Skandapurana 16.22

Īśvara said: / Thus permitted by Dakṣa, grieving then over his own action, / his soul filled with sorrow and grief, he came to the sacred field of Prabhāsa.

Having gone near the southern shore of the ocean, / he saw there the mountain known as Kṛtasmara,

swarming with yakṣas and vidyādharas, adorned with kinnaras, / with sandalwood, agallochum, camphor, aśokas, and auspicious tilakas,

with white water-lilies and lotuses, flowering and fruiting auspiciously, / with mango, rose-apple, wood-apple, and pomegranates and jackfruits,

with limes, citrons, nāgakeśaras, and adorned with groves of plantains, / with areca palms, betel vines and the like, with śālas, palmyra palms, and tamālas,

with citrons and date palms, sweet grapes and pāṭalas, / with bilvas, campakas, timburus and the like, and kadambas and arjunas,

adorned with dhavas, aśokas, śirīṣas and the like, and diverse trees, / profusely with trees yielding desired fruits, flowering, fruiting, and auspicious,

swarming with swans and kāraṇḍavas, adorned with cakravākas, / echoing with cuckoos, parrots, and diverse birds.

Birds remembering their past lives uttered human speech. / By pairs of gandharvas and kinnaras, by siddhas, vidyādharas, and uragas,

playing in diverse celestial ways, the best of mountains was adorned, / with dances of gods and gandharvas, echoing with flutes and vīṇās,

with the resounding roar of Vedic chanting, born of sacrifices, oblations, and agnihotras, / completely enveloped, elevated, fragrant with clarified butter,

and adorned with celestial seers, the best of brahmins versed in the four Vedas: / Atri, Vasiṣṭha, Pulastya, Pulaha, Kratu,

Bhṛgu, Marīci, Bharadvāja, and Kaśyapa, / Manu, Yama, Aṅgiras, Viṣṇu, Śātātapa, and Parāśara,

Āpastamba, Saṃvarta, Kātya, the sage Kātyāyana, / Gautama, Śaṅkha and Likhita, and the sage Vācaspati,

Jāmadagnya, Yājñavalkya, Ṛṣyaśṛṅga, Vibhāṇḍaka, / Gārgya, Śaunaka, Dālbhya, Vyāsa, Uddālaka, Śuka,

Nārada, Parvata, and Durvāsas of fierce austerity, / Śākalya, Gālava, Jābāli, and Mudgala,

Viśvāmitra, Kauśika, Jahnu, and Viśvāvasu, / Dhaumya, Śatānanda, Vaiśaṃpāyana, and Jiṣṇu,

Śākaṭāyana, Vārddhikya, Agnika, Bādarāyaṇa, / the great-souled Vālakhilyas, and whoever dwelt upon the earth's circle—

all of them dwell there on Mount Kṛtasmara, / radiant sons of Brahmā, righteous seers, O beloved,

all blazing with austerity like smokeless fires; / some fasting for a month, some fasting for a fortnight,

observing three-night fasts, sāṃtapana penances, and others taking no food; / some eating fruits and flowers, and eating fallen dry leaves;

some eating cow dung, and others subsisting on water, / maintaining their sacred fires, deeply learned, contemplating the purpose of the path to liberation,

experts in the epics, Purāṇas, Vedas, and traditional texts. / These and many others, led by Mārkaṇḍeya,

having reached the sacred field of Prabhāsa, settled on Mount Kṛta. / Thus was Kṛtasmara there, served by all the gods, / which, O goddess, was burnt by the submarine fire in this Manvantara.

Seeing that charming mountain, and seeing the great ocean, / the maker of the night then circumambulated it seven times. / Having circumambulated the mountain, he went to where Maheśvara was.

