Skandapurana 6.3.55

6.3.55.p1

adhyāya 55

6.3.55.1

uttānapāda uvāca -
māhātmyaṃ tīrthajaṃ dṛṣṭvā citraseno nareśvaraḥ .
kiṃ cakāra kva vā vāsaṃ kimāhāro babhūva ha .. 55.1 ..

Uttānapāda said: / 'Having seen the māhātmya born of the sacred ford, what did the lord of men Citrasena / do? Where did he dwell, and what did he take as food?'

6.3.55.2

īśvara uvāca -
bhṛgutuṅgaṃ samāruhya aiśānīṃ diśamāśritaḥ .
tapaścacāra vipulaṃ kuṇḍe tatra nṛpottamaḥ .. 55.2 ..

Īśvara said: / 'Having climbed Bhṛgutuṅga and resorted to the north-eastern direction, / that best of kings performed immense austerity at that pool.

6.3.55.3

sarvān devān hṛdi dhyātvā brahmaviṣṇumaheśvarān .
vicikṣepa yadātmānaṃ pratyakṣau rudrakeśavau .
kare gṛhītvā rājānaṃ rudro vacanamabravīt .. 55.3 ..

Having meditated in his heart on all the gods—Brahmā, Viṣṇu, and Maheśvara— / when he threw himself [into the pool], Rudra and Keśava appeared in visible form. / Taking the king by the hand, Rudra spoke these words:

6.3.55.4

īśvara uvāca -
prāṇatyāgaṃ mahārāja mā kāle tvaṃ kṛthā vṛthā .
adyāpyasi yuvā tvaṃ vai na yuktaṃ maraṇaṃ tava .. 55.4 ..

Īśvara said: / 'Do not cast away your life in vain, O great king, when it is not your time. / Even now you are indeed young; death is not fitting for you.

6.3.55.5

svasthānaṃ gaccha śīghraṃ tvaṃ bhuktvā bhogānyathepsitān .
kuru niṣkaṇṭakaṃ rājyaṃ nāke śakra ivāparaḥ .. 55.5 ..

Go quickly to your own place, and having enjoyed the pleasures you desire, / rule a realm free of thorns, like a second Śakra in heaven.'

6.3.55.6

citrasena uvāca -
na rājyaṃ kāmaye deva na putrānna ca bāndhavān .
na bhāryāṃ na ca kośaṃ ca na gajānna turaṃgamān .. 55.6 ..

Citrasena said: / 'I do not desire kingship, O God, nor sons, nor relatives; / not a wife, nor a treasury, nor elephants, nor horses.

6.3.55.7

muñca muñca mahādeva mā vighnaḥ kriyatāṃ mama .
svargaprāptirmamādyaiva tvatprasādānmaheśvara .. 55.7 ..

Release me, release me, O Mahādeva! Let no obstacle be made for me; / let me attain heaven this very day by your grace, O Maheśvara.'

6.3.55.8

īśvara uvāca -
yasyāgrato bhavedbrahmā viṣṇuḥ śambhustathaiva ca .
svargeṇa tasya kiṃ kāryaṃ sa gataḥ kiṃ kariṣyati .. 55.8 ..

Īśvara said: / 'For one before whom Brahmā, Viṣṇu, and Śambhu stand, / what need has he of heaven? What will he do once gone there?

6.3.55.9

tuṣṭā vayaṃ trayo devā vṛṇīṣva varamuttamam .
yathepsitaṃ mahārāja satyametadasaṃśayam .. 55.9 ..

We three gods are pleased. Choose an excellent boon / as you desire, O great king. This is true, without doubt.'

6.3.55.10

citrasena uvāca -
yadi tuṣṭāstrayo devā brahmaviṣṇumaheśvarāḥ .
adyaprabhṛti yuṣmābhiḥ sthātavyamiha sarvadā .. 55.10 ..

Citrasena said: / 'If the three gods—Brahmā, Viṣṇu, and Maheśvara—are pleased, / from this day onward you must always remain here.

6.3.55.11

gayāśiro yathā puṇyaṃ kṛtaṃ yuṣmābhireva ca .
tathaivedaṃ prakartavyaṃ śūlabhedaṃ ca pāvanam .. 55.11 ..

Just as Gayāśiras was made holy by you alone, / so too should this Śūlabheda be made purifying.

6.3.55.12

yatrayatra sthitā yūyaṃ tatratatra vasāmyaham .
gaṇānāṃ caiva sarveṣāmādhipatyamathāstu me .. 55.12 ..

Wherever you remain, there I shall dwell; / and may I have lordship over all the gaṇas.'

6.3.55.13

īśvara uvāca -
adyaprabhṛti tiṣṭhāmaḥ śūlabhede nareśvara .
trikālāṃ hi trayo devāḥ kalāṃśena vasāmahe .. 55.13 ..

Īśvara said: / 'From this day onward we will remain at Śūlabheda, O lord of men; / through all three times indeed, we three gods dwell here by a fraction of our potency.

