Skandapurana 4.49

Sūta said:

O sage Vyāsa, son of Parāśara, when Kumāra spoke this story

to the pitcher-born [Agastya], where was the daughter of Drupada then? // 1

Vyāsa said:

The Purāṇa compilation, O Sūta, recounts stories of past, present, and future;

no doubt should be raised here, since everything is within its scope. // 2

Skanda said:

Listen, O sage! Formerly, the five-faced Hara himself,

for the welfare of the world, manifested on earth by dividing into five forms. // 3

Umā too, the maintainer of the world, as king Drupada

was sacrificing, manifested from the fire altar as a beautiful woman. // 4

All five sons of Pāṇḍu, bearing the very bodies of Rudra,

descended here from heaven, bringing about the destruction of the wicked. // 5

Nārāyaṇa too, attaining the state of Kṛṣṇa, accompanied them,

quelling the conduct of the arrogant, establishing the ways of the virtuous. // 6

Blazing upon the earth, those sons of Pṛthā wandered individually

through the rise and fall of both good fortune and adversity. // 7

Once, those great heroes, having met with great misfortune

brought about by their cousins, became forest-dwellers. // 8

Pāñcālī too, their slender-bodied wife, knowing righteousness, tormented by her husbands' plight,

having arrived [there], worshipped the sun-god intensely. // 9

Then Savitṛ, worshipped by that daughter of Drupada,

gave her an inexhaustible cooking vessel, along with a ladle and lid. // 10

And the sun-god, gracious at heart, said to the daughter of Drupada

as she worshipped with devotion, pure in mind everywhere: // 11

"O fortunate lady, by means of this vessel, as many people as desire food

will attain satisfaction, as long as you yourself have not eaten. // 12

Once you have eaten, it becomes empty; [otherwise] it will be full of boiled rice,

a treasury of savoury dishes, granting food according to one's wish." // 13

In this way the boon was obtained by her from the Sun in Kāśī, O sage;

and another boon was given to her by the radiant god. // 14

The Sun said:

"To the south of Viśveśa, whoever worships me

stationed before you—that person's affliction of hunger will be destroyed. // 15

And another boon has been given to me, O faithful wife, by Viśveśa,

delighted by my austerity; listen, I speak it to you: // 16

'A person who, having first worshipped you, beholds me—

dispel that person's darkness of sorrow with your rays!' // 17

Therefore, O beloved of Dharma, having received this boon forever from Viśveśvara,

I destroy the heap of sins of living beings dwelling in Kāśī. // 18

Those mortals who worship me here, endowed with faith,

as I hold out my hand to grant your boon—to them I will give what they desire. // 19

Those who with devotion worship you, the faithful wife of Yudhiṣṭhira,

standing near me, to the south of Viśveśa, in the vicinity of Daṇḍapāṇi,

whether men or women,

for them there will never be any fear born of separation from loved ones, // 21

nor fear arising from disease anywhere, nor that caused by the defects of hunger and thirst,

from beholding Draupadī in Kāśī, O sinless one, dear to Dharma!" // 22

Having thus granted boons, the divine Sun, giver of all to the good,

worshipped Śambhu, and Draupadī went to Dharma. // 23

Whoever listens with devotion to this story of the Sun

who was worshipped by Draupadī—that person's sin will perish. // 24

Skanda said:

The māhātmya of Draupadāditya has been related in brief by me;

now listen, O pitcher-born one, to the māhātmya of Mayūkhāditya. // 25

Formerly, at the sacred ford Pañcanada, renowned throughout the three worlds,

the thousand-rayed Lord performed very severe austerity, // 26

having installed a great liṅga named Gabhastīśvara.

and [installing] Gaurī named Maṅgalā, who ever grants auspiciousness to her devotees,

for a thousand divine years multiplied by a hundred, O sage,

worshipping Śiva accompanied by Umā, who wears the crescent moon as his crest-jewel.

By his very nature the sun is capable of scorching the three worlds;

therefore, by his intense austerity, he blazed exceedingly, O sage.

Then, by the rays of the sun capable of burning the three worlds,

the entire intermediate space between heaven and earth was filled at that time.

Passengers of aerial chariots abandoned their coming and going in the sky,

as if out of fear of becoming moths before the fierce radiance of the sun.

Only rays could be seen—slantwise, upward, and even downward—

of the sun, and not the sun himself, as though resembling a blooming nīpa flower.

From that mass of light, that mass of austerity, [and] those flames of austerity,

the three worlds, with all that moves and is still, trembled from intense fear:

“The sun is proclaimed in the Vedas as the soul of this world.

If he himself becomes the burner, who will be our protector here?

This sun is the eye of the world; this illuminator is the soul of the world,

who awakens the world morning after morning when it is almost like dead.

Rising day after day, [he rescues] the host of living beings

fallen into the blind well of darkness, extending his hands all around.

When he rises, we ever rise; when he sets, we meet our setting.

Therefore the sun is our cause in rising and not rising.”

Seeing the universe thus agitated, the Lord of the Universe himself,

the protector of the universe, went to the hot-rayed [sun] to grant him a boon.