Near the ocean, having the form of the Sparśaliṅga, / with a pleased inner self he propitiated the all-pervading Lord, 26

thinking, "Either death or shelter with the Great Lord; / let there be a boon to ward off the curse, or death for me from Śaṃkara." 27

Having made up his mind thus, Soma propitiated Śiva through austerity, / subsisting on fruits and roots for a thousand years. 28

When the fourth thousand years were complete, O fair-complexioned one, / the blessed Rudra was pleased and spoke these words: 29

"I am well pleased with you, O moon; choose a boon, O one of good vows. / What desire of yours shall I grant today? Speak whatever may be exceedingly hard to attain." 30

Seeing the bull-bannered god thus appeared before his eyes, / bowing to him with devotion, the night-maker offered praise: 31

The Moon said: / "Om, homage to the God of gods, to Śiva, the Supreme Self, / whose nature is immeasurable, who possesses both manifest and unmanifest forms. 32

You are the lord of yogins, O Īśa, in you everything is established; / you are the sacrifice, you are the vaṣaṭ-call, you are the oṃkāra, the Lord of Creatures. 33

Two hundred worlds, and twenty-four besides— / above that, your supreme, solitary light alone watches awake. 34

At the end of the kalpa, when the egg of Brahmā is released by the primeval Boar, / homage to you, the liṅga of fire who serves as the supporting pillar. 35

Homage to you whose name is Anāmaya, homage to you, the skin-clad one; / homage to Bhairavanātha, homage to you, Someśvara. 36

By these praiseworthy designations, O Amṛteśvara, / you are praised by the foremost of the gods—past, present, and future. 37

The first was Brahmā, the grandfather of the worlds, named Virañci; / then your name was Mṛtyuñjaya, O husband of Pārvatī. 38

When the second Brahmā arose, renowned as Padmabhū, / then your name was proclaimed as Kālāgnirudra. 39

When the third Brahmā arose, renowned as Svayambhū, / your name that increases glory was celebrated as Amṛteśa. 40

When the fourth Brahmā arose, renowned as Parameṣṭhin, / then, O Lord of gods, your name was remembered as Anāmaya. 41

When the fifth Brahmā arose, celebrated as Surajyeṣṭha, / your name became Kṛttivāsas, O destroyer of Tripura. 42

And when the sixth Brahmā arose, remembered as Hemagarbha, / then your name was proclaimed as Bhairavanātha. 43

He who exists now, celebrated as Śatānanda, / was brought by the primeval Soma who arose from your left eye, 44

an eight-year-old child in form, for the installation of the liṅga; / and at that time, it was named Somanātha by him. 45

Since that time, two hundred thousand moons have passed, 46ab

as well as two thousand and one hundred and six. 46cd

I am the seventh, O Great God, renowned as Ātreya; / cursed by Dakṣa, the son of Pracetas, I have sought shelter with you. / Protect me, O God of gods, wasting away and afflicted with a diseased sin." 47

As the moon was praising him thus, the merciful / blessed Rudra was pleased and spoke these words: 48

"I am well pleased with you, O moon; choose a boon, O one of good vows. / What desire of yours shall I grant today? Speak whatever may be exceedingly hard to attain. 49

Whichever men recite my secret and most beloved names, / I will grant their heart's desire. 50

This liṅga is to be worshipped by the moons that have passed and those that exist now, / until another eight-year-old one [appears]. 51

Ah! Beyond that, whenever the four-faced Brahmā shall be, / then the name of the god will be Prāṇanātha. 52

The vital breaths are called winds; that is the name arising from his worship; / proclaimed as Prāṇanātha, that will be [my name] after this. 53

After that, the name Agnīśa, immediately followed by Kālarudra; / then the name Tāraka will surely be proclaimed; 54

immediately after that, the god's [name] will be Mṛtyuñjaya; / Tryambakeśa, then Īśa, immediately followed by Bhuvaneśa; 55

then the future names Bhūtanātha, Ghora, Brahmeśa, / Pṛthivīśa, immediately followed by Ādinātha; 56

immediately after the god's [name] Kalpeśvara, Candranātha. / What the future name of the god will be has now been revealed to you. / These and other sixteen names, enumerated by themselves, / have passed and will come to be, because time is infinite. 57–58

