History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v6.c81.905

v6.c81.905

The story that illustrates this extremely exaggerated praise of Śivarātri in the Garuḍapurāṇa seems to be the older of the three and therefore it is briefly set out here. There was a king of *niṣādas* named Sundarasenaka on Mount Abu, who went out to a forest for hunting with his dog. He bagged no animal and being oppressed by hunger and thirst he remained awake the whole night on the bank of a tank in a thicket of trees. Underneath a bilva tree there was a Śivalinga and in an effort to keep his body at ease he threw down leaves of the bilva tree which fell on the top of the linga without his knowing it In order to put down dust he (took water from the tank and) splashed it so that it fell on the linga and one of his arrows fell down from his hands on the linga through inadvertence which he took from the linga by falling on his knees before the linga In this way he unconsciously bathed the linga, touched it, worshipped it (with bilva leaves) and kept awake the whole night. In the morning he came back to his house and partook of food given by his wife. When he died in course of time he was seized by the myrmidons of Yama, when Śiva's attendants fought with them and liberated him and he became a sinless attendant of Śiva together with his dog In this way he collected merit without knowing it; if a person does with⁵⁷⁹ full knowledge (what the niṣāda did without knowing) the merit is inexhaustible. The Agnipurāṇa expressly mentions the hunter Sundarasenaka⁵⁸⁰. The whole chapter of Garuda is quoted in the Varṣakriyā-kaumudī pp. 512-513. The story in the Skanda is more elaborate. There it is a wicked Kirāta named Canda who killed fish by catching them in his nets and killed also many animals and birds. He had a wife who matched him in his cruelty. Thus passed many years One day he ascended a bilva tree taking water in a quiver desirous of killing a wild boar and passed the whole night without sleep keeping a watch and cast down many bilva leaves which fell on a linga at the bottom of the bilva tree. He also rinsed his mouth with water from the quiver, that fell on the linga. In this way he worshipped Śiva in all ways, viz he bathed (snapana) the linga with water, he worshipped linga with numberless bilva leaves and he kept awake the whole night and was without food that day. He alighted from the tree and began, after reaching the tank, to catch fish. Because he did not return home that night, his wife went without food and water and passed that night in anxiety. In the morning she came to that forest with some food for her husband and seeing her husband on the other side of a river, she placed the food on the river bank and began to cross the river. They both bathed in the river, but before the kirāta could reach the food a dog came there and ate all the food. When the wife wanted to kill the dog the kirāta whose heart was softened persuaded his wife to desist from killing the dog. By that time it was noon (on amāvāsyā) and Śiva's attendants came there to take both the husband and wife as he had worshipped (though unknowingly) the linga and as both had fasted on 14th. The kirāta and his wife reached Śivaloka. The Padmapurāṇa (VI. 240. 32 ff) weaves, as the Skanda does, its story round a niṣāda.