Skandapurana 16.278

The Lord said: / Then, O great goddess, one should go to the renowned place called Śūlasthāna, / to the Sun who repels thieves, on the charming bank of the Devikā,

where Vālmīki, the best of sages, practiced fierce austerity, / where the great sage, the brahmin-seer named Vālmīki, attained perfection,

where the Seven Seers, the twice-born headed by Marīci, / were robbed by that very sage on its western side, O beloved.

The goddess said: / How did Vālmīki attain perfection? And why did he set his mind on robbery? / How were the Seven Seers robbed? Tell me this, O Śaṃkara.

The Lord said: / Formerly, O goddess, there was a brahmin renowned by the name Śamīmukha. / While he was leading the householder life, a son was born to him; / born with the name Vaiśākha, he became one of cruel deeds.

Except for service to his guru alone, that twice-born performed no other / auspicious action whatsoever, from morning onwards and constantly.

Then, after a long time, my beloved, his two parents / reached old age, trembling and in need of support from him.

Going out daily to the road and robbing people according to his might, / he took their wealth and supported his parents and his wife as well.

Then, at a certain time, as he was going along that road, / he saw the Seven Seers devoted to a pilgrimage to holy fords.

Seeing them, he raised his staff, threatening them with harsh words, / and said to them all, repeatedly shouting, "Halt!"

Then those peaceful sages, to whom a clod of earth, a stone, and gold were alike, / who were equal toward enemy and friend, free from anger and passion,

[spoke amongst themselves]. "Our sight and conversation with the seers / must not become fruitless for him," thus spoke the words of Aṅgiras:

Aṅgiras said: / "Listen to my words with an attentive mind for a moment, O thief. / For your own benefit, I am telling you the truth: / Who makes up your family of dependents? Tell me all of that."

The thief said: / "There are my aged parents, one wife without offspring, / one female servant, and myself as the sixth. There is no one else, O sage."

Aṅgiras said: / "Go and ask all of them who are nourished with wealth acquired through sin: / 'I commit sins, but you are all the consumers;

whose sin will that be? Let them tell me quickly.'" / Having gone there just so, he questioned his parents. Then they said:

The mother and father said: / "One person commits sins, but a great crowd enjoys the fruit. / The consumers are released; the agent is tainted by the fault.

The dull-witted person who performs an inauspicious deed for the sake of his family / certainly does not hold his own self dear, being a great sinner."

Īśvara said: / Having heard their words, his mind was frightened again at that time. / Having bowed to them, he spoke once more to his parents:

"Whatever inauspicious deed I commit anywhere is only for the welfare of you both. / Is some portion of it enjoyed by you two, or not? Let it be told."

The parents said: / "In earlier age, O son, you were indeed to be maintained by us; / but in the later age, we are again properly to be maintained by you, O son.

This reciprocal duty has been ordained by the Lotus-born [Brahmā]. / Whatever auspicious or inauspicious deed was done by us for your sake, / all of that we alone shall experience here; there is no doubt of this.

So too, child, whatever auspicious or inauspicious deed you perform, / you yourself shall experience all of that in like manner in the next world, not anyone else.

One inevitably experiences the auspicious or inauspicious deed done by oneself. / Therefore, an auspicious deed ought to be performed by a wise man.

Whether by theft, by farming, by usury, O son, / or by trade, or by servant-work—having done it, food / must be given to us day and night by you. There is no fault in us, O child."

Having heard that statement from the two of them, he then spoke to his wife. / She spoke the very same words that had been said before by his parents. / Then Vaiśākha, the best of sages, fell into renunciation.

Thus reproaching himself again and again, exceedingly distressed: / "Fie upon me, a doer of wicked deeds, constantly delighting in sinful action,

abandoned by discernment, bereft of good company! / The man who commits sin and does not serve the wise / does not love his own self; this remains firmly in my heart."

With his heart thus troubled, going into the presence of the seers, / he spoke with gentle words, saying with respect, "Please go on.

Let this seat of darbha-grass be taken, and likewise the water-pot, / and the bark garments, rags, and deer skins in their entirety.

Let my offense be forgiven, [wretched] as I am, miserable and poor, / deprived of the company of the good, foolish, O best of sages!

From this day forth, I have turned away from this deed / which is terrible, very cruel, and censured by the virtuous. / Therefore, tell me how to turn away from this deed,

so that by your grace I may attain release from sin— / whether by fasting, a mantra, an observance, or self-restraint."

The seers said: / "Well asked by you, child! Listen to the reality with single-minded attention. / We shall explain it concisely; it must not be told by you to anyone.

Through muttering it, O sinful soul, you will certainly obtain liberation. / This four-syllable mantra must be recited by you: 'jhāṭa-ghoṭa'.

It removes all sins for humans and bestows the fruit of heaven and liberation." / Having been told thus by those bull-like sages, / Vaiśākha remained constantly intent on recitation, and those bull-like sages departed.

As he was thus reciting continuously on the auspicious bank of the Devikā, O goddess, / absorption arose for him who was devoted to the guru.

Then hunger and thirst vanished, and his body attained purity.

In a mantra, a sacred ford, a brahmin, a deity, an astrologer, a medicine, and a guru, / of whatever nature a person's faith is, such is their perfection.