Each single name endures until the dissolution of Brahmā; / after that another name arises in accordance with the proper nature of the name. 59

Now, why say much? The secret has been revealed to you. / O child, the reason for which you performed this entire austerity here, / declare that completely to me; being pleased, I will grant your boon." 60

The Moon said: / "I was cursed by Dakṣa on account of a certain other reason, / and brought to consumption by pulmonary disease; therefore, you ought to rescue me." 61

Śambhu said: / "Now, look equally upon all those daughters of Dakṣa. / Your waning shall be for one fortnight, and for one fortnight there shall be waxing. 62

You will regain your former natural luster, O Soma, through my grace; / for Dakṣa, the son of Pracetas, has destroyed his sins by austerity. 63

His word cannot be undone even by other gods. / Brahmins, when angered, can strike and turn [anything] to ashes by their own splendor; 64

they could make gods into non-gods and destroy this world. / Brahmins and gods are a single splendor divided in two: 65

the brahmins are visible gods, and the deities in heaven are invisible; / there are no brahmins without gods, nor gods without brahmins. 66

Mantras abide in the one, and splendor abides in the other. / Brahmins are the deities in the world, brahmins are the deities in heaven; / brahmins are supreme in the three worlds; brahmins alone are the primary cause." 67

When appointed for the ancestors, they become the ancestors; in rites for the gods, they become the gods. / The best of the twice-born, with water poured upon their hands, become gods with that very body.

Through devotion to brahmins who are constantly devoted to the truth of the six ritual duties and eager for the meaning of the Vedas, / men never enter the dreadful, great terror that arises in the realm of ghosts.

Whatever the brahmins, who are most worthy of praise, declare, the deities carry out through their deeds. / When the visible gods are pleased, the invisible gods are constantly pleased. / Just as the Rudras, the gods, the Maruts, the Vasus, the two Aśvins, / and Brahmā, the moon, and the sun are in heaven, so are the best of the twice-born in this world.

All subjects are dependent on the gods, and the deities are dependent on sacrifices. / Those sacrifices are dependent on brahmins; therefore, the best of the twice-born are gods.

One should daily worship brahmins; one should always satisfy brahmins. / Brahmins are saviors in this world; from a brahmin one attains heaven.

They preserve the ancient ordinance, which is indivisible, uncuttable, beginningless, and imperishable. / Having honored those twice-born, a wise man becomes invincible in heaven like the king of gods.

Armor can indeed be pierced with an iron shaft or an arrow, / or even with a thousand thunderbolts; but a brahmin's blessing is most difficult to break.

Sin is appeased by what is offered in the fire; the offering is appeased by food; / food [is appeased] by the gift of gold, and gold by the blessing of a brahmin.

One who wishes to go to hell together with sons, cattle, and kin / should levy authority over gods, over brahmins, and over cows.

If through delusion one hates brahmins, gods, cows, and sacrifices, / that evil-minded person has neither the next world nor this world.

Brahmins, cows, gold, water, women, / and the earth: one who reviles these six is a sinner.

Kings are the top of dharma; brahmins are the root of dharma. / Therefore, one must not harm the root, for the top rests upon the root.

Kings are the fruit of dharma; brahmins are the flower of dharma. / Therefore, one must not harm the flower, for the fruit is produced from the flower.

The king is a tree, the brahmins are its root, the citizens are the leaves, and the ministers are its branches. / Therefore, brahmins must be protected by the king; when the root is protected, there is no destruction of the tree.

Fire burns when near, but a brahmin burns from afar. / What is burnt by fire sprouts again; what is burnt by a brahmin does not grow.

By the curse of brahmins, the fire became an all-devourer, / the ocean became undrinkable, and Indra was rendered castrated.

[From them came] consumption upon you, O Moon, saline barrenness on the earth, / the falling down of the sun and moon, and their rising up again;

the resin of trees, the defeat of the Dānavas, / the subjugation of the serpents, the eradication of the kṣatriya order, / the reversal of the origin of the gods, and the overturning of the worlds.