6.3.55.14

nandisaṃjño gaṇādhīśo bhaviṣyati bhavāndhruvam .
matsamīpe tu bhavata ādau pūjā bhaviṣyati .. 55.14 ..

You shall certainly become the leader of the gaṇas named Nandi; / and in my presence, worship will first be offered to you.

6.3.55.15

prakṣipya tāni cāsthīni yatra dīrghatapā yayau .
sakuṭumbo vimānasthaḥ svargatastvaṃ tathā kuru .. 55.15 ..

Cast those bones [into the water] where Dīrghatapas went / to heaven seated in an aerial chariot with his family; do you likewise.'

6.3.55.16

evaṃ devā varaṃ dattvā citrasenāya pārthiva .
kuṇḍamūrdhani yāmyāyāṃ trayo devāstadā sthitāḥ .. 55.16 ..

Having thus granted the boon to Citrasena, O king, / the three gods then stationed themselves on the southern side at the head of the pool.

6.3.55.17

parasparaṃ vadantyevaṃ puṇyatīrthamidaṃ param .
yathā hi gayāśiraḥ puṇyaṃ pūrvameva paṭhyate .
tathā revātaṭe puṇyaṃ śūlabhedaṃ na saṃśayaḥ .. 55.17 ..

They said this to one another: "This supreme sacred ford is meritorious. / Just as Gayāśiras is celebrated as meritorious of old, / so is Śūlabheda on the bank of the Revā meritorious, without doubt."

6.3.55.18

īśvara uvāca -
idaṃ tīrthaṃ tathā puṇyaṃ yathā puṇyaṃ gayāśiraḥ .
sakṛtpiṇḍodakenaiva naro nirmalatāṃ vrajet .. 55.18 ..

Īśvara said: / 'This sacred ford is as meritorious as Gayāśiras is meritorious; / by a single offering of rice balls and water, a person reaches purity.'

6.3.55.19

ekaṃ gayāśiro muktvā sarvatīrthāni bhūpate .
śūlabhedasya tīrthasya kalāṃ nārhanti ṣoḍaśīm .. 55.19 ..

Except for Gayāśiras alone, O king, / all sacred fords are not worth a sixteenth part of the sacred ford of Śūlabheda.

6.3.55.20

kuṇḍamudīcyāṃ yāmyāyāṃ daśahastapramāṇataḥ .
raudravāruṇakāṣṭhāyāṃ pramāṇaṃ caikaviṃśati .. 55.20 ..

The pool measures ten cubits in the north and south, / and the measurement in the north-east and western directions is twenty-one.

6.3.55.21

etatpramāṇaṃ tattīrthaṃ piṇḍadānādikarmasu .
nādharmaniratā dātuṃ labhante dānamatra hi .. 55.21 ..

Such is the measure of that sacred ford for rites such as offering rice-balls; / those intent on unrighteousness indeed do not obtain [the right] to give gifts here.

6.3.55.22

viṣṇustu pitṛrūpeṇa brahmarūpī pitāmahaḥ .
prapitāmaho rudro'bhūdevaṃ tripuruṣāḥ sthitāḥ .. 55.22 ..

Viṣṇu stands in the form of the father, the grandfather has the form of Brahmā, / and the great-grandfather has become Rudra; thus the three generations of ancestors abide.

6.3.55.23

kadā paśyati tīrthaṃ vai kadā nastārayiṣyati .
iti pratīkṣāṃ kurvanti putrāṇāṃ satataṃ nṛpa .
śūlabhede naraḥ snātvā dṛṣṭvā śūladharaṃ sakṛt .. 55.23 ..

"When will he see the sacred ford? When will he deliver us?" / Thus they constantly wait for sons, O king. / If a man bathes at Śūlabheda and beholds the Bearer of the Trident once,

6.3.55.24

nāputro nādhano rogī saptajanmasu jāyate .
ekaviṃśatiṃ pituḥ pakṣe mātuśvaivekaviṃśatim .. 55.24 ..

he is not born sonless, poor, or diseased for seven lifetimes. / Twenty-one [ancestors] on his father's side, and twenty-one on his mother's side,

6.3.55.25

bhāryāpakṣe daśaiveha kulānyetāni tārayet .
śūlabhedavane rājañchākamūlaphalairapi .. 55.25 ..

and ten families on his wife's side he delivers here. / In the forest of Śūlabheda, O king, even with vegetables, roots, and fruits,

6.3.55.26

ekasminbhojite vipre koṭīrbhavati bhojitā .
pañcasthāneṣu yaḥ śrāddhaṃ kurute bhaktimānnaraḥ .. 55.26 ..

when one wise brahmin is fed, ten million are fed. / A devoted man who performs a funeral rite in the five places,

6.3.55.27

kulāni pretabhūtāni sarvāṇyapi hi tārayet .
dvijadevaprasādena pitṝṇāṃ ca prasādataḥ .. 55.27 ..

delivers all families, even those that have become ghosts, / through the grace of the brahmins and the gods, and through the grace of the ancestors.

