Skandapurana 1.4.38: adhyāyaḥ 40

Arjuna said: / “Who is this Mahākāla, and how did he attain perfection / at this sacred ford, O best of sages? There is great wonder in me concerning this. // 40.1

Explain all this to me who inquire with faith.” // 40.2

Nārada said: / “Having bowed to Mahākāla, the boon-granting, immutable Sthāṇu, / I shall tell of his deeds according to my ability, O bearer of the Pāṇḍu family! // 40.3

Long ago, in the city of Vārāṇasī, there was a foremost chanter of prayers, / a repeater of the Rudra [hymn], fortunate and of great renown, named Māṇṭi. // 40.4

As he, being sonless, continually chanted prayers to the Rudras for the sake of a son, / indeed a hundred years passed. Then Śaṃkara, pleased, said to him: // 40.5

‘O Māṇṭi, you shall have an intelligent son with might and valor like mine, / who will deliver your entire lineage.’ // 40.6

Hearing this word of Rudra, Māṇṭi felt supreme joy. / Then, after a short time, the wife of high-souled Māṇṭi, // 40.7

Caṭikā, conceived a child like an embodied form of austerity. / Indeed, four years passed for that fetus, // 40.8

yet it would not leave its mother's womb and come outside. / Then Māṇṭi addressed him and spoke to him with soothing words: // 40.9

‘Child, even an ordinary son always brings joy to his parents. / Being born of a pure mother, why do you cause me such distress? // 40.10

Child, why do you have no desire to dwell in human life, / where there is the succession of virtue, wealth, pleasure, and even liberation?’ // 40.11

"When will we be born as human beings, where worship yields great fruit, / and where there are [offerings] to ancestors and deities, and manifold righteous duties?"

Thus do beings grieve, though dwelling in various wombs. / Disregarding that matchless human state desired by the gods, / why, speak, do you remain in the womb alone?

The child in the womb said: / "O father, I know all this is exceedingly rare; / yet I am incessantly and exceedingly afraid of the path of time.

Two paths indeed are taught in the Vedas: the path of time and that of light. / By light they attain liberation; by the path of time, they go to action.

Whether in heaven or in hell, he who has gone by the path of time / finds no peace anywhere, like a deer pierced by a hunter.

For that very reason a wise man should strive that he know no suffering, / when seized by time of terrible form and profound nature.

If my mind, O father, will not be deluded by various faults, / then I shall quickly take this rare human birth."

Thereupon his father, O Pārtha, fleeing in distress, / went for refuge to the god Maheśvara, [praying:] "Save me, save me, O Maheśvara!

Except for you, O God, who else can grant what is desired for my son? / He was given by you alone; bring this son of mine to birth."

Then Maheśvara, pleased by his great devotion, said to him: / "His own powers are indeed righteousness, knowledge, dispassion, and sovereign lordship.

Let the converse also be awakened quickly, O son of Māṃṭi!" / Thereupon those luminous powers spoke to the child in the womb:

"O wise son of Māṃṭi, you must not hold fear in your heart; / for we four, righteousness and the rest, will not forsake your mind."

Then the others, unrighteousness and the rest, said: "We shall never / be in your mind; you have no fear from us."

When addressed thus by the powers, the child at once / came out, and being born, he trembled and wept.

Then the powers said: "O Māṃṭi, this son of yours / trembles and weeps even now, afraid of the path of time.

Therefore he shall be known by the name Kālabhīti." / Having thus bestowed the boon, they went to Mahādeva's presence.

The boy also grew up like the moon in the bright fortnight; / consecrated with the sacraments, the wise boy observed the vow of Paśupati.

Chanting the five mantras, purified, he became devoted to going on pilgrimage; / he bathed in the sacred fields of Rudra, chanting mantras, O Bhārata.

Having heard the virtues of the secret sacred field of Kālabhīti, he went there; / having bathed there in the waters of the Mahī, and chanted mantras crores of times,

upon turning back, not very far away, he beheld a bilva tree. / Having seen it, he chanted [the mantra] one hundred thousand times beneath it.

As that brahmin was chanting, his sense-faculties dissolved; / in an instant he became purely of the nature of supreme bliss.

There is no comparison anywhere to that bliss, [even] of heaven and the like; / like the measurement of the Gaṅgā’s water, he was alone that, and that alone.

