Skandapurana 1.4.11: adhyāyaḥ 13

Nārada said:
Having heard these words of that lord of sages, the king said: / “Leaving you, I will not go anywhere as a [mere mortal] man.

Today I will worship the liṅga that bestows all perfections upon men. / Blessed today by you alone, let all return whence they came.”

Hearing those words of the king, the crane, the vulture, the tortoise, / and the owl likewise spoke, bowing down to the sage Lomaśa.

And that brahmin, a friend to all, then said to them, “So be it”; / bowing down, he favored all who bowed like disciples.

According to the rules of initiation into Śiva's rites, he instructed them in the worship of the liṅga. / Devoted to bestowing grace upon them, the sage was fond of the zealous. / Association with the virtuous is greater even than a sacred ford;

it bears ripe fruit immediately and removes endless terrible sins; / the rising of the thousand-rayed sun of the company of the good is something extraordinary and matchless.

which completely dispels the darkness within through solitude. / The waves of the nectar of bliss arisen from an assembly of the virtuous,

all the boons, shaped like nectar, [surpassing] sugar, honey, and the six flavors. / Then, having attained the company of the virtuous by Śiva's command,

the king Mārkaṇḍa and the others began the yoga of action. / As they were performing austerity in this manner, there came at one time [Nārada], / who, in connection with a pilgrimage to sacred fords, was eager to see Lomaśa.

"Indeed, the primary pilgrimage is the pilgrimage to virtuous men, through connection with which comes the pilgrimage to sacred fords; / O king, that portion of the earth frequented by the good is spoken of in that way."

When I had been offered hospitality and rites of welcome, and was rested, O Phālguna, / having bowed, Nāḍījaṅgha and the others asked me:

They said: / "O brahmin, fallen through a curse on account of our own deeds, all four of us are ruined; / point out some place to achieve liberation from it.

For this land is barren; the Bharata region is cursed, O sage.

Even there, tell us of one place that grants the fruit of all sacred fords." / When questioned thus by them, I then spoke this to them:

"Inquire of Saṃvarta; he will tell you in truth / the region of the earth that brings about the fruit of all sacred fords."

They said: / "Where is this yogin to be found? We do not know him. / 'Liberation comes from the darśana of Saṃvarta'—this is your grace to us.

If you know, tell us of him; the company of a friend is never fruitless." / Thereupon, having considered this again and again, I spoke to them:

"This Saṃvarta resides in Vārāṇasī, bearing a concealed emblem, / smeared with dirt, unclothed, eating begged food in the afternoon,

eating with his hands as a begging bowl, completely without possessions, / meditating upon the supreme Brahman, the Lord named Praṇava.

Having eaten, he goes out to the forest at eventide and is not recognized by people. / He is a lord of yogins, [though] there are others bearing emblems of similar form.

I will tell you his distinguishing mark, [by which] you will recognize that sage: / at night, on the royal road at the city gate, a corpse

unrecognized by people should be placed on the ground, and you should stand not far from it. / Whoever approaches that place and suddenly turns back,

he is Saṃvarta; he will undoubtedly not step over the impurity. / Approaching him humbly, he should be asked what is desired.

If he asks, 'By whom was I revealed?', then, having announced [me], / this must be said: 'Having revealed you, he entered the fire.'"

Hearing that, all of them followed my word accordingly. / Having reached Vārāṇasī and seen Saṃvarta, they acted in that manner.

And seeing the corpse placed by them, Saṃvarta indeed turned back. / Though overcome by hunger, knowing who he was, they followed him as he walked swiftly.

Saying, "Wait, O brahmin, for a moment!" to him walking on the royal road, / he went on, rebuking [them] and saying, "Turn back!

Do not come near me today, hey! It is not good for you!" / Taking to flight, having gone to a very distant lake, / angry, he said to all of them: "By whom, indeed, was I revealed?

Disclose it to me quickly so that I may reduce him to ashes / with the fire of my curse—or else [reduce] you, if you do not speak the truth!"