6.3.55.28

śrāddhado nivasettatra yatra devo maheśvaraḥ .
syurātmaghātino ye ca gobrāhmaṇahanāśca ye .. 55.28 ..

The giver of the funeral rite dwells there where the god Maheśvara is. / And those who have committed suicide, and those who have slain cows or brahmins,

6.3.55.29

daṃṣṭribhirjalapāte ca vidyutpāteṣu ye mṛtāḥ .
na yeṣāmagnisaṃskāro nāśaucaṃ nodakakriyā .. 55.29 ..

those who have died by fanged beasts, by falling into water, or by lightning strikes, / those who have had no cremation, no impurity period, and no water rite—

6.3.55.30

tatra tīrthe tu yasteṣāṃ śrāddhaṃ kurvīta bhaktitaḥ .
mokṣāvāptirbhavetteṣāṃ yugamekaṃ na saṃśayaḥ .. 55.30 ..

for them, whoever performs a funeral rite with devotion at that sacred ford, / they attain liberation for one yuga; there is no doubt.

6.3.55.31

ajñānādyatkṛtaṃ pāpaṃ bālabhāvācca yatkṛtam .
tatsarvaṃ nāśayetpāpaṃ snānamātreṇa bhūpate .. 55.31 ..

Whatever sin was committed through ignorance, and whatever was committed in childhood, / all that sin is destroyed merely by bathing, O king.

6.3.55.32

rajakena yathā dhautaṃ vastraṃ bhavati nirmalam .
tathā pāpo'pi tattīrthe snāto bhavati nirmalaḥ .. 55.32 ..

Just as a cloth washed by a washerman becomes spotless, / so even a sinner, having bathed at that sacred ford, becomes spotless.

6.3.55.33

saṃnyāsaṃ kurute yo'tra tīrthe vidhisamanvitam .
dhyāyannityaṃ mahādevaṃ sa gacchetparamaṃ padam .. 55.33 ..

Whoever takes renunciation according to the rules at this sacred ford, / meditating constantly on Mahādeva, goes to the supreme state.

6.3.55.34

krīḍitvā sa yathākāmaṃ svecchayā śivamandire .
vedavedāṅgatattvajño jāyate'sau śubhe kule .. 55.34 ..

Having sported according to his desire at will in the abode of Śiva, / he is born into an auspicious family, knowing the reality of the Vedas and Vedāṅgas,

6.3.55.35

rūpavānsubhagaścaiva sarvavyādhivivarjitaḥ .
rājā vā rājaputro vācārasamanvitaḥ .. 55.35 ..

handsome, fortunate, free from all diseases, / a king or a prince endowed with good conduct.

6.3.55.36

etatte kathitaṃ rājaṃstīrthasya phalamuttamam .
yacchrutvā mānavo nityaṃ mucyate sarvakilbiṣaiḥ .. 55.36 ..

This excellent fruit of the sacred ford has been told to you, O king, / hearing which a mortal is constantly freed from all sins.

6.3.55.37

ya idaṃ śrāvayennityamākhyānaṃ dvijapuṃgavān .
śrāddhe devakule vāpi paṭhetparvaṇi parvaṇi .. 55.37 ..

Whoever constantly recites this narrative to the best of brahmins, / or reads it during a funeral rite, or in a temple on every auspicious festival day,

6.3.55.38

gīrvāṇāstasya tuṣyanti manuṣyāḥ pitṛbhiḥ saha .
paṭhatāṃ śṛṇvatāṃ caiva naśyate sarvapātakam .. 55.38 ..

the gods are pleased with him, and mortals along with their ancestors. / For those who read and hear it, all sin is destroyed.

6.3.55.39

likhitvā tīrthamāhātmyaṃ brāhmaṇebhyo dadāti yaḥ .
jātismaratvaṃ labhate prāpnotyabhimataṃ phalam .. 55.39 ..

Whoever writes down the māhātmya of the sacred ford and gives it to brahmins, / obtains recollection of past births and achieves the desired fruit.

6.3.55.40

rudraloke vasettāvadyāvadakṣaramanvitam .. 55.40 ..

He dwells in the world of Rudra for as many [years] as there are syllables.

6.3.55.40_2

.. iti śrīskānde mahāpurāṇa ekāśītisāhasryāṃ saṃhitāyāṃ pañcama āvantyakhaṇḍe revākhaṇḍe śūlabhedamāhātmye kāśīrājamokṣagamanaṃ nāma pañcapañcāśattamo'dhyāyaḥ ..

Thus ends the fifty-fifth chapter, named "The King of Kāśī's Attainment of Liberation," in the māhātmya of Śūlabheda, in the Revākhaṇḍa, in the fifth Avantyakhaṇḍa, in the Skandapurāṇa consisting of eighty-one thousand verses.