Praṇītā (River)

Praṇītā, “named after the praṇītā vessel of the yajña”

Kuśa has other meanings too: see all meanings of Kuśa.

Praṇītā is a holy river that flowed from the water of the praṇītā, the yajña vessel of consecrated water, at the yajña by which Brahmā brought forth creation. Brahmā himself tells Nārada, in the Gautamī Māhātmya of the Brahma Purāṇa, that when the yajña was complete he carried forward the Praṇītā vessel with mantras, and its water became the splendid river Praṇītā; the drops that fell as he wiped the vessel with kuśa grass became tīrthas of great puṇya. The river is ever adorned by Bhagavān Vishṇu, the bearer of the Śārṅga bow, and is the flight of steps by which all ascend to Vaikuṇṭha. Later the Gautamī joined her, at the Praṇītā-saṅgama, beside the tīrtha Kuśatarpaṇa.

Brahmā’s yajña

South of the Vindhya stands the great mountain Sahya, from whose feet the Godāvarī, the Bhīmarathī and other rivers arise. What happened on that mountain, Brahmā tells Nārada, is “the secret of secrets”, declared by the Vedas and unknown even to ṛshis, devas, pitṛs and asuras.

Born in the lotus, Brahmā saw only the elements and could see nothing else; the Vedas were not yet present. Then he heard a divine voice: “O Brahmā, perform the creation of the universe.” When he asked how, the Voice told him that Prakṛti, the mother of the universe, works under the guidance of Vishṇu, and that he should perform yajña, for “yajña is Vishṇu”. Hari alone is yajña, svāhā, svadhā, the mantras, the brāhmaṇas and the havis. At that time there was no Bhāgīrathī, no Narmadā, no Yamunā, no Tāpī, no Sarasvatī and no Gautamī, no sea and no river. The Voice sent Brahmā south of Sumeru, of the Himavān, of the Vindhya and of the Sahya, to the Karmabhūmi, the land of holy rites.

There the Itihāsas and Purāṇas came to Brahmā’s mouth of their own accord, he understood the meaning of the Vedas, and he remembered the Purusha Sūkta. He prepared the materials and the vessels of the yajña as it describes. The place of his yajña is remembered as Brahmagiri, and it reached twenty-four yojanas to the east of that mountain. In the middle of the vedi he set up the three fires, Gārhapatya, Dakshiṇa and Āhavanīya. The seasons became the offerings, the Vedas the enclosing sticks, and Kāla, Time without beginning or end, the yūpa. Then, at the Voice’s word, Brahmā praised Janārdana with the Purusha Sūkta, and from the Purusha the whole universe came forth.

When all was complete the Voice said: “Now consign all the vessels to the fire. Cast off the yūpa, the Praṇītā vessel and the kuśa grass.” Brahmā offered into the three fires, meditating on the Purusha, and Yajñapati, the master of yajña, appeared near the fire-pits: Bhagavān Vishṇu took a white form in the Āhavanīya fire, a dark form in the Dakshiṇa fire and a yellow form in the Gārhapatya fire.

The birth of the river

Repeating the mantras, Brahmā carried forward the Praṇītā vessel, and its water became the splendid river Praṇītā. He emptied the vessel with due rite after wiping it with kuśa grass, and as he wiped it, drops of its water fell in many places. All those places became tīrthas of great puṇya. The spot where the kuśa grass he had used fell is called Kuśatarpaṇa, for “all these were propitiated (tarpita) by means of the kuśa grass”. Afterwards, for another reason, the Gautamī joined the Praṇītā, and that confluence became the Praṇītā-saṅgama.

The place of Brahmā’s yajña is the Daṇḍaka forest, which is called the seed of dharma and the seed of moksha, and above all the part that touches the Gautamī. Its three fire-pits are there even today, in the form of Yajñeśvara, Bhagavān Vishṇu who bears the cakra, and even worms and insects that die there attain moksha.

Rites and their phala

  • One who bathes in the Praṇītā gains the fruit of yajñas.
  • One who bathes and gives dāna at the Praṇītā-saṅgama or at Kuśatarpaṇa goes to the supreme abode (parama pada).
  • The learned say there are eighty-six thousand tīrthas on both banks.
  • Kuśatarpaṇa is more excellent even than Vārāṇasī. Merely remembered, it destroys the pāpa of brahmahatyā and other pāpas, and it is called the gate of svarga on earth.
  • Whoever remembers, reads or hears this account with devotion gains all cherished desires, and both bhukti (enjoyment) and mukti (release).

Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 91

Sources

  • Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 91