Then, trembling, they said to that sage, "By Nārada." / He spoke to them again: "Where has that slanderer gone now,

of all people, so that I may reduce that wretched brahmin to ashes in the fire of my curse?" / Frightened, they spoke again to that sage:

They said: / "Having told us of you, he entered the fire / at that very moment, O best of brahmins; we do not know the reason for that."

Saṃvarta said: / "I too would have done the very same to him; he did it to himself. / Therefore, state your business; I will not remain here long for your sake."

Arjuna said: / "If you entered the fire, O divine sage Nārada, / how then are you alive again? Tell me this wonder!"

Nārada said: / "Neither fire, nor the ocean, nor wind, nor a tree, nor a mountain, / nor a weapon is capable of causing the fall of my body, O Bhārata.

Moreover, this was done so that Saṃvarta would consider / that I had shown him respect; and having reached the fire, I departed.

Just as someone enters an arbor of flowers, my dear Phālguna, / so did I enter the fire and go away; hear what followed.

Saṃvarta spoke again to them, headed by Mārkaṇḍeya, saying: / 'The path is free of obstacles; I am hungry, and again to the city / I will wander for alms; tell me your question now!'

They said: / "Fallen through a curse, we shall attain liberation through your grace. / Therefore, tell the remedy to those who bow before you, O great sage!

At which sacred ford does a man obtain the fruit of all sacred fords? / Tell us of that sacred ford, O Saṃvarta, where we may dwell."

Saṃvarta said: / "Having bowed to Kumāra and to the Durgās, O best of men, / I shall tell of the sacred ford: the confluence of the Mahī and the ocean.

When, by this lion among kings, the wise Indradyumna, / this earth was made two fingers high through sacrificial worship,

then, from the scorched earth, just as from wood, / there flowed a flood of water, reverenced by all the gods,

a river named Mahī; and whatever sacred fords there are / on the earth, they know that water to be produced from their waters.

Arisen under the name Mahī in the land called Mālavaka, / reaching the southern ocean, both its banks are holy and auspicious.

Originally containing all sacred fords was the great river named Mahī; / how much more then its confluence with the lord of rivers [the ocean]!

Vārāṇasī, Kurukṣetra, Gaṅgā, Revā, Sarasvatī,

Tāpī, Payoṣṇī, Nirvindhyā, Candrabhāgā, Irāvatī, / Kāverī, and Sarayū, Gaṇḍakī, and Naimiṣa as well,"

Gayā, Godāvarī, Aruṇā, and Varuṇā— / these holy ones, and whatever hundreds of other rivers there are on earth,

twenty thousand and six hundred in all— / the water of the Mahī is proclaimed as having arisen from their essence.

The fruit that is obtained by bathing at all sacred fords on earth / is declared to be [gained] at the confluence of the Mahī and the ocean, according to Kumāra's word.

If you desire the union of all sacred fords in one place, / then go to the confluence of the Mahī and the ocean, which yields great merit.

And I too dwelt right there for many groups of years in the past, / and I came here out of fear of Nārada.

For he is nearby there and is especially a talebearer. / Marutta is making an effort; [Nārada] might speak to him, hence this fear.

Here, in the midst of many who are clad in the directions, like one of them, / I dwell deeply hidden, as if terrified of Marutta.

Surely Nārada will report me even here again; / for such behavior is observed in that talebearer.

And you must not speak of this to anyone anywhere. / King Marutta makes an effort for the accomplishment of his sacrifice.

Having been abandoned by my brother, the teacher of the gods, for another reason, / and knowing me to be the son of his guru, [he sought me] to serve as officiating priest at his sacrifice.

I have no need for sacrificial rites wrapped in ignorance, / nor for insentient ones enjoined by the Vedas, which are violent in nature.

If it is performed with insentient means consisting mainly of kindling, flowers, and kuśa grass, / then the effect that comes to be for men will correspond to its cause.

Therefore go there at once, attendants of the king! / There is the brahmin Yājñavalkya, who is Brahmā himself.

