Naimiśāraṇya

Naimiśāraṇya, also called the Naimisha Forest, is a sacred forest in Bharatakhaṇḍa. It is the great setting of the Purāṇas. Gatherings of ṛshis held long sattras (sacrifices of many years) here, and Sūta narrated many of the Purāṇas to them. Each Purāṇa that tells of the forest also gives its own account of how it got its name.

How the forest got its name (Varāha Purāṇa)

The Varāha Purāṇa says that this forest was named for the destruction of an asura army in the time of one nimesha (a blink of the eye).

King Durjaya had come against the ṛshi Gauramukha. At Gauramukha’s request, Bhagavān Vishṇu sent the Sudarśana Cakra against Durjaya’s army. The whole fourfold army (caturaṅga bala), with horses, foot soldiers, elephants and chariots, was burnt to ash in one blink.

Bhagavān Vishṇu then said:

“Because in this forest, in the time of a single nimesha (eye-blink), this asura army was destroyed, this place will be known as Naimisha, a name full of meaning.”

“This forest will be especially sacred to brāhmaṇas.”

So nimesha (eye-blink) gives Naimisha, the place of the eye-blink.

Bhagavān Vishṇu’s presence

Bhagavān Vishṇu said:

“I, the Yajña-purusha, will dwell permanently in this forest.”

The fifteen warriors born from the gem (maṇi), Suprabhā, Dīpta-teja, Suraśmi and the others, are held worthy of honour in yajñas. They will become kings in the Kṛtayuga.

The events that led to the name (Varāha Purāṇa, Chapter 11)

Gauramukha’s hospitality

King Durjaya came to the ṛshi Gauramukha with his army of five akshauhiṇīs (military divisions). Gauramukha fed the whole army through a divine gem (maṇi) that Bhagavān Vishṇu had given him. The gem made endless food, servants and comforts in one night.

Durjaya’s greed

Durjaya tried to steal the gem. Gauramukha’s servant Nīla came with a large army. But fifteen warrior chiefs came out of the gem itself and fought the asuras.

Heta and Praheta join

The asura generals Heta and Praheta, sons of Svāyambhuva Manu (who were first named in Chapter 10), entered the fight with their armies.

Bhagavān Vishṇu’s coming

Gauramukha called on Bhagavān Vishṇu. Bhagavān Vishṇu came on Garuḍa with weapons in his hands. At Gauramukha’s request he sent the Sudarśana Cakra, which destroyed all of Durjaya’s asura force in a nimesha.

The fifteen gem-warriors

The fifteen warriors were born from the divine gem (cintāmaṇi). Each fought one asura chief:

In the end all fifteen gem-warriors and the fifteen asura chiefs fell in the battle. Then the Cakra of Bhagavān Vishṇu destroyed the rest of the army.

The special character of the forest

“This forest will be especially for brāhmaṇas.”

The Naimisha forest is closely tied to:

• The learning of the brāhmaṇas (brāhmaṇa-janāḥ).
• Yajña and its pūjā, since the Yajña-purusha lives here.
• The river Gomatī, which flows through it. It is named in the śrāddha teaching of Chapter 13.

The Varāha Purāṇa says that bathing in the Gomatī at Naimiśāraṇya, and making offerings to the ancestors there, destroys all pāpa (sin). It tells this in Chapter 13.

Naimiśāraṇya in the Agni Purāṇa

The Agni Purāṇa opens at Naimiśāraṇya. A great assembly of Śaunaka and other mahāṛshis had gathered there, in a great yajña for Bhagavān Hari. Sūta Mahāmuni arrived at the assembly in the middle of a tīrtha-yātrā (pilgrimage), and the ṛshis received him with full respect and honour.

They bowed to him and asked him to tell them the sāra of all sāras, the very essence of all knowledge. Knowing it, they said, a human being gains sarvajñatva (all-knowing wisdom).

Sūta answered that Bhagavān Vishṇu, the lord of creation (sṛshṭi-prabhu) who has taken forms such as Matsya and Kūrma, is himself that highest essence. To know him as the form of the Parabrahma is to gain all knowledge.

