Skandapurana 6.3.121

6.3.121.p1

adhyāya 121

6.3.121.1

mārkaṇḍeya uvāca -
tato gacchenmahīpāla candrahāsamataḥ param .
yatra siddhiṃ parāṃ prāptaḥ somarājaḥ surottamaḥ .. 121.1 ..

Mārkaṇḍeya said: / Next, O ruler of the earth, one should go to Candrahāsa, / where King Soma, the foremost of gods, attained supreme perfection.

6.3.121.2

yudhiṣṭhira uvāca -
kathaṃ siddhiṃ parāṃ prāptaḥ somanātho jagatpatiḥ .
tatsarvaṃ śrotumicchāmi kathayasva mamānagha .. 121.2 ..

Yudhiṣṭhira said: / How did Somanātha, the lord of the world, attain supreme perfection? / I wish to hear all of that; please tell me, O sinless one!

6.3.121.3

śrīmārkaṇḍeya uvāca -
purā śapto munīndreṇa dakṣeṇa kila bhārata .
asevanāddhi dārāṇāṃ kṣayarogī bhaviṣyasi .. 121.3 ..

The venerable Mārkaṇḍeya said: / Formerly, O descendant of Bharata, he was indeed cursed by Dakṣa, the chief of sages: / 'Because of not attending to your wives, you will become afflicted with consumption!

6.3.121.4

udvāhitānāṃ patnīnāṃ ye na kurvanti sevanam .
yā niṣṭhā jāyate nṛṇāṃ tāṃ śṛṇuṣva narādhipa .. 121.4 ..

Those who do not attend to their legally wedded wives— / hear the end that befalls those men, O ruler of men!

6.3.121.5

ṛtāvṛtau hi nārīṇāṃ sevanājjāyate sutaḥ .
sutātsvargaśca mokṣaśca ityevaṃ śrutibhāṣitam .. 121.5 ..

For by attending upon women in every fertile period, a son is born; / from a son come heaven and liberation; thus it is spoken in Vedic revelation.

6.3.121.6

tatkālocitadharmeṇa veṣṭito raurave patet .
tasyāstadrudhiraṃ pāpaḥ pibate kālamīpsitam .. 121.6 ..

Bound by the duty appropriate to that time, [the transgressor] falls into Raurava; / the sinful one drinks her menstrual blood for an intended span of time.

6.3.121.7

tato'vatīrṇaḥ kālena yāṃ yāṃ yoniṃ prayāsyati .
tasyāṃ tasyāṃ sa duṣṭātmā durbhago jāyate sadā .. 121.7 ..

Then, having descended in the course of time, into whatever womb he enters, / in that very womb that wicked-minded one is always born unfortunate.

6.3.121.8

nārīṇāṃ tu sadā kāmo'bhyadhikāḥ parivartate .
viśeṣeṇa ṛtau kāle pīḍyate kāmasāyakaiḥ .. 121.8 ..

For women's desire always persists exceedingly; / especially in their fertile period, they are tormented by the arrows of desire.

6.3.121.9

paribhūtā hitā bhartrā dhyāyante'nyaṃ patiṃ striyaḥ .
tataḥ putraḥ samutpanno hyaṭate kulamuttamam .. 121.9 ..

Despised by a suitable husband, women think upon another mate; / then a son born from that wanders away from the noble family.

6.3.121.10

svargasthāstena pitaraḥ pūrvajāste pitāmahāḥ .
patanti jātamātreṇa kulaṭastena cocyate .. 121.10 ..

The ancestors dwelling in heaven, his forefathers and grandfathers, / fall the moment he is born; because of that he is called a corrupter of the lineage.

6.3.121.11

tena karmavipākena kṣayarogyabhavacchaśī .
tyaktvā lokaṃ surendrāṇāṃ martyalokamupāgataḥ .. 121.11 ..

Through that ripening of actions, the Moon became afflicted with consumption; / abandoning the world of the chiefs of the gods, he arrived in the mortal world.

6.3.121.12

tatastīrthānyanekāni puṇyānyāyatanāni ca .
bhramanvai narmadāṃ prāptaḥ sarvapāpapraṇāśanīm .. 121.12 ..

Then, wandering through many sacred fords and holy sanctuaries, / he reached the Narmadā, which destroys all sins.

6.3.121.13

upavāsaṃ ca dānāni vratāni niyamāṃstathā .
cacāra dvādaśābdāni tato muktaḥ sa kilbiṣaiḥ .. 121.13 ..

Fasting, gifts, vows, and observances / he performed for twelve years, and was thereupon freed from his sins.

6.3.121.14

snāpayitvā mahādevaṃ sarvapātakanāśanam .
jagāma prabhayā pūrṇaḥ sa ca lokamanuttamam .. 121.14 ..

