Devalok
Temple legend · 2 tellings · West India

Savitri's curse and Gayatri at Pushkar

The two names of Savitr's verse as two wives of Brahma: Savitri comes late to the sacrifice at Pushkar, Brahma marries the cowherd girl Gayatri, Savitri curses the gods and goes up the hill.

Who is in it

  • Brahma the sacrificer
  • Savitri the wife who comes late and curses
  • Gayatri the cowherd's daughter married in her place
  • Indra fetches the girl
  • Vishnu presents her and later pacifies Savitri

Places: Pushkar

The story, beat by beat

  1. Brahma holds a sacrifice at Pushkar and sends the adhvaryu to call Savitri.
  2. Savitri says the house is not ready and Lakshmi and the other goddesses have not come; she will not come alone.
  3. The time is passing; Brahma tells Indra to bring another wife.
  4. Indra brings a cowherd's daughter selling milk, butter and curds; Vishnu has Brahma marry her; she is named Gayatri.
  5. Savitri arrives with the goddesses, and Brahma, head hung, asks her pardon.
  6. She curses Brahma to be worshipped only in the month of Karttika, and curses Indra, Vishnu, Rudra, Agni and the priests.
  7. Gayatri softens each curse with a boon.
  8. Savitri goes up a mountain where she will hear no sound.

sacrifice curse rival wives pilgrimage

How it is told, place by place

Base telling · Primary text (translation)

Padma Purana, Srishti Khanda 16-17

West India · Pushkar, Rajasthan All traditions

At Pushkar, with Bhrigu, Pulastya, Marichi and Narada as priests, Brahma sends for Savitri. She is still preparing the house and will not come until Lakshmi and the other goddesses arrive. Brahma, angry that the time is passing, has Indra fetch a cowherd's daughter who sells milk and butter; Vishnu tells him to marry her and she is named Gayatri. Savitri arrives, rebukes Brahma, and curses him to be worshipped only in Karttika; she also curses Indra, Vishnu, Rudra, Agni, the priests and the goddesses. Gayatri answers each curse with a boon. Vishnu praises Savitri, and she withdraws to a mountain.

The Padma Purana, Srishti Khanda, tr. N. A. Deshpande (Motilal Banarsidass), on wisdomlib.org § srishti.16-17

Encyclopedia

Pushkar temple tradition

West India · Pushkar, Rajasthan All traditions

At Pushkar the wife who came late is shown still sitting apart: Savitri's temple stands on Ratnagiri hill behind the Brahma temple, and Gayatri's on a lower hill on the other side of the lake. The curse is told as the reason Brahma has almost no temple but this one. Pilgrims bathe in the lake at Karttika full moon.

What is different here:

The curse becomes "worshipped nowhere but Pushkar"; Gayatri is a Gurjar girl; the two hill temples carry the quarrel into the landscape.

Brahma Temple, Pushkar (Wikipedia) § legend

Sources: The Padma Purana, Srishti Khanda, tr. N. A. Deshpande (Motilal Banarsidass), on wisdomlib.org; Brahma Temple, Pushkar (Wikipedia)

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