Skandapurana 6.3.7

6.3.7.p1

adhyāya 7

6.3.7.1

śrīmārkaṇḍeya uvāca -
punarekārṇave ghore naṣṭe sthāvarajaṃgame .
salilenāplute loke nirāloke tamodbhave .. 7.1 ..

The venerable Mārkaṇḍeya said: / Once again, in the dreadful single cosmic ocean, when all mobile and immobile beings had vanished, / when the world was inundated with water, devoid of light, and enveloped in darkness,

6.3.7.2

brahmaiko vicaraṃstatra tamībhūte mahārṇave .
divyavarṣasahasraṃ tu khadyota iva rūpavān .. 7.2 ..

Brahmā alone, wandering there in that ocean enveloped in darkness / for a thousand divine years, possessed of form like a firefly,

6.3.7.3

śete yojanasāhasramaprameyamanuttamam .
dvādaśādityasaṃkāśaṃ sahasracaraṇekṣaṇam .. 7.3 ..

saw [the Lord] lying over a thousand yojanas, immeasurable, unsurpassable, / resembling twelve suns, having a thousand feet and eyes,

6.3.7.4

prasuptaṃ cārṇave ghore hyapaśyatkūrmarūpiṇam .
taṃ dṛṣṭvā vismayāpanno brahmā bodhayate śanaiḥ .. 7.4 ..

fast asleep in the dreadful ocean in the form of a tortoise. / Seeing him, filled with astonishment, Brahmā gently awakened him

6.3.7.5

stutibhirmaṃgalaiścaiva vedavedāṃgasaṃbhavaiḥ .
vācaspate vibudhyasva mahābhūta namo'stu te .. 7.5 ..

with auspicious praises arising from the Vedas and their auxiliary limbs: / 'O Lord of speech, awaken, O great being, obeisance to you!

6.3.7.6

tavodare jagatsarvaṃ tiṣṭhate parameśvara .
tadvimuñca mahāsattva yatpūrvaṃ saṃhṛtaṃ tvayā .. 7.6 ..

The entire universe resides in your belly, O supreme lord. / Release that, O being of great power, which was previously withdrawn by you.

6.3.7.7

vyatītā rajanī brāhmī dinaṃ samanuvartate .
nirīkṣya sarvalokeśa yena saṃbhavate jagat .. 7.7 ..

The night of Brahmā has passed; the day now follows. / Look forth, O Lord of all worlds, by whom the universe comes into being.'

6.3.7.8

sa niśamya vacastasya utthitaḥ parameśvaraḥ .
samudgiran sa lokāṃstrīn grastān kalpakṣaye tadā .. 7.8 ..

Hearing his words, that supreme lord arose, / vomiting forth the three worlds swallowed at the end of the kalpa.

6.3.7.9

devadānavagandharvāḥ sayakṣoragarākṣasāḥ .
sacandrārkagrahāḥ sarve śarīrāttasya nirgatāḥ .. 7.9 ..

The gods, Dānavas, and Gandharvas, together with Yakṣas, serpents, and Rākṣasas, / along with the moon, sun, and planets, all came forth from his body.

6.3.7.10

tato hyekārṇavaṃ sarvaṃ vibhajya parameśvaraḥ .
vistīrṇopalatoyaughāṃ saritsaravivardhitām .. 7.10 ..

Then, having divided that entire single cosmic ocean, the supreme lord / saw the earth, with its expansive rock and torrents of water, magnified by rivers and lakes,

6.3.7.11

paśyate medinīṃ devaḥ savṛkṣauṣadhipalvalām .
himavantaṃ giriśreṣṭhaṃ śvetaṃ parvatamuttamam .. 7.11 ..

the god [saw] the earth with its trees, medicinal herbs, and pools; / the Himavat, the best of mountains; Śveta, the supreme mountain;

6.3.7.12

śṛṅgavantaṃ mahāśailaṃ ye cānye kulaparvatāḥ .
jaṃbudvīpaṃ kuśaṃ krauñcaṃ sagomedaṃ saśālmalam .. 7.12 ..

the great mountain Śṛṅgavat, and whatever other principal mountain ranges [there be]; / Jambudvīpa, Kuśadvīpa, Krauñcadvīpa, along with Gomedadvīpa and Śālmaladvīpa;

6.3.7.13

puṣkarāntāśca ye dvīpā ye ca saptamahārṇavāḥ .
lokālokaṃ mahāśailaṃ sarvaṃ ca purataḥ sthitam .. 7.13 ..

and the islands ending with Puṣkara, as well as the seven great oceans; / the great mountain Lokāloka—he saw all standing before him,

6.3.7.14

catuḥprakṛtisaṃyuktaṃ jagatsthāvarajaṃgamam .
yugānte tu viniṣkrāntamapaśyatsa maheśvaraḥ .. 7.14 ..

the universe of mobile and immobile beings, endowed with the four kinds of creation. / That Maheśvara saw it emerged at the close of the yuga.

