Skandapurana 2.2.17

The sages said:

When Nārasiṃha had been consecrated in that sacred field, what did the king

do, O sage? Tell [us], for that is our supreme curiosity.

Jaimini said:

First, he invited all the thirty [gods] beginning with Indra;

then he invited thousands of seers and brahmins,

who had studied the four Vedas along with the six limbs, pada, and krama,

skilled in the sciences of sacrifice, firmly grounded in Mīmāṃsā,

who perform rituals according to the Kalpasūtras along with commentaries,

skilled in the eighteen sciences, knowing dharma,

purified by good conduct, of noble family, truthful in speech,

and especially Vaiṣṇavas, he respectfully invited.

And whatever kings, siddhas, seven seers, twice-born,

virtuous śūdras, merchants, and rulers of islands were in the three worlds, they were invited.

Measuring two krośas, O brahmins, was the assembly hall of that king,

built of stone, lofty, and plastered with white mortar.

In some places the floor was made of jewels, in some places fashioned of gold;

in others it was of crystal and of silver, the ground suitably arranged.

With towering pillars made of jewels, draped all around with fine silk,

endowed with beautiful canopies, with perfumes, garlands, and chowries,

and with lovely windows set between pearl necklaces, auspicious,

sprinkled with black aloe resin and moistened with sandalwood water,

strewn with flowers of every season, and surrounded by bordering parks,

[it had] step-wells with crystal stairways and gates adorned with lotus motifs,

their waters covered by cakravāka birds, ducks, swans, and sweetly-calling cranes,

clear, cool, fragrant, and sweet.

All around it, O brahmins, were hundreds of easy descents,

arranged with cool shades and shining on all sides.

Just as the sacrificial hall of Marutta once was, O best of brahmins,

so was that of King Indradyumna, fashioned by Viśvakarman.

On an auspicious day and under an auspicious lunar mansion, having seated the assembly members,

and having seen the kings seated on thrones and also the seers seated,

along with the hosts of brahmin seers and siddhas seated on costly carpets,

the gods seated on golden pedestals, and then the brahmins appropriately,

and the others seated comfortably in their places on excellent seats,

[he saw] the lord of Śacī seated in the midst of the kings, gods, and seers,

upon his own jewelled throne having the marks of universal sovereignty.

With divine garlands, perfumes, garments, high seats, and the like,

along with his royal priest, [the king] first worshipped him magnificently;

humble, like one who is poor, the king performed worship for him in that manner,

so that even this lord of the three worlds considered it a wonder.

Then, having worshipped the siddhas and divine sages like Indra,

he aroused the astonishment even of Kubera, possessed of superior wealth.

Then the lord of the earth worshipped the gods, whose own wealth was abundant,

with hospitality, completely undisturbed in mind.

He honoured the kings with paraphernalia suitable for kings,

so that those kings thought: 'Only now do we become [true kings]!

Truly kingship was obtained in due course, but never such paraphernalia!'

He further worshipped the Vaiṣṇavas, attending [them] with acts of hospitality,

so that, even though tranquil, they regarded this influx of sensory objects as a wonder.

Then, led by the sages, the king, overflowing with the quality of sattva,

properly worshipped the brahmins, the kṣatriyas, and the vaiśyas.

And having worshipped the others through his ministers, with great eagerness,

he was seen bowed with humility, with his palms joined in reverence.

Together with his royal priest Nārada, he addressed great Indra aloud:

Indradyumna said:

"By your grace, O lord of the gods, I desire this; be pleased with me:

with the horse sacrifice, I wish to worship the sacrifice's Lord.

Grant me permission, O god; you are the lord of sacrifices.

All who dwell in the three worlds are obeyers of your command.

As long as the completion of the thousand sacrifices takes place, O lord,

so long dwell in the sacrificial enclosure along with the gods.

I desire to sacrifice, O lord of the gods, not out of longing for your position;

you know the mental disposition of all at all times, O lord of the gods.

Here lord Mādhava, endowed with form, was formerly seen by you in worship;

that very same one who concealed himself under the sands—

for the sake of revealing him once more, I shall perform a thousand horse sacrifices,

O Indra, by the instruction and command of the Four-faced One [Brahmā].

