Skandapurana 6.3.176

6.3.176.p1

adhyāyaḥ 176

6.3.176.1

śrīmārkaṇḍeya uvāca -
tato gacchenmahīpāla piṅgalāvartamuttamam .
tīrthaṃ sarvaguṇopetaṃ kāmikaṃ bhuvi durlabham .. 176.1 ..

The glorious Mārkaṇḍeya said: / Then one should go, O king, to the excellent Piṅgalāvarta, / a sacred ford endowed with all virtues, fulfilling desires, rare on earth.

6.3.176.2

vācikaṃ mānasaṃ pāpaṃ karmajaṃ yatpurā kṛtam .
piṅgaleśvaramāsādya tatsarvaṃ vilayaṃ vrajet .. 176.2 ..

Sin committed formerly by speech, mind, or action— / having approached Piṅgaleśvara, all that dissolves away.

6.3.176.3

tatra snānaṃ ca dānaṃ ca devakhāte kṛtaṃ nṛpa .
akṣayaṃ tadbhavetsarvamityevaṃ śaṅkaro'bravīt .. 176.3 ..

A bath and a gift performed there in Devakhāta, O king, / all that becomes imperishable; thus indeed Śaṅkara spoke.

6.3.176.4

pṛthivyāṃ sarvatīrtheṣu samuddhṛtya śubhodakam .
muktaṃ tatra suraiḥ khātvā devakhātaṃ tato'bhavat .. 176.4 ..

Having gathered auspicious water from all the sacred fords on earth, / it was released there by the gods after digging; hence it became Devakhāta.

6.3.176.5

yudhiṣṭhira uvāca -
kathaṃ tu devakhātaṃ tatsaṃjātaṃ dvijasattama .
surāḥ sarve kathaṃ tatra mumucurvāri tīrthajam .
sarvaṃ kathaya me vipra śravaṇe lampaṭaṃ manaḥ .. 176.5 ..

Yudhiṣṭhira said: / How did that Devakhāta come to be, O best of the twice-born? / Why did all the gods release water from sacred fords there? / Tell me everything, O brahmin; my mind is eager to hear.

6.3.176.6

śrīmārkaṇḍeya uvāca -
yadā tu śūlaśuddhyarthaṃ rudro devagaṇaiḥ saha .
babhrāma pṛthivīṃ sarvāṃ kamaṇḍaludharaḥ śubhām .. 176.6 ..

The glorious Mārkaṇḍeya said: / When, for the sake of purifying his trident, Rudra, carrying a water-pot, / wandered over the entire auspicious earth together with the hosts of gods,

6.3.176.7

prabhāsādyeṣu tīrtheṣu snānaṃ cakruḥ surāstadā .
sarvatīrthotthitaṃ toyaṃ pātre vai nihitaṃ tu taiḥ .. 176.7 ..

the gods then bathed in sacred fords beginning with Prabhāsa. / Water taken from all the sacred fords was placed into a vessel by them.

6.3.176.8

śūlabhedamanuprāpya śūlaṃ śuddhaṃ tu śūlinaḥ .
tatrotthamudakaṃ gṛhya āgatā bhṛgukacchake .. 176.8 ..

Having reached Śūlabheda, the trident of the Trident-Bearer was purified. / Taking the water that arose there, they came to Bhṛgukaccha.

6.3.176.9

tatrāpaśyaṃstato hyagniṃ ca piṅgalākṣaṃ ca rogiṇam .
tapasyugre vyavasitaṃ dhyāyamānaṃ maheśvaram .. 176.9 ..

Then they saw there the tawny-eyed Agni, afflicted with disease, / engaged in fierce austerity, meditating on Maheśvara.

6.3.176.10

havirbhāgaistu viprāṇāṃ rājñāṃ caivāmayāvinām .
dṛṣṭvā tu bahurogārtamagniṃ devamukhaṃ surāḥ .
prāhuste sahitā devaṃ śaṅkaraṃ lokaśaṅkaram .. 176.10 ..

Seeing Agni, the mouth of the gods, suffering from many diseases / because of the oblation-shares of diseased brahmins and kings, / the gods together spoke to the god Śaṅkara, the benefactor of the world.