Having bathed Mahādeva, the destroyer of all sins, / filled with brilliance, he went to the unsurpassed world.

6.3.121.15

yenaiva sthāpito devaḥ pūjyate varṣasaṃkhyayā .
tāvadvarṣasahasrāṇi rudraloke sa pūjyate .. 121.15 ..

For as many years as the deity installed by one is worshipped, / for that many thousands of years he is honoured in the world of Rudra.

6.3.121.16

tena devānvidhānoktānsthāpayanti narā bhuvi .
akṣayaṃ cāvyayaṃ yasmātkālaṃ bhuñjanti mānavāḥ .. 121.16 ..

Therefore, men install gods on earth according to the prescribed rites, / because [thereby] mortals enjoy imperishable and eternal time.

6.3.121.17

somatīrthe naraḥ snātvā pūjayeddevamīśvaram .
sa bhrājate naro loke somavatpriyadarśanaḥ .. 121.17 ..

Having bathed at Somatīrtha, a man should worship the god Īśvara; / that man shines in the world, pleasant to look upon like Soma.

6.3.121.18

candrahāse tu yo gatvā grahaṇe candrasūryayoḥ .
snānaṃ samācaredbhaktyā mucyate sarvakilbiṣaiḥ .. 121.18 ..

Whoever, having gone to Candrahāsa during an eclipse of the moon or the sun, / performs a ritual ablution with devotion, is freed from all sins.

6.3.121.19

tatra snānaṃ ca dānaṃ ca candrahāse śubhāśubham .
kṛtaṃ nṛpavaraśreṣṭha sarvaṃ bhavati cākṣayam .. 121.19 ..

There, at Candrahāsa, bathing and giving, auspicious and inauspicious [deeds] / done, O best of excellent kings, all become imperishable.

6.3.121.20

te dhanyāste mahātmānasteṣāṃ janma sujīvitam .
candrahāse tu ye snātvā paśyanti grahaṇaṃ narāḥ .. 121.20 ..

They are fortunate, they are noble-minded, their birth has lived well— / those men who, having bathed at Candrahāsa, observe an eclipse.

6.3.121.21

vācikaṃ mānasaṃ pāpaṃ karmajaṃ yatpurākṛtam .
snānamātreṇa rājendra tatra tīrthe praṇaśyati .. 121.21 ..

Sin committed in speech, in mind, or born of action that was previously done / is destroyed merely by bathing at that sacred ford, O king of kings.

6.3.121.22

bahavastaṃ na jānanti mahāmohasamanvitāḥ .
dehasthamiva sarveṣāṃ paramānandarūpiṇam .. 121.22 ..

Possessed of great delusion, many do not know it, / just like the form of supreme bliss dwelling in the body of all.

6.3.121.23

paścime sāgare gatvā somatīrthe tu yatphalam .
tatsamagramavāpnoti candrahāse na saṃśayaḥ .. 121.23 ..

Whatever fruit [is obtained] by going to Somatīrtha at the western ocean, / he obtains all of that at Candrahāsa without doubt.

6.3.121.24

saṃkrāntau ca vyatīpāte ayane viṣuve tathā .
candrahāse naraḥ snātvā sarvapāpaiḥ pramucyate .. 121.24 ..

At a solar transit, at a Vyatīpāta, during a solstice, and likewise at an equinox, / having bathed at Candrahāsa, a man is fully freed from all sins.

6.3.121.25

te mūḍhāste durācārāsteṣāṃ janma nirarthakam .
candrahāsaṃ na jānanti ye revāyāṃ vyavasthitam .. 121.25 ..

They are foolish, they are evil-doers, their birth is futile— / they who do not know Candrahāsa situated on the Revā.

6.3.121.26

candrahāse tu yaḥ kaścitsaṃnyāsaṃ kurute dvijaḥ .
anivartikā gatistasya somalokānna saṃśayaḥ .. 121.26 ..

Whatever twice-born takes renunciation at Candrahāsa, / from the world of Soma his path is one of no return, without doubt.

6.3.121.26_2

.. iti śrīskānde mahāpurāṇa ekāśītisāhasryāṃ saṃhitāyāṃ pañcama āvantyakhaṇḍe revākhaṇḍe somatīrthamāhātmyavarṇanaṃ nāmaikaviṃśatyuttaraśatatamo'dhyāyaḥ ..

Thus ends the one hundred and twenty-first chapter, titled 'Description of the Glory of Somatīrtha', in the Revākhaṇḍa of the fifth section, the Āvantyakhaṇḍa, in the glorious Skanda Mahāpurāṇa, a compendium of eighty-one thousand verses.