For formerly, while dwelling in an excellent hermitage in the city of Mithi, / seeing a mongoose approaching, he said this word to Gārgī:

“Gārgī, protect the milk, good lady, for here comes a mongoose! / Turn away that mongoose, whose mind is set on drinking the milk.”

Addressed thus, the mongoose became enraged, for he had been enraged long ago / and cursed by the ancestors of Jamadagni; he spoke to the sage:

“Ah, fie, fie, and fie yet again! / Indeed, the shamelessness of sinful humans is seen!

How indeed do those lowest of men commit sins, / for whom intense torment in hell is separated only by death?

A person whose life cannot be guaranteed for even the blink of an eye, / whose maximum lifespan is only that long—how could he commit sin?

Sage, you think this: ‘I am of noble birth and wise’; / therefore you insult me, smiling: ‘This is a mongoose!’—you fool!

What have you studied, Yājñavalkya? What is your mastery of yoga? / You insult one who is blameless; fie upon that learning of yours!

Tell me, in which Veda, in which traditional law is this taught, / that you address me with harsh words, calling me ‘mongoose’?

Do you not know this: as many harsh words / as are made to be heard by another, so many spikes [are driven] through the ears?

The followers of Yama, placing a foot upon the throat of that evil-minded one / while he weeps aloud, will thrust iron spikes into his ears.

Garrulous hypocrites rob pitiable people; / people like you rob dharma itself with a thousand hands.

A word has become to me equal to a thunderbolt, / a poisoned weapon, kālakūṭa poison, and death itself.

They extract iron arrows from the ear, nose, and body; / but the dart of speech cannot be extracted, for it lies within the heart.

It is better that this man be killed, crushed in pressing-machines, / but one should never seek to harm him with harsh words.

Yet why have I, Yājñavalkya, been struck by you, / who always fancy yourself a scholar, with the harsh word: ‘You are a mongoose’?”

Saṃvarta said: / Hearing his words, his mind greatly astonished, / Yājñavalkya spoke this with his hands joined in reverence:

“Homage to great adharma, whose origin we do not know, / clearly even down to an atom! What pride of learning can good men have here?

Virañci, Viṣṇu, Soma, Indra, and the rest— / even those omniscient ones are bewildered; what reckoning can there be of someone like me?

The wretched man who out of delusion considers himself to be a knower of dharma / seeks to catch the wind with his fist.

Some are ruined by ignorance, others even by pride of knowledge; / and some base men, even having attained knowledge, are ruined by indolence.

The base brute does not practice the four-footed dharma / ordained in the Vedas, the smṛtis, the itihāsas, and the Purāṇas.

Clearly he grieves later upon reaching that house of Death. / For indeed this utterance in the Vedic text is stated by the author of the domestic rites:

‘One should address a mongoose (nakula) as belonging to a family (sakula); one should not strike anyone at a vulnerable spot.’ / Even though I recite all this just like a parrot,

out of indolence and non-observance, my friend, that solitary deed became vain.

And the man who is satisfied merely with reciting, / and who fancies himself a scholar—what else is he considered but a beast?

The sacred meters do not deliver from sin a deceitful person acting with deceit; / just as fledglings that have grown wings abandon the nest, the meters abandon him at the time of death.

A brahmin who girds his loins for heaven merely by recitation / is a child sitting in his mother’s lap wishing to grasp the moon.

Therefore you should by all means forgive my impropriety; / everyone speaks in this way, and so it was uttered by me.”

The mongoose said: / “In vain have you spoken this, in that you consider yourself equal / to ordinary people; it is not fitting for great souls to say this.

Between horses, elephants, and irons, / between pieces of wood, stones, and garments, / and between women, men, and waters, there is a vast difference.”

If other, ordinary people commit many sins, / what, should an eminent man also do the same following behind them?

Scripture was fashioned for the welfare of all, and likewise mind and intellect / were granted to everyone by the Creator; yet if they still become sinners,

then what fault is it of the Creator? They alone are indeed ill-fated! / Why, in particular, should a brahmin behave like common folk?

