Kaśyapa’s Stotra to Madhyameśvara (Brahma Purāṇa)
Kaśyapa Kṛta Madhyameśvara Stotra · kaśyapa kṛta madhyama-īśvara stotra, “the stotra to the lord in the middle sung by Kaśyapa”
Kaśyapa‘s Stotra to Madhyameśvara is the praise in three verses that Kaśyapa Prajāpati offered to Bhagavān Śiva, who dwells in the middle of the Gautamī Gaṅgā as Madhyameśvara, “the Īśvara in the middle”. It is found in the Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 30 (verses 19–21), where Brahmā tells it to Nārada. Kaśyapa sang it when his two wives, Kadrū, mother of the nāgas, and Suparṇā, had been turned into rivers by the śāpa of the brāhmaṇas whose yajña they had spoiled. In it he praises Śiva as the sole master of the three worlds without pride of possession, Siddhanātha, maker of the universe and husband of Śivā, who alone removes the threefold misery of beings. Pleased, Bhagavān Śiva granted him many varas, and by Śiva’s word and the touch of the Gaṅgā his wives regained their own bodies. The place became the tīrtha of the Kadrū and Suparṇā confluences.
The setting
Brahmā tells Nārada that the Vālakhilyas, great ṛshis harassed by Indra, came to Kaśyapa and gave him half of their tapas, saying, “Beget a splendid son through whom Indra’s arrogance can be quelled.” Kaśyapa agreed, and made both Suparṇā and Kadrū pregnant. Before setting out on a journey he told them: “You must commit no offence and go nowhere; if you go elsewhere, you will surely receive a śāpa.”
When he had gone, the two went to a yajña of the ṛshis on the bank of the Gaṅgā, its hall crowded with brāhmaṇas. Proud of their youth and wealth, and though the ṛshis forbade them again and again, they spoiled the havis of the yajña. The brāhmaṇas pronounced a śāpa: “Since you cling to the wrong path, you will become rivers.” And Suparṇā and Kadrū became rivers.
Kaśyapa returned and heard all that had happened. Not knowing what to do, he told the Vālakhilyas. They said: “Go to Gaṅgā Gautamī and praise Maheśāna, and they will become your wives again. Go to the place in the middle of the Gaṅgā where Bhagavān Maheśvara dwells always by the name of Madhyameśvara.” Saying “So be it”, Kaśyapa bathed in the Gaṅgā and praised Maheśvara, ruler of the devas, with sacred stotras.
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 30
The stotra
- “He is the sole master of the three worlds, yet he has not the least pride of possession. May that Siddhanātha, maker of the whole universe, the husband of Śivā, be pleased.”
- “You alone can take away the misery of all embodied beings, moving and unmoving, who run about here and there scorched by the sun of the threefold misery (tāpa-traya).”
- “The threefold union of Śiva with sattva, rajas and tamas cannot be told even by Śakra and the other devas. Knowing Soma to be the doer of many wonderful acts, the excellent one who is ever devoted to dāna is always happy.”
The names of Śiva in the stotra, in order: sole master of the three worlds; free of all pride of possession; Siddhanātha, master of the Siddhas; maker of the whole universe; husband of Śivā; the one who removes the threefold misery; the one joined with sattva, rajas and tamas; Soma, the doer of many wonderful acts.
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 30
Śiva’s grace
Praised with these and other stotras, Bhagavān Śiva, the beloved husband of Gaurī, was pleased, and Śambhu granted Kaśyapa many varas. To Kaśyapa, who sought his wives, he said: “Your two wives will keep the forms of rivers. They will reach the Gaṅgā, the most excellent of rivers, and by that touch alone they will regain their own bodies.” So it was, and by the grace of the Gaṅgā they became pregnant once again.
Kaśyapa, rejoicing, invited the brāhmaṇas who lived on the banks of the Gautamī, performed the sīmantonnayana rite for his wives and fed the brāhmaṇas according to the rules. As they ate, Kadrū, seated near her husband, winked and laughed at them, and they pronounced a śāpa that the eye with which she winked would be split; so Kadrū, mother of the serpents, became blind in one eye. Kaśyapa pacified the brāhmaṇas, and they said: “The Gautamī, most excellent of rivers, when resorted to, will protect one from thousands of wrongs.” Kaśyapa bathed in the Gautamī with his wives.
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 30
The phala
From then on the confluence of the two rivers is a tīrtha. Brahmā names it the Suparṇā-saṅgama and the Kādrava-saṅgama, where Maheśvara has come to dwell on the bank of the Gaṅgā. The river Kadrū flows all round and the river Sauparṇikā to the east, and the tīrtha Jaṭādhara extends from the Kadrū eastward to the Sauparṇikā. This tīrtha is a little holier than Vārāṇasī; it removes all pāpas and gives the fruit of all yajñas.
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 30
Sources
- Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 30