Somanātha: The Moon's Healing

The first of the twelve

The sages asked Sūta to tell them about the Jyotirliṅgas — how each one arose and what its glory is. Sūta said that even in hundreds of years their greatness could not be told in full, but he would tell it briefly, as he had heard it from his own teacher. Somanātha, he said, is named first of them all, so listen to his story first.

Twenty-seven brides

Dakṣa gave twenty-seven of his daughters, beginning with Aśvinī, in marriage to Candra, the Moon. The brides shone with their husband, and he shone with them — the Purāṇa likens it to a jewel set in gold, where the gold makes the jewel beautiful and the jewel makes the gold beautiful.

But in time something went wrong. Among all his wives, the one called Rohiṇī was dearer to the Moon than any other — far dearer. The rest felt neglected, and in their sorrow they went to their father and told him everything.

Dakṣa pleads

Dakṣa was deeply troubled. He went to the Moon and spoke to him calmly. You were born in a noble family, he said. Everyone who depends on you should be treated alike — so why do you treat them unequally? What is done is done. But do not go on like this. Partiality, it is said, leads to hell.

Having asked his son-in-law this, Dakṣa went home at ease, thinking the matter settled. But the Moon did not listen. The Purāṇa says he was deluded by Śiva's māyā — the same māyā that holds the whole world in its spell — and that what is bound to happen will happen: when good is due it comes, and when misfortune is due, how can good come instead?

So the Moon stayed wrapped up in Rohiṇī and gave no regard to any of his other wives. Dakṣa, grieved, came a second time. He was skilled in wise counsel, and he spoke carefully. Then, when his words failed, he pronounced the curse: I have pleaded with you in so many ways, and you would not listen. Therefore may you be seized by the wasting disease.

The Moon wastes away

The moment he said it, the Moon began to waste away. As he dwindled, a great cry of distress went up. The gods and the sages were all troubled and at a loss. What should be done? they asked one another. How will he be saved?

The Moon told his story to Indra and the other gods, and to Vasiṣṭha and the other sages, and together they all went to Brahmā for shelter. They bowed to him, praised him, and told him what had happened.

Brahmā remembers

Brahmā was astonished. He praised the power of Śiva's māyā, and then he spoke bluntly. Here is a great trouble, he said, one that brings pain to the whole world. This Moon has always been wicked — and now Dakṣa has cursed him.

Listen to what he did long ago, Brahmā went on. He went to the house of Bṛhaspati, the gods' teacher, and carried off his wife Tārā. Then he joined the daityas and fought against the gods on their side. Only when Atri and I forbade him did he give Tārā back.

Bṛhaspati saw that she was with child and said he would not take her back. We had to talk him round, and even then he agreed only with great difficulty, and only if she gave up the child. So I had the child brought forth, and I asked Tārā whose it was. The Moon's, she said. After that Bṛhaspati, at my word, took her back.

He has done many things like this, Brahmā said — how could I list them all? And why is he still behaving the same way today? But what was bound to happen has happened, and cannot be undone. Now hear the remedy.

Let the Moon go with the gods to the auspicious land of Prabhāsa, and there worship Śiva by the rite of Mṛtyuñjaya, the Conqueror of Death. Let him set up a Śiva-liṅga before him and do tapas every day. Then Śiva will be pleased and free him from the wasting disease.

Tapas at Prabhāsa

The gods and sages came back to where Dakṣa and the Moon were. They reassured Dakṣa, took the Moon with them, and went to Prabhāsa. There they called upon Sarasvatī and the other great sacred waters to be present, and worshipped Śiva with the Mṛtyuñjaya mantra by the rite of the pārthiva liṅga — the liṅga shaped from earth. Then, their hearts at peace, they left the Moon at Prabhāsa and went home.

For six months without a break the Moon did tapas, worshipping the bull-bannered Lord with the Mṛtyuñjaya mantra. With a steady mind he repeated that mantra ten crore times — a hundred million — meditating on Mṛtyuñjaya, the Lord who is himself the mantra.

The boon of the fortnights

Śiva, who loves his devotees, was pleased to see him. He appeared and said: Blessings on you, Candra. Ask whatever boon your heart desires. I am pleased with you, and I will grant you every good boon.

Lord of the gods, said the Moon, if you are pleased with me, what could be beyond my reach? Still, Śaṅkara, take away the wasting disease from my body. Forgive my fault, and always do me good.

Śiva answered: Candra, in one fortnight one of your digits (kalās) will wane each day; and in the other fortnight, day by day, it will grow again.

So the Moon did not escape the curse, and was not destroyed by it either. His wasting became the waning, and his healing became the waxing — the rhythm he keeps to this day.

Someśvara

When the Moon had received this boon, the gods and sages hurried back to Prabhāsa, full of joy. They blessed the Moon, bowed to Śiva, and with folded hands begged him: Lord of lords, Mahādeva, Supreme Lord, we bow to you. Śambhu, our master — stay here, together with Pārvatī.

The Purāṇa says that Śiva, who had been formless, was praised by the Moon with such devotion that he took form again. Pleased with the gods, and to raise the glory of that place and spread the Moon's fame, he stayed there under the Moon's own name, and became known in all three worlds as Someśvara, the Lord of Soma. Worshipped there, he destroys wasting, leprosy and other diseases.

Blessed is the Moon, the Purāṇa says; his life has borne its fruit — for under his name the Lord of the world himself dwells there, making the earth holy.

The Candrakuṇḍa

There too the gods established a pool in the Moon's name, the Candrakuṇḍa, where Śiva and Brahmā are held to dwell together. It is famous on earth and destroys every sin. Whoever bathes there is freed of all sins, and whoever bathes in it steadily for six months is rid of wasting and other diseases that nothing else can cure.

The Purāṇa adds more: one who walks around the sacred land of Prabhāsa with a pure heart gains the merit of walking around the whole earth, and after death is honoured in heaven. One who sees the Someśvara liṅga is freed of all sins, gains what he longs for in this world and goes to heaven afterwards. Whatever a person comes to this tīrtha seeking, that is what he receives — of this there is no doubt.

The Moon returns to his work

Having seen for themselves what Someśvara could do, the gods and sages bowed to Śiva with love. They took the Moon — free now of his wasting — walked around the tīrtha, praising it as they went, and returned to their own realms. And the Moon took up his ancient work once more.

This, said Sūta, is how the Someśvara liṅga arose. Whoever hears the story of its origin, or tells it to others, has all his wishes fulfilled and is freed of every sin.