Urvaśī Tīrtha (Gautamī)
Urvaśī Tīrtha · urvaśī-tīrtha, “the tīrtha of Urvaśī”
Urvaśī has other meanings too: see all meanings of Urvaśī.
Urvaśī Tīrtha is a tīrtha on the Gaṅgā, the Gautamī, where the deities are Maheśvara and Bhagavān Vishṇu, the wielder of the Śārṅga bow. It is also called Śāmbhava, Vaishṇava and Kaitava. Brahmā tells Nārada its account in the Gautamī Māhātmya of the Brahma Purāṇa. The emperor Pramati, proud of his conquests, went to Indra‘s svarga and won the apsarā Urvaśī from Indra at dice, then defeated Viśvāvasu, chief of the gandharvas; but Viśvāvasu’s son Citrasena defeated him in turn, bound him in the nooses of the gandharvas and took all he had. On the counsel of the purohita Madhucchandas, Pramati’s young son Sumati went to the Gautamī, bowed to Bhagavān Vishṇu, worshipped Bhagavān Śiva and performed tapas, and by their grace his father was freed and regained his kingdom. A holy bath, dāna and the pūjā of Mahādeva and Vāsudeva here give the fruit of an aśvamedha; bath and dāna release one from the nooses of pāpa and dispel every misery.
Pramati and Indra at dice
Brahmā says that Urvaśītīrtha gives the fruit of an aśvamedha through a holy bath, dāna and the pūjā of Mahādeva and Vāsudeva, and that its deities are Maheśvara and Bhagavān Vishṇu, wielder of the Śārṅga. Then he tells its account.
There was a mighty emperor (samrāṭ) named Pramati. Having conquered his enemies, he went at once to Indraloka, the world of the devas, and there, O Nārada, he saw Indra with the Maruts. Pramati, the bull among kshatriyas, laughed at Indra, who held dice in his hands. Seeing him laugh, Indra said: “O wise one, enough of play with the Maruts here in the abode of the devas. You have reached svarga after conquering the quarters. Play with me.”
Pramati answered Devendra’s sharp words: “So be it. But what will you stake?” Indra said: “Urvaśī alone is our stake, she who is gained only through every kind of yajña. What do you offer, O king?” Pramati said proudly: “O king of the devas, I will stake whatever you name.” Indra said: “Then stake your righteous right hand, with its arm-guard and its arrows.”
They played, and Pramati won the stake, Urvaśī, the apsarā. Then he said boldly to Indra: “Stake something else, and I shall play with you again.” Indra said: “I stake the vajra worthy of the devas and the excellent chariot famed in victorious campaigns, against your arm.” Pramati laughed, took up other dice set with jewels and said to Indra: “It is won by me.”
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 101
Viśvāvasu and Citrasena
Meanwhile, O Nārada, Viśvāvasu, the chief of the gandharvas, well versed in dice, came there and said: “O king, we shall play with you by the gandharva lore (gāndharva-vidyā).” The king said “So be it”, and then, “It is won by me.”
Having defeated both Indra and Viśvāvasu, the king foolishly spoke shameful words to Devendra: “You will never win, O Mahendra, in battle or at dice. From now on, worship me. Tell me, by what means did you become Devendra?” And he said proudly to Urvaśī: “Go, be our servant maid.” Urvaśī answered: “I shall serve you as I serve the devas, and think nobly of you. It does not befit you to despise me.” Pramati said: “I have servant maids like you. Why are you ashamed, noble lady? Go, be our servant maid.”
Hearing the king’s words, the powerful king of the gandharvas, Citrasena, son of Viśvāvasu, said: “O king, lord of the earth, I shall play dice with you for all these: the kingdom, my life and your life.” “So be it,” said the king, and they played with great excitement. This time Citrasena won. He bound the king with the strong nooses (pāśas) of the gandharvas and won everything Pramati had ever owned, his kingdom, treasury, army and wealth, and above all Urvaśī herself.
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 101
Madhucchandas’s counsel
Then Pramati‘s son Sumati, still a boy, spoke earnestly to his purohita Madhucchandas, a wise brāhmaṇa of the family of Viśvāmitra: “What pāpa has my father committed? Where is that wise king imprisoned? How will he come home? How will he be freed from the nooses?”
Madhucchandas, the excellent ṛshi, meditated a while and said: “Your father is held prisoner in the world of the devas, driven from his kingdom by cunning gamblers. Even one who merely walks into a gathering of gamblers comes to pain and sorrow. Gambling, liquor and meat are the vices of those who live in pāpa; even one of them alone brings a fall into naraka and great pāpa. Led on by gamblers and cheats, with their likes and dislikes over vehicles, seats and such things, even men of noble birth fall into quarrels; what then of hardened gamblers?”
“The gambler’s wife is ever dejected. The gambler looks at his wife and feels no joy. He says to himself: ‘Alas, in all the world there is no one so steeped in pāpa as I am; I have not the least pleasure in the world.’ No gambler is seen happy in this world or the next. His mind is ever scorched by shame; he has lost his dharma and his joy, and wanders with all he had forfeited. For brāhmaṇas, any work but cheating and gambling is praiseworthy: a brāhmaṇa may even take to farming, cattle-keeping or trade, but never to gambling. It is forbidden in the Vedas because it is faulty, yet your father took it up eagerly. What shall we do? Whatever you say shall be done, dear boy. What learned man transgresses the path laid down by Vidhātā, the Ordainer?”
Sumati asked: “What must my father Pramati do to regain his kingdom?” Madhucchandas meditated again and said: “Dear boy, go to the Gautamī. Worship Śaṅkara, Aditi, Varuṇa and Vishṇu there. By that he will be freed from his nooses.”
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 101
Sumati’s tapas and Pramati’s release
Saying “So be it”, Sumati hurried to the Gaṅgā. He bowed to Bhagavān Vishṇu and worshipped Bhagavān Śiva, and, keeping every niyama (observance), he performed tapas. So he freed his father from the devas, after Pramati had been held prisoner there for a thousand years, and Pramati regained his kingdom. Through the grace of Śiva and Vishṇu and the effort of his own son, Pramati was freed from the nooses and won back his kingdom; and because he had gained the gandharva lore, he became dear to Indra.
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 101
The names and the phala
From then on the tīrtha is called Śāmbhava (of Śambhu, Bhagavān Śiva), Vaishṇava (of Bhagavān Vishṇu), Urvaśītīrtha and Kaitava (of the dice game).
- “What cannot be gained through the grace of Śiva, Vishṇu and the Gautamī, the Mother of all rivers?”
- A holy bath, dāna and the pūjā of Mahādeva and Vāsudeva here give the fruit of an aśvamedha.
- A holy bath and dāna here give the fruit of many righteous deeds, release one from the nooses of pāpa (sin) and dispel every misery.
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 101
Sources
- Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 101