Sārasvata Tīrtha · sārasvata-tīrtha, “the tīrtha of Sarasvatī”

Sārasvata Tīrtha is a tīrtha on the southern bank of the Gautamī, the Godāvarī, at Mount Śubhra, east of Pushpotkaṭa. It bears the name of Devī Sarasvatī, who appeared there to the rākshasa Paraśu after he bathed in the Gaṅgā on the word of the ṛshi Śākalya. Paraśu had come to devour Śākalya, but saw in him the universal form of Bhagavān Vishṇu, took refuge in him, and by the grace of Śākalya, of the Gautamī, of Sarasvatī and of Bhagavān Vishṇu, went to svarga. Brahmā tells Nārada the account in the Gautamī Māhātmya of the Brahma Purāṇa. The tīrtha grants every cherished desire, gives bhukti and mukti, destroys every pāpa, subdues all ailments and gives every siddhi; bathing and giving dāna there bring honour in Vishṇuloka.

The tīrtha and the mountain

Brahmā tells Nārada that the tīrtha named Sārasvata grants every cherished desire and benefit, gives men worldly enjoyment (bhukti) and moksha (mukti), and destroys all pāpa (sin). It subdues all ailments and bestows every siddhi (spiritual power). East of Pushpotkaṭa, on the southern bank of the Gautamī, is the most excellent mountain named Śubhra, “the white”, known in all the worlds.

Śākalya and the rākshasa Paraśu

On that holy mountain lived a ṛshi of great self-discipline named Śākalya, who performed excellent tapas (austerity) there. All beings bowed to and praised that brāhmaṇa, who did tapas on the banks of the Gautamī. He was devoted to the agnihotra, the tending of the sacred fire, and to the study of the Vedas, on that mountain where ṛshis, gandharvas and devas came.

On the same mountain lived a rākshasa named Paraśu. He terrified devas and brāhmaṇas, hated yajñas and killed brāhmaṇas. He could take any form he wished, and he wandered through the forest in one form after another: now a brāhmaṇa, now a tiger, a deva, an animal, a young maiden, a deer or a boy, committing pāpa after pāpa. Every day he came to where Śākalya lived, trying to carry off and kill that brāhmaṇa of great purity, but he could not.

One day, after carefully worshipping the devas, Śākalya came to his place of eating. At that moment Paraśu came too, in the form of a feeble, grey-haired, weak old brāhmaṇa, with a girl beside him.

Paraśu’s words on the guest

Paraśu said: “O brāhmaṇa, know that I and this girl are in need of food. We have come at the hour when guests should be fed. Blessed are they from whose houses guests go out with every desire fulfilled; others are dead though they live. If a man who has sat down to eat gives his guest what was made for himself, it is as if he had given away the Earth.”

Taking him for a brāhmaṇa, Śākalya seated him and said, “I shall give.” He honoured him duly and served the food. Holding the water for ācamana, the sip before eating, Paraśu spoke again: “The devas follow the weary guest from afar. If he is satisfied, they are satisfied; otherwise not. The guest and the slanderer are the true kinsmen of the whole world: the slanderer takes away one’s pāpa, and the guest gives svarga. If anyone looks with disgust at a guest weary from the road, his dharma, fame and prosperity perish at once. So, O best of brāhmaṇas, I, a weary guest, beg you: if you grant me what I desire, I shall eat. Not otherwise.”

Śākalya said, “It is already given. Eat.” Then Paraśu said: “I am Paraśu, the great rākshasa, your enemy. I am no old, lean, grey-haired brāhmaṇa. For many years I have watched you, and my limbs are drying up like a drop of water in summer. Now I shall carry you off with your followers and eat you.”

Śākalya’s kavaca of Vishṇu

Śākalya answered: “Those born in noble families, who have understood all the śāstras, keep strictly to what they have promised. O friend, do as you please. Yet listen to me: good and wholesome words should be spoken even to one who seeks to kill.”

Then he spoke his protection (kavaca) of the names of Bhagavān Vishṇu:

“I am a brāhmaṇa of adamantine body. Bhagavān Hari protects me on every side.”
May Vishṇu protect my feet, and may my head be protected.
May Varāha protect my arms, and Dharmarāja my back.
May Kṛshṇa protect my heart, and Narasiṃha my fingers.
May the master of speech protect my mouth, and the one who rides the bird, Garuḍa, my eyes.
May Kubera, the master of wealth, protect my ears, and Bhava protect me all round.
Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa himself is the one refuge in every adversity.

“Take me or devour me happily, O great rākshasa Paraśu, without hesitation.”

Paraśu sees the universal form

At his words the rākshasa made ready to devour him (for, Brahmā says, there is no mercy in the heart of those given to pāpa). With a mouth terrible with curved fangs he came near; but the moment he looked at the brāhmaṇa he said: “O best of brāhmaṇas, I see you holding the śaṅkha, the cakra and the gadā in your hands, with a thousand feet and heads, a thousand eyes and hands, Bhagavān Vishṇu, the one abode of all beings, whose form is the Vedas. Today I see you as one with the universe. This is not your former body.”

“So I take refuge in you, O brāhmaṇa; be my refuge. Grant me knowledge, O wise one, and tell me the tīrtha for the prāyaścitta (expiation) of my pāpa. Meeting a mahātmā is never fruitless, even when it comes by chance, out of hatred, out of ignorance or by mistake: the touch of the philosopher’s stone turns iron into gold.”

Hearing this, Śākalya spoke with compassion: “Before long Devī Sarasvatī will grant you varas. So praise Bhagavān Vishṇu. To gain the good one seeks there is no means but prayer to Nārāyaṇa. And there is another cause in this world, O rākshasa: Devī Sarasvatī will be pleased with you at my request.”

The darśana of Devī Sarasvatī

Saying “So be it”, Paraśu bathed in the Gaṅgā, the purifier of the three worlds, and stood facing her, pure and with mind controlled. There he saw Devī Sarasvatī: of divine form, anointed with divine scents and unguents, the Mother of the universe, who gave birth to the universe and dispels its dullness, the devī of the universe, present there because of Śākalya‘s words. Freed now of his pāpa, Paraśu spoke to her humbly: “My guru Śākalya told me, ‘Praise the consort of Lakshmī, Garuḍadhvaja, whose banner bears the bird.’ By your grace let me have the power to do so.”

Devī Sarasvatī said, “Let it be so.” By her grace Paraśu praised Bhagavān Vishṇu. Bhagavān Vishṇu, the ocean of mercy, was pleased and granted him a vara (boon): “O rākshasa, whatever is in your mind, all that you desire, will come to pass.”

Though he had done great pāpa, the rākshasa Paraśu went to svarga by the grace of Śākalya, the grace of the Gautamī, the grace of Sarasvatī, the grace of Narasiṃha, and the grace of Bhagavān Vishṇu, who bears the divine Śārṅga bow, whose lotus foot is a tīrtha for all.

Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 93

The phala

From then on the tīrtha has been known as Sārasvata. By bathing there and giving dāna (gifts), one is honoured in Vishṇuloka, the world of Bhagavān Vishṇu.
Sārasvata grants every cherished desire, gives bhukti and mukti, destroys all pāpa, subdues every ailment and bestows every siddhi.
On that Śveta mountain there are many tīrthas, born of the grace of Sarasvatī, Vishṇu, Śākalya and Paraśu.