6.3.176.11

devā ūcuḥ .
prasādaḥ kriyatāṃ śambho piṅgalasyāmayāvinaḥ .
yathā hi nīrujaḥ kāyo haviṣāṃ grahaṇakṣamaḥ .
punarbhavati piṅgastu tathā kuru maheśvara .. 176.11 ..

The gods said: / Let grace be shown, O Śambhu, to the diseased Piṅgala, / so that Piṅga's body becomes healthy again, capable of receiving oblations; / make it so, O Maheśvara!

6.3.176.12

īśvara uvāca -
bhobhoḥ surā hi tapasā tuṣṭo'haṃ vo viśeṣataḥ .
vacanācca viśeṣeṇa dadāmyabhimataṃ varam .. 176.12 ..

Īśvara said:
“O gods, I am well pleased with your austerity,
and especially by your word; I grant the desired boon.”

6.3.176.13

piṅgala uvāca -
yadi tuṣṭo'si deveśa dīyate deva cepsitam .
candrādityau ca nayane kṛtvātra kalayā sthitaḥ .. 176.13 ..

Piṅgala said:
“If you are pleased, O Lord of gods, and what is desired is granted, O God,
having made the moon and sun your eyes, stay here with a portion [of yourself],

6.3.176.14

tathā punarnavaḥ kāyo bhavedvai mama śaṅkara .
tathā kuru virūpākṣa namastubhyaṃ punaḥ punaḥ .. 176.14 ..

so that my body may indeed become renewed, O Śaṅkara.
Bring that about, O Virūpākṣa; homage to you again and again!”

6.3.176.15

mārkaṇḍeya uvāca -
tataḥ sa bhagavāñchambhurmūrtimādityarūpiṇīm .
kṛtvā tu tasya tadrogamapānudata śaṅkaraḥ .. 176.15 ..

Mārkaṇḍeya said:
Then that blessed Śambhu, having assumed
a form in the manner of the sun, removed that disease of his, O Śaṅkara.

6.3.176.16

tataḥ punarnavībhūtaḥ punaḥ provāca śaṅkaram .
atraiva sthīyatāṃ śambho tathaiva bhāskaraḥ svayam .. 176.16 ..

Having then become renewed, he spoke again to Śaṅkara:
“Let Śambhu remain right here, and likewise the Sun himself,

6.3.176.17

prāṇināmupakārāya rogāṇāmupaśāntaye .
pāpānāṃ dhvaṃsanārthāya śreyasāṃ caiva vṛddhaye .. 176.17 ..

for the benefit of living beings, for the pacification of diseases,
for the destruction of sins, and for the increase of blessings.”

6.3.176.18

evamuktastu bhagavānpiṅgalena mahātmanā .
avatāraṃ ca kṛtavān gīrvāṇānidamabravīt .. 176.18 ..

Addressed thus by the great-souled Piṅgala, the Lord
made a descent and spoke these words to the gods:

6.3.176.19

īśvara uvāca -
muñcadhvamudakaṃ devāstīrthebhyo yatsamāhṛtam .
mama cottarataḥ kṛtvā khātaṃ devamayaṃ śubham .. 176.19 ..

Īśvara said:
“O gods, release the water that has been brought together from the sacred fords,
having made to the north of me an auspicious pit filled with deities.

6.3.176.20

tatra nikṣipyatāṃ vāri sarvarogavināśanam .
sarvapāpaharaṃ divyaṃ sarvairapi surādibhiḥ .. 176.20 ..

Let that divine water, which destroys all diseases
and removes all sins, be poured there by all the gods and others.”

6.3.176.21

evamuktāḥ surāḥ sarve khātaṃ kṛtvā tathottare .
vayastriṃśatkoṭigaṇairmuktaṃ tattīrthajaṃ jalam .. 176.21 ..

Addressed thus, all the gods made a pit to the north in that manner,
and the water born of those sacred fords was released by the hosts of thirty-three crores.

6.3.176.22

procuste sahitāḥ sarve virūpākṣapurogamāḥ .
yaḥ kaściddevakhāte'sminmṛdālambhanapūrvakam .. 176.22 ..

