Skandapurana 6.3.126

6.3.126.p1

adhyāya 126

6.3.126.1

mārkaṇḍeya uvāca -
tato gacchettu rājendra paraṃ tīrthamayonijam .
snātamātro narastatra na paśyedyonisaṅkaṭam .. 126.1 ..

Mārkaṇḍeya said: / Then, O best of kings, one should go to the supreme sacred ford Ayonija. / Merely upon bathing there, a person will not behold the distress of rebirth.

6.3.126.2

tatra tīrthe naraḥ snātvā pūjayeddevamīśvaram .
ayonijo mahādeva yathā tvaṃ parameśvara .. 126.2 ..

Having bathed at that sacred ford, a person should worship the god Īśvara: / “Just as you, O Mahādeva, O Parameśvara, are not born from a womb,

6.3.126.3

tathā mocaya māṃ deva sambhavādyonisaṅkaṭāt .
gandhapuṣpādidhūpaiśca sa mucyetsarvapātakaiḥ .. 126.3 ..

so deliver me, O god, from existence and the distress of rebirth!” / [Worshipping] with perfumes, flowers, incenses, and the like, he is freed from all sins.

6.3.126.4

tasya devasya yo bhaktyā kurute liṅgapūraṇam .
sa vaseddevadevasya yāvatsikthasya saṃkhyayā .. 126.4 ..

Whoever with devotion fills the liṅga of that god [with grains of boiled rice], / dwells near the god of gods for as many [years] as the count of rice-grains.

6.3.126.5

ayonije mahādevaṃ snāpayedgandhavāriṇā .
madhukṣīreṇa dadhnā vā sa labhedvipulāṃ śriyam .. 126.5 ..

At Ayonija, one should bathe Mahādeva with scented water, / or with honey, milk, or curd; he attains abundant fortune.

6.3.126.6

aṣṭabhyāṃ ca site pakṣe asitāṃ vā caturdaśīm .
pūjayitvā mahādevaṃ prīṇayedgītavādyakaiḥ .. 126.6 ..

On the eighth day of the bright fortnight, or on the dark fourteenth day, / having worshipped Mahādeva, he should please him with songs and instrumental music.

6.3.126.7

vasetsa ca śive loke ye kurvanti manoharam .
te vasanti śive loke yāvadābhūtasamplavam .. 126.7 ..

He shall dwell in the world of Śiva. Those who make it delightful, / dwell in the world of Śiva until the universal dissolution.

6.3.126.8

tasya devasya bhaktyā tu yaḥ karoti pradakṣiṇām .
vijñāpayaṃśca satataṃ mantreṇānena bhārata .. 126.8 ..

Whoever circumambulates that god with devotion, / constantly addressing [him] with this mantra, O Bhārata—

6.3.126.9

tasya yatphalamuddiṣṭaṃ pāramparyeṇa mānavaiḥ .
sakāśāddevadevasya tacchṛṇuṣva samādhinā .. 126.9 ..

what fruit has been proclaimed by men through tradition / in the presence of that god of gods, hear that with concentration:

6.3.126.10

ayonijo mahādeva yathā tvaṃ parameśvara .
tathā mocaya māṃ śarva sambhavādyonisaṅkaṭāt .. 126.10 ..

“Just as you, O Mahādeva, O Parameśvara, are not born from a womb, / so deliver me, O Śarva, from existence and the distress of rebirth!”

6.3.126.11

kiṃ tasya bahubhirmantraiḥ kaṃṭhaśoṣaṇatatparaiḥ .
yenauṃnamaḥ śivāyeti proktaṃ devasya saṃnidhau .. 126.11 ..

What need has he for many mantras that merely dry the throat, / by whom “Oṃ, homage to Śiva” has been uttered in the presence of the god?

6.3.126.12

tenādhītaṃ śrutaṃ tena tena sarvamanuṣṭhitam .
yenauṃnamaḥ śivāyeti mantrābhyāsaḥ sthirīkṛtaḥ .. 126.12 ..

By him has been studied, by him has been heard, by him has everything been accomplished, / by whom the practice of the mantra “Oṃ, homage to Śiva” has been made firm.

6.3.126.13

na tatphalamavāpnoti sarvadeveṣu vai dvijaḥ .
yatphalaṃ samavāpnoti ṣaḍakṣara udīraṇāt .. 126.13 ..

A twice-born does not obtain that fruit from all the gods / which he obtains from uttering the six-syllabled [mantra].

6.3.126.14

tatra tīrthe tu yaḥ snātvā pūjayecchivayoginam .
dvijānāmayutaṃ sāgraṃ sa labhetphalamuttamam .. 126.14 ..

Whoever, having bathed at that sacred ford, worships a Śivayogin, / obtains the excellent fruit of [feeding] fully ten thousand twice-born.

6.3.126.15

athavā bhaktiyuktastu teṣāṃ dānte jitendriye .
saṃskṛtya dadate bhikṣāṃ phalaṃ tasya tato'dhikam .. 126.15 ..

Or, filled with devotion, preparing alms, gives them to those who are restrained and self-controlled, / the fruit for him is greater than that.

6.3.126.16

yatihaste jalaṃ dadyādbhikṣāṃ dattvā punarjalam .
sā bhikṣā meruṇā tulyā tajjalaṃ sāgaropamam .. 126.16 ..

One should pour water into the hand of an ascetic, offer alms, and again pour water; / that alms is equal to Mount Meru, that water is like an ocean.

6.3.126.16_2

.. iti śrīskānde mahāpurāṇa ekāśītisāhasryāṃ saṃhitāyāṃ pañcama āvantyakhaṇḍe revākhaṇḍe ayoniprabhavatīrthamāhātmyavarṇanaṃ nāma ṣaḍviṃśatyuttaraśatatamo'dhyāyaḥ ..

Thus ends the one hundred twenty-sixth chapter, named 'Description of the Glory of the Sacred Ford Ayoniprabhava', in the Revā Section of the fifth section, the Āvantyakhaṇḍa, in the Skanda Mahāpurāṇa consisting of eighty-one thousand verses.