Matsyapurana 97
English (machine translation) 97
- Language
- English
97.1
Nārada said: / Speak of that vow, O Nandīśa, which brings health to men, / which bestows endless fruit, and brings peace to mortals.
97.2
Nandikeśvara said: / That supreme, eternal Brahman which is the abode of the Soul of the universe / abides threefold in the world in the form of the Sun, Fire, and the Moon.
97.3
Having worshipped that, O brahmin, a man always attains welfare; / therefore, on Sunday he should always eat only at night.
97.4
When Sunday is conjoined with the Hasta nakṣatra, / then on Saturday one free from envy should eat only a single meal.
97.5
Having fed the best of the twice-born at night on Sunday, / one should draw a twelve-petalled red sandalwood lotus;
97.6
having drawn it, one should install Sūrya in the east with a salutation, / likewise Divākara in the south-east, and after that Vivasvant;
97.7
the god Bhaga in the south-west, Varuṇa on the western petal, / Mahendra in the wind quarter [north-west], and likewise Āditya in the north;
97.8
one should install Śānta in the north-east quarter with a salutation, / and on the eastern petal of the pericarp one should place the horses of the Sun;
97.9
on the southern petal [one named] Aryaman, Mārtaṇḍa on the western petal, / the god Ravi on the northern [petal], and Bhāskara on the pericarp.
97.10
Then upon that lotus one should offer a guest-water libation of red-flower water / mixed with sesame and red sandalwood, and utter this mantra:
97.11
‘You whose self is time, the soul of all beings, the soul of the Vedas, facing in all directions! / Since you are of the form of Agni and Indra, therefore protect [me], O Divākara!
97.12
“I praise Agni,” salutation to you; “For food, for vigor,” O Bhāskara; / “Come, O Agni,” O giver of boons, salutation to you, O lord of lights!’
97.13
Having offered the libation and dismissed [the deity], one should eat at night, avoiding oil. / At the end of the year, according to one's means, one should have an excellent golden lotus made, / and likewise a two-armed human figure.
97.14
A brown cow with gold-tipped horns, of great value, with silver hooves, a bronze milking pail, and accompanied by a calf— / placing the lotus and the figure upon a copper vessel filled with jaggery, one should give it.
97.15
Having worshipped the brahmin with red garments, garlands, and incense, and [the cow] with red [cloths] and golden horns, / and dedicated the human figure along with the lotus, one should give it to one who has performed many vows and gifts, / of unmaimed limbs, with senses subdued, a householder, and not haughty:
97.16
‘Homage, homage to the destroyer of sins, the soul of the universe, who has seven steeds, / the receptacle of the Sāman, Ṛg, and Yajus, the creator, the boat across the ocean of existence, the progenitor of the world!’
97.17
Whatever man here performs this every month for a year according to this rule, / his sins destroyed, ascends to the abode of the Sun, with rows of flywhisks waving.
97.18
Attaining the exhaustion of [merit from] righteousness, he becomes an earthly king, free from sorrow, pain, fear, and disease, / the lord of seven continents time and again, endowed with an armored form and boundless splendor.
97.19
And whatever woman is devoted to her husband, guru, and the gods, and performs this fast by day and meal by night on the day of the embodiment of the Vedas, / she too, praised by the lord of the immortals, goes to the realm of the Sun, O Nārada, without doubt.
97.20
Whatever man also reads this, or hears it being read, or even rejoices in it, / he too, dwelling in the realm of Śakra, is worshipped by the immortals and dwells imperishably in heaven.
Translations (1)
- The Matsya Puranam — A Taluqdar of Oudh 1916, English
Linked texts (1)
- Matsyapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit