Kubja-kāmra Tīrtha
Kubja-kāmra (the spelling in Book 2 of the Varāha Purāṇa) or Kubja-āmraka (the spelling in Book 3) is a sacred kshetra. Bhagavān Vishṇu lives here for all time beneath a contracted, bent mango tree (kubja-āmra). Out of compassion, he made himself small to match the shrunken tree.
The kshetra came into being when the ṛshi (seer) Raibhya did tapas (austerity) here for 10,000 years. He asked for nothing except that Bhagavān Vishṇu stay at this spot for ever. The kshetra holds thirteen sub-tīrthas. Each has its own seasonal signs and its own merit. It is closely tied to the Bhū-Dvādaśī Vrata, to the account of Soma-śarma and the māyā, and to devotees who seek freedom from grief, loss or lack.
Origin: Raibhya’s tapas (Book 3, Chapter 125)
The Varāha Purāṇa (Book 3) tells how Kubja-āmraka began, through the account of the ṛshi Raibhya. In the seventeenth yuga of this cosmic cycle, Raibhya came to Gaṅgādvāra and did tapas for 10,000 years. He stood in water for a thousand years and lived on seaweed for five hundred years. He went on through further stages of austerity over the remaining thousands of years. The power of his tapas drew Bhagavān Vishṇu to appear. (Varāha Mahā Purāṇa, Chapters 55, 125)
Bhagavān Vishṇu appeared living in a mango tree (āmra) that had begun to shrink and bend. It had become kubja (bent, dwarfed). In his limitless compassion, even for trees (the Purāṇa treats trees as conscious, living beings), Bhagavān Vishṇu had made himself small to match the shrunken tree. He lived beneath it and kept it alive by his divine presence. (Varāha Mahā Purāṇa, Chapters 55, 125)
Bhagavān Vishṇu offered Raibhya any vara (boon) he wished. Raibhya asked for nothing for himself. He asked only this:
O Bhagavān Vishṇu, please stay here for ever, in this spot, beneath this mango tree, in this form, so that all who come after may worship you here.
Bhagavān Vishṇu granted this vara. He agreed to live at Kubja-āmraka for all time, in the contracted form beneath the contracted mango tree. The kshetra that came from this vara is named for the bent mango tree (kubja-āmra). It is among the easiest to reach and the most compassionate of the abodes of Bhagavān Vishṇu. He chose it so that he could meet beings as they are: small, bent and in need. (Varāha Mahā Purāṇa, Chapters 55, 125)
The meaning of the contracted form
The Varāha Purāṇa teaches that the form of Bhagavān Vishṇu at Kubja-āmraka is not a lesser form. It is small, contracted and bent, beneath a shrunken tree, and it is a form of the highest compassion. The Vāmana avatāra took the smallest of forms to win back the three worlds. In the same way Bhagavān Vishṇu at Kubja-āmraka takes the most contracted form, to embrace the devotee who feels most diminished by the hardships of life. The kshetra is especially powerful for those who feel reduced by loss, grief, childlessness or misfortune. (Varāha Mahā Purāṇa, Chapters 55, 125)
King Vatsa and the boon of a son (Book 2, Chapter 55)
The Varāha Purāṇa (Book 2) shows the power of Kubja-kāmra through King Vatsa. He had done many good deeds, yet he had no son to inherit his throne. A wise brāhmaṇa sent Vatsa to the Kubja-kāmra tīrtha and taught him the Bhū-Dvādaśī Vrata, to be kept there.
The reason was exact. Bhagavān Vishṇu at this tīrtha had made himself small to keep even a shrinking tree alive. So he is especially kind to beings who feel diminished by lack. Bhūdevī is the Earth, from whom all offspring come, and she is never apart from Bhagavān Vishṇu. So this tīrtha was the right place to ask for a child. Vatsa kept the Bhū-Dvādaśī Vrata at Kubja-kāmra and worshipped Bhūdevī and Bhagavān Vishṇu. He was blessed with a son. (Varāha Mahā Purāṇa, Chapters 55, 125)
Soma-śarma and the māyā at Kubja-āmraka (Book 3, Chapter 124)
Kubja-āmraka is also the place where the brāhmaṇa Soma-śarma went through a great change. He wanted to see the māyā (divine illusion) of Bhagavān Vishṇu with his own eyes. Bhagavān Vishṇu told him to bathe in the Gaṅgā at Kubja-āmraka. When he bathed, Soma-śarma was at once changed into a Nishāda woman. He lived fifty years in that form before he was restored. This was his prāyaścitta (atonement) for failing to honour the Bhāgavatas. The account of Vishṇu-māyā names the Māyā-tīrtha within Kubja-āmraka as the exact spot where this change took place. (Varāha Mahā Purāṇa, Chapters 55, 124, 125)
The thirteen sub-tīrthas (Book 3, Chapter 125)
Within the Kubja-āmraka kshetra the Varāha Purāṇa describes thirteen sacred sub-tīrthas. Each has its own seasonal sign and its own merit for bathing or dying there. For several, it also gives an event that set up the tīrtha’s power.
