Śavatīrtha
Śavatīrtha · śava-tīrtha, “the tīrtha of the dead body”
Lokapāla has other meanings too: see all meanings of Lokapāla.
Śavatīrtha is a tīrtha on the Gautamī, the Godāvarī, at the place where the dead body fell when Śrī Rāma offered the piṇḍa for his father, King Daśaratha, on the bank of the river. By that offering of iṅgudī oil-cake, made in the forest with what was at hand, Daśaratha was freed from the pāpa of three brahma-hatyās and rose to svarga, seated on a vimāna among the devas. Brahmā tells this to Nārada in the Gautamī Māhātmya of the Brahma Purāṇa, in the account of Rāmatīrtha. Even remembering Śavatīrtha dispels the mahāpātakas (the gravest pāpas).
Daśaratha drawn out of naraka
Brahmā tells Nārada that after his death King Daśaratha was led away by the servants of Yama for certain evil acts he had done, and he was tormented in narakas such as Tāmisra. Meanwhile Śrī Rāma, in exile with Sītā and Lakshmaṇa, went from Citrakūṭa south into the Daṇḍaka forest, protecting the munis there.
When Śrī Rāma came within five yojanas of the Gautamī, Yama commanded his servants to draw the king out of naraka, for the Gautamī is the great Śakti joined to Bhagavān Śiva, and no father may be tormented while his son stands near her. The servants told Daśaratha that if Rāma and Lakshmaṇa remembered him after bathing in the Gautamī and offered piṇḍas (offerings of food for the departed), he would be freed of every pāpa and go to svarga. With their leave the king came, in his body of torment, to the bank of the river.
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 53
The piṇḍa of iṅgudī
Śrī Rāma, Lakshmaṇa and Sītā had bathed in the Gautamī. The king came before them with joined palms and told them he was bound by three pāpas of brahma-hatyā, the slaying of brāhmaṇas. Sītā offered to take the first upon herself and to perform its prāyaścitta (atonement), and gave the second to Lakshmaṇa and the third to Śrī Rāma. Daśaratha blessed her words but said there was no need: by bath, dāna and the offering of piṇḍas at the Gautamī he would be freed from all three and go to svarga.
Preparations were made for the piṇḍa, but there was nothing to offer. Lakshmaṇa brought oil-cakes of the iṅgudī fruit. As Śrī Rāma paused over offering his father a piṇḍa of oil-cake, a divine voice spoke: one who lives in the forest without wealth, devoted to dharma, should not hold back, for the śāstras say that the devatās and pitṛs are to be satisfied with the same food that the offerer himself eats.
When the piṇḍa was placed on the ground, Śrī Rāma no longer saw his father.
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 53
Where the body fell
Where the dead body fell, there is the excellent tīrtha Śavatīrtha.
Then the Lokapālas, the Rudras, the Ādityas and the Aśvins came, each seated in his own vimāna, and in their midst Daśaratha shone like the sun on an excellent vimāna, praised by kinnaras. A divine voice told Śrī Rāma and Sītā that the king was freed from the three pāpas of brahma-hatyā, and the devas declared that his father had gone to svarga. Daśaratha blessed his son: “I have been redeemed by you. In this world, blessed is that son who is the redeemer of his ancestors.”
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 53
The phala
Even remembering Śavatīrtha dispels the mahāpātakas.
Close by are the other tīrthas of the account: Rāmatīrtha, where Śrī Rāma installed Maheśvara and received Bhagavān Śiva‘s varas, Bāṇatīrtha, Lakshmaṇatīrtha and Sītātīrtha.
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 53
Sources
- Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 53