Seeing the ray-garlanded [sun] completely motionless,

having forgotten himself in deep meditation, Śambhu was astonished at his austerity.

And gracious in soul, Śrīkaṇṭha, who removes the distress of the bowing, spoke:

“Enough of practicing austerity! Ask for a boon, O jewel of the sky, O treasure of splendors!”

Because his sensory faculties were restrained by meditative concentration,

the sun did not take in the words of Śambhu, like one without ears, though addressed two or three times.

Knowing him to have become like a log of wood, Śiva touched him with his hand,

which showered the nectar [that relieves] the torment arisen from intense austerity.

Then the eye of the world opened his eyes,

like a cluster of lotuses at dawn having attained his sunrise.

His torment completely gone by the touch of the all-pervading Lord, the sun

shone forth, like the splendor of crops blighted by drought revived by a rain cloud.

Making the three-eyed Lord visible before him as a guest to his eyes,

Mitra bowed prostrate like a staff and praised the bearer of the Pināka aloud:

The Sun said:

“O God of gods, O Lord of the worlds, O omnipresent one, O Bharga, O Bhīma, O Bhava, O moon-adorned one,

O Lord of beings, O remover of the fear of worldly existence! I bow to you, O granter of the wishes of those who bow!

O moon-crested Mṛḍa, O Dhūrjaṭi, O Hara, O three-eyed one, O capable one, O destroyer of Indra's sacrifice,

O calm, eternal one, O consort of Śivā, O Śiva! I bow to you, O granter of the wishes of those who bow!

O blue-and-red one, O fulfiller of desired ends, […], O odd-eyed one, O varied-eyed one,

O space-haired one, O destroyer of the fetters of individual souls! I bow to you, O granter of the wishes of those who bow!

O Vāmadeva, O blue-necked one, O bearer of the trident, O moon-crested one, O serpent-king-adorned one,

O creator of desire, O Lord of beasts, O Maheśvara! I bow to you, O granter of the wishes of those who bow!

O Tryambaka, O Lord who destroyed Tripura, O protector, O three-eyed one, O embodiment of the three Vedas,

O destroyer of Kālakūṭa poison, O destroyer of Antaka! I bow to you, O granter of the wishes of those who bow!

O Śarva devoid of night, O all-pervading one, O granter of bliss on the path of heaven, O granter of liberation,

O enemy of the demon Andhaka, O bearer of matted hair! I bow to you, O granter of the wishes of those who bow!

O Śaṃkara, O fierce one, O consort of the daughter of the mountain, O Lord, O Viśvanātha, O one praised by Brahmā and Viṣṇu,

O knower of what is to be known through the Vedas, O one who knows all intentions! I bow to you, O granter of the wishes of those who bow!

O universal-formed one, O one devoid of an alien form, O one devoid of deception regarding Brahman, O granter of immortality,

O one gone far, far beyond the range of speech and mind! I bow to you, O granter of the wishes of those who bow!”

Having thus circumvented Mṛḍa the god, the sun,

with a delighted soul, then praised Mṛḍānī, who occupies the left half of Śiva's body:

The Sun said:

“O goddess, whoever is skilled in bowing and bears on the surface of his forehead [dust] fair as the dust of your lotus feet,

even in another birth, indeed, the lovely crescent of the moon makes that forehead exceedingly bright.

O Śrīmaṅgalā, O birthplace of all auspiciousness! O Śrīmaṅgalā, O fire to the cotton of all sins!

O auspicious Śrīmaṅgalā, destroyer of the pride of all the Dānavas! O Śrīmaṅgalā, protect this entire universe! 56

O Sovereign of the Universe, you are the creator of all beings; / you are likewise the preserver, and the destroyer at the time of dissolution.

The river of pure merit that leaps forth from the chanting of your name / uproots the trees on the riverbanks of sins. 57

O Mother Bhavānī, you who take away the heavy burden of worldly suffering, / you are the sole refuge here; there is none other.

They alone are fortunate in the worlds, they alone are worthy of honor, / upon whom your auspicious glance of compassion gleams. 58

Those who constantly remember you, who are self-luminous, / residing in the city of Kāśī, the goddess of liberation bowing before you,

those men of purified intellect, fit vessels expert in safeguarding liberation, / the Destroyer of Smara remembers in turn. 59

O Mother, he in whose heart your spotless pair of feet resides, / holds the entire universe in the palm of his hand.

He who continually remembers your splendor, O Maṅgalagaurī, / the eight supernatural perfections never leave his home. 60

You are the mother of the Vedas, O goddess, having the form of the praṇava, / you are Gāyatrī, and indeed the wish-fulfilling cow of the twice-born.

You are the triad of sacred utterances here for the success of all rites; / you are svāhā and svadhā, the cause of satisfaction for gods and ancestors. 61

O Gaurī, you alone are with the moon-crested god; in Brahmā you are Sāvitrī; / in Viṣṇu you are lovely Lakṣmī;

in Kāśī you are the goddess of liberation, of spotless form. / O Mother Maṅgalagaurī, you are my refuge here! 62

Having thus praised with the great hymn of eight verses to Śrīmaṅgalā / her who adorns half of the body of the Destroyer of Smara,

and having bowed repeatedly on all sides to the goddess and the god, / the sun became silent before the two Śivas. 63

The God of Gods said:

Arise, arise! Blessings be upon you! I am pleased, O high-minded one!

