Skandapurana 4.43

Agastya said:

How did the three-eyed Lord cause King Divodāsa

to abandon Kāśī, and how did he return from Mount Mandara?

Relate this narrative, O lord, for the delight of the listeners! .. 1 ..

Skanda said:

The god went to Mount Mandara out of respect for the words of Brahmā,

being pleased with the tapas of that king of mountains, Mandara itself. .. 2 ..

When the god Viśveśvara departed to Mount Mandara, beautiful among mountains,

all the gods dwelling in heaven went along with Giriśa. .. 3 ..

Even Viṣṇu, abandoning the sacred fields of Viṣṇu here on earth,

went to Mount Mandara, where Umā's husband, the god of gods, was. .. 4 ..

Gaṇeśa too then departed, [leaving] his abodes;

and I too, O best of brahmins, left and went toward Mount Mandara. .. 5 ..

The Sun, abandoning his solar shrines, departed out of respect for [Śiva's] residence;

the other gods as well, leaving their respective places on earth, went away. .. 6 ..

When the hosts of gods had left the earth, the king of the earth,

the glorious Divodāsa, exercised undisputed sovereignty. .. 7 ..

Establishing an unshakeable royal capital in Vārāṇasī,

the highly intelligent [king] prospered, protecting his subjects righteously. .. 8 ..

Like the sun, he burned in the hearts and the eyes of his enemies;

like the moon, he was [gentle] in the minds of his friends and his own people. .. 9 ..

Holding an unbroken bow in battle like Indra,

he was beheld by the cloud-like enemy armies fleeing away. .. 4.1.43.10 ..

He became a discerner of righteousness and unrighteousness like Dharmarāja,

the king honouring those not deserving punishment and punishing those who deserved punishment. .. 11 ..

Like Arjuna (fire), he repeatedly burned down the forests of his enemies. ..

Reaching far, he bound the circle of his enemies like the bearer of the noose [Varuṇa].

He was the lord of virtuous people, bringing prosperity even to his enemy rākṣasas;

he was equal to the breath of life of the world, wholly devoted to enlivening the world.

He alone was a king of kings, a giver of wealth to all the good;

and in battle, he alone was beheld by his enemies as the very form of Rudra.

For through his austerity he embodied the form of all the gods;

therefore the Viśvedevas praised him and worshipped him.

Unconquerable to the Sādhyas, he surpassed the Vasus in wealth;

he assumed an embodied form surpassing the planets, and constantly possessed beauty exceeding the Aśvins.

Not even reckoning the host of the Maruts, pleasing the Tuṣitas with his virtues,

he was a master of all lores even among all the Vidyādharas.

By his songs he stripped the Gandharvas of their pride;

the Yakṣas and Rakṣases protected his fortress that was like a twin to heaven.

The serpents committed no offenses against him, who was stronger than elephants;

and assuming human forms, the Danujas served him.

Guarakṣas were born to him who moved secret among men:

“O king, we asuras shall serve you with our own splendors,

since in your realm even the dwelling of gods is hard to attain.”

The swift-coursing wind, stationed in the sky,

taught swiftness of gait to the horses of this lord of the earth.

Seeing his elephants, born of mountain stock, with bodies as splendid as mountains,

unceasingly shedding rut, others also became liberal donors.

In the assembly hall the learned, and in the courtyard the warriors,

were never conquered anywhere by anyone, neither by scriptures nor by weapons.

In the realm of this king, haters were never seen;

adversaries were forever ruined, while his subjects were never deprived of their place.

Even in heaven, there is only one possessor of the digits [the Moon] among the celestials;

in the realm of this king on earth, all the people were repositories of arts.

Indeed, in heaven there is only one Kāma, and he is bodiless;

whereas in his realm, all the desires of all were fully fulfilled with all their parts.

Even in his territory, not a single breaker of families was ever heard of;

whereas in heaven the lord of the gods is celebrated as the shatterer of mountains.

In his realm no one suffering from consumption was ever heard of by anyone;

whereas in heaven the lord of the night wanes fortnight after fortnight.

In heaven there are nine planets, but his lands were without affliction.