Such are the fiery powers of the great-souled brahmins. / Therefore, a king should always bow before the twice-born.

Even when fallen into extreme calamity, he should not enrage brahmins. / For when enraged, they would instantly destroy him along with his army and vehicles.

Just as fire, whether consecrated or unconsecrated, is a great deity, / so a brahmin, whether learned or unlearned, is a great deity.

Even in cremation grounds, radiant fire is not defiled at all; / and when offered into at sacrifices, it blazes forth even more.

In the same way, even if he engages in all undesirable actions, / a brahmin is to be honored by all as a supreme, great deity.

Even when the kṣatriya power grows very great, by the power of brahmins [it is checked]; / for the brahmin power is supreme and worthy of honor, since the kṣatriya order originated from the brahmin.

Fire arose from water, the kṣatriya from the brahmin, and iron from stone. / Their power, though effective everywhere, is calmed within their own sources.

Those upon whom the worlds of the gods constantly depend, / and whose speech is the Veda itself—who that wishes to live would harm them?

Even when dying, a king should not take tax from a brahmin; / nor should a brahmin living in his realm languish from hunger.

The king in whose realm a brahmin wastes away from hunger— / that kingdom of his quickly collapses in a hundred pieces.

Whatever sin a king commits through negligence or through delusion, / the Vedic brahmins residing in the kingdom appease it.

[The king] for whom rites are performed by the twice-born in the early hours and at midnight— / that king, along with his realm, prospers through brahminical radiance.

Rising early in the morning, the king should constantly honor brahmins. / By the grace of brahmins, the gods sport in heaven.

Now, what is the use of speaking at length? The brahmins are my own body. / Whatever twice-born are celebrated on this ocean-girdled earth, / they are the form of the supreme self, Śiva, the god of gods.

Those fools who hate these brahmins of strict vows / surely hate me; and by honoring them, they honor me.

Therefore, one who knows should bear no hostility toward brahmins. / Through hatred, men struck down by a brahmin's curse quickly perish.

Thus, O Moon, has this ocean of the brahmins' virtues been proclaimed. / Next, perform the task that I myself tell you.

Favor regarding the curse has been granted to you by me, O Maker of the Night; / yet the word of those twice-born cannot be annulled

even by all the gods together with Indra, who grant curses and favors. / Therefore, O Moon, you who understand must not grieve at all.

You shall have waning for one fortnight, and waxing for one fortnight. / Now hear another word, O Moon, concerning what you must do.

This supreme liṅga that stands on the shore of the ocean, / situated at the center of the earth, visible to the gods,

resembling a hen's egg, adorned with a snake-girdle, / is my primordial, supreme light; and no one else knows it.

From here, however, in the midst of the ocean, at a distance of three hundred bows, / there stands a liṅga, well concealed, endowed with auspicious marks. // 109

In the primeval kalpa, it fell by the curse of the great seers. / Bring that liṅga of mine swiftly from the midst of the ocean. // 110

Install it in that place where my liṅga called Sparśa stands. / Having installed it with care, together with Viśvakarman, // 111

then summon Brahmā, together with the lords of sages, / and perform the consecration, O powerful one, having sacrificed there with great sacrifices.” // 112

Having spoken thus, the Lord vanished right there. / Then the lord of the night regained his radiance, O fair-faced woman. // 113

From then on, that sacred field has been famed as Prabhāsa. / Splendor (prabhā) was granted to the lusterless one; therefore it is called Prabhāsa. // 114

Dakṣa's curse, however, was not made void; by it a mark remained. / Having obtained a boon from Maheśvara, Soma illuminates the worlds. / That Lord of gods became manifest to the great-souled Soma alone. // 115

Thus ends the twenty-second chapter, titled "Description of the Granting of the Boon to Soma," in the first [part], the Prabhāsakṣetramāhātmya, of the seventh section, the Prabhāsakhaṇḍa, in the glorious Skandapurāṇa, a compendium of eighty-one thousand [verses]. // 22