Whatever the superior man practices, that very thing other people do; / whatever standard he sets, the world conforms to it.

Therefore, for one's own sake and for the sake of others, the duty of the virtuous / must never be abandoned by great men; it was right that you were instructed in that.

Because I was tormented by you with harsh words, O sage, / therefore I shall quickly curse you, for I deem you fit to be cursed.

You told me: 'You are a mongoose [nakula]'; therefore, lowest of your family [nakula], / you yourself, O sage, out of delusion will soon be born as a mongoose!"

Saṃvarta said: / Having heard this speech, resigned to what was destined to happen, / Yājñavalkya was born in the Maru country as the son of a vipra.

Born to an ill-behaved, sinful, pitiless, argumentative man / of low family, he was then a son who remembered his past lives.

Then, beholding through spiritual knowledge, that twice-born named Bhartṛyajña / went to the secret sacred field, the confluence of the Mahī and the ocean.

Becoming a Pāśupata there and intent on the worship of Śiva, / he now resides there worshiping the self-manifest Mahākāla.

Whatever man daily worships Mahākāla with faith, / he is freed from the defects of low birth, as a snake from its slough.

Just as he beholds that liṅga with faith, / so he is freed from faults arising from hundreds of births.

Bhartṛyajña, through his continuous worship of the liṅga right there, / was freed from the defect of his seed; such indeed is the greatness of that liṅga!

Because he, freed from his wretched birth, called a brown mongoose babhru, / therefore this sacred ford is known as Babhru, the purifier.

Therefore, go to that very confluence of the Mahī and the ocean; / resorting to the five sacred fords, you will certainly attain liberation."

Having spoken thus, the twice-born Saṃvarta departed as he wished; / and having reached the sage Bhartṛyajña, they remained there.

Then, knowing them to be attendants of Śiva through his spiritual insight, he said to them: / "Great and pure is your merit, since right here in the secret sacred field,

you have arrived where the confluence of the Mahī and the ocean is! / Ritual ablution, gift-giving, silent prayer, burnt offering, and especially offering of ancestral balls—

all become imperishable at the confluence of the Mahī and the ocean; / every rite performed, such as ablution, gift-giving, and the like, becomes imperishable.

When the divine seer Nārada formerly made a hermitage here, / then boons were granted by the planets, and this boon by Saturn:

'When a new moon day falls joined with Saturday, / one should perform a śrāddha preceded by ritual ablution and gift-giving.

If on a Saturday in the month of Śrāvaṇa an auspicious / new moon occurs, and the Sun makes a transit into a zodiac sign on that day,

and if the astronomical conjunction Vyatīpāta occurs on that very lunar day, / that festive time is named Puṣkara, greater than a hundred solar eclipses.

If by any means that conjunction of all auspicious combinations is attained, / on that day one should duly worship Saturn [fashioned of] iron and the Sun [fashioned of] gold

at the confluence of the Mahī and the ocean; / having meditated upon Saturn with mantras to Saturn, and upon the Sun with solar mantras,

one should offer arghya to the Sun for the pacification of all sins. / Ablution here is superior to Prayāga, and gift-giving is superior even to Kurukṣetra.

The offering of ancestral balls is superior to Gayākṣetra, O son of Pāṇḍu! / This festive conjunction is attained through heaps of great merit.

Imperishable satisfaction of the ancestors certainly arises in heaven; / just as Gayāśiras is holy, giving supreme satisfaction to the ancestors,

so the confluence of the Mahī and the ocean is far more holy.

“Agni is semen, by compassion in the body Viṣṇu is the holder of semen, the navel of immortality”— / reciting this true statement with faith, one should then plunge into the ocean of the Mahī:

“And [you are] the face among all rivers, the holy ocean, the mother, and the excellent Mahī; / both of you are the form of all sacred fords; I offer water-offering, I bow, I praise.

