Rāma Tīrtha (Gautamī)

Rāma Tīrtha · rāma-tīrtha, “the tīrtha of Rāma”

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

Rāma Tīrtha, or Rāmatīrtha, is a tīrtha on the Gautamī, the Gaṅgā of the south, where Śrī Rāma, the son of Daśaratha, bathed with Sītā and Lakshmaṇa during his years in the forest, offered piṇḍa of iṅgudī oil-cake to his father, and freed King Daśaratha from naraka and from the three pāpas of brahma-hatyā that had bound him since he slew the boy Śravaṇa. There Gaṅgā touched the feet of Vishṇu, who was Rāma, and there Śrī Rāma installed Maheśvara, praised him with a stotra and received four varas from Bhagavān Śiva for all who come after. Brahmā tells Nārada its account in the Gautamī Māhātmya of the Brahma Purāṇa. Rāmatīrtha destroys the pāpa of brahma-hatyā; merely remembering it frees one from every pāpa; a bath there destroys every pāpa since birth; piṇḍas offered there lift the pitṛs out of naraka to svarga; and there is no tīrtha anywhere equal to it.

King Daśaratha

Brahmā tells Nārada that there was a king named Daśaratha, a kshatriya of the vaṃśa of Ikshvāku, strong, wise, heroic and famed in the world like Indra, ruling his hereditary kingdom like Bali. He had three queens of noble birth, beautiful and blessed: Kausalyā, Sumitrā and Kaikeyī. He ruled Ayodhyā, and Vasishṭha, foremost of the knowers of Brahman, was his only purohita. While he reigned there was no sickness, no famine, no failure of rain and no care of the mind; brāhmaṇas, kshatriyas, vaiśyas and śūdras enjoyed every good thing, and men of every āśrama lived in bliss.

Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 53

Kaikeyī’s hand in the wheel

A quarrel arose between the devas and the dānavas over sovereignty, and now one side, now the other, gained the upper hand, until the three worlds were sorely afflicted. Brahmā counselled the daityas, dānavas and devas, but they did not heed him, and battle broke out again. Devas and asuras went to Bhagavān Vishṇu and Īśāna, Bhagavān Śiva, who are one with the universe, and they told both sides: “Grow strong by tapas, and then fight.” Both went and performed tapas with resolve. Again the devas marched against the rākshasas, and in the terrible battle that followed neither the devas nor the daityas nor the dānavas could win.

Then an aśarīrī vāṇī (a voice from the sky, without a body) said: “Only they will win whom King Daśaratha helps, and no others.” Both sides hastened to seek the king. Vāyu came first to Daśaratha, and the king said: “Vāyu, I shall surely come. Go back assured.” When Vāyu had gone the daityas came and begged him to help the lord of the daityas, for victory depended on him. The king said: “Vāyu asked me first, and I have promised my help to the devas. Let the daityas and dānavas go back.”

The king went to svarga and kept his word, fighting the daityas, dānavas and rākshasas. While the devas looked on, the brothers of Namuci split the axle of his chariot with sharp arrows. In the rush of battle the king did not know it, but Kaikeyī of the fair brows, a keeper of vratas, who sat beside him in the chariot, saw it, and without a word she put her own hand into the wheel in place of the axle. “It was something very wonderful,” Brahmā says. In that chariot, held by her hand, Daśaratha, best of chariot-warriors, conquered the daityas and danujas. He received many varas from the devas and with their leave set out for Ayodhyā. On the way he saw what his beloved wife had done and was filled with wonder, and he granted her three varas. Kaikeyī said: “Great king, let these varas you have granted remain with you.” The king gave her many ornaments and went happily with her to his city.

Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 53

The death of Śravaṇa

Once King Daśaratha was roaming a forest at night with his hunters. He stopped the flow of a river with his arrows, and though he knew that a king should be free of the seven vyasanas (vices), he went on, urged by adverse daiva (fate). He entered a pit by the water and with sharp arrows killed the animals that came to drink. “Listen to the turning of kāla (time),” Brahmā says.

On that excellent mountain lived an old brāhmaṇa and his wife, both blind and deaf, and their son, named Śravaṇa. That night the old couple said to their son: “We are thirsty and the night is dark. Dear son, you, a mere child, are the whole life of us old people. Fie on the life of the blind and deaf, of those whose bodies are broken by age! Men should live only so long as they have wealth and strength and their word is obeyed; otherwise they should die at the tīrthas.” Śravaṇa, devoted to his parents, comforted them with sweet words: “While I live, why should you suffer so? Of what use is a son who does not take away his parents’ pain by his own conduct? One who does otherwise brings grief to the whole family.” He bowed to them, set them on the branch of a tree, took a water-pot and went.