Even in the heavenly world only one Hiraṇyagarbha shines;

here, the dwellings of all the citizens of his city were filled with gold.

In heaven, only one sun shines brightly, borne by seven horses;

the dwellers of his city were clothed in fine garments every day and had many horses.

Just as the celestial world has virtuous apsarases, so his city had excellent water-lakes;

in Vaikuṇṭha there is only one Lakṣmī, while he had hundreds of lotus ponds.

Nowhere were royal officers unjust to his villages;

in every house there were givers of wealth, while in heaven there is only one lord of Alakā.

While Divodāsa was thus governing the kingdom in Kāśī,

eighty thousand years passed like a single day.

Then the gods, desiring to thwart him,

consulted with their Guru, though he followed the path of righteousness.

O sage, as in the case of those like you who walk the path of virtue,

the gods almost always bring about a succession of great calamities.

Although that lord of the earth sustained those enjoyers of sacrifices

exceedingly with difficult sacrifices, even so they were not his friends.

Intolerance of the excellence of others is the very nature of the gods;

what offense was committed in this world by Bali, Bāṇa, Dadhīci, and the rest?

Obstacles certainly arise at every step even for righteousness;

nonetheless, their own duty is never abandoned by those whose minds are set on dharma.

The unrighteous prosper with wealth, grain, and abundance;

yet solely because of unrighteousness they go to ruin along with their roots.

As he protected the subjects like his own begotten sons,

not the slightest accumulation of unrighteousness accrued to Ripuñjaya.

For him, who understood the six measures of policy, whose mind was strengthened by the three powers,

The gods could find no flaw in him, who knew the four means.

Though intelligent, the deities, intent on retaliating,

were not able to harm that ruler in the slightest.

In his realm, all men were devoted to a single wife;

among women, none failed to observe devotion to her husband.

There was no brahmin who had not studied; no kṣatriya who was not valiant;

no vaiśya was unskilled in the activities of earning wealth;

the śūdras were single-mindedly devoted to serving the twice-born.

Such were they in the kingdom of King Divodāsa.

The students in his kingdom were unbroken in their celibacy,

constantly dependent upon their guru's household, intent upon grasping the Veda.

Everywhere his householders were devoted to the duty of hospitality, expert in the treatises on dharma,

and constantly observed the conduct of the virtuous.

In his [realm], those in the third stage of life respected the forest livelihood,

free from desire for village gossip, following the path of the Veda.

Completely free from all attachments, unbound, possessing no property,

holding the controls of speech, mind, and action, the ascetics there were devoid of longing.

Others born of mixed castes, whether anuloma or pratiloma,

did not abandon even slightly the path established by their own tradition.

In his kingdom no one was childless, nor was anyone devoid of wealth;

no one failed to serve the elders, and no one met an untimely death.

There were no flatterers, no loudmouths, no cheats, no violent men;

no heretics, no scoundrels, no widows, and no tavern-keepers.

Indeed, everywhere was the sound of the Veda, and scholarly debates at every step;

everywhere were charming conversations and auspicious songs of joy.

Lutes and flutes were played, and mṛdaṅga drums sounded sweetly;

except for the drinking of soma, no drinking party was ever heard of.

Meat was eaten only in the sacrificial cake, never elsewhere;

there were no gamblers, no debtors, and no thieves.

For a son, worship of his parents' feet was the worship of the gods;

fasting, vows, and sacred fords were the highest worship of the deities.

For women, worshipping their husband's feet was the hearing of sacred revelation; / younger brothers constantly revered their elder brother.

Younger brothers constantly revered their elder brother;

servants gladly worshipped the lotus-feet of their master.

The higher class was praised by the lower classes for its greatness of virtues.

They served the deities of Kāśī again and again at the three junctions of the day;

everywhere all the learned were honoured with their wishes fulfilled.

The learned revered those dedicated to austerity, and those dedicated to austerity revered the self-controlled;

the self-controlled revered those dedicated to knowledge, and the knowers revered the yogins of Śiva.

Purified by mantras, precious, proper, and well prepared,

oblation was offered day and night into the fire that is the mouth of the brahmins.

Stepped wells, wells, ponds, and pleasure-groves at every step

had many makers who used pure materials and wealth.

