Skandapurana 6.3.125

6.3.125.p1

adhyāya 125

6.3.125.1

śrīmārkaṇḍeya uvāca -
tato gacchenmahīpāla ravitīrthamanuttamam .
yatra devaḥ sahasrāṃśustapastaptvā divaṃ gataḥ .. 125.1 ..

Glorious Mārkaṇḍeya said: / Then one should go, O ruler of the earth, to the unsurpassed Ravitīrtha, / where the thousand-rayed god, having performed austerity, went to heaven.

6.3.125.2

yudhiṣṭhira uvāca -
kathaṃ devo jagaddhātā sarvadevanamaskṛtaḥ .
tapastapati deveśastāpaso bhāskaro raviḥ .. 125.2 ..

Yudhiṣṭhira said: / How does the god, the creator of the world, bowed to by all deities, / the lord of gods, the ascetic, the light-maker, Ravi, perform austerity?

6.3.125.3

ārādhyaḥ sarvabhūtānāṃ sarvadevaiśca pūjitaḥ .
pratyakṣo dṛśyate loke sṛṣṭisaṃhārakārakaḥ .. 125.3 ..

He is to be propitiated by all beings, worshipped by all deities, / seen visibly in the world, the cause of creation and destruction.

6.3.125.4

ādityatvaṃ kathaṃ prāptaḥ kathaṃ bhāskara ucyate .
sarvametatsamāsena kathayasva mamānagha .. 125.4 ..

How did he attain status as Āditya? How is he called Bhāskara? / Tell me all this in brief, O sinless one.

6.3.125.5

mārkaṇḍeya uvāca -
mahāpraśno mahārāja yastvayā paripṛcchitaḥ .
tatsarvaṃ sampravakṣyāmi namaskṛtya svayambhuvam .. 125.5 ..

Mārkaṇḍeya said: / This is a great question, O great king, which has been asked by you; / having bowed to the self-born one, I shall tell all of that.

6.3.125.6

āsīdidaṃ tamobhūtamaprajñātamalakṣaṇam .
apratarkyamavijñeyaṃ prasuptamiva sarvataḥ .. 125.6 ..

This [universe] was enveloped in darkness, unperceived, devoid of distinguishing marks, / inconceivable, unknowable, as if completely asleep everywhere.

6.3.125.7

tatastejaśca divyaṃ ca taptapiṇḍamanuttamam .
ākāśāttu yathaivolkā sṛṣṭihetoradhomukhī .. 125.7 ..

Then [emerged] divine brilliance, an unsurpassed heated mass, / falling headlong from the sky for the sake of creation, just like a meteor.

6.3.125.8

tattejaso'ntaḥ puruṣaḥ saṃjātaḥ sarvabhūṣitaḥ .
sa śivo'pāṇipādaśca yena sarvamidaṃ tatam .. 125.8 ..

Within that brilliance arose the Puruṣa, adorned with all [ornaments]; / he is auspicious, without hands and feet, by whom all this is pervaded.

6.3.125.9

tasyotpannasya bhūtasya tejo rūpasya bhārata .
paścātprajāpatirbhūyaḥ kālaḥ kālāntareṇa vai .. 125.9 ..

From that being of fiery form who had arisen, O descendant of Bharata, / afterwards Prajāpati [came forth], and then Time through the course of time.

6.3.125.10

agnirjātaḥ sa bhūtānāṃ manuṣyāsurarakṣasām .
sarvadevādhidevaśca ādityastena cocyate .. 125.10 ..

He became the fire of creatures, of humans, asuras, and rākṣasas; / he is the supreme deity of all gods, and therefore he is called Āditya.

6.3.125.11

ādau tasya namaskāro'nyeṣāṃ ca tadanantaram .
kriyate daivataiḥ sarvaistena sarvairmaharṣibhiḥ .. 125.11 ..

At the beginning, salutation is made to him, and after that to the others, / by all deities and therefore by all great seers.

6.3.125.12

tisraḥ sandhyāstrayo devāḥ sāṃnidhyāḥ sūryamaṇḍale .
namaskṛtena sūryeṇa sarve devā namaskṛtāḥ .. 125.12 ..

The three twilights and the three gods have their presence in the solar orb; / when the sun has been bowed down to, all gods have been bowed down to.

6.3.125.13

na divā na bhavedrātriḥ ṣaṇmāsā dakṣiṇāyanam .
ayanaṃ cottaraṃ cāpi bhāskareṇa vinā nṛpa .. 125.13 ..

There would be no day, no night, no six months of the southern course, / nor the northern course, O king, without the light-maker.

6.3.125.14

snānaṃ dānaṃ japo homaḥ svādhyāyo devatārcanam .
na vartate vinā sūryaṃ tena pūjyatamo raviḥ .. 125.14 ..

Ablution, giving, recitation, oblation, Vedic study, and worship of deities / do not exist without the sun; therefore Ravi is most worthy of worship.

6.3.125.15

śabdagāḥ śrutimukhyāśca brahmaviṣṇumaheśvarāḥ .
pratyakṣo bhagavāndevo dṛśyate lokapāvanaḥ .. 125.15 ..