Dissolved in it for a muhūrta, he again became as before. / Thereupon Kālabhīti was astonished, O Pārtha, and said:

"This great bliss of mine was not in Vārāṇasī, nor in Naimiṣa, / nor in Prabhāsa, nor in Kedāra, nor in Amarakaṇṭaka,

nor on Śrīparvata, nor anywhere else, such as has arisen today! / My sense-faculties are free from modification and clear, like the waters of the Gaṅgā.

Supreme love for all beings and the threefold world clearly shines; / and my mind understands the one supreme righteousness.

Ah, the power of this place! And it is clearly said here: / a place which is faultless, pure, and free from all afflictions—

for one residing there, the purpose of righteousness increases a thousandfold. / Therefore, from this very power, I know this in my heart:

this place is superior even to the sacred fords headed by Kāśī. / Therefore, staying right here, I shall perform abundant austerity.

He who, ever thirsty, wanders about thinking, 'This sacred ford and that,' / does not attain perfection; he merely dies in weariness."

Having reflected thus, he stood beneath the bilva tree, / perched on the tip of his big toe, and chanted the mantras of Rudra.

Having undertaken the resolve [to take only] a drop of water in a hundred years, [burning] like fire; / then, when a hundred years had passed as he was chanting, O Bhārata,

a certain man arrived holding a pot filled with water. / Bowing to Kālabhīti, he said this with great joy:

"Today your observance is complete. Take this water, O noble-minded one; / you should make my toil fruitful here."

Kālabhīti said: / "Speak, who are you by caste, and what is your conduct in truth? / Having known your birth and conduct I shall take it, not otherwise."

The man said: / "I do not know my parents, whether they are dead or not at all; / I just see in this way, always, that he is indeed that [same].

I have no concern with conduct or righteous duties; / therefore I will not speak of this, nor am I one who practices it."

Kālabhīti said: / "If so, I will never accept water from you. / Hear on this matter the word that my teacher told me, declared in the scriptures:

'One whose family is not known, without purity of seed— / eating or drinking from him, a virtuous person falls instantly.

And he who does not know Rudra, and who is not a devotee of Rudra— / consuming his food and water, one becomes a sinner, without doubt.

He who eats without knowing Śiva is called a slayer of a brahmin here; / and a slayer of a brahmin wipes off [his sin] on the eater of his food; therefore one should not eat his [food].

Just as a pot of Gaṅgā water becomes [polluted] by a drop of liquor within it, / so is he who eats [food] from one who knows not Śiva, even though he himself knows Śiva.'"

And he who is of low caste is not indeed a devotee of Śiva.
Therefore, in accepting a gift, two qualities are to be examined in the acceptance:

The man said:
At these words of yours, laughter arises in me.
Ah, you are foolish, false, epileptic, and also dull-witted!

Śiva ever abides constantly in all beings.
Therefore, words good or bad are not slander of Śiva.

He who makes a distinction between himself and another with regard to Hara—
for him who sees difference, Death creates terrible fear.

Or tell me, what impurity could there be in water?
This pot is born of clay and baked by fire;

and it is filled with water. In which of these is impurity, and whence?

Now, if impurity is inferred from contact with me,
then, tell me, where does ‘I-ness’ and ‘you-ness’ come from when residing on this earth?

Why do you walk on the earth and not walk in the sky?
When considered in this way, your speech becomes like that of a fool.

Kālabhīti said:
If indeed it is said that Śiva alone is in all beings,
then why do the godless eat clay in Bhādrapada?

For the sake of the purification of the universe, an established order was instituted by him in that manner,
and it is maintained by its fruits and not otherwise; listen to that!

Formerly the Creator fashioned this world consisting of form;
and it is bound by the expanse of names, as a cow with a rope.

And that expanse of names is divided in four ways indeed:
sound, phonemes, word, and sentence—such is the tetrad of domains.

There, sound consists of tone, and the phonemes begin with ‘a’;
the word is declared to be ‘Śiva’, and the sentence is ‘one should worship Śiva.’

And that sentence is of three kinds according to the view of the Veda:
one commanding like a master, one advising like a friend,

and one enticing like a beloved woman; thus they know sentence to be threefold.
Just as a master, a lord, commands a servant: ‘Do this!’

So both Śruti and Smṛti speak with the authority of a master;
Itihāsa, Purāṇa, and the like are said to advise like a friend.

Enlightening him like a friend, it directs him to the truth;
and poetry, conversation, and the like are said to entice like a beloved.

