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Matsyapurana 77

English (machine translation) 77

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77.1

Īśvara said: / I shall declare Śarkarāsaptamī, which likewise destroys sins, / by which infinite life, health, and sovereign power are produced.

77.2

In the bright fortnight of the month of Mādhava, on the seventh day, restrained in his vow, / having bathed in the morning with white sesame, with white garlands and ointment,

77.3

drawing a lotus with its pericarp using saffron on an altar, / upon it, with 'Salutation to Savitṛ', he should present fragrance and incense.

77.4

He should also set down a water-pot accompanied by a vessel of sugar, / adorned with white clothes, with white garlands and ointments, / accompanied by gold, and worship with this mantra:

77.5

'Since you consist of all the Vedas and are recited as the teacher of the Vedas, / you are indeed the nectar of everything; therefore grant me peace.'

77.6

Then, having drunk the five products of the cow, he should sleep on the bare earth beside it; / he remains recalling the hymn to the Sun and listening to the Purāṇa.

77.7

After the day and night have passed, having performed his daily duties on the eighth day, / he should similarly present all that to a learned brāhmaṇa.

77.8

He should feed brāhmaṇas according to his ability with sugar, clarified butter, and milk-rice, / and himself, controlling his speech, should eat food without oil or salt.

77.9

According to this procedure, he should perform everything month after month. / At the end of the year, a bed accompanied by a pot of sugar,

77.10

equipped with all domestic furnishings, and likewise one milch cow; / and if capable, he should give a house equipped with all furnishings.

77.11

Having made it with a thousand niṣkas, or he should give it with a hundred, / or with ten, or with one niṣka, or even with half of that, according to his means.

77.12

A golden horse should be given, with recitation of mantras as before. / One should not practice miserliness with wealth; practicing it, one incurs fault.

77.13

As Sūrya drank nectar, the drops of nectar that fell from his mouth / onto the earth are traditionally known as rice, mung beans, and sugarcane.

77.14

Sugar, being the essence of sugarcane, is supreme and possesses the nature of nectar; / therefore sugar is dear to Ravi and sacred in offerings to gods and ancestors.

77.15

And this Śarkarāsaptamī bestows the fruit of the horse sacrifice; / it pacifies all evil and multiplies sons and grandsons.

77.16

Whoever performs it with supreme devotion attains indeed the good realm; / he dwells in heaven for one kalpa, and thence goes to the supreme state.

77.17

Whoever hears this sinless [vow], recalls it, or reads it aloud, / or even turns his mind to it, is honoured by the gods in the abode of the immortal nymphs in the world of the Day-maker.

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