Jyotisthala
Jyotisthala · jyoti-sthala, “the place of light”
Jyotisthala is a peak of Meru, adorned with every jewel and delightful to the worlds. On it Bhagavān Śiva, Indudhara, who bears the moon, dwells with Devī Umā, the daughter of the mountain. The Brahma Purāṇa describes it where Brahmā begins, for the munis, the account of the destruction of Daksha’s yajña.
Bhagavān Śiva on Jyotisthala
The munis asked Brahmā how the aśvamedha of Daksha Prajāpati, son of the Pracetases, came to be destroyed in the Vaivasvata manvantara. Brahmā began with the abode of Bhagavān Śiva. There is a peak of Meru named Jyotisthala, he said, adorned with every jewel, delightful to the worlds, and on it Indudhara dwells with Śailakanyā. All these serve Īśvara there: the Ādityas, the Vasus, the Aśvins, Kubera, Sanatkumāra and the others, and the apsarās. The river Gaṅgā herself, taking an embodied form, attends on Bhagavān Śiva.
From there Devī Umā, learning that Indra and all the devas had set out for her father’s yajña at Gaṅgādvāra, asked Paśupati where they were going; and so the account of Daksha’s yajña unfolds.
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Chapter 39
Sources
- Brahma Purāṇa, Chapter 39