Skandapurana 1.1.1.49.1

1.1.1.49.1

.. śrīgaṇeśāya namaḥ.. ..
atha śrīmadaruṇācalamāhātmyapūrvārdhaḥ prārabhyate.. ..
lalāṭe traipuṃḍrī niṭilakṛtakastūritilakaḥ sphuranmālādhāraḥ sphuritakaṭikaupīnavasanaḥ ..
dadhāno dustāraṃ śirasi phaṇirājaṃ śaśikalāṃ pradīpaḥ sarveṣāmaruṇagiriyogīvijayate ..1..
.. vyāsa uvāca .. ..
athāhurmunayaḥ sūtaṃ naimiṣāraṇyavāsinaḥ ..
aruṇācalamāhātmyaṃ tvattaḥ śuśrūṣavo vayam .. 2 ..
tanmāhātmyaṃ vadetyuktaḥ sūtaḥ provāca tānmunīn ..
.. śrīsūta uvāca .. ..
etadarthaṃ caturvaktraṃ papraccha sanakaḥ purā .. 3 ..
śṛṇutāvahitā yūyaṃ tadvo vakṣyāmi sāṃpratam ..
yadākarṇayatāṃ bhaktyā narāṇāṃ pāpanāśanam .. 4 ..
satyaloke sthitaṃ pūrvaṃ brahmāṇaṃ kamalāsanam ..
sanakaḥ paripapraccha praṇataḥ prāṃjaliḥ sthitaḥ .. 5 ..
.. sanaka uvāca .. ..
bhuvanādhāra deveśa vedavedya caturmukha ..
āsīdaśeṣavijñānaṃ prasādādbhavato mama .. 6 ..
bhavadbhaktivibhūtyā me śodhite cittadarpaṇe ..
biṃbate sakalaṃ jñānaṃ sakṛdevopadeśataḥ .. 7 ..
sārārthaṃ vedavedānāṃ śivajñānamanākulam ..
labdhavānahamatyaṃtaṃ kaṭākṣaiste jagadguroḥ .. 8 ..
liṃgāni bhuvi śaivāni divyāni ca kṛpānidhe ..
mānuṣāṇi ca saiddhāni bhautāni suranāyaka .. 9 ..
yālliṅmamamalaṃ divyamaricchedanavaibhavam ..
svayambhu jāmbave dvīpe taijasaṃ tavdadasva me .. 10 ..
nāmasmaraṇamātreṇa yatpātakavināśanam ..
śivasārūpyadaṃ nityaṃ mahyaṃ vada dayānidhe .. 11 ..
anādijagadādhāraṃ yattejaḥ śaivamavyayam ..
yacca dṛṣṭvā kṛtārthaḥ syāttanmahyamupadiśyatām .. 12 ..
iti bhaktimatastasya kautūhalasamanvitam ..

Obeisance to the venerable Gaṇeśa.
Now begins the first half of the glorious Aruṇācalamāhātmya.
With the triple mark of ashes upon his forehead, wearing a musk mark on his brow, wearing a gleaming garland, his loins clad in a radiant loincloth, / bearing on his head the unassailable king of serpents and the crescent of the moon, the yogin of Aruṇagiri, a light unto all, reigns supreme. (1)
Vyāsa said:
Then the sages dwelling in the Naimiṣāraṇya said to Sūta: / “We wish to hear from you the māhātmya of Aruṇācala. (2)
Tell us that māhātmya!” Addressed thus, Sūta said to those sages:
Sūta said:
Long ago, Sanaka questioned the four-faced [Brahmā] for this very purpose. (3)
Listen with attentive minds; I shall tell it to you now, / for hearing it with devotion destroys the sins of men. (4)
Once in Satyaloka, seated before Brahmā who sits on the lotus, / Sanaka bowed low and, standing with joined palms, questioned him: (5)
Sanaka said:
“O support of the worlds, lord of gods, you who are known through the Vedas, four-faced one! / Complete knowledge arose in me through your grace. (6)
When the mirror of my mind was purified through the glory of devotion to you, / all knowledge was reflected there simply upon a single teaching. (7)
The essential meaning of the Vedas and what is known through the Vedas—the undisturbed knowledge of Śiva— / I have fully attained through your glances, O teacher of the universe! (8)
There are Śiva’s liṅgas on earth: divine ones, O treasury of compassion, / and human ones, those established by siddhas, and elemental ones, O leader of the gods. (9)
Tell me of that pure, divine liṅga that possesses the majesty of destroying enemies, / self-manifest in Jambudvīpa, fiery in nature. (10)
Tell me, O treasury of mercy, of that which destroys sin by the mere recollection of its name, / and eternally grants conformity to Śiva’s form! (11)
That imperishable splendor of Śiva which is the beginningless support of the universe, / and seeing which one becomes fulfilled—let that be taught to me!”
Thus hearing the word of that devoted [disciple], full of curiosity, (12)