When he is revealed again, it will bring welfare to you as well."

When thus petitioned by the king, the gods headed by great Indra,

remembering that bodiless voice that had been heard previously,

after the disappearance [of the Lord], spoke this, delighted:

"Indradyumna, you are a great soul, truly among the truthful on earth!

That future act of yours was experienced by us in advance.

We shall be your helpers in this undertaking that purifies the three worlds,

where the Creator of the worlds himself has indeed undertaken the effort.

Right here the Lord said even to us upon the earth:

Entering out of compassion for them, I shall once more

make a wooden body; thus this has been resolved.

There is no displeasure in this for us, nor for Indra, O king;

your endeavor, destined by us, brings joy to us.

Sacrifice with ease, O king of kings, to Vaikuṇṭha, who loves his devotees,

by means of the horse sacrifice repeated a thousand times.

For hard to propitiate is the Lord, yet affectionate to devotees, even for us.

We too, abandoning godhood here, devoted to devotion,

shall worship, humble, in human form in this sacred field.

For dear indeed is an action performed in the mortal world, and it attains success.”

Jaimini said:

When this was spoken by the gods together with Indra, with his inner self deeply pleased,

the king worshipped the Lord for the purpose of beginning the sacrifice

with thousands of services presented according to rule.

Then the king, endowed with faith, having seen to the hosts of ancestors,

and the well-adorned brahmins and sacrificers gathered in the sacrificial hall,

having placed the chosen deity Vaikuṇṭha in front along with the sacrificial fires,

awaiting the determined astrological moment when the chanting of auspiciousness had concluded,

stood present together with his wife, wearing pure and auspicious attire.

Having pure twice-borns recite auspiciousness, a blessing of good fortune, and the rite for prosperity,

he, having gathered all the provisions, then selected the priests.

Those chosen priests, consecrating the best of kings together with his wife,

having separated the fires for the initiation sacrifice, sacrificed as prompted by the assembly members.

Having brought forward that blazing Āhavanīya fire upon the altar—

was it the very splendour of Viṣṇu bringing auspiciousness to the three worlds?

Having well sprinkled and consecrated [the horse] with mantras, having obtained leave from the guardians of the directions,

they released the principal horse, marked with auspicious characteristics on its limbs.

Then that consecrated king, keeping silence, seated upon the skin of a Ruru deer,

sat in the midst of the sacrificial hall like Mṛtyuṃjaya himself.

He gave directions with his eyes alone for the satisfaction of the invited guests.

By the king's command, the minister prepared very costly

gem-studded vessels for the dining of the gods in great abundance;

vessels of pure gold for the sages and rulers of the earth;

for the dining of the twice-borns, fresh ones every day, O twice-borns;

and auspicious silver ones for the kṣatriyas and vaiśyas, O brahmins;

spotless bell-metal vessels indeed for the dining of the śūdras.

Day after day, at the end of dining, O best of twice-borns,

the vessels were cast into pits by the people like discarded leaf-plates.

Those indeed who were invited for dining at that sacrificial festival,

their sons, grandsons, and great-grandsons—their whole lineage—

were daily fed foods of five flavours, preceded by high honor,

by those who respected them, according to the command of King Indradyumna.

They stayed there like family members until the completion of the great sacrifice.

From whichever country the people came, the king was their guardian;

Nārada, who looked upon all equally and was eager to help others,

requested by Indradyumna, served as the liaison among kings.

For Indra and the other lords of the gods, and for the divine seers, the best of kings,

the lord of men himself performed service for the completion of the sacrifice.

Sixfold foods and drinks were prepared in two ways by men:

for the gods' banquet there, by experts in mantras and rituals,

and for mortals, by those skilled in the culinary science of Nala.

For the sky-dwellers, whose food is nectar, are unaware of hunger and thirst;

yet even to them that feast was a wonder because of its novelty.

Food such as that in Indradyumna's house was rare for men on the mortal plane.

The only difference between Indradyumna and Indra was living in the mortal world.