The muni’s son did not know the king, nor did the king see him, and both were in haste. The brāhmaṇa entered the water and bent to fill his pot, and the king, taking him for an elephant, struck him with sharp arrows. Even a wild elephant, Brahmā says, should not be killed by kings, and the king knew it; yet what will a man deceived by fate not do? Struck in a vital spot, the brāhmaṇa cried: “Who has done this mean deed to a good brāhmaṇa like me? O my father, I have done no wrong at all.” The king, stunned, went slowly to the place. Seeing the excellent brāhmaṇa, shining with his own tejas (splendour), he too fell senseless, as if pierced by thorns. Steadying himself, he said: “Noblest of munis, who are you, and why did you come here? Tell me, who have done this pāpa, the way of prāyaścitta (expiation). The slayer of a brāhmaṇa should never be touched or seen, not even by caṇḍālas.”

The muni’s son said: “My prāṇas are leaving, so I shall be brief. Know that your karmas are bearing fruit. I do not grieve for myself. My parents are very old and blind, and I was their only son. Without me how will they live in this great forest? My service to my parents is broken. Still, O king, take the pot and go quickly. Give them water to drink, lest they die.” Even as he spoke, his life ended.

Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 53

The parents’ words

The king threw down his bow and arrows, took up the water-pot and hurried to the old couple. They were saying to each other: “Is our son grieved or angry, or has some beast devoured him? Why has he not come back? He is our only support; there is no son like him in the world. Even when scolded, he never disobeys us. Truly our life is harder than the vajra, for though we do not see him, our prāṇas do not leave us.”

Hearing footsteps, they said: “Dear son, why are you so late? You are our eyes, our last refuge. Why do you not speak? Are you angry with us?” The king, grieving as if pierced by thorns, said as if in fear: “Please drink the water.” They said: “This is not our son’s voice. Who are you? Tell us first; we shall drink afterwards.” The king said: “Your son is there, where the water spreads wide.” “Tell us the truth,” they said, and the king told them everything as it had happened. The old couple fell down and cried: “Take us there, but do not touch us: the pāpa of touching a slayer of a brāhmaṇa never perishes.” He led them to the place where their son lay dead. Touching his body, they lamented, and they said: “Just as our death comes through separation from our son, so you too, pāpī (doer of pāpa), will meet your death through separation from your son.” Even as they spoke, their lives ended.

The king cremated the old couple and the muni’s son together. He went back to the city and told everything to Vasishṭha, the last refuge of the kings of the Sūrya vaṃśa, and Vasishṭha, after consulting excellent brāhmaṇas, told him the way of prāyaścitta.

Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 53

The aśvamedhas and the birth of the four sons

Vasishṭha said: “Call Gālava, Vāmadeva, Jābāli, Kaśyapa and other masters, and perform an aśvamedha with abundant dakshiṇā.” Through the brāhmaṇas King Daśaratha performed many aśvamedhas. Then a voice without a body said: “Truly the body of King Daśaratha has become pure, and he is fit to be spoken with. Sons will be born to him, and through the virtues of his eldest son the king will become free of pāpa.”

In time, with the help of the ṛshi Ṛshyaśṛṅga, sons were born to him, like devas, born to accomplish the purpose of the devas: Rāma of Kausalyā, Lakshmaṇa and Śatrughna of Sumitrā, and the wise Bharata of Kaikeyī. All were wise, dear to the king and obedient to him.

Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 53

Viśvāmitra, Sītā and the exile

The ṛshi Viśvāmitra, who knew their greatness, came and asked the king for Rāma and Lakshmaṇa to protect his yajñas. The old king said: “In my old age, by good fortune, these sons were born to me. I would gladly give up this kingdom and my body, but not these sons.” Vasishṭha said: “The descendants of Raghu have never been taught to refuse a request.” With great difficulty the king told his sons to protect the yajñas of the brahmarshi Viśvāmitra, and, wishing to do what the śāstras enjoin, he handed them over, sighing, his lips dry. The brothers bowed to him again and again and went.

The ṛshi taught them many vidyās: the Māheśvarī vidyā with dhanurveda (the science of the bow); the use of śastras and astras; the use of chariots, elephants and horses; the wielding of the gadā; and the loosing and recalling of weapons by mantras. With these, Rāma and Lakshmaṇa slew Tāṭakā in the forest for the good of the forest-dwellers, freed Ahalyā from her śāpa by the touch of their feet, slew the rākshasas who came to destroy the yajñas, and guarded the yajñas, bows in hand.

