhanada’s father, Viśravas. That voice was auspicious: what was to happen was as good as done, what was to be given as good as given, what was to be gained as good as gained.
He who had many enemies and suffered many miseries worshipped Someśvara and gained a liṅga, lordship of a quarter (dikpālatva), mastery of wealth, great generosity, wives and sons. Hearing the voice, Dhanada said to Bhagavān Śiva, the trident-bearer: “Let it be so.” Saying “May it be so”, the Deva of devas assented to the divine voice. Then Bhagavān Śiva honoured Pulastya, the ṛshi Viśravas and Dhanada with holy varas, and withdrew.
Names and phala
From then on the tīrtha is known as Paulastya tīrtha, after Pulastya; as Dhanada tīrtha, after Dhanada; and as Vaiśravasa tīrtha. It is holy and splendid and fulfils every cherished desire. A holy bath and the other rites in these tīrthas give much puṇya (merit). It fulfils all the desires of men, and it gives back a lost kingdom.
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 27
Sources
- Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 27