As Mitra entering my eye, / look upon this moving and unmoving world constantly. 64

You are my manifestation, O Sūrya; become omniscient and omnipresent,

the mass of all splendors, knowing all actions of everyone. 65

Dispel all the sorrows / of all devotees.

By means of the eight verses of the sixty-four names uttered by you, 66

praising me with this, a person will attain devotion to me.

The eight-verse hymn of Maṅgalāgaurī named the Maṅgalāṣṭaka— 67

by praising Maṅgalāgaurī with this, one will attain auspiciousness.

The hymn of the eight verses of the sixty-four names and the Maṅgalāṣṭaka: 68

this excellent, sacred pair of hymns destroys all sins.

Even if residing in a distant region, an excellent man chanting [them] daily, 69

at the three junctions of the day, with a thoroughly purified self, will attain hard-to-reach Kāśī.

When this pair of hymns is chanted daily by men, 70

the daily sin is surely washed away; there is no doubt about this.

Never does guilt abide in the body of that embodied being. 71

One should daily recite this auspicious pair of hymns at the three junctures of the day.

What is the use of chanting many hymns that merely bestow flickering fortune upon men? 72

This pair of hymns bestows the fortune of ultimate beatitude in Kāśī.

Therefore, with every effort, by human beings desiring liberation, 73

this pair of hymns should be chanted, abandoning numerous other hymns.

This entire manifold world of moving and unmoving beings belongs to us two alone; 74

therefore, through this praise of us two, a person becomes freed from worldly illusion.

Having attained great prosperity endowed with sons and grandsons here, 75

a man reciting this hymn attains liberation at the end.

Moreover, listen, O seven-horsed one, king of planets, maker of the day! 76

The liṅga consecrated by you, named Gabhastīśvara,

served with the feeling of devotion, bestows all perfections. 77

Because with garlands of rays having the luster of campaka and lotus,

you worshiped the liṅga of Īśvara with all your being, O Bhāskara, 78

therefore the liṅga will obtain the name Gabhastīśvara.

Having bathed at Pañcanada and worshiped Gabhastīśa, a man, 79

freed from sins, is never again born in a mother’s womb.

And [worshiping] this Maṅgalāgaurī, whether a woman or a man, 80

devoted to fasting on the third lunar day of the bright fortnight of Caitra,

having worshiped with grand offerings of silk garments, ornaments, and the like, 81

having kept vigil at night with songs, dances, sacred stories, and the like,

and in the morning having worshiped twelve maidens with clothes and other gifts, 82

having fed them with sweet milk-rice and the like, and having given sacrificial gifts to others as well,

having performed the fire-offering according to the injunctions with the verse beginning with 'jātavedase,' 83

with one hundred and eight oblations of sesame seeds and ghee in the morning,

having given a pair of cows to a householder brahmin, 84

having adorned a brahmin couple with ornaments with faith,

and having fed [them] with highly sumptuous foods, should pray: 'May Maṅgalā and Īśvara be pleased!' 85

Reciting this mantra and then breaking the fast in the morning,

one never meets with misfortune, nor ever with poverty. // 86

There is truly no cutting off of offspring, nor ever an interruption of worldly enjoyments;

a woman never incurs widowhood, nor does a man suffer separation from his wife. // 87

Sins dissolve away, and a heap of religious merit is obtained;

even a barren woman would give birth having performed this Maṅgalā-vow. // 88

From the performance of this vow, deformity of form never occurs;

an unmarried maiden attains a husband endowed with excellent qualities and beauty. // 89

A youth, too, having performed the vow, obtains an excellent wife.

There are many vows that grant wealth and desired objects, // 90

yet none of them can ever attain equality with the Maṅgalā-vow.

And an annual pilgrimage should be performed on that lunar day in Madhu by men, // 91

for the calming of all obstacles, always by residents of Kāśī.

[Śiva said:] 'I tell you another thing, O Sun, jewel of the sky, as you perform austerity here: // 92

Only your rays were seen in the sky, and your physical body was not seen;

therefore, your name shall be Mayūkhāditya, O son of Diti! // 93

From worshipping you, no disease whatever shall afflict men;

poverty shall not befall them from gazing upon you on Sunday.' // 94 // / Having thus granted many boons to Mayūkhāditya, Śiva

disappeared right there, and the Sun remained in that very spot. // 95

Having heard this sacred narrative concerning Mayūkhāditya,

along with Draupadāditya, a man would not go to hell. // 96

Thus ends the forty-ninth chapter, named 'Description of Draupadāditya and Mayūkhāditya', in the first half of the Kāśīkhaṇḍa, in the fourth [part of] the venerable Skandamahāpurāṇa consisting of eighty-one thousand verses. // 49