The command of a master is remembered as externally and internally pure;
and likewise, desiring heaven, one should observe purity according to the word of a friend.

That very thing is to be observed by those born on earth, as the Śruti declares.
If this is spoken by you with the words of a non-believer,

are the Śrutis, the Śāstras, and the Purāṇa completely in vain?
Were those brahmins and kṣatriyas of old, headed by the Seven Seers,

all deluded, while those who followed the Veda were clever?
Likewise, the teaching of Vedānta says: those established in sattva go upward;

the rājasic remain in the middle; and the tāmasic go downward.
Therefore, through sattva foods and a sattvic livelihood, one becomes a goer to heaven.

Nor do we envy this: that Śiva is not in beings;
he is indeed present in all beings. Hear also a comparison on this point:

Just as there are many ornaments made of gold,
some of pure form and some of inferior form,

yet gold is present in all of them—in the same way is Sadāśiva.
The inferior form, when purified, attains purity, but not identity [with the pure].

Likewise this body, when purified and made clean, clearly goes to heaven.
Therefore, a wise man should by no means accept [anything] from an inferior person.

If one would purify this body, it should not be accepted from every side.
He who accepts gifts from everywhere, and is not [circumspect] in evacuation and food,

could not be pure; in a few days he clearly becomes a stone.
Therefore, by no means will I clearly accept the water.

Whether good or bad, the supreme Śruti is our authority.
When this was said, that man, laughing, and with his right

big toe scratching the ground, made an excellent pit;
into it he poured that water, and by it the pit was filled.

And water remained in excess; scratching with his foot,
he made a lake, and it was filled with that overflowing water.

Seeing that great wonder, the brahmin was not astonished at all,
because manifold wonders occur among worshippers of spirits and the like.

Because of that wonder, one must not abandon the eternal path of the Śruti.

The man said:
You are extremely foolish, O brahmin, yet you speak words of wisdom!
Have you not heard the verse uttered by those who know the past:
‘The well belongs to one, the pot to another, the rope to another, O descendant of Bharata;

others give drink, and others drink: they all share equally [in the merit].’
Why do you, who know dharma, not drink that water of mine?

Nārada said:
Then the verse concerning equal partners was reflected upon in various ways,
considering, due to uncertainty, the equal partnership through pots and the like.

Like the loading of goods onto many boats, that is equal partnership by all;
thus, the agent’s results would repeatedly be equal for all.

He who is pure and meditates on Śiva in the maker of temples and wells,
due to the absence of receiving water as a formal gift, has equal fruit upon drinking it.

Having decided thus, Kālabhīti said to that man:
‘This is true; yet in the filling of a pit with water from a jar,

tell me, sir, having witnessed it directly, how could one like me drink?
Whether good or bad, I will not drink under any circumstances.’

Seeing his firm resolve thus, O joy of the Kurus,
that man simply laughed and disappeared in an instant.

And Kālabhīti arrived at supreme amazement,
and pondered intensely: ‘What is this incident?’

Then, as he was pondering, beneath a bilva tree arose a very beautiful,
exalted, very great liṅga, illuminating the quarters of the earth.

Upon the manifestation of that great liṅga, O descendant of Bharata, / a host of apsarases danced in the sky, and gandharvas sang gracefully.

Indra showered down a rain of pārijāta flowers; / the gods and sages praised him with various hymns, crying, "Be victorious!"

While that great festival was taking place, O Kauravya, / Kālabhīti, overjoyed, bowed down and recited a hymn:

"To the death of sin, the destruction of the mire of worldly existence, the lord of arts, the vanquisher of the path of death, / to the god Mahākāla, the glorious Blue-throated One, the form of death to worldly existence, I fly for refuge.

I bow to your Īśāna-face; the revealed scripture praises you: 'You are the lord of all knowledge, / you are the lord of beings, you are the great-grandfather'; homage be to that Maheśvara.

To him whom the Veda praises, the second [face] named Tatpuruṣa, I go for refuge; / 'May we know you, grant us that,' O glorious Rudra, lord of the gods, homage, homage to you.

I seek refuge in the Aghora face, the third, favored by the Atharvan [Veda]; to your forms, / both non-terrific and terrific, and extremely terrific, and to your beings, I always bow.

And I ever seek refuge in the fourth face; homage, homage to Sadyojāta! / In existence after existence, be my primordial existence; you who transcend worldly existence, [protect] me everywhere, O Śiva.

