Maṅgalā-snāna Mantra in the Brahma Purāṇa

Maṅgalā Snāna Mantra · maṅgalā snāna mantra, “the mantra of the bath from which the Maṅgalā arose”

The Maṅgalā-snāna Mantra is the mantra to the Godāvarī that Bhagavān Vishṇu and Bhagavān Śiva, Hari and Hara together, gave to Indra and Bṛhaspati for the holy bath in the Gautamī. It is found in the Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 52, where Brahmā tells Nārada the glory of Pūrṇatīrtha on the northern bank of the Gautamī. With this mantra Bṛhaspati performed the great ablution of Indra so that his kingdom would never again be lost, and from the waters of that ablution arose the river Maṅgalā. Whoever repeats the mantra and bathes in the Gautamī has his holy rites made complete by the grace of Hari and Hara and is freed from the faults of past births.

The setting

Brahmā tells Nārada that, through the fruit of past karma, Indra had three times been ousted from his throne: once by Nahusha after the slaying of Vṛtra, once on the slaying of Sindhusena, and once when he violated the honour of Ahalyā. Grieving, Indra asked Bṛhaspati why he lost his kingdom again and again, and Bṛhaspati took him to Brahmā. Brahmā meditated long and said that Indra had fallen because of khaṇḍa-dharma, dharma broken or left incomplete, which comes from defects of place and time, misplaced faith or wrongly spoken mantras, dakshiṇā left unpaid, poor things given in dāna, and slighting the devas and brāhmaṇas. Brahmā told them also of King Dhanvantari, son of Āyus, and the incidents of the previous birth.

Asked for the remedy, Brahmā said: “Go to the Gautamī, the divine river, and praise Bhagavān Vishṇu and Bhagavān Śaṅkara. In the three worlds there is no means of purification other than those two and that river.” Indra and Bṛhaspati went to the Gautamī, bathed, had darśana of Bhagavān Vishṇu and Bhagavān Śaṅkara, and praised them: Indra praised Bhagavān Vishṇu in his avatāras, and Bṛhaspati praised Bhagavān Śiva as Someśvara.

Hari and Hara were pleased and offered any vara, however hard to gain. Indra asked that the pāpa be subdued, so that he and all that was his would be steady in his kingdom for ever. Smiling upon Indra and Bṛhaspati, they said, “So be it.” Their forms were free of every lack and every change, standing without support, the refuge of the worlds, the givers of bhukti and mukti. Hari and Hara said: “This great tīrtha has three presiding deities. The river Gautamī grants whatever is desired. Repeating the mantra given here, bathe in it with great reverence. For the welfare of Mahendra, let Bṛhaspati perform the ablution, and let him remember us both for the steadiness of his fortune.”

The mantra

“Whatever good and meritorious deeds have been performed in this birth and in the previous birth, may they attain perfection and completeness. O Godāvarī, namaskāra to you.”

Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 52

The phala

Whoever repeats this mantra and bathes in the Gautamī has his holy rite made perfect by the blessing and grace of both Hari and Hara; he is freed from the faults committed in previous births, and he becomes full of puṇya.

Indra and Bṛhaspati, here called Surendra and Dhishaṇa, said “So be it” and did so with great joy, and Bṛhaspati, guru of the dwellers of svarga, performed the mahābhisheka, the great ablution, of Indra. The holy river that arose from that ablution was called Maṅgalā. Its confluence with the Gaṅgā is holy and grants all that is auspicious; that confluence is Pūrṇatīrtha. Brahmā says that one who even unknowingly bathes at Pūrṇatīrtha, where both Bhagavān Vishṇu, bearer of the cakra, and Bhagavān Śiva, bearer of the Pināka, dwell, gains auspicious things, and that whoever hears, reads or daily remembers the glory of that tīrtha regains a lost kingdom.