Rantuka

Rantuka

Rantuka is the gate of Kurukshetra. The Saro Māhātmya of the Vāmana Purāṇa tells that when the Sarasvatī came into Kurukshetra at the word of Mārkaṇḍeya Maharshi, she reached Rantuka and, wetting the holy land, turned to flow westward. In former times Brahmā declared Rantuka to be one of the bounds of the Saṃnihita lake.

A mighty yaksha keeps Rantuka as the dvārapāla (door-guardian) of the land, and the Purāṇa calls him Yakshendra and Yaksheśvara, lord of the yakshas. Every pilgrim begins the round of the tīrthas of Kurukshetra by going to Rantuka, asking his forgiveness, bathing in the Sarasvatī and worshipping him, and prays that by his grace the pilgrimage may be fulfilled without obstacle. The pilgrim comes back to him twice more in the course of the round, and by the yaksha’s grace his faults are removed and he gains the siddhi and the fruits he desires.

A bound of the sacred lake

Romaharshaṇa Muni, seated in Kurujāṅgala, told the brāhmaṇas the extent of the holy lake. In former times, he said, Brahmā declared that the lake extending from Rantuka to Aujasa, and from Pāvana to Caturmukha, is the Saṃnihita sarovara (lake).

Source: Vāmana Purāṇa, Saro Māhātmya, Chapter 1

Where the Sarasvatī enters Kurukshetra

The Sarasvatī arose from a plaksha tree, and Mārkaṇḍeya Maharshi asked her to flow swiftly with her holy waters through the middle of the holy kshetra, first famed as Brahma-sarovara, then as Rāma-saras, and then, ploughed by Kuru, as Kurukshetra. Hearing his words, the Sarasvatī entered Kurukshetra as a stream. That river of holy waters reached Rantuka and, wetting Kurukshetra, turned westward. A thousand tīrthas lie there, served by the maharshis.

Source: Vāmana Purāṇa, Saro Māhātmya, Chapters 11–12

The pilgrimage begins at Rantuka

After the glory of Kurukshetra, Romaharshaṇa tells how the pilgrimage begins. Going to the Sthāṇu sarovara and bathing there with śraddhā (faith), all the desires of the mind are fulfilled. Then:

  1. Steadfast in the vow, the pilgrim walks around that lake in pradakshiṇa.
  2. He goes to Rantuka, asking forgiveness again and again.
  3. He bathes in the Sarasvatī river.
  4. He has darśana of the Yaksha.
  5. He worships him with dhūpa (incense), dīpa (lamps), flowers and naivedya (food-offerings).
  6. He prays: “O Yakshendra! By your grace alone may this pilgrimage I have undertaken, to the tīrthas, the forests and the lakes, be fulfilled without obstacle.”

In the next chapter, which gives the tīrthas in order, Rantuka stands first: the pilgrim first goes to Rantuka, bows to the mighty yaksha, the dvārapāla, and so begins his tīrtha-yātrā. From there he goes on to Aditi-vana, where Aditi performed tapas and gained Vāmana as her son.

Source: Vāmana Purāṇa, Saro Māhātmya, Chapters 12–13

The second visit

Later in the round, after the Nāga tīrtha called Sarpirdadhi, the pilgrim comes to the Rantuka dvārapāla again. In order:

  1. He goes to the Rantuka dvārapāla and spends one night there.
  2. He bathes in that holy tīrtha.
  3. He carefully worships the second dvārapāla.
  4. He feeds brāhmaṇas.
  5. He bows to the dvārapāla and makes him gracious with this prayer: “Yaksheśvara! Forgive my offences. By your grace may all my kilbishas (faults) be removed, and may I gain the siddhi I desire.”

From there the pilgrim goes on to the Pañcanada tīrtha.

Source: Vāmana Purāṇa, Saro Māhātmya, Chapter 13

The third visit

In the next chapter, after the pilgrim has bathed in Brahmāvarta, Romaharshaṇa says: “O best of brāhmaṇas! From there one should serve the Rantuka dvārapāla.” This is the Sarasvatī tīrtha of the mahātmā Yakshendra. The pilgrim fasts and bathes in that Sarasvatī tīrtha, and by the grace of the yaksha he gains the fruits he desires. From there he goes on to the Brahmāvarta tīrtha, praised by the munis.

Source: Vāmana Purāṇa, Saro Māhātmya, Chapter 14

Sources

  • Vāmana Purāṇa, Saro Māhātmya, Chapters 1, 11–14