Skandapurana 1.3.9: adhyāyaḥ 11

Maheśvara said: / “The commander of the gaṇas is to be worshipped on the fourth day in each fortnight, / having bathed with pure white sesame seeds, always by men during the bright fortnight.

And having performed all obligatory duties, one should diligently carry out / the rite of worship to Gaṇeśa with perfumes, garlands, unbroken grains, and the like.

First, the meditation on Gaṇeśa should be properly performed according to rule. / Many scriptures have arisen for Gaṇeśa, just as for me,

Because his worshippers are manifold, endowed with darkness, purity, and passion. / According to the classification of gaṇas, those very names have become manifold.

The presiding lord of gaṇas has five faces, ten arms, and three eyes; / he resembles radiant crystal, has a blue neck, and an elephant face.

I shall describe his five faces exactly as they are: 11.6

The middle face is white, with four tusks and three eyes, / charming with the staff of his trunk, holding a sweetmeat in the tip of the trunk.

Likewise, another is yellow in color, one is blue with auspicious marks, / another is reddish-brown, and one is white—the auspicious faces of Gaṇeśa.

Likewise, I shall declare to you the weapons held in his ten arms: / a noose, a battle-axe and a lotus, a goad, and a tusk,

A rosary, a plow, a pestle, the boon-bestowing gesture, / and one should visualize a vessel filled with sweetmeats in his hand.

One should visualize him with a large belly, uneven eyes, wearing a sacred thread, endowed with a girdle, / seated upon a yogic posture, with the crescent moon on his crest.

This is known as the pure meditation. The passionate one for men [is as follows]: / possessing the radiance of pure gold, with an extraordinary elephant face,

Four-armed, three-eyed, with a single tusk, having a large belly, / the god holding a noose and a goad, with a tusk and a bowl of sweetmeats.

And the dark meditation is [described as] blue. Thus meditation is said to be of three kinds. / Thereupon, worship must be performed by you without delay.

With twenty-one blades of dūrvā grass, two at a time, individually with each name, / only one [blade] is offered to the leader of the gaṇas with all names combined.

Likewise, twenty-one sweetmeats are to be offered with the names. / I shall recite the ten names individually for the purpose of worship:

‘Obeisance to you, Gaṇādhipa, Son of Umā, Destroyer of sins, / Vināyaka, Son of Īśa, Bestower of all perfections,

Single-tusked, Elephant-faced, having a rat as your mount, / Teacher of Kumāra!’ With these, he is to be diligently worshipped by you.

Having spoken thus to the gods, Sadāśiva immediately embraced with respect / Viṣṇu, who dwells in the secret heart, and Brahmā.

The exceedingly splendid Śambhu immediately vanished. / Having bowed to Śambhu, all of them engaged in the worship of the presiding lord of gaṇas.

Then, having worshipped according to rule, intent upon the worship of the presiding lord of gaṇas / with numerous offerings and dūrvā grasses, individually,

The presiding lord of gaṇas was satisfied and became the granter of boons to the gods. / Circumambulating and bowing, they were all delighted by him.

Endowed with the quality of darkness, all the demons did not worship him. / Those chief demons were solely intent on deriding the gods.

Having worshipped the daughter of Śaṅkara, they went back to the ocean of milk— / Brahmā, Viṣṇu, the seers, the gods, and the demons, the foremost of the gods.

Making Mandara the churning rod and making Vāsuki the rope, / the gods then churned, placing Viṣṇu in their presence.

Then, as the ocean was being churned, the moon emerged first, / filled with nectar, for the accomplishment of the purpose of all the gods.

Śaunaka said: / “Why was the moon cast into the ocean in ancient times, and by whom, O you of noble vows? / Jewels such as the elephant were mentioned by you earlier.

Tell me all this in brief from the beginning, O lord! / Having understood it, O Sūta, all of us will describe it afterward.”