In his kingdom all classes were seen to be cheerful and well-nourished,

endowed with blameless occupations, except for hunters and butchers.

Thus, concerning that king who walked purely everywhere,

the gods, though wide-eyed, could not find the slightest opening.

Then the preceptor of the immortals spoke to the gods who wished to harm

that king, the most righteous and foremost among masters of counsel.

The Guru said:

"Peace, war, marching, neutrality, seeking shelter, and duplicity—

no one even here understands them as that king knows them.

O gods, of the four means, only one remains here,

namely sowing dissension, if indeed it can succeed against that man strong in austerity.

Even though the gods have been banished from the earth by that king,

still there are many there who take our side.

Without whom not even a moment of time passes pleasantly,

they are respected both by us and by him, there.

Always moving within and without, the foundations of all trust,

when they arrive here, our every desired aim will be accomplished."

And hearing what the Lord of Speech had said, all those gods,

ascertained its meaning regarding those [agents] who move within and without.

Then, applauding him, they all said: "So let it be!"

Then Śakra summoned Vītihotra (Fire), who stood before him,

and spoke in sweet words, accompanied with great respect:

"O bearer of oblations, that form of yours which is established there—

withdraw it swiftly from the realm of that king.

When that form of yours is withdrawn, all the subjects, whose first [duty] is the sacrificial fires,

deprived of the rites of offering to gods and ancestors, will become disaffected with the king.

And when the subjects, who are the wish-yielding cow of the kingdom, become disaffected,

the title of 'king,' though acquired with great effort, will become meaningless.

Since this conventional title 'king' (rājan) was acquired from pleasing (rañjana) the subjects,

when that conventional meaning is destroyed, the kingship itself will perish.

A king forsaken by his subjects, even if prosperous with treasury, fortresses, forces, and the like,

would quickly perish like a tree standing on a riverbank.

For a king, the subjects are the foremost cause for achieving the three goals of life;

when the livelihood of the subjects wanes, the three goals of life indeed perish by themselves.

When the three goals are lost, one's course in both worlds is completely ruined."

At Indra's word, Fire, endowed with the power of illusory yoga,

instantly withdrew his own form from the earthly orb.

The lord Fire withdrew not only the triad of ritual fires, but also the digestive fire;

at the thunderbolt-wielder's command, he [withdrew it] along with his own energy.

When Fire had departed to heaven and midday arrived, the king,

having performed his midday rites, quickly entered the dining hall.

Then the officers in charge of the kitchen, trembling again and again,

softly made this submission to the king, even though he was afflicted with hunger:

The cooks said:

"O you whose brilliance surpasses the sun! O you whose majesty has conquered fire!

O one skilled in unexpected battle! We wish to make a small submission.

If Your Majesty would grant the boon of safety,

then, with folded hands, we will make our report."

Given permission by a sign of the eyebrow from the king whose face was gracious,

the kitchen overseers gently made their submission:

"O lord, we do not know: terrified by the fear of your majesty,

or by what clever escape, the wise Fire has vanished from the city.

When Fire has vanished, how can cooking take place?

Nevertheless, some food cooked by the heat of the sun is ready.

Obtaining our master's command, we shall bring it right here;

and we consider, O protector of the earth, that today's preparation is wholesome."

Hearing the cook's words, that magnanimous and highly intelligent

king reflected: "Surely this has been done by the gods."

Reflecting there for a moment, he saw through the power of his austerity

that the fire had left not only the houses and the cavities of stomachs,

but had also departed from this world and gone to the abode of the gods.

"Let it be! What loss is there to us because fire has departed?

Indeed, this loss falls upon those gods themselves because of their lack of deliberation!

Was this kingdom accepted by me through their strength?

It was bestowed by the Grandfather (Brahmā) out of great esteem!"

While that Indra of the middle world was thus pondering,

the citizens arrived at the door along with people from the countryside.

Then, by the king's order, they were led inside by the doorkeeper.

Having presented suitable gifts, they bowed before the Indra of the earth.

Some were addressed by the king with words full of affection,

some with a joyful glance, and others with a gesture of the hand.