GAYA KSHETHRA - VISHNU PAADA TEMPLE - THE STORY OF GAYASURA & DHARMASHILA ... Legend of Gayasura & Vishnu Paada... Once upon a time there lived a demon King called Gayasura who was a staunch devotee of Lord Vishnu. Once he did a long penance and when Lord Vishnu appeared before him Gayasura asked him to give a boon so that wherever he (Gayasura) lives that place would become the most sacred of all the theerthas and also who ever see him or touch him will attain Mukthi (salvation) immediately. Boon was granted by Lord Vishnu accordingly. Because of the boon everybody started attaining Mukthi and this has intruded the jurisdiction of Lord Yama who rules the death. Then the Trinity Lords approached Gayasura in the guise of Brahmins and asked him for a holy place to perform a sacred Yagna by them. They proposed to perform the Yagna on the body of Gayasura since it was very sacred by virtue of the boon given by Lord Vishnu. The understanding was that the yagna would be held for seven days on the body of Gayasura during which time he was not supposed to get up and deviation of which Gayasura would have to face the death. This was actually a plot to kill him. Accordingly Gayasura stretched his body and slept on the earth with his head in Gaya of Bihar (Siro Gaya), his Navel portion in Jajpur of Orissa (Nabhi Gaya) and his legs in Pithapuram of Andhra Pradesh (Pada Gaya). The yagna commenced and Gayasura was getting frustrated with the heat of sacred fire but was not moving his body. Six days have past and foreseeing the danger of Gayasura’s success of completing seven days, Lord Shiva took the form of a rooster and crowed at midnight. Assuming it as a wake up call in the morning Gayasura woke up and the Yagna got destroyed. Then the three Brahmins revealed their original form and Lord Vishnu told Gayasura that now he has to be killed and accordingly stepped his foot on the chest of Gayasura and subdued him. There is also another version “As Gayasura started getting disturbed the Deities kept a big stone called Dharmashila on the head of Gayasura and all of them stood on it. Besides they also requested Lord Vishnu to keep his foot on the stone so that he would not get up. Accordingly Lord Vishnu stepped on him with his foot and Gayasura started slowly succumbing to the pressure.” Before killing Gayasura Lord Vishnu granted him Mukthi and gave him a boon that his body would become a sacrosanct place for performing sacred rites for departed souls and the place would get immortalized in his name. On request of Gayasura He (Lord Vishnu) also gave a boon that who ever perform ancestral rites at this place and offer Pindas on his body site their ancestors would get salvation besides the people performing the rites and touching the spot. There is also a belief that Lord Vishnu while answering one of Gayasura’s queries had said that the day Pindas stop falling on his body that day he can get up. But since then there is a continuous flow of Pindas falling at this spot and there is no stop to the ritual. It is the same foot print of Lord Vishnu with which Gayasura was suppressed that is being worshiped today at Gaya Kshethra and on which the sacred Pindas are being offered by the pilgrims after performing ancestral rites at this place. The place became famous as Gaya or Gayasirsha where all the Deities including the Trinity Lords reside always. Legend related to Dharmashila.... There was a sage by name Marichi who was the son of Lord Brahma who got married to a person by name Dharmavratha. One day she was washing her husband Marichi’s feet after he returned from forest. At that time Lord Brahma appeared there suddenly. Dharmavratha was in a fix as to whom to attend first. Finally she decided to attend to Lord Brahma first. This action angered sage Marichi and he cursed her of becoming a stone. Dharmavratha got very much disturbed with her husband’s action and started praying Lord Vishnu who appeared in front of her. Dharmavratha requested Lord Vishnu to reverse the curse given by her husband. Since Marichi was a very powerful sage, Lord Vishnu told her that the curse cannot be reversed. Instead it would be converted into a boon by making the stone very sacred and celestial to all the Gods and also ensure that all the Gods reside in it. This was the same stone that was kept on the body of Gayasura when he was killed on which Lord Vishnu had stepped his foot. By the presence of all Deities in it the stone became celestial to be known as Dharmashila. It is said that even a touch of this Dharmashila at Gaya Kshetra in Vishnupada Temple would result in salvation. Sri Krishnaarpanamasthu to be continued.... bhargavasarma.blogspot/2009/03/gaya-pithru-kshetra-part-iii.html
Posted on: Mon, 15 Sep 2014 01:11:04 +0000
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