6.3.7.15

viprakīrṇaśilājālāmapaśyatsa vasuṃdharām .
kūrmapṛṣṭhopagāṃ devīṃ mahārṇavagatāṃ prabhuḥ .. 7.15 ..

The Lord saw the earth, its masses of rocks scattered abroad, / the goddess resting upon the back of the tortoise, situated in the great ocean.

6.3.7.16

tasmin viśīrṇaśailāgre saritsarovivarjite .
nānātaraṃgabhinnoda āvartodvartasaṃkule .. 7.16 ..

In that [ocean], where the peaks of mountains were shattered, devoid of rivers and lakes, / its waters broken by manifold waves, crowded with whirlpools and surges,

6.3.7.17

nānauṣadhiprajvalite nānotpalaśilātale .
nānāvihaṃgasaṃghuṣṭāṃ matsyakūrmasamākulām .. 7.17 ..

blazing with diverse medicinal plants, with rocky beds covered by manifold lotuses, / resounded by various birds, teeming with fish and tortoises,

6.3.7.18

divyamāyāmayīṃ devīmutkṛṣṭāmbudasannibhām .
nadīmapaśyaddeveśo hyanaupamyajalāśayām .. 7.18 ..

the Lord of the gods saw a river, the goddess fashioned of divine māyā, / resembling an excellent rain-cloud, her reservoir of water beyond compare.

6.3.7.19

madhye tasyāmbudaśyāmāṃ pīnorujaghanastanīm .
vastrairanupamairdivyairnānābharaṇabhūṣitām .. 7.19 ..

In her midst [he saw her], dark as a rain-cloud, with swelling thighs, hips, and breasts, / adorned with incomparable, divine garments and diverse ornaments,

6.3.7.20

sanūpuraravoddāmāṃ hārakeyūramaṇḍitām .
tādṛśīṃ narmadāṃ devīṃ svayaṃ strīrūpadhāriṇīm .. 7.20 ..

resounding wildly with the sound of anklets, decorated with necklaces and armlets— / he saw such a goddess Narmadā, directly assuming the form of a woman,

6.3.7.21

yogamāyāmayaiścitrairbhūṣaṇaiḥ svairvibhūṣitām .
avyaktāṅgīṃ mahābhāgāmapaśyatsa tu narmadām .. 7.21 ..

adorned with her own wondrous ornaments fashioned of yogamāyā, / with unmanifest limbs, the highly fortunate Narmadā.

6.3.7.22

ardhodyatabhujāṃ bālāṃ padmapatrāyatekṣaṇām .
stuvantīṃ devadeveśamutthitāṃ tu jalāttadā .. 7.22 ..

A maiden with half-raised arms, her eyes wide as lotus petals, / praising the god of gods, having arisen from the water.

6.3.7.23

vismayāviṣṭahṛdayo hyahamudvīkṣya tāṃ śubhām .
snātvā jale śubhe tasyāḥ stotumabhyudyatastataḥ .. 7.23 ..

Beholding that auspicious one, my heart filled with wonder, / having bathed in her auspicious water, I then prepared to praise her.

6.3.7.24

arcayāmāsa saṃhṛṣṭo mantrairvedāṃgasaṃbhavaiḥ .
sṛṣṭaṃ ca tatpurā rājanpaśyeyaṃ sacarācaram .. 7.24 ..

Full of joy, I worshipped her with mantras born from the Vedas and their auxiliary limbs. / 'May I see that which was created of old, O king, with all that moves and is still,

6.3.7.25

sadevāsuragandharvaṃ sapannagamahoragam .
paśyāmyeṣā mahābhāgā naiva yātā kṣayaṃ purā .. 7.25 ..

with gods, asuras, and Gandharvas, with serpents and great snakes!' / I see that this highly fortunate one never went to destruction in the past,

6.3.7.26

mahādevaprasādācca taccharīrasamudbhavā .
bhūyo bhūyo mayā dṛṣṭā kathitā te nṛpottama .. 7.26 ..

and by the grace of Mahādeva, she was born from his body. / Seen again and again by me, she has been described to you, O best of kings.

6.3.7.27

prādurbhāvamimaṃ kaurmyaṃ ye'dhīyante dvijottamāḥ .
ye'pi śṛṇvanti vidvāṃso mucyante te'pi kilbiṣaiḥ .. 7.27 ..

Those best of twice-born who study this manifestation relating to the tortoise, / and the wise who hear it, they too are freed from sins.

6.3.7.27_2

.. iti śrīskānde mahāpurāṇa ekāśītisāhasryāṃ saṃhitāyāṃ pañcama āvantyakhaṇḍe revākhaṇḍe narmadāmāhātmye kūrmakalpasamudbhavo nāma saptamo'dhyāyaḥ ..

Thus ends the seventh chapter, named "Origin of the Tortoise Kalpa," in the Māhātmya of the Narmadā, in the Revākhaṇḍa, in the Āvantyakhaṇḍa, in the Mahāpurāṇa of Skanda containing eighty-one thousand verses.