Then Sūta told how this wisdom was handed down. It passed from Agni-deva to Vasishṭha, from Vasishṭha to Vyāsa, from Vyāsa to Śuka, Paila and others, and from them to Sūta himself.

So in the Agni Purāṇa, as in many other Purāṇas, Naimiśāraṇya is the ideal setting of a gathering for dharma. It is a forest tīrtha where śrotriya brāhmaṇas gather for yajña and receive the highest wisdom from a travelling teacher. The Agni Purāṇa tells this in Chapter 1.

Naimiśāraṇya in the Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa

The Brahma Khaṇḍa of the Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa opens in the same forest. In Chapter 1 the Śaunaka group of mahārshis of Bharatakhaṇḍa were seated at Naimiśāraṇya on darbha grass seats. They had finished their daily nitya and naimittika duties. Then Sūta Mahārshi arrived without warning. He is called Saumahārshi, of the line of Romaharshaṇa Muni.

The ṛshis gave him a seat. Śaunaka asked him to tell the Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa, the Purāṇa that gives bhakti to Kṛshṇa, moksha, tattva-jñāna (knowledge of the truth) and all worldly well-being.

Sūta Mahārshi said he was travelling from a siddha-kshetra to Bādarikāśrama (called sārāyaṇa-kshetra). He had stopped at Naimiśāraṇya to see the gathering of brāhmaṇas and to offer his namaskāra. Then he told the whole Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa.

The Purāṇa describes Naimiśāraṇya as a forest in Bharatakhaṇḍa that gives puṇya (puṇya-pradama). The Śaunaka ṛshis gathered there shone like the stars in the night sky.

Naimiśāraṇya in the Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa: the opening frame

The first Skanda of the Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa opens with the great gathering at Naimiśāraṇya. This forest is the outermost frame of the whole Purāṇa.

Thousands of brāhmaṇas had come together at Naimiśāraṇya. They began a sattra (a continuous yajña) of a thousand years for the good of all the worlds. Their leader was Śaunaka Maharshi, the greatest of the kulapatis (heads of Vedic schools), with the ṛshis of his line.

Sūta Gosvāmī, the son of Romaharshaṇa, also called Ugraśravā, came to the gathering. He was returning from Parīkshit’s prāyopaveśa (fast unto death) on the bank of the Gaṅgā, where he had himself heard Śuka Maharshi tell the whole Bhāgavatam.

The brāhmaṇas of Naimiśāraṇya stood up to honour Sūta and offered him a seat. Through Śaunaka’s voice they asked him: “Of all that is worth hearing, tell us the essence. Tell us what Vedavyāsa composed and what the ṛshis say is the highest good.”

This question, asked at Naimiśāraṇya, began Sūta’s telling of the whole Bhāgavatam to the brāhmaṇas. Naimiśāraṇya is therefore the place of the second telling of the Bhāgavatam, from Sūta to Śaunaka’s gathering. The bank of the Gaṅgā is the place of the first telling, from Śuka to Parīkshit.

The Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa tells this in the first Skanda, Chapters 1–4.

Naimiśāraṇya in the Kūrma Mahā Purāṇa, Uttarārdha

The Uttarārdha of the Kūrma Mahā Purāṇa gives a Śaiva account of how the forest began and why it is holy. It teaches that at the start of creation Brahmā sent his cakra (wheel) out into the world. The cakra-nemi (the rim of the wheel) broke at this very spot. From this the forest was named Naimisha, the place where the nemi of the cakra fell.

A sattra of a thousand years was held here. The ṛshis who gathered stayed in deep union with the sacred knowledge given through the teaching of Parameśvara.

The Uttarārdha says that Mahādeva himself, Parameśvara, lives at Naimiśāraṇya for ever with Devī Pārvatī. His presence here is a continuous and living fact. Those who die at Naimiśāraṇya reach Brahmāloka, the world of Brahmā, the highest of the created lokas. So Naimiśāraṇya is one of the rare tīrthas where both Brahmā (the presiding deva of the sattra and the origin of the forest) and Parameśvara (the permanent dweller with Pārvatī) are present.

Near it lies Jāpyeśvara. There Nandī did japa three crore times and Parameśvara performed his abhisheka, and those who die there reach Rudraloka. This makes the whole Naimiśāraṇya region a cluster of the highest tīrthas.