Homage be to you, Vāmadeva, the eldest Rudra, Time, the disturber of parts, / the strengthener, the crusher of strength, the destroyer of creatures, and Manonmana.

We worship you, the three-eyed Lord, who increases auspicious prosperity with fragrant scents; / as a ripe cucumber from its stalk, protect me, O Three-eyed One, from the path of death.

The six-syllabled supreme mantra of yours, O Lord, which sages free from passion mutter— / you are pleased with them; we mutter that preceded by the syllable Oṃ: 'Homage to Śiva.'"

Praised in this way, Mahādeva emerged from the liṅga, O descendant of Bharata, / illuminating the three worlds with his splendor, and, appearing visibly, spoke to the twice-born:

"Since you have worshiped me intensely here in this great sacred ford, O twice-born, / I am very pleased with you, child; Death has no power over you in any way.

And having seen your adherence to dharma in human form, / blessed is this path of dharma, since it is protected by men like you.

The pit was filled by me with water from all sacred fords, and likewise the lake; / this highly sacred water has been brought together by me for your sake.

And this praise of me that was composed by you, containing the secret of the seven mantras— / by reciting this, the fruit of the seven mantras will be attained.

Choose from me a desired boon, whatever your mind wishes; / I am exceedingly pleased with you, and there is nothing here that cannot be given to you."

Kālabhīti said: / "I am blessed, I am favored, since you are pleased, O Śaṃkara; / through your satisfaction dharmas bear fruit; otherwise, they are considered mere labor.

If you are pleased, let your presence be established forever in this liṅga, / and whatever is performed here at this liṅga, let that become imperishable.

The fruit that is obtained, O God, from reciting ten thousand of the five mantras, / let that fruit arise for men upon seeing this liṅga.

Because I have been liberated from the path of death, O Maheśvara, / therefore let this liṅga be known as Mahākāla.

And whatever mortal bathes in this well and offers libations to the ancestors, / let him attain the fruit of all sacred fords, and let the ancestors have an imperishable destiny."

Having heard his words, Śaṃkara, well-pleased, said to him: / "Wherever there is a self-manifest liṅga, there I dwell eternally.

A liṅga that is self-manifest, made of a bāṇa-stone, of gems, of minerals, of stone, or of iron / yields fruit in order, each preceding one tenfold greater than the subsequent.

The Tārakaliṅga in the sky, Hāṭakeśvara in Pātāla, / and the self-manifest [liṅga] on the surface of the earth—these three are equal.

And what was specially requested [by you], that too shall be so; / here, a flower, fruit, worship, food offering, an act of praise,

or a gift, or whatever else [is offered], that will become imperishable. / On the fourteenth day of the dark fortnight of Māgha, and during an auspicious conjunction with Śiva, O son,

whoever bathes in the well to the east of the liṅga and offers libations to the ancestors / obtains the fruit of all sacred fords, and an imperishable destiny for his ancestors.

On that night, one should worship Mahākāla during each three-hour watch; / he who applies [offerings] to all the liṅgas obtains the fruit of keeping vigil.

And whoever, with senses controlled, constantly worships me here in this liṅga, / enjoyment and liberation are not far from him, O best of the twice-born.

In the month of Māgha, on the fourteenth, the eighth, on a Monday, and on an auspicious day, / he who bathes in the lake, worships this liṅga, and goes to Śiva,

his gift, austerity, and muttering of the Rudra [hymn] are entirely imperishable. / And you shall become Nandī, my second gatekeeper.

Because of conquering the path of death, O child, you shall be named Mahākāla for a long time. / The royal seer Karaṃdhama will come here before long;

having explained to him the dharmas, then go to my realm." / Having spoken thus, the Lord Rudra merged into the center of the liṅga.

Mahākāla, too, full of joy, performed severe austerity there.

Thus ends the manifestation of Mahākāla. / Nārada said: / Then after some time, O son of Pṛthā, King Karaṃdhama, / desiring excellence in dharmas and having heard the great qualities of the sacred ford

and the history of Mahākāla, arrived at that very place; / having bathed in the water of Mahīsāgara, he worshiped the liṅgas in accordance with rule.

Having reached Mahākāla, he experienced the highest delight; / beholding that great liṅga, the lord of men was not satiated.

