Piṇḍāraka
Piṇḍāraka
Piṇḍāraka is a holy kshetra of Bhārata. The Agni Purāṇa, which Agni Deva taught to Vasishṭha Maharshi, names it twice. In the glory of the tīrthas, Piṇḍāraka kshetra stands with Dvārakā and the Gomatī among the tīrthas that grant every siddhi (spiritual attainment). And among the fifty-five names of Śrī Mahāvishṇu, each to be remembered at its own place, it says that at Piṇḍāraka he is to be remembered as Caturbāhu, the four-armed one. In the Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Piṇḍāraka is where the maharshis pronounced the śāpa that brought the Yadu line to its end.
The Brahma Purāṇa names Piṇḍāraka as a holy tīrtha in its great list of the tīrthas and kshetras of the earth, and tells that it was at the tīrtha of Piṇḍāraka that the Yadu youths met Kaṇva, Nārada and Viśvāmitra, mocked them with Sāmba dressed as a woman, and received the śāpa of the musala that ended the Yādava line.
A kshetra that grants every siddhi
Agni Deva tells the glory of the tīrthas, which grant bhukti (enjoyment) and mukti (moksha). Only one whose hands, feet and mind are held in restraint, and who has learning, tapas and good name, gains the full fruit of a tīrtha. The pilgrim who accepts no gifts on the journey, eats measured food, keeps his senses under control and is free of pāpa gains the fruit of all yajñas.
After Pushkara, he names the tīrthas of the west. Kaṇvāśrama, Koṭitīrtha, the Narmadā and Arbuda are excellent tīrthas. The Carmaṇvatī, the Sindhu, Somanātha, Prabhāsa, the meeting of the Sarasvatī and the sea, and Sāgara are excellent tīrthas. Then: Piṇḍāraka kshetra, Dvārakā and the Gomatī, all these are tīrthas that grant every siddhi.
Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 109
Bhagavān Vishṇu as Caturbāhu
Agni Deva gives fifty-five names of Śrī Mahāvishṇu and the place where each is to be remembered. One who does japa of these names gains the fruit of mantra-japa and the imperishable puṇya of pūjā at the tīrthas. At Śālagrāma he is remembered as Mahāyogī; on the Govardhana mountain as Hari; at Piṇḍāraka as Caturbāhu, the four-armed; at Śaṅkhoddhāra as Śaṅkhī, the bearer of the conch; and at Kurukshetra as Vāmana.
One who remembers Bhagavān Vishṇu in this way gains bhukti and mukti, and one who does japa of these names gains everything. Śrāddha, dāna (giving), japa and tarpaṇa done at these kshetras are multiplied a crore-fold, and the one who does them becomes one with Brahman after death. One who reads these names, and one who hears them, becomes free of pāpa and attains svarga.
Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 305
Per Bhāgavata Purāṇa
Śuka Maharshi tells Parīkshit how the śāpa fell on the Yādavas. Some of the work of removing the earth’s burden still remained, and Śrī Kṛshṇa resolved to withdraw the Yadu line. The maharshis took leave of Śrī Kṛshṇa, who was living in Vasudeva‘s house, and went to Piṇḍāraka kshetra: Viśvāmitra, Asita, Kaṇva, Durvāsa, Bhṛgu, Aṅgiras, Kaśyapa, Vāmadeva, Atri, Vasishṭha, Nārada, Gautama and others.
Some young sons of the Yādavas were playing there, and they did not know humility. They dressed Sāmba, the son of Jāmbavatī, in women’s clothes and ornaments, came to the maharshis, bowed as if humble, and said: “This beautiful dark-eyed woman is with child and is too shy to ask you herself. Will she have a son?” Mocked with such deceit, the maharshis grew angry and said: “She will give birth to a musala (an iron pestle) that will bring your whole line to its end.” Terrified, the youths opened the false belly they had tied on Sāmba and found inside it a musala of iron. They took it to the sabhā and told King Ugrasena, without telling Śrī Kṛshṇa. Ugrasena had it ground to powder and the powder and the last small piece of iron thrown into the sea. A fish swallowed the piece of iron; the powder, carried by the waves to the shore, grew into clumps of tuṅga grass. Fishermen caught the fish, and the iron in its belly came to a hunter, who fixed it on the tip of his arrow. Śrī Kṛshṇa, who is Kāla and knows all, could have prevented the śāpa, but it was not his wish; he approved it.
Source: Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 11, Chapter 1
Per Brahma Purāṇa
In the list of tīrthas
In Chapter 25, the Sarva-tīrtha-māhātmya, “the glory of all the tīrthas”, the teller names the tīrthas and kshetras of the earth, more than four hundred of them, beginning with Pushkara. Piṇḍāraka-tīrtha comes in the first part of that list, and the text calls it puṇya (holy). It stands after Lokapāla-tīrtha, Maṇipūragiri and Pañcahrada, and before Mālavya-tīrtha, Goprabhāva and Govara-tīrtha.
The chapter gives one rite for all the tīrthas of the list. One who serves these tīrthas with śraddhā (faith), performs the bath and the other prescribed acts, keeps the fast, is master of the senses, offers tarpaṇa (libations of water) to the devas, the ṛshis and the pitṛs, worships the devatās, and fasts there for three nights, gains distinct and endless fruits, and by them the fruit of the aśvamedha yajña. “There is no doubt,” the teller says. One who hears or reads this glory of the tīrthas every day is freed from every pāpa (sin).
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Chapter 25
The śāpa of the musala
Vyāsa tells the munis how Śrī Kṛshṇa, having lightened the burden of Bhūdevī, withdrew the Yadu line on the pretext of a śāpa of the brāhmaṇas. At the tīrtha called Piṇḍāraka, the Yadu youths saw Kaṇva, Nārada and Viśvāmitra. In the pride of youth, and driven by what was to come, they dressed Sāmba, the son of Jāmbavatī, in a woman’s clothes, came up to the munis, bowed, and said: “This lady wishes for a son. Svāmī, will she bear a son?”
So deceived by the Yadu boys, the munis, endowed with divine knowledge and firm in their vratas, grew angry, and they pronounced a śāpa for the youths’ destruction: “She will bear a musala (pestle), and by it the whole Yādava line will be shattered.” The youths went and told Ugrasena all that had happened, and a musala was born from Sāmba’s belly. Ugrasena had it beaten into iron powder and thrown into the sea. One hard piece of iron that could not be ground to powder was thrown into the sea too, and a fish swallowed it. A fisherman killed that fish and took the piece of iron from its belly. Śrī Kṛshṇa, the foe of Madhu, knew all this, but he did not wish to change what was to be.
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Chapter 210
Sources
- Agni Purāṇa, Chapters 109, 305
- Bhāgavata Purāṇa, Skandha 11, Chapter 1
- Brahma Purāṇa, Chapters 25, 210