Skandapurana 2.2.27

Jaimini said:

Then, from the sky, a flight of stairs fashioned of jewels and gold,

attached to the footstool of the lotus-born [Brahmā] residing in his vimāna,

with its base touching the earth for the Creator's descent,

provided with a wide flight of steps four fathoms across,

like a radiant rainbow between the chariot and the temple,

suddenly appeared, beheld with wonder by the people. // 3

Then, O twice-born ones, led by kings of the Gandharvas / holding cane wands of jewels in their hands,

who pointed out the path, saying, 'This is the way, O Lord, come!',

resting his hands in the hands of Durvāsas and Nārada,

he descended the stairs, purifying the world with his glance. // 5

Smiling as he beheld the chariots and the splendidly adorned temple,

and the pavilion extending to the ends of the quarters, beautified with jeweled pillars,

which even struck wonder into Indra, filled with all kinds of provisions,

he descended from the vimāna, [accompanied] by gods, brahmin seers, and kings,

praised on all sides by those whose folded hands touched their diadems.

Whichever quarter the Grandfather favored with his sidelong glance,

tens of millions of folded hands were raised to heads in dense crowds there.

Seeing Indradyumna bowed at his lotus feet, the Lord of creatures

spoke with gentle words, his lips parted in a smile,

pointing with his finger to the gods, the ancestors, the brahmin seers, and the ascetics,

as well as the Siddhas, Vidyādharas, Yakṣas, Gandharvas, and apsarases,

all gathered together at once, filled with joy: // 11

'Behold, O Indradyumna, your good fortune, which captivates all the worlds!

For your sake, all of them have assembled together at once, placing me at their head.' // 12

Having said this, he then went quickly to the chariot of Nārāyaṇa.

Bowing low to Jagannātha and circumambulating [him] three times, the Grandfather,

plunged into an ocean of bliss, his body bristling with horripilation,

then praised his own Self directly before him, his voice choked [with emotion]: // 14

Brahmā said:

'Obeisance to you! Obeisance to me! Obeisance again and again to you and to me!

I am you, you are I; [you are] this entire moving and unmoving world. // 15

The entire world, beginning with the intellect (mahat), is the play of your māyā.

Superimposed upon you, O Soul of the universe, it is transformed by you alone. // 16

This whole appearance arises from lack of knowledge of your true nature;

when you are known, it dissolves away, just like the awareness of a snake in a rope. // 17

Because of the discrimination between real and unreal, this [world] is indeed ineffable.

O Non-dual one, Light of the universe, Self-luminous one, obeisance to you! // 18

Living beings subsist only on a fraction of you, whose nature is innate bliss, / from which comes all sensory pleasure, and by which creatures live. // 19

O you who are devoid of phenomenal expansion, formless, changeless, without support!

O you whose greatness is both gross and subtle and atomic, yet who are free from grossness and subtlety! // 20

O you who transcend the guṇas, the foundation of the guṇas, whose self is the three guṇas, obeisance to you! // 21

Deluded by your māyā, intent solely upon the act of creation,

even today I find no peace. O Inner Controller, obeisance to you! // 22

Born from your navel lotus, constantly offering praise right there,

I am not able to overcome your māyā; what other lord could? // 23

Just as I was fashioned inside this egg for the work of creation,

likewise there are tens of millions of Brahmās enumerated in order across the cosmic eggs. // 24

Even among those Viriñcis numbering thirty-five million, O Lord,

not even one knows you in reality as I do, standing before you. // 25

Obeisance to you whose greatness is inconceivable! Obeisance, obeisance to the embodiment of Consciousness!

Obeisance to the God beyond the gods! Obeisance to you, the God of gods! // 26

Obeisance to you whose form is divine and non-divine, whose form is heavenly!

Obeisance to you who are free from old age and death, yet whose form is death itself! // 27

To the one whose form is blazing fire, and who is death even unto Death;

To the destroyer of death for those who surrender, whose nature is innate bliss;

To the lover of devotion, the mother and father of the worlds, salutations, salutations! [28]

To the destroyer of the distress of those bowed down, O ever-striving one, salutations unto you!

Salutations, salutations to you, an innate ocean of compassion for the wretched! [29]

To the supreme one, whose form is the beyond, who are the furthest shore, salutations to you!

To the one who has become the shore of the shoreless, whose form is Brahman, salutations to you! [2.2.27.30]

To the one whose nature is the ultimate reality, salutations to you, the supreme cause;

To you who pervade succession upon succession, who are devoted to the supreme truth; [31]

To the destroyer of the distress of those bowed down, salutations to the single sun of one's own Self!

