Tvāshṭra Tīrtha
Tvāshṭra Tīrtha · tvāshṭra-tīrtha, “the tīrtha of Tvashṭṛ”
Tvāshṭra Tīrtha is the place on the Gautamī (the Godāvarī) where Tvashṭṛ, the Prajāpati of the worlds, sprinkled water with kuśa grass and drove away the daityas who had come in disguise to spoil the aśvamedha of King Abhishṭuta. It is one of six tīrthas that arose from that yajña: Bhānutīrtha, Tvāshṭra, Māheśvara, Aindra, Yāmya and Āgneya, which Brahmā names together as destroyers of all pāpas. Brahmā tells Nārada its account in the Gautamī Māhātmya of the Brahma Purāṇa. Tvāshṭra Tīrtha destroys all pāpas.
Sūrya gives the yajña ground
There was a king of very pleasing appearance named Abhishṭuta, who began an aśvamedha to honour the devas. Sixteen ṛtvijas served at it, led by Vasishṭha and Atri. They were in doubt: when a king takes dīkshā (consecration for the yajña), who is to make the vedi, since for a brāhmaṇa to do it would be a pāpa? Vasishṭha said that Sūrya, the divine kshatriya, should be asked, and the king prayed: “O Savitṛ, prepare for me the yajña ground fit for the devas. You are the divine kshatriya, the ruler of living beings. Namaskāra to you.” Savitṛ said, “I shall give.” The place where Sūrya came to grant the yajña ground is Bhānutīrtha.
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 98
Tvashṭṛ drives off the daityas
When the aśvamedha had begun, daityas, dānavas and other destroyers of yajñas came in the guise of brāhmaṇas. Because they chanted like the Sāman singers, they entered unchecked. Some mocked the ladle and the other vessels, the ring on top of the yūpa, the Sāman, the drinking of Soma, the havis, the priests and the king; some threw the yajña articles about; others laughed. No one knew them except Viśvarūpa, who said to his father: “These are the daityas.”
Hearing his son, Tvashṭṛ said to the devas: “Take water and kuśa grass and sprinkle all round, saying: ‘All those who censure the holy yajña, the ladle, the vessel and the Soma have been removed by me.'” The devas did so, and Tvashṭṛ did the same. The daityas were burned to ashes and fled. Saying, “The pāpīs have been slain by me,” Tvashṭṛ sprinkled the water, and the daityas, their lives crippled, left the place in anger. The place where Tvashṭṛ, the Prajāpati of the worlds, sprinkled the water is renowned as Tvāshṭra Tīrtha.
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 98
The other tīrthas of the yajña
Yama slew the daityas who had fallen at Tvashṭṛ’s words, with the Kāladaṇḍa, the Kālapāśa and the cakra, and that place is Yāmya, also called Yamatīrtha. The place where the yajña was completed with amṛta offered into the fire, and where Agni, satisfied by the unbroken stream of offerings, was pleased with Abhishṭuta, is Agnitīrtha. Indra, with the Maruts, told the king that he would be the emperor of both worlds and Indra’s lasting friend. The tīrtha where the brāhmaṇas praised and worshipped Śiva, and where the king worshipped Maheśvara and the rulers of the devas granted him bhukti and moksha, is Māheśvaratīrtha, also called Śaiva and Vaishṇava.
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 98
The phala
- Tvāshṭra Tīrtha destroys all pāpas.
- Bhānutīrtha, Tvāshṭra, Māheśvara, Aindra, Yāmya and Āgneya together destroy all pāpas.
- One who remembers or reads about all these tīrthas is freed from all pāpas and goes to the cities of Śiva and Vishṇu.
In this holy place there are a hundred tīrthas.
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 98
Sources
- Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 98