Deva-dravya
Deva-dravya · deva-dravya, “wealth belonging to a deva”
Grammar: neuter noun; deva (a deva, the deity of a shrine) and dravya (wealth, property): “the wealth of the deva”.
Meaning: wealth and property that belong to the deva of a temple or maṭha, to be guarded and used only for the deva.
In the scriptures: Sanatkumāra tells Mārkaṇḍeya the glory of the Sthāṇu tīrtha. King Vena‘s son kept his father in a hut on its bank, and after some days a dog came there. In its former birth it had been an officer at the Sthāṇu maṭha, entrusted with guarding its wealth. At first he was strict and pure in the protection, receiving and use (rakshaṇa, parigraha, viniyoga) of the deva-dravya, and was honoured by all. In time his mind went bad, and he became the cause of the deva-dravya’s destruction. He died far from dharma, and Yama at once sentenced him: “Go and be born as a dog.” He was born a dog in the Saugandhika vana; dipping in the Sarasvatī to quench his thirst, by the grace of Sthāṇvīśvara, he was freed from all pāpas, and his coming to the hut led Vena to plunge into the Sthāṇu tīrtha (Vāmana Purāṇa, Saro Māhātmya, Chapter 26).
When Bhagavān Śiva offers him a vara, Vena asks him to bless this servant too, “born in the womb of a dog because he consumed the deva-dravya”. Bhagavān Śiva grants it, and by the glory of the Sthāṇu tīrtha the dog, cleansed of every stain, reaches Śivaloka (Vāmana Purāṇa, Saro Māhātmya, Chapter 27).
Related terms: Sthāṇu Tīrtha · Maṭha · Pāpa · Yama · Śivaloka
Sources
- Vāmana Purāṇa, Saro Māhātmya, Chapters 26, 27