The Kūrma Mahā Purāṇa tells this in Uttarārdha, Chapter 41.

Naimiśāraṇya in the Nārada Mahā Purāṇa

The Nārada Mahā Purāṇa opens in the same forest. Twenty-six thousand ṛshis, led by Śaunaka Maharshi, gathered at Naimiśāraṇya. They performed yajñas and tapas on the bank of the Gaṅgā. The Sanakādis (Sanaka and his brothers) came, and so did Nārada Maharshi. Together they met on the Gaṅgā bank for a talk on the qualities of Bhagavān Vishṇu.

In this setting the whole Nārada Purāṇa was spoken. Śaunaka himself recited the Vishṇu stotra (Chapter 2). Nārada then asked Sanaka Maharshi questions through the chapters that follow.

The Nārada Mahā Purāṇa tells this in Pūrvārdha, Chapters 1–2.

Naimiśāraṇya in the Garuḍa Mahā Purāṇa

The Garuḍa Mahā Purāṇa also opens at Naimiśāraṇya. Sūta Mahārshi came there on a tīrtha-yātrā. He found thousands of munis gathered under the guidance of Śaunaka Maharshi, performing a sattra of a thousand years for the good of the world (loka-kalyāṇa). All the great ācāryas, the teachers of kings, and the disciples of Vyāsa would stop here whenever they came on pilgrimage. They gave to the assembly whatever knowledge they had gathered.

The Garuḍa Purāṇa gives its own meaning of the name Naimiśāraṇya:

“Nimesha nimeshaṇikī jñānam perugunu ā araṇyame Naimiśāraṇyamu.”

The meaning: “The forest where knowledge grows moment by moment, nimesha by nimesha, that is Naimiśāraṇya.”

The Purāṇa says the name follows the Sanskrit rule of ādivṛddhi (strengthening of the first vowel): nimesha becomes naimisha (“belonging to the nimesha“), as śiva becomes śaiva and vishṇu becomes vaishṇava. Every ṛshi who passed through the forest added his knowledge to the assembly. So the shared wisdom of all who gathered there grew nimesha by nimesha, moment by moment, and that is how the forest got its name. The Garuḍa Purāṇa also says that the common form “Naimiśāraṇya” is the correct one and that a variant form is not.

The Garuḍa Mahā Purāṇa tells this in Ācāra Khaṇḍa, Chapter 1.

Naimiśāraṇya in the Brahmāṇḍa Mahā Purāṇa

The Brahmāṇḍa Mahā Purāṇa (Pūrva Bhāga, Chapter 2) links the origin of Naimiśāraṇya to the first satra-yajña of Brahmā at the beginning of creation.

The first satra-yajña

At the very start of the present kalpa, Brahmā wished to create the universe. He performed a sahasra-pūrṇa-varsha satra-yajña, a satra of a thousand full years. In it:

• Brahmā himself was the gṛhapati (the yajamāna, the chief sacrificer).
• Iḍā, the power of sacred speech, was his patnī (wife and companion).
• Mṛtyu (Death) was made the śāmitri, the one who prepares the animal in a yajña.

The devas stayed in the satra-vaṭa for all the thousand years.

The nemi of the dharma-cakra

The place that came to be called Naimisha was marked by a great event. The nemi (rim) of the dharma-cakra (wheel of dharma) fell there. The wheel of dharma, set turning by the yajña, had its rim strike the ground at this very spot. This is the Brahmāṇḍa Purāṇa’s account of the name: Naimisha is the place of the nemi (rim).

Events at Naimisha

Chapter 2 of the Brahmāṇḍa Purāṇa places several holy events at Naimiśāraṇya:

• The river Gomatī, who is Rohiṇī and came here with her child, flows through the sacred forest.
• Śakti, Vasishṭha’s eldest son, was born here to Arundhatī.
• The quarrel between Viśvāmitra and Vasishṭha began here.
• Parāśara was born here to Adṛśyantī.

So the forest is the birthplace of the Vyāsa line. In the reign of Pururavā, who protected the earth across eighteen seas and their islands, the Naimisheya ṛshis held a twelve-year satra.