Just as a poor and wretched man, upon obtaining a jar of treasure, / so he considered his life fruitful upon seeing Mahākāla,

by whose darśana here one gains the fruit of muttering ten thousand of the five mantras; / then, having worshiped it with elaborate service and having bowed down,

and having heard about the supreme liṅga, he approached Mahākāla. / Then, recalling the words of Rudra, Mahākāla, smiling as it were, [addressed him]:

Going out to meet the king, he offered him worship and respectful water. / Then, having exchanged greetings of welfare and the like, the king, with a tranquil countenance, 40.138

Addressing Mahākāla, said these words at the end of the conversation: / 'O venerable one, this doubt always revolves in my mind: 40.139

As for this offering of water which is made by men for the ancestors: / The water goes into the water; how do the ancestors become satisfied? 40.140

Likewise, worship with rice-balls and the like is all seen right here; / how then do we think that it is enjoyed by fathers and the rest? 40.141

Nor is it the case that nothing reaches them, / for in a dream they are seen approaching a man as beggars. 40.142

And perceptible proofs of the gods too are always seen. / How then do they receive it? My mind is bewildered in this matter.' 40.143

Mahākāla said: / 'Such is the origin of those ancestors and of the gods in heaven, / that distant words, distant worship, and also distant praise— 40.144

They know and reach all that was, is, and will be. / Formed of the five subtle elements, mind, intellect, and egoism are insentient; 40.145

The body consists of nine principles, and the person is considered the tenth. / Therefore they are satisfied by scent, and likewise by the principle of taste; 40.146

They are pleased by the principle of sound, and they accept the principle of touch. / Seeing what is pure, they are pleased; herein, O king, there is no falsehood. 40.147

Just as grass is said to be for beasts and [solid] food for men, / even so is the eating of the essence of food for divine beings. 40.148

The powers of all entities are unthinkable, accessible only to higher knowledge; / therefore they receive the essence, while the remainder is seen right here.' 40.149

Karandhama said: / 'The ancestral rite is offered to the ancestors, but they are subject to their own karma; / staying in heaven or staying in hell, how is it enjoyed by them? 40.150

Moreover, dwelling in heaven or in hell, restrained by their karma, / how are they able to bestow these boons, and how are they masters? 40.151

[When it is said]: “May the ancestors, being pleased, bestow upon men / life, offspring, wealth, learning, heaven, liberation, pleasures, and kingship.”' 40.152

Mahākāla said: / 'It is true, O best of kings, that the ancestors abide by their own karma; / nevertheless, formless ancestors of the gods, the asuras, the yakṣas, and others, 40.153

And embodied ancestors of the four castes, are remembered as sevenfold. / Indeed, they all are able to bestow everything desired. 40.154

O king, the thirty-one groups of these ancestors are powerful; / and this ancestral rite that is performed satisfies those supreme ancestors. 40.155

They, being satisfied, satisfy one's own forefathers wherever they may abide. / In this way the ancestral rite reaches one's own people, and they grant boons.' 40.156

The king said: / 'O brahmin, just as an offering is given to spirits and the like by name or by dedicating it, / why is it not given to gods and others in a concise manner as well: 40.157

“This is for the ancestors, the gods, the twice-born, and the fire”? / Why should there be such elaborate rituals that cause distress to mind, body, and the rest?' 40.158

Mahākāla said: / 'Proper honor must always be paid to all; / and without proper honor, they do not accept [the offering] at all. 40.159

Just as a dog standing at the house-door accepts an offering, / does a principal person, O king, accept it in the same manner, like a dog? 40.160

Thus the gods never accept like spirits; / they do not partake of the oblation, pure though it may be, given without faith. 40.161

And what is given without mantras, those stainless ones do not receive. / The Veda also says this regarding mantras, O king: 40.162

“The mantras are the deities. Whatever the learned person performs with a mantra, he performs with the deities themselves; whatever he gives, he gives through the deities themselves; whatever he receives, he receives through the deities themselves. Therefore one should not receive without a mantra, nor does one offer without a mantra.” 40.163

Therefore it should always be given with mantras, whether Purāṇic or Vedic; / otherwise they do not accept it, and it reaches [only] the spirits.' 40.164

The king said: / 'Why is a gift given accompanied with darbha-grass, sesame seeds, unbroken grains, and water? / I wish to know the reason.' 40.165

Mahākāla said: / 'In former times, indeed, gifts on earth were given in abundance, / and the Daityas, entering inside by force, snatched them away. 40.166

Then the gods and the ancestors said to the lotus-born [Brahmā]: 40.167

“O Lord, while we are watching, everything is seized by the Daityas; / arrange protection for them, so that we are not destroyed.” 40.168

Then the Creator, having reflected, devised a means of protection: / combined with sesame seeds for the ancestors, and with unbroken grains for the gods, 40.169

Together with water and darbha-grass everywhere—in this way the asuras do not seize it. / Whatever is given without these, its fruit is seized by the Daityas. 40.170

Sighing, the ancestors and the gods depart, and there is no fruit for the giver; / therefore, in all the yugas, a gift is given in this very manner.' 40.171

Karandhama said: / 'I wish to hear accurately the system of the four yugas; / this great desire to know always turns in my mind.' 40.172

Mahākāla said: / 'Know that the first is Kṛtayuga; after that is recalled Tretāyuga, / Dvāpara, and Kali—thus there are four in brief. 40.173

Sattva is Kṛta, rajas is Tretā, and Dvāpara is rajas and tamas; / Kali is to be known as tamas; such is the conduct in the yugas. 40.174

Meditation is supreme in Kṛtayuga; sacrifice is spoken of in Tretā; / in Dvāpara, righteous conduct and truth; [and] giving alone in the Kali yuga. 40.175

In Kṛta, creation is mental, and subsistence directly flourishes from [pure] essence; / the beings are luminous, satisfied, ever joyful, and enjoyers of delight. 40.176

There is no low or high among them; those auspicious beings are without distinction; / their lifespan, happiness, and beauty are equal in that Kṛta yuga. 40.177

There was no dislike, no pairs of opposites, no hatred, and no weariness. / Dwelling on mountains and shores of oceans, they were fond of compassion.

The order of classes and life-stages existed then, and there was no intermixture. / They meditated on no other [god], always on the one supreme Śiva.

Then, in the fourth quarter, that radiance of sap was lost. / Thereupon, trees known as house-trees appeared for them.

They produced garments, fruits, and ornaments. / In them alone was born for those [creatures] endowed with fragrance, color, and taste,

excellent honey of great potency, [stored] in every hollow receptacle. / With that the creatures then sustained themselves at the end of the Kṛta [Yuga].

The creatures were joyful, robust, well-grown, and free from distress. / Then, in the course of time, as their sense of taste grew,

and as meditation on Śiva dwindled due to the influence of the Yuga, / they seized those trees and took the sweet honey by force.

Because of that conduct of theirs caused by the fault of greed, / the wish-fulfilling trees disappeared here and there along with the honey.

And when only a little of it was left, the pairs of opposites arose indeed. / Then they suffered greatly from cold and heat and mental distress.

For the sake of shelter, they made dwellings here and there. / Then, in the Tretā Yuga, a means of subsistence appeared for them again.

Through rain, fourteen kinds of plants, both cultivated and wild, came into being; / growing without tilling and unsown, through the union of water and earth.

Trees and shrubs were also born with seasonal flowers and fruits. / By means of these—grains, flowers, and fruits—they made their living.

Then passion and greed arose everywhere among them once more. / Through the force of time, seizing rivers, fields, and mountains,

and violently overtaking trees, shrubs, and plants as quickly as they could with their strength, / through their perversity the fourteen kinds of plants vanished.

Having bowed down, those plants entered the earth, and the creatures were afflicted. / Pṛthu, the son of Vena, milked the earth for the welfare of all beings.

From that time forward, plants were produced by tilling with a plow. / Then the creatures lived by means of agriculture, protected by kṣatriyas.

The establishment of classes and life-stages, and sacrificial ritual, are declared in the Tretā [yugas]. / Having abandoned liberation consisting in meditation on Sadāśiva, the senseless ones,

resorting to flowery speech, pursued heaven out of passion. / In the Dvāpara, divisions of views arise among men.

By mind, deed, and speech, agriculture is accomplished with hardship. / Greed, impatience, abandoning Śiva, and mixture of duties,

and the destruction of classes and life-stages occur in the Dvāpara. / Then, by reason of the Dvāpara, [the Veda] is divided fourfold by the Vyāsas.

The single Veda is made into four parts for the sake of the twice-born. / The Epics and Purāṇas are divided out of respect for the world.

The Brāhma, Pādma, Vaiṣṇava, Śaiva, and Bhāgavata; / likewise another, the Nāradīya, and the Mārkaṇḍeya as the seventh;

the Āgneya is declared as the eighth; the Bhaviṣya is remembered as the ninth; / the tenth is the Brahmavaivarta, and the Liṅga is the eleventh;