Dandapane

About

"Long time ago a Yaksha named Ratna Bhadra had a son named Ratna named Purnabhadra. After the death of Ratnabhadra, Purnabhadra was living a happy life but he had no son. That's why he was longing to have a son. He expressed his desire to his wife, in return she advised her husband to worship the Shivalinga at Kashi. Purnabhadra did the same. He used to worship Lord Shiva by singing hymns. After some time his wife was blessed with a son and the boy was named Harikesh. As time passed, Harikesh became eight years old. Religious instincts started developing in his mind. He started worshiping by making a Shivling of clay. He also used to call his friends by different names of Lord Shiva like- Chandrashekhar, Mrityunjay, Neelkanth, Trilochan etc. He used to visit various Shivlingas and temples continuously. His father Purnachandra became very worried because Harikesh became religious at a very young age. He told Harikesh to devote himself to the work of the household, but the son ignored it. Without telling his parents, one day in the morning, Harikesh left home and started wandering here and there aimlessly. He remembered an incident from some time ago. A sage had told his father that Kashi is the most suitable place for a man if he does not have a definite goal. Harikesh soon reached Kashi and started worshiping Lord Vishweshwar. Lord Shiva and Mother Parvati were in Anandvan (Kashi) and Lord Shiva was throwing light on various aspects of Kashi. In this sequence, he told that those who live in Kashi, they will always be happy and those whose body is sacrificed in Kashi will not be reborn. They are really admirable. In Kashi Khand Adhyay-2, Lord Shiva has described the beauty of Kashi in detail to Mother Parvati. When all this conversation was happening, Lord Shiva's eyes fell on Harikesh. At that time, Harikesh's body had become very weak and the body was just a skeleton. Mother Parvati was mesmerized by the tireless penance of Lord Shiva performed by the child Harikesh and asked the Lord to bless the child. Accordingly Lord Shiva moved towards the child and touched him with great tenderness. The child was overjoyed to see that the Lord was shining like a million suns. He started praising Lord Shiva through beautiful songs. Lord Shiva blessed the child and said that he would reside in Kashi like the ardent devotees of Lord Shiva. He will protect the holy places of Kashi from evil spirits and drive them away from Kashi. The Lord also ordered that the Yaksha Harikesha would always be accompanied by two Shivaganas named Samparam and Utparam. Immediately Lord Shiva conferred the title of Yaksharaj on Harikesh and said that the person who does not worship Yaksharaj will not get the benefits of liberation in Kashi. Harikesha got the title of Dandapani (Dandapani - One who has punishment in hand). Further, Lord Shiva explained that if someone bathes in Gyanvapi pilgrimage and performs rituals for the sake of ancestors and worships Dandapani, then that fortunate person will get the blessings of Lord Shiva. It is described in the Kashi section that Dandapani will stay towards the south direction of Lord Vishweshwar, as well as allow only virtuous/religious persons to visit and worship Kashi Vishwanath. Those devotees who will visit and worship Dandapani (Kashi), all the obstacles in their life will be removed. Life will be happy and they will definitely get liberation."