Tāmrā, Rasyā, Payovāhā, Pitṛprītipradā, Śubhā, / Sasyamālā, Mahāsindhu, Dāturdātrī, Pṛthustutā, / Indradyumnasyakanyā, Kṣitijanmā, and Rāvatī,

Mahīparṇā, Mahīśṛṅgā, the westward-flowing Gaṅgā, / Nadī, and Rājanadī: this garland of eighteen names,

a man should recite everywhere at the time of ritual ablution and at the time of śrāddha; / [reciting] these names spoken by Pṛthu, he shall attain the state of the Embodiment of Sacrifice.

In the milking of the earth, in the abundance of great joy, O enchantress of the universe, / you were born, O queen of rivers! Remove sin, O stream of the earth!” / Thus is the water-offering mantra.

Whatever man casts a silver bracelet here, / he is born on the surface of the earth in a family endowed with wealth and grain.

“I worship the Mahī and the ocean with the worship of a silver bracelet; / may loss of wealth and poverty not befall me!”

[Thus is] the throwing of the bracelet. / Whatever fruit is [gained] in all sacred fords, and whatever fruit by all sacrifices, / that fruit is obtained by ritual ablution and gift-giving at the confluence of the Mahī and the ocean.

And when a dispute has arisen, he who is deemed the guilty party / should always be made to make an oath with water in his hand at the confluence of the Mahī and the ocean.

Having bathed him with the Aghora mantra, and placing him in water / measuring up to his navel, holding up his right hand, one should quickly make him recite:

“If righteousness is true here, and if this confluence is true, / and if the witnesses of sacrifice are true, may my good and bad fortune be revealed in truth!”

Having spoken thus, having plunged his entire right hand [into the water], / when he comes out, if he is a sinner, he is instantly afflicted with fever.

And if [nothing] is seen within seven days, he is considered faultless.
Having bathed and recited [mantras] here, and having likewise practiced austerity,

very many have gone to Rudra's world by their meritorious deed.
Whoever, having bathed here with deep devotion, especially on a Monday,

visits the five sacred fords, is freed from the five great sins.'
Having thus spoken the excellent, multifaceted māhātmya of the sacred ford,

Bhartṛyajña [explained the glory] of Śiva and the order of worshipping them;
having taught the method of worship according to the rule declared in Śiva's scriptures,

the sage, filled with the single ocean of devotion to Śiva, said to them:
'There is no deity higher than Śiva; this is the truth, O observers of vows to Śiva!

Whoever abandons Śiva and worships something else that is unreal,
abandons the nectar in his hand and runs toward a mirage.

For this manifest world is seen to consist of Śiva and Śakti;
it is marked by the liṅga and marked by the yoni, never marked by any other deity anywhere.

And he who lives having abandoned that father Rudra and mother Ambikā,
is one who has abandoned his own father, offering balls of rice and water [elsewhere].
Listen to the supreme Śatarudrīya, the māhātmya of Rudra,

if you desire the supreme cleansing of sins.
Brahmā, having worshipped the golden liṅga of the braided-haired one,

shines forth, reciting the name “Source of the Universe”.
At the root of the Kṛṣṇa tree, [Viṣṇu worshipped] a black liṅga, and earned the name [“the Pervader”];

and Sanaka and the others, worshipping that liṅga, attained the goal of the world.
The seven seers [worshipped a liṅga] made of sprouted Darbha grass, [reciting the name] “Womb of the Universe”;

and Nārada in the sky, reciting [the name] “Seed of the World”;
Indra [worshipped] a diamond liṅga, reciting the name “Soul of the Universe”;

the Sun, a copper liṅga, reciting the name “Creator of the Universe”;
and the Moon, a pearl liṅga, reciting the name “Lord of the World”;

Agni, a liṅga of sapphire, reciting the name “Lord of the Universe”;
Bṛhaspati, a topaz liṅga, reciting Hara's name “Womb of the Universe”;