Brahmā, Viṣṇu, and Maheśvara are conveyed through words and chief in the Vedas, / [but] the visible lord, the god, the purifier of the worlds, is seen [as the sun].

6.3.125.16

utpattiḥ pralayasthānaṃ nidhānaṃ bījamavyayam .
hetureko jagannātho nānyo vidyeta bhāskarāt .. 125.16 ..

The origin, the place of dissolution, the receptacle, the imperishable seed, / the sole cause, the lord of the world—none other than the light-maker is known.

6.3.125.17

evamātmabhavaṃ kṛtvā jagatsthāvarajaṅgamam .
lokānāṃ tu hitārthāya sthāpayeddharmapaddhatim .. 125.17 ..

Having thus made the world of moving and unmoving beings born from himself, / he established the path of dharma for the welfare of the worlds.

6.3.125.18

narmadātaṭamāśritya sthāpayitvātmanastanum .
sahasrāṃśuṃ nidhiṃ dhāmnāṃ jagāmākāśamavyayam .. 125.18 ..

Resorting to the bank of the Narmadā, having established his own body / as the thousand-rayed one, the storehouse of splendours, he went to imperishable space.

6.3.125.19

tatra tīrthe tu yaḥ snātvā pūjayetparameśvaram .
sahasrakiraṇaṃ devaṃ nāmamantravidhānataḥ .. 125.19 ..

Whoever, having bathed at that sacred ford, worships the supreme lord, / the thousand-rayed god, according to the rules of name and mantra—

6.3.125.20

tena taptaṃ hutaṃ tena tena sarvamanuṣṭhitam .
tena samyagvidhānena samprāptaṃ paramaṃ padam .. 125.20 ..

By him has austerity been performed, by him has oblation been offered, by him has everything been accomplished; / by him, through the correct procedure, the supreme abode has been attained.

6.3.125.21

te dhanyāste mahātmānasteṣāṃ janma sujīvitam .
snātvā ye narmadātoye devaṃ paśyanti bhāskaram .. 125.21 ..

Blessed are they, great-souled are they, well-lived is the life of those / who, having bathed in the waters of the Narmadā, behold the sun-god.

6.3.125.22

tathā devasya rājendra ye kurvanti pradakṣiṇam .
ananyabhaktyā satataṃ trirakṣarasamanvitāḥ .. 125.22 ..

Likewise, O best of kings, those who circumambulate the god / constantly with undivided devotion, endowed with the three syllables,

6.3.125.23

tena pūtaśarīrāste mantreṇa gatapātakāḥ .
yatpuṇyaṃ ca bhavetteṣāṃ tadihaikamanāḥ śṛṇu .. 125.23 ..

their bodies purified by that mantra, their sins dispelled— / what merit accrues to them, hear that here with an attentive mind.

6.3.125.24

sasamudraguhā tena saśailavanakānanā .
pradakṣiṇīkṛtā sarvā pṛthivī nātra saṃśayaḥ .. 125.24 ..

By him has the entire earth, with its oceans and caves, / with its mountains, forests, and woods, been circumambulated; of this there is no doubt.

6.3.125.25

mantramūlamidaṃ sarvaṃ trailokyaṃ sacarācaram .
tena mantravihīnaṃ tu kāryaṃ loke na sidhyati .. 125.25 ..

All this threefold world, with the moving and the unmoving, is rooted in mantras. / Therefore, an action lacking a mantra is not accomplished in this world.

6.3.125.26

yathā kāṣṭhamayo hastī yathā carmamayo mṛgaḥ .
kāryārthaṃ naiva sidhyeta tathā karma hyamantrakam .. 125.26 ..

Just as a wooden elephant or a leather deer / cannot accomplish any practical purpose, so indeed is a rite performed without a mantra.

6.3.125.27

bhasmahutaṃ pārtha yathā toyavivarjitam .
niṣphalaṃ jāyate dānaṃ tathā mantravivarjitam .. 125.27 ..

Just as an oblation poured into ashes, O Pārtha, or a gift given without water, / becomes fruitless, so too is a gift devoid of a mantra.

6.3.125.28

kāṣṭhapāṣāṇaloṣṭeṣu mṛnmayeṣu viśeṣataḥ .
mantreṇa loke pūjāṃ tu kurvanti na hyamantrataḥ .. 125.28 ..

In figures of wood, stone, clods of earth, and especially of clay, / people in this world worship with a mantra, never indeed without a mantra.

6.3.125.29

dvādaśābdānnamaskārādbhaktyā yallabhate phalam .
mantrayuktanamaskārātsakṛttallabhate phalam .. 125.29 ..

The fruit one obtains from prostration with devotion for twelve years, / one obtains all at once from a single prostration joined with a mantra.

6.3.125.30

saṃkrāntau ca vyatīpāte ayane viṣuve tathā .
narmadāyā jale snātvā yastu pūjayate ravim .. 125.30 ..