All together, led by Virūpākṣa, said:
“Whoever, having first applied clay at this divine pit,

6.3.176.23

snānaṃ kṛtvā ravidine saṃsnāya narmadājale .
śrāddhaṃ kṛtvā pitṛbhyo vai dānaṃ dattvā svaśaktitaḥ .. 176.23 ..

and made a ritual ablution on a Sunday, bathes thoroughly in the water of the Narmadā,
performs a śrāddha for the ancestors, gives gifts according to his capacity,

6.3.176.24

pūjayiṣyati piṅgeśaṃ tasya vāsastriviṣṭape .
bhaviṣyati surairuktaṃ śṛṇoti sakalaṃ jagat .. 176.24 ..

and worships Piṅgeśa, his dwelling shall be in heaven.
It has been declared by the gods; let the whole world hear it!

6.3.176.25

āmayā bhuvi martyānāṃ kṣayarogavicarcikāḥ .
vyādhayo vikṛtākārāḥ kāsaśvāsajvarodbhavāḥ .. 176.25 ..

The ailments of mortals on earth—consumption and scabies,
horrible diseases arising from cough, asthma, and fever,

6.3.176.26

ekadvitricaturthāhā ye jvarā bhūtasambhavāḥ .
ye cānye vikṛtā doṣā dadruśca kāmalaṃ tathā .. 176.26 ..

fevers that return every one, two, three, or four days, those arising from spirits,
and whatever other disordered humors, ringworm, and jaundice—

6.3.176.27

dinaiste saptabhiryānti nāśaṃ snānairraverdine .
śatabhedaprabhinnā ye kuṣṭhā bahuvidhāstathā .. 176.27 ..

they go to destruction within seven days through ritual ablutions on Sundays.
Likewise, the various kinds of leprosy differentiated into a hundred varieties—

6.3.176.28

śatamādityavārāṇāṃ snāyādaṣṭottaraṃ tu yaḥ .
sampūjya śaṅkaraṃ dadyāttilapātraṃ dvijātaye .. 176.28 ..

he who bathes for one hundred and eight Sundays,
worships Śaṅkara, and gives a vessel of sesame to a twice-born,

6.3.176.29

naśyanti tasya kuṣṭhāni garuḍeneva pannagāḥ .
evamuktvā gatāḥ sarve tridaśāstridaśālayam .. 176.29 ..

his leprosies are destroyed like snakes by Garuḍa.”
Having spoken thus, all the thirty [gods] went to the abode of the thirty.

6.3.176.30

mārkaṇḍeya uvāca -
nadīṣu devakhāteṣu taḍāgeṣu saritsu ca .
snānaṃ samācarennityaṃ naraḥ pāpaiḥ pramucyate .. 176.30 ..

Mārkaṇḍeya said:
In rivers, divine pits, ponds, and streams
a person should always perform ritual ablution; he is freed from sins.

6.3.176.31

ṣaṣṭitīrthasahasreṣu ṣaṣṭitīrthaśateṣu ca .
yatphalaṃ snānadāneṣu devakhāte tato'dhikam .. 176.31 ..

Whatever fruit there is in sixty thousand sacred fords and six hundred sacred fords
in ritual ablutions and gifts, greater than that is in the divine pit.

6.3.176.32

devakhāteṣu yaḥ snātvā tarpayitvā pitṝnnṛpa .
pūjayeddevadeveśaṃ piṅgaleśvaramuttamam .. 176.32 ..

The man who, having bathed in the divine pits and offered water to the ancestors, O king,
worships the supreme Piṅgaleśvara, the God of gods,

6.3.176.33

so'śvamedhasya yajñasya vājapeyasya bhārata .
dvayoḥ puṇyamavāpnoti nātra kāryā vicāraṇā .. 176.33 ..

attains the religious merit of both the horse sacrifice and the Vājapeya sacrifice,
O descendant of Bharata; there is no doubt to be entertained in this matter.

6.3.176.33_2

.. iti śrīskānde mahāpurāṇa ekāśītisāhasryāṃ saṃhitāyāṃ pañcama āvantyakhaṇḍe revākhaṇḍe piṅgaleśvaratīrthamāhātmyavarṇanaṃ nāma ṣaṭsaptatyuttaraśatatamo'dhyāyaḥ ..

Thus ends the one hundred and seventy-sixth chapter, named “Description of the Māhātmya of the Piṅgaleśvara Sacred Ford,” in the Revākhaṇḍa of the Avantī section in the glorious Skanda Mahāpurāṇa, a collection of eighty-one thousand [verses].