Gokarṇamāhātmya- A study into Narratives With Special Reference to Gokarṇa Purāṇa

(paper published by Indic Today)

Gokarṇa is situated in Uttara Kannada district of Karnataka. Gokarṇa is considered as Dakṣīṇa Kāśī or even superior to Kāśī. Gokarṇa Mahabaleśvara i.e. Lord Śiva is the main deity of this sacred tīrtha. There is a geographical peculiarity in forming the name Gokarṇa of this place. Gaṅgāvalī and Aghanāśinī are two rivers which form the earth into shape of the ear. Here earth which is referred as go in Sanskrit has taken the shape of ear (karṇa). On one side, it is pervaded by Arabian ocean. Confluence of rivers and sea is a geographical significance that has been responsible for numerous sacred narratives and extraordinary significance of this place.

It is believed that Lord Śiva manifested on earth through the ear of earth, therefore it is considered as the land of Śiva and important pilgrimage centre of India. It is said that temple of Lord Mahabaleśvara has the ātmaliṅga of Śiva i.e. Śiva resides in his own form. Besides this, Gokarṇa has numerous sacred places out of which Dvibhuja Gaṇeśa, Tāmragauri, Ādigokarṇa, Koṭitīrtha are popularly known. It is said that गोकर्णं च महाकाशी विश्वनाथो महाबल: । कोटितीर्थं च गंगाया: सामुद्रमधिकं फलम् ॥ i.e., Gokarṇa is superior to Kāśī being revered as Mahākāśī, Lord Viśvanātha here is known as Mahābala (very powerful), Koṭitīrtha is superior to Gaṅgā due to its association with ocean. Gokarṇa is mentioned as a pious tīrtha in epics and purāṇas. Prominent oral narrative about the place stating its glory is that of Rāvaṇa and Gaṇapati but this narrative is not found in mahāpurāṇas which are popular for glorifying tīrthas.

Story appears in Ānanda Rāmāyaṇa (Sārakāṇḍa, 13^th sarga) with slight variations. Gokarṇa is mentioned as sacred place in Bhāgavatamāhātmya which is responsible for the liberation of Dhundhukāri who wondered in the form of ghost. Mentions of this place are found in epics as well as in various purāṇas. Gurucaritra (7^th adhyāya) a text affiliated to Datta sampradāya mentions this place with great reverence. There is no māhātmya narrative dedicated to Gokarṇa in mahāpurāṇas. It remains a question that why Gokarṇa is mentioned with great reverence. This paper aims to explore Gokarṇa Purāṇa which is unknown to the scholarly world.