Just as the Supreme Self is pure by nature and beneficent, / yet undergoes transformation through contact with limiting adjuncts, like a crystal,

and just as a barren female wasp, having found a tiny living worm somewhere, / placing it in her own abode, meditates upon it with concentrated thought,

and that living being, grown through meditation upon it, becomes just like that, / even if born in another womb—such is the illustration of the wise.

And if someone instructed by a guru falls into doubt, / he does not obtain perfection, just as an unfortunate man fails to find a treasure.

In this way, many thousands of years passed away / for him who was intent on muttering and who had attained immortality.

Then, in the course of time, he was surrounded by an anthill, / by which he was covered on all sides, and he did not notice it at all.

Then after some time, those sages arrived. / Beholding that region, joining together in mutual support, / and placing hand in hand, they all said to one another: 46

The seers said: / "Here that robber arrived, Vaiśākha of cruel form, / by whom we were all plundered when we assembled at this place." 47

As they were conversing in this manner, they heard a wonderful sound / clearly coming from within an anthill; thereupon, filled with curiosity, 48

they dug open that mountain-like anthill there with spades. 49

Then, O best of sages, they saw Viśākha there, / repeatedly chanting that very same four-syllabled mantra. 50

Recognizing that he had attained absorption (samādhi), the brahmins vigorously rubbed / his dormant body all over with medicines approved by yoga. 51

Then he said to all the seers: "O twice-born ones, take back your property / that was seized by me, a sinner of unrefined intellect! 52

Go on your pilgrimage to the sacred fords; all of you, O twice-born ones, are released by me. / Having gone, O best of brahmins, tell my parents and my wife: 53

Viśākha has become one who has renounced all attachment; / he no longer desires to see you as before." 54

The seers said: / "Many years have passed while you have dwelled here, O sage. / All those family members of yours, and others as well, have met their death. 55

We, best of sages, have returned to this place after a long time. / You have surely attained perfection (siddhi) from this mantra, without a doubt. 56

Because you, single-minded in meditating on the mantra, took shelter within an anthill (valmīka), / therefore you will be known on earth by the name Vālmīki. 57

The goddess Bhāratī will dwell at the tip of your tongue at will. / Having composed the poem Rāmāyaṇa, you will then attain liberation." 58

Viśākha said: / "O tigers among the twice-born, being pleased, accept a teacher's fee, / so that, freed from debt, I may perform great austerity." 59

The seers said: / "This is our fee, O brahmin: that you have attained perfection. / With your soul fulfilled in all desires, O sage, we have achieved our purpose. 60

Choose a boon further, whatever is in your mind." 61

Vālmīki said: / "If you are pleased with me, if a boon is to be given to me, / then tell me quickly: which god resides here / on the charming bank of the Devikā, granting the fruit of all desires?" 62

The seers said: / "Listen with single-minded attention, O brahmin, to which god resides here: / behold this neem tree, O brahmin, with its widespread branches! 63

At its root Sūrya resides, born from a portion of Brahmā at the beginning of the kalpa. / Worship him diligently, for he is the deity of this place. 64

This is declared to be a sacred field of Sūrya measuring only a gavyūti. / Even those who simply dwell in this place will surely attain heaven. 65

From this day forth, O best of brahmins, this is celebrated as Mūlasthāna, / the abode of Sūrya, O best of brahmins; and you must make your dwelling here. 66

From this day forth, O best of brahmins, this sacred ford on earth / situated on the bank of the Devikā will attain supreme renown. 67

Since we were plundered in the past while staying at the root of the tree (mūlasthāne), O brahmin, / it will become renowned in the world by the very name Mūlasthāna. 68

Those men who take a ritual ablution with devotion here at the northern confluence / of Sūrya will go to heaven. 69

When they perform libation with water mixed with sesame seeds, O best of twice-born ones, / the satisfaction of their ancestors will equal that of a śrāddha at Gayā. 70

Those excellent men who offer a śrāddha here with devotion, / even with vegetables, roots, or fruits, endowed with full faith, 71

their ancestors will attain liberation; of this there is no doubt. 72

Even insects, moths, birds, beasts, and deer / afflicted by thirst will attain the highest state through contact with the water. 73

We ourselves will always be present here in the month of Śrāvaṇa, O best of men, / on the full moon day, out of affection for you, without a doubt. 74

For whoever satisfies the ancestors with water on that day, / their eighteen kinds of leprosy will instantly be eradicated: 75

the ones named kapāla, udumbara, and indramaṇḍala, and vicarcikā; / ṛṣyacarma, ekakuṣṭha, kiṭibha, sidhma, alasa, and vipādikā; 76

dadru, sitā, aruci, sphoṭa, puṇḍarīka, along with kākaṇa, / pāmā, and carmadala—these are the eighteen kinds of leprosy. 77

They will vanish, there is no doubt." Having spoken thus, they disappeared. / And the sage worshipped the sun and then composed the Rāmāyaṇa. 78

Therefore, one should behold that god who grants the fruit of all sacrifices, / and one should listen to this story, which destroys all sins. 79

Thus ends the two hundred and seventy-eighth chapter, entitled "Description of the Greatness of the Devikā and the Greatness of Mūlasthāna," in the first [sub-section], Prabhāsakṣetramāhātmya, of the seventh section, Prabhāsakhaṇḍa, in the glorious Skanda Mahāpurāṇa, a collection of eighty-one thousand [verses]. 278