1. Mānasa-tīrtha
A lotus-shaped pond within the kshetra. Merit: A devotee who keeps a fast (upavāsa) of thirty nights while living at Mānasa-tīrtha, and then dies there, reaches moksha (liberation) directly.
2. Māyā-tīrtha
The place of Soma-śarma’s change into a Nishāda woman and his restoration (see above). Merit: A bath here gives 10,000 years as a bhakta of Bhagavān Vishṇu with unshaken devotion. A devotee who dies at Māyā-tīrtha becomes a māyā-yogin, one who has passed beyond the veil of the māyā of Bhagavān Vishṇu.
3. Sarvātmaka-tīrtha
The tīrtha of the All-Self: Bhagavān Vishṇu as the Ātman of all. Merit: A bath here on Vaiśākha Śukla Dvādaśī gives 15,000 years in svarga (heaven). Nearby is the Śīrshakapa-tīrtha, where all attachments are cut away.
4. Pūrṇa-mukha-tīrtha
Sign: The water of the Gaṅgā at this spot is warm when the rest of the river is cold. This unusual warmth marks the presence of divine heat. Merit: A devotee who dies here on Mārgaśīrsha Dvādaśī reaches Vishṇu-loka.
5. Aśoka-tīrtha
Named for the aśoka tree (Saraca asoca), which is linked with the ending of grief (a-śoka means without sorrow). Merit: A single bath here gives 10,000 years in svarga. A devotee who dies here on Vaiśākha Dvādaśī is freed from all saṃsāra.
6. Karavīraka-tīrtha
Named for the karavīra, the oleander tree. Sign: On Māgha Śukla Dvādaśī at midday the oleander here flowers in unusual abundance. This is a visible sign that sets this tīrtha apart. Merit: A bath here gives 1,000 years in a divine vimāna. A devotee who dies here on Māgha Dvādaśī is given darśana of Brahmā, Vishṇu and Śiva together.
7. Puṇḍarīka-tīrtha
The most beloved spot of Bhagavān Vishṇu in the whole kshetra, the tīrtha dearest to him. Merit: Death at Puṇḍarīka-tīrtha gives the fruit of ten puṇḍarīka yajñas, one of the greatest Vedic yajñas. After this reward, eternal moksha follows.
8. Agni-tīrtha
Linked with Agni, the sacred fire. It lies in the northern part of the kshetra. Sign: The water here is warm in winter and cool in summer. This reverses the seasons, and shows the nature of Agni in the water of the tīrtha. Merit: A bath here gives the merit of seven agnimedha yajñas. A devotee who stays here for twenty nights and dies on a Dvādaśī reaches Vishṇu-loka.
9. Vāyu-tīrtha
Linked with Vāyu, the deva of the wind. It lies in the north-western part of the kshetra. Sign: The leaves of the pīpal (aśvattha, the sacred fig) at this tīrtha are always rustling. They can be heard moving on all twenty-four Dvādaśī tithis of the year, even when there is no wind. Merit: A bath here gives the merit of the Vājapeya yajña. A devotee who stays here for fifteen days and dies there is freed from all further rebirths.
10. Śakra-tīrtha
Linked with Indra (Śakra). Sign: Five distinctive trees stand to the south of this tīrtha. Those who know the kshetra can pick them out. Merit: A bath here gives a place in Indra-loka, with Indra’s vajra (thunderbolt). A devotee who keeps a ten-night fast and dies here reaches Vishṇu-loka.
11. Varuṇa-tīrtha
The place where Bhagavān Varuṇa himself did tapas for 12,000 years to receive varas. Sign: A constant stream flows here. It does not change with the season, and does not fail in the summer drought or the monsoon flood. Merit: Death at Varuṇa-tīrtha gives 8,000 years in Varuṇa-loka. A devotee who keeps a twenty-night fast and dies here reaches Vishṇu-loka.
12. Sapta-sāmudra-tīrtha
The tīrtha of the seven oceans, where the waters of all seven seas meet. Sign: The water of the Gaṅgā here changes colour in clear order: white, green, red, emerald and pearl-white. This is a wonder of the meeting of the seven oceans. Merit: A bath here gives the merit of three Aśvamedha yajñas. Dying here brings eternal moksha, with no more saṃsāra.
13. Mānasa-sara
The sacred pool of Mānasa within the kshetra. It is like Māna-sarovara, the divine lake on Mount Meru, and ordinary mortals can hardly enter it. Merit: A devotee who keeps a thirty-night fast and dies at Mānasa-sara reaches Vishṇu-loka and the direct sānidhya (nearness) of Bhagavān Vishṇu.
Sources
- Varāha Mahā Purāṇa, Chapters 55, 124, 125 (Book 2, Chapter 55; Book 3, Chapters 124 and 125)