Anasūyā: The River That Came for a Wife's Vow

The liṅgas around Citrakūṭa

Sūta is naming the liṅgas of the land. Near Brahmapurī, he says, on the mountain Citrakūṭa, stands a liṅga called Mattagajendra, set up long ago by Brahmā, which fulfils every wish. To its east is Koṭīśvara, giver of every boon, and to the west of the Godāvarī is the liṅga called Paśupati.

And to the south, he says, is the liṅga called Atrīśvara. In that form Śiva himself appeared with a portion of his being, for the good of the world and to bring joy to Anasūyā, and gave life back to every creature when the rains had failed and all were close to death.

The sages ask how this divine Atrīśvara came to be. Sūta praises the question: he will tell a story so auspicious that whoever listens to it again and again is surely freed from every sin.

The drought in the Kāmada forest

South of Citrakūṭa lay a great forest called Kāmada, a place of blessing for good people and ascetics. There the great sage Atri, a son of Brahmā, was practising severe tapas together with his wife Anasūyā.

Then, by the world's misfortune, a terrible drought came, lasting a hundred years and bringing suffering to every living thing. Trees, leaves and fruits all withered. Not even a little water could be found for the daily rites. There was no moisture anywhere; a dry wind blew in all ten directions, and a great cry of distress rose all over the earth.

Anasūyā, devoted to her husband, saw creatures dying around her and told Atri that she could not bear this suffering.

Atri goes into samādhi

Atri then took his seat, did prāṇāyāma three times and sank into samādhi. The wise sage fixed his mind on the changeless supreme light, the very form of Śiva, dwelling within the self.

With their teacher lost in meditation and no food to be had, Atri's disciples left him and went far away. Anasūyā was left alone. Yet she was glad to serve, and she gave herself entirely to two things: her husband Atri and her chosen deity, Sadāśiva. She became aware of nothing else.

She made a beautiful earthen liṅga and worshipped it properly with mantras and with offerings made in the mind. Again and again she served Śaṅkara and praised him with devotion. With folded hands she walked around the Lord, and at every round she lay full length on the ground in prostration.

A fire no one could approach

The Purāṇa says that when the daityas and dānavas saw this radiant woman, they were shaken and kept their distance, held back by her tejas. As people keep away from a fire, so no one came near her.

Sūta adds a judgement: greater even than Atri's tapas was Anasūyā's service of Śiva, offered in mind, speech and action. For as long as Atri stayed in samādhi, absorbed in his breath, she kept serving him. The two of them each held to their own task; no one else remained there, and a very long time passed while the sage, lost in meditation, knew nothing of the outer world.

The gods come to see

Pleased by Atri's tapas and Anasūyā's worship, all the gods, the sages and all the rivers, Gaṅgā first among them, came with love to see the couple. They were astonished at what they saw.

Looking at the two of them, they asked one another which was greater, Atri's tapas or Anasūyā's worship. Then they said that her devotion was greater. Sages of old had done hard tapas, they said, but no one had ever done tapas this hard. Blessed is Atri, and blessed is Anasūyā, who are doing such fierce tapas with love. Nowhere in the three worlds, as far as anyone knows, has such auspicious and difficult tapas been done.

Having praised them, the visitors went back the way they had come. But two remained. Gaṅgā stayed, drawn by Anasūyā's fidelity and service, saying that she would not leave until she had done this woman some good. And Śiva stayed too, held there in his full presence by Atri's meditation, and did not go back to Kailāsa.

Fifty-four years went by, the Purāṇa says, and still no rain fell. Anasūyā had vowed that she would take nothing at all for as long as her husband remained in samādhi. With Atri fixed in his tapas and Anasūyā fixed in her worship of Śiva, Sūta tells the sages to listen to what happened next.

“Give me water”

At last Atri, greatest of the knowers of Brahman, woke from his samādhi. The first thing he said to his beloved wife was: Give me water.

Anasūyā resolved that she would bring it, whatever it took. She took her water-pot and set out into the forest, wondering where she could possibly find water — what to do, where to go. While she was caught in that bewilderment, she saw Gaṅgā on the path, and she began to follow her.

Gaṅgā, the best of rivers, in a beautiful form, turned and spoke to her. I am pleased with you, she said. Where are you going? You are truly blessed, and I will do whatever you ask.

Anasūyā was amazed. Lotus-eyed one, she asked, who are you, and where have you come from? You speak so sweetly; you seem like a virtuous, faithful woman yourself.

I have seen your service of your husband and of the supreme Lord Sadāśiva, Gaṅgā answered, and your righteous life, and so I have stayed close to you. I am Gaṅgā. Your worship of Śiva has pleased me, and I have come under your command. Ask for whatever you want.

