History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v5.c74.t4.6

v5.c74.t4.6

It would be proper to set out as briefly as possible the story of Jagannātha contained in the Brahmapurāṇa. In Bhāratavarṣa there is a country called Oḍra situated on the shores of the southern ocean, which extends northwards from the sea up to Viraja-maṇḍala¹⁵⁷³ (chap. 28. 1-2). In that country there is a holy place, destroyer of sins and bestower of *mukti*, surrounded on all sides by sand and ten yojanas in extent (chap. 42. 13-14). There is the famous shrine of Puruṣottama in the country of Utkala the whole of which is very holy owing to the favour of the all-pervading Jagannātha (chap. 42. 35-37). Men who reside in Utkala are blessed like gods since Puruṣottama resides there. Chapters 43 and 44 narrate the story of Indradyumna who ruled at Avanti (Ujjayinī) in Mālava (modern Mālvā). He was a very pious, learned and good king who after reading all Vedas, śāstras, epics, purāṇas and Dharmaśāstras came to the conclusion that Vāsudeva was the highest Deity, started from his capital Ujjayinī with a vast army, servants, priests and artisans and came to the shores of the southern sea, saw the kṣetra of Vāsudeva, ten yojanas in breadth and five yojanas in length and encamped there. Formerly there was a Vata tree on the shores of the southern sea near which there was an image of Puruṣottama or¹⁵⁷⁴ Jagannātha made of sapphire, which became embedded in sand and was concealed by creepers and plants. King Indradyumna performed Aśvamedha there, erected a great temple (prāsāda) and was anxious to establish a suitable image of Vāsudeva in the temple. In a dream the king saw Vāsudeva who told him to go alone to the shore in the morning and cut the Vata tree growing just on the water line with an axe. The king did so in the morning and then two brāhmaṇas (who were really Viṣṇu and Viśvakarmā) appeared. Viṣṇu told the king that his associate (Viśvakarmā) will manufacture the image. Three images of Kṛṣṇa, Balarāma and Subhadrā were made and given to the king and Viṣṇu further conferred the boon that the pool called Indradyumna (where the king bathed at the end of his Aśvamedha) will be known by the king's name, that whoever took a bath once in it would go to Indraloka, and that whoever offered piṇḍas on the bank of the pool would save 21 ancestors of his family. Then the king established the three images in the temple built by him.¹⁵⁷⁵ The Skandapurāṇa contains a Puruṣottamamāhātmya in a sub-section called Utkala-khaṇḍa in its section Vaisṇava-khaṇḍa, where the story of Indradyumna is given with some variations.