This was exceedingly wondrous: every day new and fresh

was the increase of honor, hospitality, and food, O best of twice-borns;

they grew mutually as if in rivalry with one another,

as did fragrant flower garlands and unguents of musk and other scents.

variegated fine silks, and seats with cushions,

couches that were small gem-inlaid beds, and fly-whisks with handles of jewels,

and betel leaves with nutmeg, cloves, and camphor,

charming songs, and various dances

performed by those skilled in the teaching of the sage Bharata,

and hundreds of bards and panegyrists expert in the fame of their respective lineages.

These and other things, even those very hard to obtain,

both the thirty [gods] and mortals enjoyed with great respect.

Diverse in one place and another, nowhere were they deficient.

And for the dwellers of Pātāla, the food was superior even to nectar,

eating which, they indeed did not desire to return to Pātāla.

The dwellings that were in Pātāla, illuminated by heaps of gems

without the light of the sun—just such did the king

give for their residence, in which, thinking it to be Pātāla,

they sat at ease, playing, eating, and sleeping with delight.

Indeed, even for the gods there was no touching of the ground anywhere else;

yet there in Indradyumna’s city, more enchanting even than heaven,

absorbed in joyful play at will, they did not leave the earth.

They say that in heaven happiness arises only from desire;

yet there, O brahmins, happiness was everywhere even without desire.

Treating them with care, men attentively regarded [every] edible item;

no person had to beg, and how could anyone turn away empty-handed?

The palaces of the king of kings were equal to the peoples’ own homes,

yet at that time, everything was not always available in their own homes.

There, whatever was beyond [mere] desire was abundant and easy to obtain.

When the sacrifice was thus joyfully undertaken for the pleasure of the Lord of Sacrifice,

the earth, all of whose wealth had previously been stripped

by the horse sacrifice of this king, became once again beautifully adorned by a rain of gold.

When the rite of gifts, honors, and food for the people

dwelling in the three worlds was thus performed according to rule day after day,

the people sang songs to one another concerning the horse sacrifice:

“Such preparation of a sacrifice enjoined by the ritual rules of scripture

of royal sage Indradyumna has never been, nor ever will be,

wherein none were beggars and none were non-givers, having been mutually invited,

wherein there was no frustration of desire even for the gods, O twice-born!”

Then the king's sovereign sacrifice, possessed of such prosperity, proceeded;

imbued with extraordinary faith and highly accomplished, each [sacrifice] surpassed the previous one.

Authors of the Smṛtis, authors of the Kalpa texts, and composers of the scriptures,

skilled in the performance of sacrifices and the crest-jewels of virtuous conduct,

conducted the rites in proper sequence from the laying of the fires to the final bath,

for the pleasure of the king, by the approval of the assembly, O twice-born.

Never were the mantras deficient in tone or in syllables;

those who were the makers of the rules were indeed the conductors of the rites.

Because there was no occasion for expiation on account of any cause of expiation,

there was no injury to the rite; the practitioners of the rite were yogins,

where the seven divine seers were members of the assembly, witnesses of the sacrifice.

Those who distinguished between merits and faults conducted the rites;

Yājñavalkya and other sages were chosen as officiating priests there.

Seated in the assembly hall, in the intervals of their conversations with one another,

theological debates, hymns, and secret Upaniṣads,

as well as Purāṇic verses, O brahmins, preceded by devotion to Viṣṇu,

and the deeds of Hari that remove the entire mass of sins—

these those sages recited there in the assembly of the ruler of the earth.

At his sacrifice, standing visible amidst the fire, the delighted thirty [gods],

with great Indra at their head, consumed the sacrificial offering, O brahmins.

Staying away from home for a long time, the gods did not remember Amarāvatī.

For of old, Brahmā had fashioned the sacrificial oblation as their nectar;

having eaten that, the gods became delighted, full of vigor, and long-lived.

Apart from the sphere of the performance of the sacrifice, all the many objects of enjoyment

prepared by Indradyumna they fully enjoyed.

The serpent kings who dwell in the realm of Pātāla,

enjoyed sensory pleasures in the mortal world far greater than those [in Pātāla].

Indeed, they certainly had no desire in their hearts to return to Pātāla.

Thus the sacrifice was conducted, bringing delight to the three worlds,