Hearing their words, Sūta began to speak: 11.29

“The moon consists of water, O brahmins, is the virtuous son of Atri, / born from Anasūyā, arising from a portion of Brahmā. / Durvāsas arose from a portion of Rudra, and Dattātreya from a portion of Viṣṇu.

Seeing the ocean of milk being churned, the moon was filled with joy; / and seeing the moon, the ocean of milk also became eager.

And entered out of mutual affection, listen, O best of twice-born [brahmins]! / Indeed, full of nectar, the Moon stood before them in the presence of the gods.

And seeing his radiance, the Moon was then quickly honored with waving lights by the hosts of gods, / amidst tumultuous and diverse sounds of musical instruments, many mṛdaṅgas, conches, and paṭahas.

All of them, together with the gods, asuras, and dānavas, bowed down, / then asking Garga about the true strength of the Moon.

They were then spoken to by Garga: “Today indeed is the strength of you all; / all the finest planets are situated in the center [kendras] for you.

Jupiter has approached the Moon, and Mercury too has arrived; / and likewise the Sun, Venus, Saturn, and mighty Mars.

Therefore, the strength of the Moon is supreme for the accomplishment of your purpose; / this muhūrta named Gomanta grants victory.”

Thus reassured by the high-souled Garga himself, / the gods, exceedingly strong and roaring, quickly churned the ocean.

Having attained double strength, the high-souled ones of firm resolve, / remembering Maheśa and Gaṇeśa again and again,

from the ocean being thoroughly churned and roaring on every side, / Surabhi came forth in visible form for the accomplishment of the purpose of the gods.

Contented, of a tawny color, with a massive weight of udder, / moving over the waves very gently step by step,

seeing the wish-fulfilling cow approaching, all the gods and asuras / rained down a great shower of flowers upon her of boundless splendor.

Then many musical horns sounded and diverse instruments repeatedly; / brought out from the midst of the waters, she was also surrounded by hundreds of cows.

Among them were dark-blue, black, tawny, partridge-colored, / reddish-brown, dark, red, rose-apple colored, and yellowish-brown ones; / accompanied by these cows, Surabhi was then beheld.

Filled with joy, the seers at once begged the gods and the daityas / for the wish-fulfilling cow who was surrounded by the gods and asuras:

“To all the brahmins of diverse lineages / the cows, accompanied by Surabhi, must indeed be given; of this there is no doubt.”

Begged by them, the gods and asuras then gave those cows for the pleasure of Śiva; / those cows were received by the auspicious, high-souled, most meritorious seers.

All the sages then caused the declaration of an auspicious day to be made by those gods, / for the accomplishment of the purpose of the gods and for the destruction of the asuras.

Again, with great fury, all of them churned the Ocean of Milk. / As that ocean was then being churned, there appeared

the wish-fulfilling tree, the Pārijāta, the mango, and the Saṃtānaka. / Setting aside those trees resembling the city of the Gandharvas, / the wise ones quickly and fiercely churned the Ocean of Milk once more.

From the ocean being churned, having the luster of the sun, / arose the best of jewels among all gems, named Kaustubha, possessing great splendor,

illuminating the three worlds by its own radiance. / Placing the wish-fulfilling jewel [Cintāmaṇi] in front, they beheld the Kaustubha.

All the gods then gave that Kaustubha to Viṣṇu. / Then, placing the wish-fulfilling jewel in the middle, the gods and asuras, / mighty in strength, roaring, again churned the ocean.

As it was being churned, from it then arose the wondrous / jewel of horses, Uccaiḥśravas, and again the elephant Airāvata,

and likewise the jewel among elephants, accompanied by sixty-four / white elephants, four-tusked and in rut.

Placing all those in the middle, they churned yet again. / From the ocean being churned, many things then came forth:

liquor, hemp [vijayā], bhṛṅgī, as well as garlic and leeks, / the exceedingly intoxicating datura, and puṣkara.

