Pravarā (River)

Pravarā, “the excellent one”

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

Pravarā is a holy river that joins the Gautamī Gaṅgā. Brahmā tells Nārada, in the Gautamī Māhātmya of the Brahma Purāṇa, that she was born of the amṛta in the body of Rāhu. When Bhagavān Vishṇu cut off Rāhu’s head with his cakra, the body that had touched the amṛta fell on the southern bank of the Gautamī; the Śakti of Bhagavān Śiva drew the amṛta out of it, and that excellent juice flowed out as the river Pravarā, full of amṛta and filled with the Śakti of Rudra, the most beautiful of rivers. Bhagavān Śiva dwells there as Siddheśvara, five thousand tīrthas lie on the river, and her confluence with the Gautamī, the Pravarā-saṅgama, gives bhukti and moksha. In his account of the rivers that joined the Gautamī, Brahmā says that twenty rivers lie between the Pūrṇā and the Pravarā.

The churning of the ocean

After a terrible war the devas and the dānavas made friendship and went together to Mount Meru. “Immortality comes from amṛta,” they said. “Let us make the amṛta and drink it, and protect the worlds together. The joy that comes when enmity is gone is not found even in rule over the three worlds.” So they churned the ocean, with the Mandara mountain as the churning rod and Vāsuki as the rope, and the holy amṛta came forth. The daityas, dānavas and rākshasas said: “We are tired. Let it be shared equally among all at an auspicious hour, when all have gathered,” and they went to their homes.

The devas then took counsel. Bṛhaspati told them: “Drink the amṛta so that your enemies do not know of it. Enemies are never to be trusted; if the daityas become immortal you will never defeat them. Go to Brahmā and ask him the means.” The devas came to Brahmā, and Brahmā went with them to Hari and told everything to Bhagavān Vishṇu and to Śambhu, the remover of poison. Brahmā, Vishṇu and Śiva went with the devas, gandharvas and kinnaras to a cave of Meru, unknown to the asuras, and sat down to drink the amṛta, the Soma juice. Āditya kept note of those who drank, Soma gave out the shares, and Bhagavān Vishṇu, bearer of the cakra, kept watch.

Rāhu

No daitya knew of it except Rāhu, the wise son of Siṃhikā, who could take any form he wished. He took the form of a deva, entered and held out the drinking bowl. Sūrya knew him for a daitya and told Soma; Soma gave him the amṛta and told Bhagavān Vishṇu. With his cakra Bhagavān Vishṇu at once cut off the head of the daitya who had swallowed the amṛta, but the head became immortal. The headless body fell to the earth on the southern bank of the Gautamī and shook the earth, and the body too became immortal. Each depended on the other, and the asura became very powerful.

The devas feared that if the head were joined to the body it would devour them all, and they prayed to Bhagavān Śiva: “Destroy the asura’s body that has fallen to the earth. You are the ocean of mercy and the saviour of those who take refuge in you.”

The birth of the river

Īśa sent his Śakti, the Devī, the Mother and protectress of the worlds, together with the Mātṛs, bearing the weapons of Īśa and full of his tejas. The devas calmed the head on Meru, but the body fought with the Devī for many years. Then Rāhu himself told the devas: “Pierce my body first. The excellent juice is inside it. Draw it out, and the body will be reduced to ashes.” The devas were pleased with his words and consecrated him: “Be the most excellent of all the grahas.”

At the devas’ request the Śakti called Īśvarī pierced the body of the lord of the daityas and, filled with the power of the devas, drew out the amṛta at once. Ambikā, who is called Kālarātri and Bhadrakālī, devoured the body. The excellent juice that had been placed there, most excellent of all juices, oozed out and became the river Pravarā, and Ambikā took in the amṛta that had been drawn out. So the Pravarā was born: auspicious, full of amṛta, born of Rāhu’s body, filled with the Śakti of Rudra, the most excellent and beautiful of rivers. Five thousand tīrthas of great puṇya lie on her.

The devas’ varas

Worshipped by the devas, Śambhu himself stayed there. The devas gave the divine river excellent varas: “Whenever Śambhu, ruler of the devas, is worshipped, you too shall be worshipped, for the welfare of the worlds. O Devī of the juice, stay here, always granting every siddhi. When you are praised, glorified or meditated upon, you will grant what is cherished, and all the desires of those who bow to you with devotion will be fulfilled.” The ṛshis call the place Nivāsapura, the city of dwelling, because Śiva and Śakti dwell there forever. The place where Śambhu sent forth his Śakti is called Preritā, and it is also known as Amṛtā. From then on the tīrtha has been known as the Pravarā-saṅgama, the confluence dear to the devas.

Rites and their phala

• All who bathe at the confluence of the Pravarā with the Gaṅgā gain bhukti and moksha, and whatever they desire in their minds is fulfilled, even what is beyond the reach of the devas.
• A bath and dāna at the Pravarā-saṅgama give akshaya (unending) fruit and satisfy the pitṛs.
• Bhagavān Śiva as Siddheśvara presides over the tīrtha and helps all his devotees.

Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapters 35–36

Sources

• Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapters 35–36