At a solstice, at a vyatīpāta, at the sun's passage, or at an equinox, / he who bathes in the water of the Narmadā and worships the sun,

6.3.125.31

dvādaśābdena yatpāpamajñānajñānasaṃcitam .
tatkṣaṇānnaśyate sarvaṃ vahninā tu tuṣaṃ yathā .. 125.31 ..

whatever sin has been accumulated through ignorance or knowledge over twelve years / is completely destroyed in an instant, like chaff by fire.

6.3.125.32

candrasūryagrahe snātvā sopavāso jitendriyaḥ .
tatrādityamukhaṃ dṛṣṭvā mucyate sarvakilbiṣaiḥ .. 125.32 ..

Having bathed during an eclipse of the moon or the sun, fasting and with senses controlled, / beholding the face of the sun there, he is freed from all sins.

6.3.125.33

māghamāse tu samprāpte saptamyāṃ nṛpasattama .
sopavāso jitakrodha uṣitvā sūryamandire .. 125.33 ..

When the month of Māgha arrives, on the seventh day, O best of kings, / fasting, with anger conquered, having stayed in the temple of the sun,

6.3.125.34

prātaḥ snātvā vidhānena dadātyarghaṃ divākare .
vidhinā mantrayuktena sa labhetpuṇyamuttamam .. 125.34 ..

bathing at dawn according to rule and offering an arghya to the sun / according to the rite endowed with a mantra, he attains supreme merit.

6.3.125.35

pitṛdevamanuṣyāṇāṃ kṛtvā hyudakatarpaṇam .
mandire devadevasya tataḥ pūjāṃ samācaret .. 125.35 ..

Having performed the water-tarpaṇa for the ancestors, gods, and men, / he should then perform worship in the temple of the god of gods.

6.3.125.36

gandhaiḥ puṣpaistathā dhūpairdīpanaivedyaśobhanaiḥ .
pūjayitvā jagannāthaṃ tato mantramudīrayet .. 125.36 ..

Having worshipped the Lord of the World with perfumes, flowers, incenses, / and splendid lamps and food-offerings, he should then utter the mantra:

6.3.125.37

viṣṇuḥ śakro yamo dhātā mitro'tha varuṇastathā .
vivasvānsavitā pūṣā caṇḍāṃśurbharga eva ca .. 125.37 ..

“Viṣṇu, Śakra, Yama, Dhātṛ, Mitra, and Varuṇa; / Vivasvant, Savitṛ, Pūṣan, Caṇḍāṃśu, and Bharga.”

6.3.125.38

iti dvādaśanāmāni japankṛtvā pradakṣiṇām .
yatphalaṃ labhate pārtha tadihaikamanāḥ śṛṇu .. 125.38 ..

Reciting these twelve names and performing circumambulation, / what fruit one obtains, O Pārtha, hear that here with an attentive mind.

6.3.125.39

daridro vyādhito mūko badhiro jaḍa eva ca .
na bhavetsapta janmāni ityevaṃ śaṅkaro'bravīt .. 125.39 ..

He will not be poor, diseased, mute, deaf, or dull / for seven births; thus indeed spoke Śaṃkara.

6.3.125.40

evaṃ jñātvā vidhānena japanmantraṃ vicakṣaṇaḥ .
ārādhayedraviṃ bhaktyā ya icchetpuṇyamuttamam .. 125.40 ..

Knowing this, repeating the mantra according to the rite, the wise man / who desires supreme merit should worship the sun with devotion.

6.3.125.41

mantrahīnāṃ tu yaḥ kuryādbhaktiṃ devasya bhārata .
sa viḍambati cātmānaṃ paśukīṭapataṅgavat .. 125.41 ..

He who offers devotion to the god devoid of mantras, O Bhārata, / merely mocks himself like a beast, a worm, or a moth.

6.3.125.42

tatra tīrthe tu yaḥ kaścittyajate dehamuttamam .
sa gatastatra devaistu pūjyamāno maharṣibhiḥ .. 125.42 ..

Whoever abandons his excellent body at that sacred ford, / having gone there, being worshipped by gods and great seers,

6.3.125.43

svecchayā suciraṃ kālamiha loke nṛpo bhavet .. 125.43 ..

by his own will for a very long time, will become a king in this world.

6.3.125.44

putrapautrasamāyukto hastyaśvarathasaṅkulaḥ .
dāsīdāsaśatopeto jāyate vipule kule .. 125.44 ..

Joined with sons and grandsons, crowded with elephants, horses, and chariots, / attended by hundreds of female and male servants, he is born in an exalted family.

6.3.125.44_2

.. iti śrīskānde mahāpurāṇa ekāśītisāhasryāṃ saṃhitāyāṃ pañcama āvantyakhaṇḍe revākhaṇḍe ravitīrthamāhātmyavarṇanaṃ nāma pañcaviṃśatyuttaraśatatamo'dhyāyaḥ ..

Thus ends the one hundred and twenty-fifth chapter, named the Description of the Māhātmya of Ravitīrtha, in the Revākhaṇḍa of the fifth Avantī section in the glorious Skanda Mahāpurāṇa, in the compilation of eighty-one thousand [verses].