Siddheśvara (Diti-saṅgama)
Siddheśvara · siddha-īśvara, “the lord of the siddhas”
Siddheśvara is Bhagavān Śiva in the form of a liṅga at the confluence of the river Diti with the Gaṅgā, the Gautamī. He is without beginning and unageing, his being is existence, knowledge and bliss, and he is served by the chiefs of the devas, the ṛshis, the Siddhas, the gandharvas and the yogins. Bhagavān Śiva himself ordained his pūjā there when, at Diti’s request, he made the place Putratīrtha, the tīrtha that gives sons. Brahmā tells this to Nārada in the Gautamī Māhātmya of the Brahma Purāṇa. One who bathes at the confluence, worships Siddheśvara every day and praises him with Kaśyapa‘s stotra gains a hundred sons and goes at death to the city of Śiva.
Diti, the Maruts and Kaśyapa’s coming to the Gautamī
Brahmā tells Nārada that Putratīrtha is full of puṇya, and that even hearing its greatness gives one’s cherished desires. Diti, grieved that her sons the daityas had grown weak while the sons of Aditi flourished, pleased her husband Kaśyapa, and he taught her a vrata of twelve years and gave her a son in her womb, with rules to keep. But Indra, warned by the daitya Maya, served Diti in the āśrama of Agastya, and when he found her asleep at dusk with her head to the north, he entered her womb and cut the child into seven times seven pieces. They lived, and when they wept he said “mā rudaḥ”, “do not weep”, and so they became the forty-nine Maruts. Agastya and Diti each pronounced a śāpa on Indra.
Kaśyapa came to Brahmā with the guardians of the quarters, asking how Diti’s womb might be healed, Indra freed from the śāpa, and the brothers made friends. Brahmā sent him to the Gautamī with Indra, the Vasus and the guardians of the quarters, to bathe and praise Maheśāna, for only two things are known to remove every sorrow: the sacred Gautamī and Bhagavān Śiva the compassionate.
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 54
Kaśyapa’s stotra
After bathing, Kaśyapa praised Bhagavān Śiva, the master of the devas. Every line begins “Protect”:
- Protect, O Śaṅkara, master of the devas; protect, O you to whom the worlds bow; protect, O purifier.
- Protect, O master of speech, adorned with serpents; protect, O virtuous one seated on the bull.
- Protect, O you whose eyes are the three Vedas; protect, O upholder of the earth, O master of wealth and glory.
- Protect, O Śarva, clothed in the elephant’s hide; protect, O destroyer of the three cities.
- Protect, O crescent-crested one; protect, O master of yajñas, O master of Soma.
- Protect, O giver of cherished things; protect, O abode of mercy; protect, O giver of auspiciousness.
- Protect, O origin of all; protect, O protector, O supreme ruler, master of wealth.
- Protect, O radiant one; protect, O master of wealth to whom Brahmā bows.
- Protect, O master of the universe; protect, O master of the Siddhas; protect, O perfect one; namaskāra to you.
- “O Śiva, ocean of mercy, you alone are the refuge of embodied beings whose minds are weary from wandering in the terrible forest of saṃsāra.”
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 54
Bhagavān Śiva’s varas and Diti’s request
As Kaśyapa praised him, Bhagavān Śiva, whose banner bears the bull, appeared and offered a vara. Hearing all that had happened, he declared that the forty-nine Maruts would share in the yajñas, always with Indra, and have priority wherever Indra receives the offerings; that Indra with the Maruts would never be conquered; and that those who slay a brother unjustly would meet the ruin of their family. He told Agastya to be at peace, for the Maruts had become immortal, and he told Diti that her tapas had borne fruit in splendid, heroic sons, and asked her to choose more varas.
Diti bowed with joined palms. A virtuous, glorious, long-lived son, she said, is dearer to a mother than svarga, moksha or the place of Parameshṭhin himself. “So let that blessing, a son, be granted to one who takes a holy bath here.”
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 54
The pūjā of Siddheśvara
Bhagavān Śaṅkara granted it, and ordained the rites. A barren woman or an impotent man is set right by bathing here; a woman who bathes here after her season, or a pregnant woman who bathes here within three months, offers fruits, has darśana of him and praises him with this prayer, bears a son; and those without sons through offences to the pitṛs or the misuse of money held in trust should offer piṇḍas, propitiate the pitṛs and give a little gold.
The chief rite is at the confluence of Diti and the Gaṅgā, where the devotee worships Bhagavān Siddheśvara: without beginning, unageing, all-pervading, whose body is sat-cit-ānanda (existence, knowledge and bliss), the great Maheśvara served by the chiefs of the devas, the ṛshis, the Siddhas, the gandharvas and the yogins, in the form of a liṅga, radiant and free from all illness. The steps, in order:
- Bathe at the confluence of Diti and the Gaṅgā.
- Worship Siddheśvara every day with all the upacāras (offerings of worship).
- Be devoted to him in bhakti.
- Perform the holy rites with the limbs and senses fully controlled.
- Praise Bhagavān Śiva with this prayer, Kaśyapa‘s stotra, on the ashṭamī and caturdaśī, the eighth and fourteenth days of the lunar fortnight.
- Give gold according to one’s means.
- Feed brāhmaṇas.
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 54
The phala
Whoever does these on the Gaṅgā obtains a hundred sons, and after gaining his desires goes at death to Śivapura, the city of Śiva. Whoever praises Bhagavān Śiva with this prayer, wherever he may be, has a son within six months, even a barren woman. From then on the tīrtha is called Putratīrtha; by bathing there, giving dāna there and performing such rites there, one attains every cherished desire.
Beside it arose Mitratīrtha, where Indra and the Maruts became friends; Śakratīrtha, which freed Indra from pāpa; and Kamalatīrtha, where Indra regained his glory. All of them give every cherished desire. Saying “All will come to pass,” Bhagavān Śiva withdrew from sight, and all who had gathered went away content. It is well known that a hundred thousand tīrthas there give puṇya.
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 54
Sources
- Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 54