Śukra, a liṅga of ruby, and the name “All-Maker”;
and Kubera, a gold liṅga, likewise reciting the name “Īśvara”;

the Viśvedevas, [a liṅga] made of silver, and the name “Lord of the Worlds”;
the Vāyus, a brass liṅga, and the name “Śambhu”;

the Vasus, a bronze liṅga, and the name “Svayambhu”;
the Mothers, a liṅga of three metals, and the name “Lord of Spirits”;

and the Rākṣasas, an iron liṅga, [reciting the] name “Origin of Past, Present, and Future”;
the Guhyakas recite the name “Yoga” before a lead liṅga;

Jaigīṣavya, reciting the name “Lord of Yoga” at the aperture of Brahmā;
Nimi, reciting the name “Śarva” upon the liṅga in his eyes;

Dhanvantari, a cow-dung [liṅga], [reciting the name] “Lord of Lords of All the Worlds”;
the Gandharvas, a wooden liṅga, and the name “Foremost of All”;

the scion of Raghu, a beryl liṅga, and the name “Eldest in the World”;
Bāṇa, an emerald liṅga, and the name “Most Excellent”;

Varuṇa, a crystal liṅga, and the name “Parameśvara”;
the Nāgas, a coral liṅga, and the name “Creator of the Three Worlds”;

Bhāratī, a silver liṅga, and the name “Refuge of the Three Worlds”;
and Saturn, [a liṅga] at the whirlpool of the confluence, and the name “Lord of the World”;

in the land of Saturn, at midnight, at the confluence of the Mahī and the ocean;
Rāvaṇa, a liṅga made of jasmine, reciting the name “Very Difficult to Conquer”;

the Siddhas, a mental [liṅga], [reciting] the name “Transcendental to Desire, Death, and Old Age”;
and Bali, a liṅga made of gleaned grains, and his name was “Embodiment of Knowledge”;

the drinkers of sunbeams, a flower liṅga, and the name “Attainable by Knowledge”;
those living on cow dung, a cow-dung liṅga, and the name “Knowable by Knowledge”;

the foam-drinkers, a liṅga made of foam, and the name “Hard to Comprehend”;
Kapila, a sand liṅga, reciting Hara's name “Boon-Giver”;

Sārasvata, a liṅga in speech, and the name “Lord of Speech”;
the Gaṇas [worshipped] an embodied liṅga, and uttered the name “Rudra”;

the gods, [a liṅga] made of Jāmbūnada gold, and the name “Blue-Throated”;
Budha, a conch liṅga, reciting the name “Youngest”;

the Aśvins, a clay liṅga, and the name “Good Creator”;
Vināyaka, a flour liṅga, and the name “Kapardin”;

Mars, a butter liṅga, and the name “Dreadful”;
Garuda, a boiled-rice liṅga, and the name “Lion-Eyed”;

Kāma, a molasses liṅga, and the name “Giver of Pleasure”;
and Śacī, a salt liṅga, and the name “Brown-Haired”;

Viśvakarman, a temple liṅga, and the name “Southern”;
Vibhīṣaṇa, one made of dust, and the name “Best Friend”;
Sagara, one made of bamboo shoots, and the name “United”;

Rāhu, an asafoetida liṅga, proclaiming the name “Accessible”;
and Lakṣmī, an unguent liṅga, and the name “Lord of the Eyes of Hari”;

yogins, [the liṅga] abiding in all beings, and the name “Sthāṇu”;
and men, of various kinds, reciting the name “Puruṣa”;

the constellations, [a liṅga] made of light, and the name “Radiant Lord”;
the Kinnaras, an ore liṅga, and the name “Brilliant”;