Anasūyā bowed to her and said simply: If you are pleased with me, give me water.

Dig a pit, said Gaṅgā. In a moment Anasūyā had done it and was standing beside it. Gaṅgā entered the pit and turned into water, and Anasūyā, wonderstruck, filled her pot.

Then, thinking of the good of the world, she made one more request: if Gaṅgā was pleased with her, would she stay right there until Anasūyā's husband came? Gaṅgā agreed with great joy and told her: Give this water of mine to Atri. Anasūyā did so. She gave the divine, unfailing water to her husband and stood before him.

Atri's question and Anasūyā's dilemma

Atri sipped the water with the proper rite, drank it with deep love and felt a great happiness. But he paused. This is not the water I used to drink every day, he thought. He looked around the forest and saw the dry trees and the even drier horizons. Has it still not rained? he asked. No, said Anasūyā, it has not. Then where did you get this water? he asked.

Anasūyā was caught in a difficulty. If she told him, she thought, it would set her up as the greater one. If she did not tell him, she would be breaking her fidelity to him. What could she do to avoid both and still speak the truth? While she was still weighing it, the sage asked her again and again.

Then, given understanding by Śiva's grace, she answered: Listen, my lord, I will tell you what happened. By the power of Mahādeva and by your merit, Gaṅgā has come here. This is her water.

Atri was astonished. Remembering Śaṅkara in his heart, he said to his wife: My dear, are you speaking the truth, or not? I cannot decide, because this is so rare a thing. What even yogīs and gods can never achieve — how has it happened today? I am amazed. If it is so, I want to see it. Then I will believe, and not otherwise.

Gaṅgā in the pit

If you wish to see Gaṅgā, best of rivers, said Anasūyā, come with me. Remembering Śiva, she quickly led her husband to the spot where Gaṅgā was, and showed him the divine river standing in the pit.

When the sage saw the lovely pit filled with water to the brim, he said: Blessed is she! Is this my own tapas made visible, or someone else's? Saying this, he praised Gaṅgā with devotion. He bathed well in the clear water, sipped it and praised her again and again. Anasūyā bathed too, and there the two of them performed their daily rites.

A year of merit

Then Gaṅgā told Anasūyā that she would now go back to her own place. Anasūyā answered: Queen of the gods, if you are pleased and kind to me, then stay here in this forest of tapas and make your home here. It is the nature of the great that once they have accepted someone, they never abandon them. With joined hands she praised her again. Atri joined his prayer to hers: Best of rivers, goddess, live here, be gracious to us, and do not leave us without a protector.

Gaṅgā was delighted by their words, and she named her condition to Anasūyā. If you give me the fruit of one year of your worship of Śaṅkara and your service of your husband, she said, then I will stay here for the good of the gods.

Gifts, bathing at tīrthas, sacrifices and yoga do not satisfy me as much as a wife's fidelity does, Gaṅgā went on. Nothing gladdens my heart as much as seeing such a woman. I tell you the truth, faithful Anasūyā: when I see a faithful wife, my own sins are destroyed and I become especially pure. Such a woman is equal to Pārvatī. So if you will give me that merit for the good of the world, and if you wish for blessing, I will stay here for good.

Hearing this, Anasūyā gave Gaṅgā the whole merit of that year. It is the nature of the great to work for the good of others, the Purāṇa remarks; gold, sandalwood and sugarcane juice are the examples.

Atrīśvara and the return of the rain

Seeing this great act of fidelity, Mahādeva was pleased, and in that very moment he rose up out of the earthen liṅga. Faithful one, said Śambhu, I am pleased to see what you have done. Ask me for a boon, my dear, for you are very dear to me.

Husband and wife were amazed to see Śiva, five-faced and lovely in form. With joined hands and great devotion they bowed and praised him, worshipped the Lord who brings good to the world, and said together: Lord of the gods, if you are pleased, and if the Mother of the world is pleased too, then live in this forest of tapas and be a source of happiness for all people.

So, pleased, Gaṅgā and Sadāśiva both stayed where the great sage Atri lived. Sadāśiva, who takes away the sorrow of others, became famous there under the name Atrīśvara, and Gaṅgā, by her own power, remained in that same pit. From that day water flowed there always and never ran out, and Gaṅgā, dwelling in that pit a cubit wide, became known as Mandākinī.

The divine sages who had gone elsewhere came back to the place with their wives. The whole land filled with barley and rice, and the people there, sacrificing alongside those sages, began to make offerings in the fire. Pleased by these rites, the clouds rained abundantly, and great joy spread through the world.

This, Sūta tells the sages, is the glory of Atrīśvara: it gives happiness, grants both enjoyment and liberation, fulfils every wish and makes devotion grow.