Skandapurana 6.3.52

6.3.52.p1

adhyāya 52

6.3.52.1

īśvara uvāca -
anyadākhyānakaṃ vakṣye purā vṛttaṃ narādhipa .
sakuṭumbo gataḥ svargaṃ muniryatra mahātapāḥ .. 52.1 ..

Īśvara said: / I shall tell another narrative that occurred long ago, O lord of men, / in which a sage of great austerity went to heaven together with his family.

6.3.52.2

uttānapāda uvāca -
kathaṃ nākaṃ gato vipraḥ sakuṭumbo mahānṛṣiḥ .
kautukaṃ paramaṃ deva kathayasva mama prabho .. 52.2 ..

Uttānapāda said: / How did the brahmin, the great seer, go to heaven with his family? / Tell me, O Lord, O God; it is a matter of supreme curiosity to me.

6.3.52.3

īśvara uvāca -
citrasena iti khyātaḥ kāśīrājaḥ purābhavat .
śūro dātā sudharmātmā sarvakāmasamṛddhimān .. 52.3 ..

Īśvara said: / Long ago there was a king of Kāśī known as Citrasena, / heroic, generous, very righteous, and abundant in every desire.

6.3.52.4

sā purī janasaṃkīrṇā nānāratnopaśobhitā .
vārāṇasīti vikhyātā gaṅgātīramupāśritā .. 52.4 ..

That city, crowded with people and adorned with various gems, / was renowned as Vārāṇasī, resting upon the bank of the Gaṅgā.

6.3.52.5

śaraccandrapratīkāśā vidvajjanavibhūṣitā .
indrayaṣṭisamākīrṇā gopagokulasaṃvṛtā .. 52.5 ..

Resplendent like the autumn moon, adorned with learned men, / crowded with Indra’s poles, and surrounded by herds of cattle and cowherds,

6.3.52.6

bahudhvajasamākīrṇā vedadhvaninināditā .
vaṇigjanairbahuvidhaiḥ krayavikrayaśālinī .. 52.6 ..

it was crowded with many banners and made resonant with the sound of the Vedas, / flourishing with buying and selling conducted by various merchants.

6.3.52.7

yantrādānaiḥ pratolībhiruccaiścānyaiḥ suśobhitā .
devatāyatanairdivyairāśramairgahanairyutā .. 52.7 ..

It was beautifully adorned with mechanical defenses, streets, and other lofty structures, / and endowed with divine temples of deities and dense hermitages.

6.3.52.8

nānāpuṣpaphalairramyā kadalīkhaṇḍamaṇḍitā .
panasairbakulaistālairaśokairāmrakaistathā .. 52.8 ..

Delightful with various flowers and fruits, adorned with groves of plantains, / with jackfruits, bakulas, palmyras, aśokas, and mangos,

6.3.52.9

rājavṛkṣakapitthaiśca dāḍimairupaśobhitā .
vedādhyayananirghoṣaiḥ pavitrīkṛtamaṅgalā .. 52.9 ..

and adorned with rājavṛkṣas, kapitthas, and pomegranates, / its auspiciousness was made pure by the loud chanting of Vedic study.

6.3.52.10

tasyā uttaradigbhāge āśramo'bhūtsuśobhanaḥ .
tanmandāravanaṃ nāma triṣu lokeṣu viśrutam .. 52.10 ..

In the northern part of it, there was a very beautiful hermitage, / known throughout the three worlds as Mandāravana.

6.3.52.11

bahumandārasaṃyuktaṃ tena mandārakaṃ viduḥ .
vipro dīrghatapā nāma sarvadā tatra tiṣṭhati .. 52.11 ..

Because it was filled with many coral trees, they called it Mandāraka. / A brahmin named Dīrghatapas always resided there.

6.3.52.12

tapastapati so'tyarthaṃ tena dīrghatapāḥ smṛtaḥ .
sa tiṣṭhati sapatnīkaḥ sasutaḥ sasnuṣastathā .. 52.12 ..

He performed intense austerity, and was thus remembered as Dīrghatapas. / He resided there with his wife, with his sons, and with his daughters-in-law.

6.3.52.13

śuśrūṣanti sadā tasya putrāḥ pañca prayatnataḥ .
tasya putraḥ kanīyāṃstu ṛkṣaśṛṅgo mahātapāḥ .. 52.13 ..

His five sons always served him diligently. / His youngest son was Ṛkṣaśṛṅga, a man of great austerity,

6.3.52.14

vedādhyayanasampanno brahmacārī guṇānvitaḥ .
yogābhyāsarato nityaṃ kandamūlaphalāśanaḥ .. 52.14 ..

endowed with Vedic study, a celibate student possessed of virtues, / constantly devoted to the practice of yoga, subsisting on roots and fruits.

6.3.52.15

tiṣṭhate mṛgarūpeṇa mṛgayūthacarastadā .
dinānte ca dinānte ca mātāpitroḥ samīpagaḥ .. 52.15 ..

At that time, roaming among a herd of deer in the form of a deer, he remained there. / And at the end of every day, going near his parents,

6.3.52.16

abhivādayate nityaṃ bhaktimānmuniputrakaḥ .
punargacchati tatraiva kānane girigahvare .. 52.16 ..

the devoted son of the sage always paid homage to them. / Then he would go back to that very forest, into a mountain cave.

6.3.52.17

krīḍanbālamṛgaiḥ sārddhaṃ pratyahaṃ sa muneḥ sutaḥ .
kadāciddaivayogena ṛkṣaśṛṅgo mamāra saḥ .. 52.17 ..

Playing daily with the young deer, that son of the sage / once died, through the workings of destiny—that Ṛkṣaśṛṅga.

6.3.52.17_2

.. iti śrīskānde mahāpurāṇa ekāśītisāhasryāṃ saṃhitāyāṃ pañcama āvantyakhaṇḍe revākhaṇḍe śūlabhedamāhātmye ṛkṣaśṛṅgacaritre dīrghatapomunyākhyānavarṇanaṃ nāma dvipañcāśattamo'dhyāyaḥ ..

Thus ends the fifty-second chapter, entitled “The Narration of the Story of the Sage Dīrghatapas, in the Account of Ṛkṣaśṛṅga,” in the greatness of Śūlabheda in the Revākhaṇḍa of the fifth Avantī section in the glorious Skanda Purāṇa, a collection of eighty-one thousand verses.