The setting of the Brahmāṇḍa Purāṇa

The Brahmāṇḍa Purāṇa itself is set at Naimiśāraṇya. The ṛshis had finished their satra-yajña. They came to Sūta, the disciple of Romaharshaṇa, and asked: “Where was this great satra held? How long? By what means?”

Sūta answered that Brahmā’s own first satra made Naimisha holy ground, and that the fall of the nemi of the dharma-cakra there was the sign of its holiness. Then he told the whole Brahmāṇḍa Purāṇa. It came down through this line: Brahmā, Vasishṭha, Parāśara, Jātakarṇa, Vyāsa, Romaharshaṇa, Sūta.

Naimiśāraṇya in the Vāyuvīya Saṃhitā

The Vāyuvīya Saṃhitā is the seventh and last Saṃhitā of the Śiva Mahāpurāṇa. It uses Naimiśāraṇya as the main setting of its outer frame.

Here ṛshis of six lineages (shatkula) held a twelve-year dīrghasattra (a long yāga). During this sattra Vāyu, the deva of the wind, who is a form of the vāyu-tattva of Śiva, appeared and told the whole Vāyuvīya. This included the full Pūrvakhaṇḍa of thirty-five chapters and the start of the Uttarakhaṇḍa. Sūta Mahārshi passed on Vāyu’s telling to the gathered ṛshis. In this way the twelve-year sattra became the occasion for handing on the fullest statement of Śaiva teaching and practice in the Purāṇas.

At the end of the sattra, Sarasvatī Devī herself came, at Brahmā’s command, as a flowing river. The ṛshis could then take the avabhṛtha (the closing bath of the yajña). After bathing and finishing the yāga, they set out on pilgrimage to Vārāṇasī (Kāśī), the highest Śiva-kshetra.

Their journey is told in the last chapter of the Uttarakhaṇḍa, called the Naimishīya Yātrā. On the way they met Sanatkumāra, and in the end they received the liberating glance of Nandīśvara himself.

Naimiśāraṇya in the Vāyu Mahā Purāṇa

The Vāyu Mahā Purāṇa opens at Naimiśāraṇya, where a Dvādaśa Vārshika Satra (a twelve-year yajña) is going on. The gathered ṛshis, led by Śaunaka Maharshi, receive Sūta and ask him to tell the Vāyu Purāṇa.

Chapter 2 gives the Vāyu Purāṇa’s account of how Naimiśāraṇya began. Brahmā made a dharma-cakra and set it rolling. Wherever its nemi (rim) broke, that place would become the āśrama of the ṛshis for their satra. The cakra rolled across the sacred land, and its rim broke at this forest. So Naimisha is the forest of the rim of the wheel of dharma.

The Vāyu Purāṇa also records that Purūravas, the first king of the Lunar Dynasty, is linked with Naimiśāraṇya, through a yajña or a discourse held there in his time. This ties the holiness of the forest to the history of human kings.

The Vāyu Purāṇa is the Purāṇa in which Vāyu, whose body is the Īśāna form of Śiva, is the first narrator. It too is set at Naimiśāraṇya. The Vāyu Mahā Purāṇa tells this in Chapters 1–2.

Sources

• Varāha Purāṇa, Chapter 11 (also Chapter 13 for the Gomatī and the śrāddha)
• Agni Mahā Purāṇa, Chapter 1
• Brahma Vaivarta Mahā Purāṇa, Brahma Khaṇḍa, Chapter 1
• Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, first Skanda, Chapters 1–4
• Kūrma Mahā Purāṇa, Uttarārdha, Chapter 41
• Nārada Mahā Purāṇa, Pūrvārdha, Chapters 1–2
• Garuḍa Mahā Purāṇa, Ācāra Khaṇḍa, Chapter 1
• Brahmāṇḍa Mahā Purāṇa, Pūrva Bhāga, Chapter 2
• Vāyuvīya Saṃhitā of the Śiva Mahāpurāṇa (seventh Saṃhitā), Pūrvakhaṇḍa and Uttarakhaṇḍa
• Vāyu Mahā Purāṇa, Chapters 1–2