Saindhavāraṇya
Saindhavāraṇya · saindhava-araṇya, “the Saindhava forest”
Saindhavāraṇya is one of the holy forests (araṇyas) of Bhārata, named in the Vāmana Purāṇa beside Pushkarāraṇya, Magadhāraṇya, Dharmāraṇya and Naimiśāraṇya. Bhagavān Śiva bathed in its waters when he bore Brahmā‘s skull on his hand as Kapālī and went from tīrtha to tīrtha. The great devotee Prahlāda, on his tīrtha-yātrā (journey to the holy places), worshipped Sunetreśvara there, who holds the śaṅkha (conch) and the śūla (trident). And Bhagavān Vāmana told Bharadvāja Ṛshi that at Saindhavāraṇya he is present as Sunetra, “the fair-eyed”. The Agni Purāṇa names Saindhavāraṇya among the holy places of the fifty-five names of Śrī Mahāvishṇu: there Bhagavān Vishṇu is to be remembered as Ananta, the endless.
Bhagavān Śiva bathes there as Kapālī
Pulastya Maharshi told Nārada how Bhagavān Śiva became Kapālī. Brahmā‘s skull stayed fixed to Bhagavān Śiva’s hand, and Brahmahatyā, the pāpa (sin) of slaying a brāhmaṇa, came in a fearsome female form and entered his body. Bhagavān Śiva went to Badarikāśrama, but Nara and Nārāyaṇa, the sons of Dharma, were not to be seen there. He went to bathe in the Yamunā, and the river began to dry up; he went to the river Plakshajā, and it too was dry.
From there he went to Pushkarāraṇya, Magadhāraṇya and Saindhavāraṇya, and bathed freely in their waters. Then he plunged into the tīrthas of Dharmāraṇya and Naimiśāraṇya, and bathed in many more tīrthas and rivers, performing pūjā and yoga in kshetras, āśramas and temples; yet Brahmahatyā did not leave him. Only when he had praised Bhagavān Vishṇu at Kurujāṅgala and gone, as Vishṇu told him, to Vārāṇasī was he freed from Brahmahatyā; and when he bathed in the Kapālamocana tīrtha, Brahmā’s skull fell from his palm.
Source: Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 3
Prahlāda worships Sunetreśvara
Pulastya Maharshi told Nārada the tīrtha-yātrā of Prahlāda, lord of the dānavas and a great bhāgavata. At the Mahākośī, Prahlāda worshipped Haṃseśvara, and from there he went to the excellent Saindhavāraṇya. There he worshipped Sunetreśvara, who holds the śaṅkha and the śūla. Then that mighty-armed devotee went on to Trivishṭapa, where he worshipped Mahādeva, famed as Jaṭādhara, and Hari.
At the close of the yātrā Pulastya Maharshi said: whoever sings this puṇya-giving account of Prahlāda’s tīrtha-yātrā, hears it, or passes it on to others, is freed from all pāpa.
Source: Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 57
Bhagavān Vāmana as Sunetra
When Bhagavān Vāmana had received his upanayana and mastered the Vedas, he asked Bharadvāja Ṛshi for leave to go to Kurukshetra, where Bali was performing the aśvamedha yajña. Bali could perform that yajña on earth, he said, only by the power of Vāmana’s own tejas-aṃśas, the portions of his splendour, and by gaining their presence; all of them could be seen there. Bharadvāja asked him in which places those aṃśas abide. Then Bhagavān Vāmana named the holy places in which he, the many-formed, dwells, and among them he said that at Saindhavāraṇya he is present as Sunetra.
Of all these places he said that they are sanātana (eternal), purātana (ancient) and pavitra (holy); they give dharma, they are full of tejas (divine radiance), they destroy pāpa, and they are always to be praised. Devas, humans and sādhyas who practise darśana (seeing), sparśana (touching), kīrtana (praising) and smaraṇa (remembering) of these forms surely gain all four purushārthas: dharma, artha, kāma and moksha. “This is certain,” said Bhagavān Vāmana.
Source: Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapters 62–63
Bhagavān Vishṇu as Ananta
Agnideva teaches the fifty-five names of Śrī Mahāvishṇu, each to be remembered at its own holy place. One who does japa of these names, he says, gains the fruit of mantra-japa and the imperishable puṇya of worship at the tīrthas. At Saindhavāraṇya, Bhagavān Vishṇu is to be remembered as Ananta, the endless. One who remembers the names in this way gains bhukti (enjoyment) and mukti (moksha). Śrāddha, dāna, 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 or hears these names is freed of pāpa and attains svarga.
Source: Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 305
Sources
- Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapters 3, 57, 62–63
- Agni Purāṇa, Chapter 305