Placed in no single place on the shore of the lord of rivers and streams, / there once again those great lords of asuras churned the ocean together with the best of gods.

From the ocean being churned, there then arose divine Lakṣmī, the sole sovereign of the universe, / whom the knowers of Brahman call Dialectics [Ānvīkṣikī], and whom others proclaim to be the Primal Lore [Mūlavidyā].

Some capable ones call her Knowledge of Brahman [Brahmavidyā], some perfection [siddhi], prosperity [ṛddhi], authority [ājñā], and hope [āśā]; / some yogins call her the power of Viṣṇu [Vaiṣṇavī], and the ever-focused sorcerers call her Māyā.

All those endowed with the power of knowledge, following what doctrine, proclaim her as Yogamāyā.

They then saw Mahālakṣmī slowly approaching— / fair and youthful, charming, adorned with the filaments of lotuses,

gently smiling, with beautiful teeth, of youthful bloom, adorned with fresh youth, / whose radiant splendor was heightened by various garments, ornaments, and jewels,

with lips like the bimba fruit, a fine nose, slender-waisted, with a beautiful neck and lovely eyes, / possessing a slender waist, attractive hips, and large thighs,

whose lotus face was illuminated by lamps of various gems, / with a lovely and serene countenance, adorned with necklaces and anklets,

resplendent beneath a parasol held over her head, / being fanned with chowries as bright as the billows of the Gaṅgā,

mounted upon a pale white elephant, praised by the great seers, / wearing a garland of divine flowers interwoven with jasmine blossoms.

Seeing that [garland] held at the tips of her hands, the gods were filled with longing; / as they were gazing at her, she then looked upon them—

upon the gods and the dānavas, the siddhas, cāraṇas, and serpents— / just as a virtuous mother looks upon her own sons, so did Mahālakṣmī.

Gazed upon by that Lakṣmī, the gods were endowed with fortune, / and instantly became marked with the signs of sovereignty; / those daityas who were not looked upon by Lakṣmī became devoid of fortune.

And then she looked upon Mukunda, dark as a tamāla tree, with lovely cheeks and nose, / resplendent with a supreme form, marked with the Śrīvatsa, casting a compassionate glance.

Having seen [him], Lakṣmī, adorned with a garland of forest flowers, at once stepped down from the elephant, greatly astonishing [all]; / she placed around the neck of Viṣṇu, the Supreme Person, a garland fashioned by Śrī and surrounded by bees. 11.72

Taking her place at the left side of that great soul, she sat there; seeing the two of them, / the gods and the daityas, along with the siddhas, apsarases, kinnaras, and cāraṇas, felt wondrous joy. 11.73

All the worlds together on every side / felt great delight at the union of Lakṣmī and Nārāyaṇa. 11.74

Mahāviṣṇu was chosen by Lakṣmī, and Lakṣmī was embraced by him; / thus, out of love, both were intent on gazing at one another. 11.75

Conches, kettle-drums, mṛdaṅgas, ānakas, gomukhas, / bherīs, and jharjharīs—tumultuous arose that sound. 11.76

A magnificent singing of vocalists then took place, / along with [instruments] stringed, percussion, solid, and wind. 11.77

Thus, with varieties of instruments, the gandharvas and hosts of apsarases, skilled in fine song, / pleased Viṣṇu, Hari, with all their soul. 11.78

Likewise sang Nārada, Tumburu, and others, the gandharvas, yakṣas, and hosts of gods and siddhas, / paying homage to Lord Nārāyaṇa, the embodiment of the Supreme Self, of unfathomable wisdom. 11.79

Thus ends the eleventh chapter, titled “Description of the Manifestation of Lakṣmī” in the account of the Churning of the Ocean, in the Kedārakhaṇḍa of the first section, the Māheśvarakhaṇḍa, in the glorious Skanda Mahāpurāṇa consisting of eighty-one thousand verses. 11