Vyāsa Tīrtha (Gautamī)
Vyāsa Tīrtha · vyāsa-tīrtha, “the tīrtha of the Vyāsas”
Smṛti has other meanings too: see all meanings of Smṛti.
Vyāsa Tīrtha, also called Prācetasa, is the tīrtha on both banks of the Gautamī (the Godāvarī) where the ten Āṅgirasas, five on the northern bank and five on the southern, performed tapas at the word of Agastya Maharshi, and the devas were pleased with them. They are the Dharma-Vyāsas and Veda-Vyāsas, born again whenever dharma declines and the Vedas are in danger, and the tīrtha is named after them. Brahmā tells Nārada its account in the Gautamī Māhātmya of the Brahma Purāṇa. Bhagavān Śiva, the ātmā of all, is present here out of compassion for all beings, surrounded by the devas, and Bhagavān Vishṇu, Brahmā, Āditya, Agni and the waters are always present too. There is no holier tīrtha: its waters wash away the mud of pāpa, dispel delusion and pride and give every siddhi.
The Āṅgirasas and their mother’s śāpa
Brahmā said: “My ten mind-born sons (mānasa-putras) are also creators of the worlds. In their great power they went forth wishing to find the end of the earth.” Others were created and went in search of the first, and neither they nor those before them came back. Then the wise, divine Āṅgirasas were born, of the line of Agni, masters of the Vedas, the Vedāṅgas and all the śāstras.
Their father Aṅgiras gave them leave to perform tapas. They bowed to him, but they began their tapas without asking their mother; and the mother stands above all gurus and elders. In anger she pronounced a śāpa on her own sons: “My sons who have slighted me and begun tapas will never attain siddhi in any way.” They went to many lands seeking success in tapas and did not attain it. Obstacles followed them everywhere: in some places rākshasas, in some men, in some young maidens, in others defects of the body.
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 88
They go to Agastya
Wandering so, they came to Agastya, born of a pot, the greatest of tapasvins, guru of the worlds and master of the southern quarter. They bowed to him and praised him: the eldest in tapas, the best of speakers, the wisest of the wise, the calmest of the self-controlled, ever merciful, never angry, without hatred. They said that the arrogant, the pitiless, those who give up serving their elders, those who speak untruth and the cruel do not know the truth. “What is the fault for which our tapas bears no fruit? What is the right way of tapas? Tell us the means.”
Agastya meditated for a moment and spoke slowly: “All of you are of calm mind, and Brahmā made you creators, but your tapas was not enough. Those whom Brahmā created first, and who went away, are ever happy. Those who went later in search of them became the Āṅgirasas. You are they. You went in search of them at the proper time, and slowly. Without doubt you will become greater than Prajāpati. Go to the Gaṅgā, purifier of the three worlds, to perform tapas; apart from the Gaṅgā, beloved of Śiva, there is no other refuge in this world. There, at the holy place in the āśrama, worship the giver of knowledge. He is supremely wise and will dispel your doubts. Without a true guru no one attains siddhi anywhere.”
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 88
The giver of knowledge
They asked: “Who is called the giver of knowledge? Brahmā, Vishṇu, Maheśa, Sūrya, Candra, Agni or Varuṇa?” Agastya taught them:
- That which is water (āpaḥ) is Agni; that which is Agni is Sūrya. He who is Sūrya is Vishṇu, and he who is Vishṇu is Sūrya. He who is Brahmā is Rudra, and he who is Rudra is everything. He alone has whole and perfect knowledge, and he is glorified as the giver of knowledge.
- There are five kinds of guru: the teacher, the one who moves us to act, the one who explains, the priest and the father. Among them the giver of knowledge is the highest.
- That alone is knowledge by which difference (bheda) is dispelled. The one Śambhu, without a second, is called by the brāhmaṇas by many names, Indra, Mitra and Agni, to help those who are deluded.
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 88
Tapas on the two banks
Hearing the ṛshi’s words, five of the Āṅgirasas went to the northern bank of the Gaṅgā and five to the southern, singing stotras as they went. They worshipped the devas Agastya had named, as the rules direct, and seated in their proper āsanas they meditated on the truth. The devas were pleased with them.
Their place as creators had been ordained by the maker of the universe at the beginning of the yuga: to dispel evil, to preserve the Vedas, to help the worlds, for dharma, kāma and artha, and to interpret rightly the Purāṇas, Smṛtis, Vedas and Dharmaśāstras. They will receive the status of Prajāpati in due order. Whenever evil spreads, dharma declines and the Vedas are slighted or in danger, they are born as the Vyāsas, the Veda-Vyāsas, to revive them, and the banks of the Gautamī are the place of their tapas.
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 88
The devas present and the name
Brahmā said: “There all of us are always present: Śiva, Vishṇu, I, Brahmā, Āditya, Agni and the waters. Nothing is holier than these, nothing higher anywhere; they are the one Brahman taking different forms.” Bhagavān Śiva, the ātmā of all, all-pervading, taking the forms of all beings, is present in this tīrtha especially, out of compassion for all beings, surrounded by all the devas and the cause of their blessing.
The Āṅgirasas are known as the Dharma-Vyāsas and the Veda-Vyāsas, and their tīrtha is named Vyāsa-tīrtha after them in the three worlds.
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 88
The phala
- There is no holier tīrtha than Vyāsa-tīrtha; it gives every siddhi.
- Its waters wash away the mud of pāpas and dispel the darkness of delusion (moha) and pride.
- It is excellent and gives men every siddhi.
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 88
Sources
- Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 88