Brahmarākṣasas [have] a liṅga, and the name is “God of Gods”;
elephants, an ivory liṅga, and the name “Swiftness”;

the Sādhyas, [a liṅga] made of seven worlds, and the name “Multiform”;
the seasons, a liṅga made of Dūrvā sprouts, and the name “All”;

the apsarases, a saffron liṅga, and the name “Beloved of Śambhu”;
and Urvaśī, one made of red lead, and the name “Dwelling in What Is Dear”;

the brahmacārins, the teacher as a liṅga, and knew the name “Turbaned One”;
the Yoginīs, a red-lac liṅga, and his name “Very Tawny”;

the Siddhayoginīs, sandalwood, and the name “Thousand-Eyed”;
the Ḍākinīs, a flesh liṅga, and his name “Bountiful”;

and the Manus, one made of food, and the name “Dwelling on the Mountain”;
Agastya, one made of rice, and the name “Very Peaceful”;

Devala, a barley liṅga, and the name “Lord”;
and Vālmīki, an anthill liṅga, and the name “Clad in Bark”.

Pratardana [worships] a bāṇaliṅga, named Hiraṇyabhuja; / and the Daityas [worship one] made of mustard seed, celebrated by the name Ugra.

And the Dānavas [worship a liṅga] made of niṣpāva beans, its name Dikpati; / the clouds [worship] a liṅga made of water, with the name Parjanyapati.

The Yakṣas [worship a liṅga] made of kidney beans, remembered by the name Bhūtapati; / and the ancestors [worship one] made of sesame food, its name Vṛṣapati.

Gautama [worships a liṅga] made of cattle-dust, with the name Gopati; / forest-dwellers [worship one] made of fruits, named Vṛkṣāvṛta.

Skanda [worships] a stone liṅga, named Senānī; / and the serpent Aśvatara [worships one made of] grain, and its name is Madhyama.

The sacrificer [worships one] made of sacrificial cake, named Sruvahasta; / Yama [worships one] made of black iron, and he calls it Dhanvin.

The son of Jamadagni [worships one of] barley sprouts, named Bhargadaitya; / and Purūravas [worships one] made of cooked rice, named Bahurūpa.

Māndhātṛ [worships] a liṅga of gravel, named Bāhuyuga; / cows [worship] a liṅga made of milk, named Netrasahasraka.

The Sādhyas [worship] a liṅga made of husband[-substance], remembered by the name Viśvapati; / Nara and Nārāyaṇa [worship one made] of muñja grass, named Sahasraśiras.

Pṛthu likewise [worships] a liṅga of emerald, designated Sahasracaraṇa; / birds [worship] a sky-liṅga, named Sarvātman.

The earth [worships] a liṅga of Mount Meru, and its name is Dvitanu; / Paśupati [worships] an ash-liṅga, and its name is Maheśvara.

The ṛṣis [worship] a knowledge-liṅga, named Cirasthāna; / brahmins know a brahma-liṅga, and its name is Jyeṣṭha.

Śeṣa [worships a liṅga] made of gorocana, remembered by the name Paśupati; / Vāsuki [worships] a poison-liṅga, named indeed Śaṃkara.

Takṣaka [worships one] called kālakūṭa poison, named Bahurūpa; / and Karkoṭa [worships one of] hālāhala poison, with the name Ekākṣa.

Śṛṅgin [worships one] of poison, and Padma [worships one] named Dhūrjaṭi; / the son [worships] a liṅga made of the father, named Viśvarūpa.

And the goddess Śivā [worships one of] mercury, named Tryambaka; / fishes and the rest [worship] a liṅga of scripture, named also Vṛṣākapi.

Thus, what is the need of much speaking? Whatever being possesses glory / in the world, that has arisen by virtue of worshiping Śiva.

Only if a tree could be known to grow from ashes by watering it with water, / could fruit be spoken of for one bereft of devotion to Śiva.

If one's mind is set on attaining duty, wealth, desire, and liberation, / then Hara is to be worshiped; he is considered the giver of the three worlds.

Whoever recites this Śatarudrīya every morning, / pleased with him, the god Śiva will grant all boons.

There is nothing more meritorious than this, yielding great fruit; / this is the secret of all the Vedas, spoken by the Sun to me.

Whatever sin has been committed by speech or acquired by the mind, / that sin goes to destruction when the Śatarudrīya is recited.