Sauparṇikā (River)
Sauparṇikā · sauparṇikā, “she who is of Suparṇā”
Sauparṇikā is a holy river on the Gautamī (the Godāvarī), the river form of Suparṇā, the wife of Kaśyapa Prajāpati. Suparṇā and her co-wife Kadrū, the mother of the nāgas, became rivers by the śāpa of the brāhmaṇas, and by the vara of Bhagavān Śiva they regained their bodies through contact with the Gaṅgā. Brahmā tells Nārada the account in the Gautamī Māhātmya of the Brahma Purāṇa. The river Kadrū flows all round and the Sauparṇikā in the east, and the tīrtha Jaṭādhara extends from the Kadrū eastward as far as the Sauparṇikā. The tīrtha of their confluence is a little holier than Vārāṇasī.
How Suparṇā became a river
Brahmā tells Nārada that there are two tīrthas, Suparṇāsaṅgama and Kādravasaṅgama, where Maheśvara has come to dwell on the banks of the Gaṅgā. Long ago the Vālakhilyas, the great ṛshis, were harassed by Indra. They gave half of their tapas to the ṛshi Kaśyapa and said: “Beget a splendid son through whom Indra’s arrogance can be quelled.” Kaśyapa said, “So be it,” and his wives Suparṇā and Kadrū both conceived. Wishing to travel away from home, he told them: “You must not commit any offence. You must not go anywhere. If you go elsewhere, you will surely receive a śāpa.”
When their husband had gone, the two wives went to the yajña of the ṛshis on the banks of the Gaṅgā, where the yajña-hall was crowded with brāhmaṇas. Proud of their youth and wealth, and though forbidden many times by the ṛshis, they spoiled the havis (offerings) of the yajña. The brāhmaṇas pronounced a śāpa: “Since you cling to the wrong path, you will become rivers.” And Suparṇā and Kadrū became rivers.
How she regained her body
When Kaśyapa returned and heard of the śāpa, he did not know what to do, and he told the Vālakhilyas. They said: “Go to the Gaṅgā Gautamī and praise Maheśāna, and they will become your wives again. Go to the place in the middle of the Gaṅgā where Bhagavān Maheśvara dwells always by the name of Madhyameśvara.” Kaśyapa bathed in the Gaṅgā and praised Maheśvara, Deveśa, with sacred stotras: the sole master of the three worlds without the least pride of possession, Siddhanātha, maker of the whole universe, the husband of Śivā, who alone dispels the threefold misery of all beings, whose union with sattva, rajas and tamas not even Indra can tell.
Bhagavān Śiva, the beloved husband of Gaurī, was pleased and granted Kaśyapa many varas. He said: “Your two wives will have the forms of rivers. They will reach the Gaṅgā, the most excellent river, and by that mere contact they will regain their own bodies.” By the grace of the Gaṅgā they conceived once more. Kaśyapa, delighted, invited the brāhmaṇas of the Gautamī’s banks, performed the sīmantonnayana (the rite of parting the hair of the expectant mother) and fed the brāhmaṇas. When Kadrū winked and laughed at the brāhmaṇas, they pronounced a śāpa that her eye be split, and she became blind in one eye. Kaśyapa pacified them, and they said: “The Gautamī, most excellent of rivers, when resorted to, will protect one from thousands of wrongs.” Kaśyapa did so with his wives.
Where the river flows and the phala
From then on the confluence of the two rivers is known as a tīrtha. The river Kadrū is all round, and the river Sauparṇikā is in the east. The tīrtha Jaṭādhara extends all round, from the Kadrū eastward as far as the Sauparṇikā. Holy kuṇḍas are there too: the Agnikuṇḍa, and the Raudra, Vaishṇava, Saura, Saumya, Brāhma, Kaumāra and Vāruṇa kuṇḍas.
This tīrtha is a little holier than Vārāṇasī. It suppresses all pāpas and gives the fruit of all yajñas.
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 30
Sources
- Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 30