When the yajña was complete, Viśvāmitra went with Rāma and Lakshmaṇa to Janaka. Among the kings, Prince Rāma showed his wondrous skill with the bow, as his guru approved, and Janaka, pleased, gave him Sītā, who was born of no womb and was Lakshmī herself. Daśaratha, following the counsel of Vasishṭha and others, celebrated the marriages of Śatrughna, Bharata and the rest.

Long afterwards, with the consent of his people and his guru, the king resolved to give the kingdom to Rāma. Kaikeyī, stirred by rivalry and urged on by ill fortune in the form of Mantharā, asked for the kingdom for Bharata and for Rāma’s exile to the forest. The king did not grant it. But to keep his father true to his word, Rāma, who had no desire for the kingdom and had already won the hearts of the good, went into the great forest with Sītā and Lakshmaṇa. King Daśaratha was overwhelmed by sorrow, and remembering Rāma, Lakshmaṇa and Sītā, he gave up his life.

Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 53

Daśaratha in naraka

For the wrong deeds he had done in the world, the king was led away by the servants of Yama. In the abode of Yama there are many terrible narakas, Tāmisra and others, and the king was cast into them one after another: cooked, crushed and pounded, dried up, bitten and burned again and again.

Meanwhile Rāma went on along his forest path. He came to Citrakūṭa, and three years passed there. Then he went south to the Daṇḍaka forest, famed in the three worlds and holiest of all lands, a terrible forest haunted by daityas, which the munis had abandoned in fear. Slaying daityas and rākshasas, he served the munis and roamed the Daṇḍaka.

Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 53

Yama’s command and the power of the Gautamī

When Rāma came within five yojanas of the Gautamī, Yama said to his servants: “Rāma, son of Daśaratha, is coming to the Gautamī. Draw his father out of naraka at once. As long as Rāma is within five yojanas of the Gautamī, his father must not be tormented. If you do not carry out my word, you yourselves will sink into terrible naraka.” And Yama spoke of the Gautamī: “The good say that the Gautamī is the great Śakti, one with Bhagavān Śiva, in the form of water, to be honoured by Vishṇu, Brahmā and Maheśa and to be saluted. The pāpa of slighting her can be removed by no one. If the son of one who has done pāpa but thinks of the Gaṅgā, the father is freed from many a naraka and gains moksha. When the son stands near the Gautamī, how can anyone torment the father in naraka?”

The servants of Yama, ruler of the southern quarter, drew the king of Ayodhyā out of naraka, where he was being cooked, and said: “Blessed are you, great king, to have such a son! Rare is the one who gains a good son, a resting place here and hereafter.” When he had rested, the king asked why he had been drawn out so quickly. One of them, calm of mind, said: “This is a secret of the Vedas, śāstras and Purāṇas, kept with great care, and now it is told to you. It is the power of the tīrtha and of your son. Your glorious son Rāma has come to the banks of the Gautamī, and so you have been drawn out of naraka. If Rāma with Lakshmaṇa bathes in the Gautamī, remembers you and offers piṇḍas, you will be freed of every pāpa and go to svarga.” The king said: “I shall go and tell my sons what you have said. You are my refuge; give me leave.” Out of pity they gave him leave, and he went to his sons.

Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 53

Daśaratha comes to Śrī Rāma

The body he had then, the yātanā-śarīra (the body for suffering), was dreadful. Sighing, looking at himself and remembering his deeds, he was ashamed, and wandering as he could, he came to the Gaṅgā.

Rāma and Lakshmaṇa, with Jānakī, had reached the bank of the Gautamī and bathed duly. That day the people on the banks of the Gautamī had nothing to eat. Lakshmaṇa grew sad and said: “We are the sons of Daśaratha, and your power is great, yet we have no food, and the people on the Gaṅgā have none either.” Rāma said: “Dear brother, the karma we have done cannot be otherwise. When the world is full of food we lack it, because we have not fed a brāhmaṇa. Those who scorn to honour brāhmaṇas stay hungry for ever. After bathing and honouring the devas, we must light the sacred fire and offer homa; then the deva will give us food in its own time.”

