Matsyapurana 96

English (machine translation) 96

Language: English

96.1

Nandikeśvara said: / Hear, O Nārada, what the greatness of renouncing fruit is— / that which is supreme and imperishable in the world, granting the fruits of all desires.

In the auspicious month of Mārgaśīrṣa, on the third day, O sage, / or on the twelfth, or on the eighth, or indeed on the fourteenth, / one should begin the vow of the bright fortnight, having performed the brāhmaṇa's blessing.

96.3

And in the other holy months as well, O best of sages, / according to one's ability one should feed the twice-born with rice pudding together with a sacrificial fee.

96.4

One should avoid the eighteen grains and other fruits and roots / for one year, except for the sake of medicine. / One should have a golden Rudra with a bull and a Dharmarāja made:

96.5

ash gourd, and citron, eggplant, and jackfruit, / hog-plum, wood-apple, watermelon, and melon,

96.6

bilva, sacred fig, jujube, lime, plantain fruit, / beechwood fruit, pomegranate—according to one's means, sixteen made of silver—

96.7

radish, āmalaka, rose-apple, tamarind, karamarda, / cubeb, cardamom, katuṇḍīra, karīra, kuṭaja, and śamī.

96.8

The udumbara, coconut, grape, and two kinds of bṛhatī— / one should have these sixteen fruits made of silver according to one's means.

96.9

One should make of copper the palmyra fruit and the agasti fruit, / the piṇḍāraka and kāśmarya fruit, and likewise the sūraṇa tuber;

96.10

and the red potato tuber, that called kanaka, and the cirbhiṭa, / likewise the fruit of citravallī and the fruit borne of kūṭaśālmali;

96.11

the mango, niṣpāva bean, madhuka, banyan [fruit], mudga bean, and paṭolaka— / a man should have these sixteen made of copper according to his means.

96.12

One should place two water-jars covered with cloth upon grain, / and then have a bed prepared, with two fine garments placed upon it,

96.13

accompanied by three vessels of food, along with Yama, Rudra, and a bull; / on an auspicious day, having worshipped [them], one should present [all this] with a cow / to a peaceful brahmin who is a householder, accompanied by his wife:

96.14

‘Just as millions of immortals dwell in all fruits, / so, by the vow of renouncing all fruits, may my devotion be to Śiva!

96.15

Just as Śiva and Dharma always bestow endless fruit, / may the two, through this gift of fruits joined together, be givers of boons to me!

96.16

Just as fruits are ever endless among the devotees of Śiva, / so may there be attainment of endless fruit in birth after birth!

96.17

Just as I see no difference between Śiva, Viṣṇu, the Sun, and the Lotus-born [Brahmā], / so may Śaṅkara, the Soul of the universe, always be a bringer of peace to me!’

96.18

Having thus given all that, and having adorned [it] with ornaments, / if one has the means, one should give a bed furnished with all accessories.

96.19

If unable, however, one should give only the fruits according to the prescribed rule, / and likewise golden figures of Śiva and Dharma accompanied by water-jars;

96.20

having given [them] to a brahmin, one should eat, restrained in speech and avoiding oil; / according to one's means, one should also feed other brahmins to the best of one's ability.

96.21

Those who know the Vedas know this vow of renouncing all fruits to be auspicious / for Bhāgavatas, Sauras, Vaiṣṇavas, and Yogins.

96.22

It should also be performed by women according to their means, O bull among the twice-born. / There is no other vow in this world or the next, O best of sages, / which bestows endless fruit like this.

96.23

As many minute particles as there are in the gold, silver, and copper fruits / when they are being crushed to powder, O best of sages, / for that many thousands of cosmic ages one is exalted in the realm of Rudra.

96.24

This [vow] removes all impurities of people and provides a livelihood among mortals forever; / even in other births one never suffers the grief of separation from a son, / and one attains the abode frequented by the realm of Puraṃdara.

96.25

Or whatever man of little wealth hears or reads it in temples of the gods and in the homes of the righteous, / his body freed from sins here, he too reaches the joy-giving abode of Murāri, O lord of sages.

Translations (1)

The Matsya Puranam — A Taluqdar of Oudh 1916, English

Linked texts (1)

Matsyapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit