Skandapurana 1.4.49: adhyāyaḥ 51

The guest said:

This nature of the other world that has been explained by you

relying upon tradition is indeed so, without a doubt.

However, here sinful, petty-minded atheists doubt it.

For the sake of removing their doubt, tell what the fruit of karma is.

By the power of which and which sinful action right here [in this world]

does one become what kind [of being]? O Kamaṭha, tell this if it is so.

Kamaṭha said:

I will tell all this; become steady and listen to it,

just as my guru said, and as it rests in my mind.

The killer of a brahmin becomes afflicted with consumption; a drinker of liquor gets blackish teeth;

a thief of gold has deformed nails; one who defiles the teacher's bed has diseased skin.

One who associates with them suffers all diseases. These are the five great sinners.

Hearing the censure of virtuous men, one is born deaf.

If he himself proclaims it, the sinner is born dumb.

A man who violates the command of his elders becomes epileptic.

One who shows disrespect toward them is born as nothing but a worm.

From neglecting what ought to be revered arises poor intelligence.

As many steps as one takes to steal the property of good people,

for so many years that vilest of men suffers lameness.

One who takes back what he has given is born a chameleon.

One who does not appease revered persons when angered suffers from head disease.

Having intercourse with a menstruating woman, one is born an outcaste.

A stealer of garments becomes affected with white leprosy, and an arsonist with black leprosy.

A stealer of silver becomes a frog; a false witness suffers from mouth disease.

One who gazes lustfully upon another man's wife suffers from eye disease.

A man who promises but does not give becomes short-lived.

That wretched man who robs a brahmin of his livelihood suffers forever from indigestion.

One who turns away from lifelong fasting is always sickly.

When having many wives, one who discharges his seed only in one becomes consumptive.

One entrusted with duty by his master who acts unjustly,

or who consumes the property himself, that fool becomes afflicted with dropsy.

A strong man who overlooks a weak person being tormented

becomes maimed in his limbs; a stealer of food becomes hungry.

A man who is partial in a legal dispute suffers from disease of the tongue.

One who hinders an engagement in righteousness causes separation from wife and other cherished ones.

He who himself eats the first portion of cooked food contracts a throat disease. // 17

One who eats without performing the five sacrifices [becomes] a village pig.

One who has sexual intercourse on holy festival days suffers from urinary disease. Abandoning his own wife,

a foolish man devoted to prostitutes and the like is born bald. // 19

One who despises impoverished friends and kin, his master, or affectionate attendants,

turning away his heart [from them], will always suffer a wretched livelihood. // 1.2.51.20

He who treats parents, master, or elders with deceit

suffers, through great distress, the loss of wealth that was about to be obtained. // 21

He who robs one who trusts him becomes an abode of sorrows.

A man who acts meanly toward a righteous person becomes a dwarf. // 22

He who yokes a weak bull suffers from an ulcerous disease of the waist. // 23

A cow-slayer is born blind; one who torments cattle is deprived of beasts.

He who is pitiless toward cattle through beating and the like is always in misery on journeys. // 24

He who diminishes the brilliance of others in an assembly is born with goitre.

An ever-angry man [becomes] a caṇḍāla, and a slanderer gets a foul-smelling mouth. // 25

A seller of goats becomes a hunter; one who eats from sacrificial vessels becomes a servant.

An atheist becomes a grinder of sesame seeds; an unbeliever earns his livelihood by singing. // 26

An eater of forbidden food gets scrofula; an exploiter of women becomes childless.

A man who acquires knowledge by unjust means becomes a fool. // 27

A thief of scripture is squint-eyed, and he who hates sacred narrative

gets a mouth full of worms; fallen from hell, that wicked-minded one [is reborn thus]. // 28

A despoiler of the livelihood of gods, twice-born, and cows eats vomit.

He who breaches a reservoir or a pleasure-garden has deformed hands. // 29

A man who looks for pretexts in transactions is overwhelmed by servants.

A man devoted to another's wife constantly suffers from diseases of the generative organ. // 1.2.51.30

A bad physician suffers from wind-disease; a violator of his teacher's bed gets bad skin.

One who copulates with a she-ass gets diabetes; one who has intercourse with a woman of his own gotra becomes sterile. // 31

He who goes to his sister, his mother, or his daughter-in-law becomes seedless.

An ungrateful person incurs the fruitlessness of all undertakings. // 32

Thus this brief list of signs belonging to sinners has been proclaimed.

Even Citragupta would be bewildered in describing them entirely. // 33

Fallen from hell after experiencing thousands of wombs,

men are born marked with such bodily signs. // 34

Those who do not honour righteousness and those who are overcome by vices—

it is to be understood by inference that these are people with residual sin. // 35

Those, however, whose sin has come to an end, or who have arrived from heaven,

are freed from all vices and devote themselves to righteousness alone. // 36

And there are verses on this matter:

From righteousness comes unsurpassed happiness; from unrighteousness arises suffering.

Therefore, for the sake of happiness, one should practice righteousness and abandon sin. // 37

Since whatever happiness exists in both worlds is proclaimed to come from righteousness,

one should therefore practice righteousness alone for the accomplishment of all desired ends. // 38

A man should live even for a moment by pure conduct;

he should not live even for a kalpa by conduct conflicting with both worlds. // 39

What was asked by you, O brahmin, has been spoken by me according to my capacity.

Whether ill-spoken or well-spoken, it must be forgiven; what else can I say? // 1.2.51.40

Nārada said:

Hearing this speech of the eight-year-old Kamaṭha,

the blessed Sun was pleased and filled with great wonder. // 41

And then he praised those brahmins headed by Hārīta:

"Ah, blessed is the earth with such foremost twice-born ones! // 42

Blessed now is Prajāpati, whose ordinance is upheld

by these excellent brahmins, and blessed now are the Vedas! // 43

If among them even a child's understanding is evidently of such a kind,

what indeed must be the intellect of those headed by Hārīta? // 44

Without doubt, nothing existing in the three worlds is unknown to them;

they are far greater even than what Nārada has described." // 45

Having thus praised those brahmins, the Sun rejoiced and said:

"O eminent brahmins, I am the Sun, [come here] for your darśana. // 46

I have come from the world of the sun, and the fruit of my eyes has been attained,

From conversing and sitting together with foremost brahmins like you.

Even the lowest-born are purified [by you]; how much more so are twice-born like me?

In every way blessed is Nārada, who knows the reality of the three worlds,

Whose welfare is indeed assured by you, who have shaken off all sins.

And I bow down to all of you with mind, intellect, and profound concentration,

Since austerity, sacred learning, and conduct are the cause of seniority.

Choose from me a boon, whatever rare thing you desire in your heart;

For you yourselves are grantors of boons; let not contact with me be fruitless.

Indeed, association with deities never becomes fruitless;

Therefore, choose some boon from me; I shall give it to you."

Śrī Nārada said:

Hearing these words of the sun, those excellent twice-born rejoiced,

And having worshipped [him] with supreme devotion by means of foot-water, respectful offerings, praises, and salutations,

Chanting great prayers [such as the hymn to] the solar disc and others, they addressed the sun:

"Victory, O Āditya! Victory, O Lord! Victory, O Sun! Victory, O Stainless One!

Victory, O Lord of the Vedas! Save us perpetually, O Lord of the Day!

You are the supreme deity of brahmins; even the creation of brahmins consists of you.

This place of ours, O God, looked upon by you, has become utterly purified.

Today our Vedas have borne fruit; today our sacred rituals have borne fruit;

Today our home has borne fruit, having met with you, O Lord of Rays!

If you are to grant a boon, then we choose this:

This place of ours must never be abandoned in any way."

Śrī Sūrya said:

"Because you previously proclaimed, 'Jayāditya' [Victory to Āditya],

Therefore, renowned as Jayāditya, I shall remain here forever.

As long as the earth, the oceans, the mountains, and the cities endure,

So long, O brahmins, shall I never abandon this place.

Multitudes of poverty and diseases, ringworms and skin eruptions,

Leprosy and other ailments, I shall destroy for those who worship me, residing here.

And whatever human being shall worship me stationed here,

I accept his worship just as if he had come to the world of the sun."

Śrī Nārada said:

When this was spoken by the Lord, the excellent twice-born, Hārīta and the others,

Installed his image according to the rite prescribed in the Vedas.

Then the twice-born said to Kamaṭha: "For your sake the Sun,

The Lord, has remained here; therefore, you praise the Sun first."

Thus addressed by all the brahmins, Kamaṭha, best among the eloquent,
Bowed down before Jayāditya and sang this great hymn of praise:

"You were not made, and are known through revelation alone, as the Yajus thus declares, O Primeval God!
All four kinds of speech fall far, far short; audaciously I praise [you], desiring my own aim; forgive this!

Fourfold speech is far, far off; insolent, seeking my own aim, I praise [you]: pardon this! .. 65 ..

Mārtāṇḍa, Sūrya, Aṃśu, Ravi, likewise Indra, Bhānu, Bhaga, Aryaman, Svarṇaretas,

Divākara, Mitra, and Viṣṇu, O God—renowned indeed as having twelve forms, homage to you!

The three worlds are indeed your inner chamber; the entire sky is called your reservoir of water.

The circle of constellations is a garland resembling blossoms; homage to you, that liṅga of space!

You are the God of gods; you are the protector of the helpless; you are the guardian of what is to be attained, compassionate to the miserable.

You are the eye of eyes, the intellect of people's intellect, the radiance of space; hail, life of living beings!

O poverty of poverty! O treasure of treasures! O inauspiciousness of inauspiciousness! O peace of peace!

O affliction of diseases, renowned on earth! Long reign victorious, O Jayāditya! Victory, O Immeasurable One!

One stricken by disease, overwhelmed by leprosy, broken in vitality, worn out in body, senseless—

Mother, father, and relatives abandon him; who other than you protects one abandoned by all?

You are my father, you alone are my mother, you are my teacher, and you alone are my kinsmen;

You are my virtue, and you are my path to liberation; I am your servant—cast me off or protect me, O God!

I am a sinner, I am a fool, of terrible deeds, fierce, no repository of proper conduct;

Even so, having bowed down at your feet, grant victory to your devotees, O glorious Jayārka!"

Nārada said:

Thus praised by the great-souled Kamaṭha,

Jayāditya, as if gently smiling, spoke to him in an affectionate and deep voice:

"This eight-verse hymn to Jayāditya which has been recited by you—

Whoever shall praise me with this, nothing on earth is difficult for him to attain.

Whoever, having properly worshipped me especially on a Sunday, shall recite [it]—

His diseases will not remain, nor will his poverty, without a doubt. 76

And I have been pleased by you, dear child; I grant you this boon:

having become omniscient on earth, you shall then attain liberation. 77

And your father will become a maker of smṛti, revered by brahmins.

Moreover, no destruction will ever come upon this place. 78

Nor will I ever abandon this place, dear child."

Having spoken thus, the Lord, worshipped and praised by the brahmins, 79

took leave of those best of brahmins and disappeared right there.

In this way, O Pārtha, Jayāditya was established here on the surface of the earth. 1.2.51.80

When the month of Āśvina arrives, on a Sunday, O one of good vows,

whoever worships Jayāditya on a Sunday in Āśvina, 81

having bathed in Koṭitīrtha, that person removes the sin of killing a brahmin;

by worship with red garlands, red sandalwood, and saffron, 82

by anointing with perfumes and frankincense, and with offerings of food with ghee and rice boiled in milk,

a slayer of a brahmin, a drinker of liquor, a thief, and a violator of the guru's bed 83

is freed from all sins and goes to the world of the sun.

Having obtained sons, wives, wealth, long life, and worldly happiness, 84

endowed with desired pleasures, he will dwell for a long time in the world of the sun. 85

The darśana of Jayāditya on all Sundays,

or praising or remembering him, brings peace to all diseases. 86

Those who are devoted to the god who has no beginning or end, the unmanifest, the treasury of splendours,

merge into the healthy realm of the sun. 87

When a solar eclipse arrives, concentrated at the Well of the Sun,

whoever takes a bath, O Pārtha, and carefully performs a fire offering, 88

and also makes gifts according to his means, standing before Jayāditya—

listen with a one-pointed mind to the greatness of that merit, O Jaya! 89

Whatever merit is at Kurukṣetra, at Prabhāsa, and at Puṣkara,

and whatever merit is at Vārāṇasī, at Prayāga, or at Naimiṣa,

a mortal obtains that merit through the grace of Jayāditya. 1.2.51.90

Thus ends the fifty-first chapter, entitled 'Description of the Greatness of Jayāditya', in the Kaumārikākhaṇḍa of the first [section], the Māheśvarakhaṇḍa, in the glorious Skanda Mahāpurāṇa of eighty-one thousand verses. 51