As the brothers spoke of the way of karma, King Daśaratha came slowly near. Lakshmaṇa drew his bow in anger: “Stop! Are you a rākshasa or a dānava? Go away! Here dwells the virtuous Rāma, son of Daśaratha, devoted to his guru, truthful, a servant of devas and brāhmaṇas, able to protect the three worlds. Doers of pāpa like you have no entry where Rāma stays. Come nearer and you will be slain.” Hearing his son, the king thought again and again of the fruit of wrong deeds. With joined palms and bowed face he called his daughter-in-law and his sons: “I am King Daśaratha, dear sons. I am beset by three pāpas of brahma-hatyā. See my body, torn and cooked in the narakas.”

Rāma, Sītā and Lakshmaṇa bowed and lay prostrate on the ground: “Dear father, excellent king, of what deed is this the fruit?” He told them of the three deaths of brāhmaṇas, and said: “Dear sons, there is no prāyaścitta anywhere for the slayers of brāhmaṇas.” They fell to the ground, and Rāma, remembering all of it, the king, the exile, the mothers, the turn of fate and the fall into naraka, lay still upon the earth.

Then Sītā spoke: “The noble do not lament when sorrow comes; they think of remedies, divine or human. Lamenting averts no adversity, not in a thousand yugas, and the wise and far-sighted are never bewildered. Give me the first and terrible pāpa, the death of that sinless brāhmaṇa, master of the Vedas and Vedāṅgas, doer of good deeds and devoted to his father. I shall perform its prāyaścitta duly, as the śāstras enjoin. Let Lakshmaṇa take the second pāpa, and you the third.” The brothers said, “So be it.”

Daśaratha said: “You are the daughter of Janaka, knower of Brahman; you were born of no mortal womb, and you are Rāma’s wife. No wonder you speak so fittingly. But you need bear no strain at all. By the bath, by dāna and by the offering of piṇḍas at the Gautamī I shall be freed of the three brahma-hatyās and go to svarga. Women of noble family carry one across the ocean of saṃsāra. What is hard to reach when the Godāvarī is gracious?”

Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 53

The piṇḍa of iṅgudī

They prepared to offer the piṇḍas, but Rāma saw nothing to offer as piṇḍa and spoke to Lakshmaṇa. Lakshmaṇa said humbly, “Here are iṅgudī fruits,” and in a moment brought piṇyāka, oil-cakes of iṅgudī. Rāma paused at offering oil-cakes as piṇḍa to his father at the Gaṅgā. Then a divine voice was heard: “Prince, there is no cause for sorrow. You are banished from the kingdom, you have come to the forest, you have no wealth; you are devoted to dharma and free of wickedness. He who is proud of his wealth and performs rites on its strength is the one who does pāpa. Hear what all the śāstras say: the devatās and the pitṛs are to be satisfied with the very food that the offerer himself eats.”

When the piṇḍa was placed on the ground, Rāma no longer saw his father. Where the body fell is the excellent tīrtha Śavatīrtha; even remembering it takes away the mahāpātakas (the gravest pāpas). There came the Lokapālas, the Rudras, the Ādityas and the Aśvins, each in his own vimāna, and in their midst shone Rāma’s father like the sun, seated on an excellent vimāna, praised by kinnaras. Rāma, looking at the devas in their vimānas, asked with joined palms: “Where is my father?”

A divine voice said to Rāma and Sītā: “King Daśaratha is freed from the three pāpas of brahma-hatyā. See him, dear one, standing with the devas.” The devas said: “You are blessed, Rāma. Your father has gone to svarga. Blessed is he who lifts his ancestors out of naraka; by him the three worlds are adorned. See him, freed of pāpa, shining like the sun. One who does pāpa, though he has all riches, is like a burnt tree; a poor man of merit is looked upon like Candraśekhara, Bhagavān Śiva.”

Seeing his son, the king showered blessings on him: “Sinless one, may it be well with you. You have redeemed me. Blessed in this world is the son who redeems his ancestors.” The devas said: “Go happily, dear one, to accomplish the purpose of the devas.” Rāma asked: “What duty still remains for me to do for my father?” The devas answered: “There is no river equal to the Gaṅgā, no son equal to you, no Īśvara equal to Śiva, no mantra equal to the Praṇava (Oṃ). Rāma, you have done all that was due to your elders, and all your ancestors are redeemed. Go happily.”

Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 53

Śrī Rāma’s stotra to Bhagavān Śiva

Rāma, with Sītā, was filled with joy and wonder at the greatness of the Gaṅgā: “The power of the Gaṅgā has no equal in the three worlds. We are blessed, for we have seen the Gaṅgā, purifier of the three worlds.” With great joy he installed Maheśvara and worshipped Īśāna with the sixteen upacāras (offerings of worship) and great bhakti. With joined palms he praised Śaṅkara:

• I bow to Śambhu, the ancient Purusha; to the all-knowing Īśa of vast expanse; to Rudra, master of unending power; to Śarva. I bow with my head.
• I bow to the unchanging Maheśvara; to the consort of Umā, the guru of the worlds; to the one who takes away poverty; to the one who takes away sickness.
• I bow to Śaṅkara, of form beyond thought; to the Īśa who is the seed of creation; to the cause of the sustenance of the universe; to the ruler of its dissolution.
• I bow to the unchanging Īśa, dear to Gaurī; to the eternal one, who is the perishable and the imperishable; to the Īśa whose form is knowledge, whose being is beyond grasp and whose power is beyond measure. I bow with my head to the three-eyed Īśa.
• I bow to the Īśa merciful to all beings; to the ever-terrible one; to the giver of what is desired; to Somanātha, consort of Umā, first of all.
• I bow to the Īśa whose eyes are the three Vedas; to the Īśa beyond the three forms; to the holy one beyond the existent and the non-existent; to the destroyer of pāpas.
• I bow to the Īśa intent on the welfare of the universe; to the Īśa of many forms, protector of the universe and maker of sat and asat; to the ruler of the universe.
• I bow to the master of yajñas, who grants the havya and kavya offerings; to the Īśa who gives everything when worshipped, auspicious to the worlds and the final goal; to my own beloved deva, who delights in dāna.
• I bow to the master of Soma, who gives fruit according to karma; to the consort of Umā; to the master of victory; to the master of Vighneśvara and Nandī. I bow my head to the Īśa who loves his sons.
• I bow to the Īśa who destroys the sorrow of saṃsāra; to the bearer of the moon; to the bearer of the Gaṅgā; to Īśa, worthy of pūjā; to the husband of Umā, best of the devas.
• I bow to the Īśa whose feet are worshipped by devas and asuras, by Brahmā the first deva, by Vishṇu, Indra and the others.
• I bow to Soma, who is worshipped with milk, sugar-candy, ghee, curds and honey, with fragrant dhūpa (incense), dīpa (lamps), flowers of many colours and many kinds of naivedya (food offered).

Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 53

The four varas

Bhagavān Śiva said to Rāma and Lakshmaṇa: “May it be well with you. Choose varas.” Rāma said to Vṛshadhvaja, whose banner is the bull:

1. “Śaṅkara, best of devas, let the undertakings of those who devoutly worship you with this stotra come to a fruitful end.”
2. “Śambhu, let the pitṛs who have fallen into the ocean of naraka be purified by piṇḍas offered here, and go to svarga.”
3. “Whatever pāpa one has done since birth, by thought, word and deed, let it be destroyed at once merely by bathing here.”
4. “Śambhu, if anyone devoutly gives here even the smallest gift to those who ask, let it bring the giver akshaya (everlasting) benefit.”

Śaṅkara, pleased, said: “Let it be so.” When Bhagavān Śiva had gone, Rāma went slowly with his companions towards the place where the Gautamī rises. From then on that tīrtha has been called Rāmatīrtha.

Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 53

The tīrthas beside it

• Śavatīrtha: where the body fell when the piṇḍa was offered. Even remembering it takes away the mahāpātakas.
• Bāṇatīrtha: where the arrow fell from the hand of the merciful Lakshmaṇa. It dispels every adversity.
• Lakshmaṇatīrtha: where Lakshmaṇa bathed and worshipped Śaṅkara.
• Sītātīrtha: named from Sītā in the same way. It takes away pāpas of many kinds entirely.

Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 53

The phala of Rāmatīrtha

• Rāmatīrtha destroys the pāpa of brahma-hatyā, the slaying of a brāhmaṇa, and merely remembering it frees one from every pāpa.
• Those who devoutly worship Bhagavān Śiva with Śrī Rāma’s stotra see their undertakings fulfilled.
• Pitṛs fallen into naraka are purified by piṇḍas offered here and go to svarga.
• Every pāpa done since birth, by thought, word and deed, is destroyed merely by bathing here.
• Even the smallest gift here to those who ask brings everlasting benefit.
• Where Gaṅgā, the purifier of the three worlds, touched the feet of Vishṇu, who was Rāma, and where Rāma bathed, that is Rāmatīrtha. How can its greatness be told? There is no tīrtha anywhere equal to it.

Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 53

Sources

• Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 53