Sambodhi 2012 Vol 35

Author(s): J B Shah
Publisher: L D Indology Ahmedabad

Page 69

Vol. XXXV, 2012
On Some Tirthas in the Vāmanapurāņa
59
in literature, both sacred and profane. The sanctity of Kuruksetra doubtless springs from its close association with Sarasvatī, one of the holiest rivers of the country, and the host of gods who visited or resided at it from time to time. However, a firm footing was provided it is by its founder Kuru, the son of Samvarana of the Puru race, who, according to the VP was a mighty guardian of the land and people. He wandered all over the earth in search of abiding fame, but could feel secure only after he stepped in the Dvaita forest. Considering Brahma's northern Vedī, the Samantapañcaka on the bank of Sarasvati which extended to five Yojanas on all sides, as the surest bestower of merit, he decided to sow in it the seeds of his aspirations, i.e. resolved to turn the mighty jungle into a worthy place of habitation in accordance with his notions of a town. While tilling it with a golden plough drawn by Śiva's bull and Yama's bison, he, in a bid to prove his credentials, sequentially offered the respective parts of his body including the head to Lord Visnu. Pleased by the rare spirit of dedication and sacrifice, Visnu, in response to his wishes, turned the region into a dharmaksetra, a region of righteousness (VP, xxii. 9-33). And in order to safeguard it, the Lord appointed the yaksa Candra, the serpent Vāsuki, the vidyādhara Sankukarna, the demon - chief Sukesi, the king Ajāvana and the sacred five Mahādeva (VP, xxii. 38-41). Visnu too set up his abode there alongwith Sankara and other deities (VP, xxii.36). Kuruksetra was originally known as Brahmasarovara. It was later given the name of Rāmahrada and subsequentally come to be called Kuruksetra after it was ploughed by the 'Sage' Kuru. The sacred Sarasvatī flowed through it.
The greatness and holiness of Kuruksetra defy words. The description in the vp leaves little doubt that it was a devabhūmi, a divine land. Brahmā and other gods visited it from time is time to realise their respective missions and wishes (VP, xxi.20). It was here that the great god Sankara met Ušanas (Sukra), the repository of penance(taponidhi), on the bank the Oghavatī river (VP, L x 11.40). The divine mother Aditi hallowed the region by her stay there (VP, xxviii.4-5). It was at Kuruksetra that Bali conducted his famous Yañja, and gave in charity the three steps of land to Vāmana that the sought so innocuously. It was again in the holy land of Kuruksetra that kārttikeya was consecrated as commander-in-chief of the divine army (VP, 57.51-54). Kuruksetra was so holy a tīrtha that even its dust was believed to extinguish misdeeds done knowingly or unknowingly and to emancipate from the wordly bondage even the worst of the sinners.
पांशवोऽपि कुरुक्षेत्रे वायुना समुदीरिताः । Hercogarcha fut wifi ( = f) URH CH 11 VP, 45.236