Śesha Tīrtha
Śesha Tīrtha · śesha-tīrtha, “the tīrtha of Śesha”
Śūrasena has other meanings too: see all meanings of Śūrasena. Bhogavatī has other meanings too: see all meanings of Bhogavatī.
Śesha Tīrtha is a tīrtha on the Gautamī, the Godāvarī, where Śesha, the great Nāga and lord of the netherworlds, praised Bhagavān Śiva and received from him a divine triśūla to destroy the enemies of the devas. After that it was called Nāgatīrtha, and the spot where Bhagavān Śiva gave the triśūla is the tīrtha Śesheśvara, where Bhagavān Hara is present as Śesheśvara. At the confluence there, water of the Gaṅgā flows up from Rasātala through a chasm, a fire burns always in the great homa-kuṇḍa before the deity, and the water is hot. Brahmā tells its account to Nārada in the Gautamī Māhātmya of the Brahma Purāṇa. The tīrtha grants every cherished desire, and bath and dāna there give moksha.
Śesha driven from Rasātala
Brahmā tells Nārada that the tīrtha known as Śeshatīrtha grants all cherished desires, and he describes its features.
The great Nāga named Śesha was the lord of pātāla (the netherworlds). Surrounded by all the Nāgas, he went to Rasātala. But rākshasas, daityas and dānavas entered Rasātala and drove the lord of the Nāgas out. Troubled, Śesha went to Brahmā and said: “You gave Rasātala to the rākshasas and to me together. They give me no room. So I take refuge in you.”
Brahmā told him: “Go to the Gautamī, O Nāga. By praising Mahādeva there you will gain everything you desire. There is no other tīrtha in the three worlds that can grant what you desire.”
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 45
Śesha’s stotra to Bhagavān Śiva
At Brahmā‘s word the Nāga bathed in the Gaṅgā with care, and with joined palms he praised the master of the devas:
- Namaskāra to the master of the three worlds;
- to the destroyer of Daksha’s yajña;
- to you, the first Maker;
- to you who are the three worlds;
- to the thousand-headed one;
- to you who carry out the work of dissolution;
- to you whose form is Kāla, time.
- “Save me, O Śaṅkara, master of everything; save me, O master of the Moon, O you who are with Umā, O all-pervading one.”
- “O master of the universe, namaskāra to you. Give me whatever I desire in my mind.”
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 45
The gift of the triśūla
Then Maheśvara, pleased, granted the Nāga the varas he desired. For the destruction of the enemies of the devas, the daityas, dānavas and rākshasas, he gave Śesha a divine triśūla (trident) and told him: “Slay the leading enemies with this.”
Śesha returned to Rasātala with the other Nāgas and slew his enemies in battle. Having destroyed the daityas, dānavas and rākshasas with the triśūla, he came back to the place where Bhagavān Hara was present as Śesheśvara.
Along the path by which the king of the Nāgas came up from Rasātala to have darśana of Bhagavān Śiva, a chasm opened. The holy water of the Gaṅgā flowed through that chasm, giving great puṇya (merit), and it flowed into the Gaṅgā; beyond it is the confluence with the Gaṅgā. In front of Śesheśvara there is a large homa-kuṇḍa (fire pit). At the place where the Nāga performed homa a fire remained present always, and the water became hot. It is here that the confluence of the Gaṅgā is.
Having worshipped the master of the devas and gained from Bhagavān Śiva what he desired, the Nāga of great fame returned with joy to Rasātala.
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 45
Nāgatīrtha and Śesheśvara
From then on the tīrtha is called Nāgatīrtha. The place where Bhagavān Śiva handed the triśūla to Śesha is the tīrtha Śesheśvara.
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 45
The phala
Brahmā declares the phala of the tīrtha:
- it is holy and fulfils every desire;
- it destroys sickness and poverty;
- it gives long life and good fortune;
- by snāna (holy bath) and dāna there it gives moksha;
- one who hears or reads this account with bhakti, or remembers it, attains moksha.
In all, O Nārada, there are two thousand one hundred tīrthas on the banks of the river here, and they bestow every kind of wealth.
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 45
Sources
- Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 45