That which was formerly requested of you in lifting the burden of creation, [32]

perform that, O Lord of the World, possessing your innate and manifest form.

When you are pleased, O Lord, what remains difficult for me to attain? [33]

By you alone, through the diversity of sportive play, was I made distinct, O ocean of mercy.

Enveloped in the darkness of ignorance inside the prison of the world, [34]

wandering about, one finds no door to the cause of liberation without you. [35]

Salutations, salutations to you, the sole one praiseworthy in the world, whose lotus feet are worshipped by gods and asuras!

Salutations, salutations, O sole moon dispelling affliction! Salutations, salutations, O one dense with bliss and right knowledge! [36]

Salutations, salutations, O one far beyond conception, wish-fulfilling tree granting desires hard to obtain!

O one ever firmly allied to the deliverance of the host of miseries of the wretched, the helpless, and those bowed down! [37]

Be gracious, O Lord of the World, to those drowned in the ocean of sorrow;

protect them with the playful casting of your side-glance, O maker of compassion! [38]

Having thus praised glorious Jagannātha, that grandfather [Brahmā], who embodies the meaning of the Vedas,

went to see the plow-bearer [Balarāma], the supporter of the earth who had descended. [39]

Having bowed with supreme devotion, he joyfully praised the mighty one:

“The sky is your head, O Lord of the gods; the waters are your body, O Lord; [2.2.27.40]

the earth is your feet; the fire is your face; the wind is your breath;

the moon is your mind; the sun is your two eyes; [41]

the directions of space are your arms, O Lord! Salutations to you, the mirror of knowledge,

to the plow-bearer, the root pillar of the fourteen worlds! [42]

Salutations to the tearer of the flood of sins of those who take refuge in your lotus feet,

to the one who has endless mouths, eyes, ears, feet, sight, and arms! [43]

Salutations to the sun for the dense mass of beginningless primal darkness,

O you who consist of the three Vedas, the destroyer of the threefold fault, descending threefold! [44]

Bearing the circle of the earth in the form of a hood bearing hood-jewels,

salutations to Kālāgnirudra, to Mahārudra salutations to you! [45]

Salutations to you asleep in the midst of the canopy of hoods upon the serpent-coil bed

in the swollen waters of the great ocean, when the three worlds have become one. [46]

You alone are Śeṣa, O Blessed One, adorned with a thousand hoods,

supporting all the elements under the guise of a cluster of hood-jewels. [47]

You alone are the Lord of all, the creator, the preserver, O all-pervading one,

the consumer, the supporter constantly; I and the others have you as our cause. [48]

This god Nārāyaṇa who is sung in the Upaniṣads

is not distinct from you, O Blessed One; through causation you share in difference. [49]

You are the bed and this one is the sleeper; he is the one to be covered and you are the coverer.

He who is Viṣṇu is indeed Rāma; he who is Rāma is Kṛṣṇa himself. [2.2.27.50]

There is no difference between you two; be pleased, O you who comprise the universe!”

Having thus at the end of the praise bowed to the mighty Parameśvara, [51]

he went to the chariot of Subhadrā to behold the ruler of the worlds:

“Hail, O goddess, mother of the universe! Be gracious, O supreme sovereign! [52]

You are the maker of effect and cause; salutations to you, the all-power!

O you who dwell in the heart of all, whose nature is knowledge and delusion always! [53]

Giver of the liberation that is isolation, auspicious one, I bow to you, the kindling-stick of the gods.

O goddess, you are the illusion of Viṣṇu, deluding the moving and unmoving. [54]

You are seated upon the lotus of the heart, following the state of Viṣṇu.

You alone are Lakṣmī and Gaurī, and Śacī, and Kātyāyanī. [55]

Whatever entity there is anywhere, existent or nonexistent, O soul of all,

you are the power of all that; who indeed has the power to praise you? [56]

Victory to you, O auspicious Subhadrā, bestower of auspiciousness upon all!

O you whose nature is the auspicious and inauspicious, O Bhadrakālī, salutations unto you!” [57]

You are the mother of the worlds, O goddess; he is indeed the father, Nārāyaṇa.

You are entirely of female form; the Lord of the Universe is of male form.

There is truly no distinction between the two of you, nor does anything else exist that is ultimate.

Just as we are indeed directed by you, the Maya of Viṣṇu,

we wander continuously carrying out [your] commands, O supreme goddess.

Livelihood, supreme active effort, hunger, and sleep are you alone.

You are desire, you are the fulfilled desire, the fulfiller of all desires.

You alone are the cause of liberation, O sovereign lady; you indeed are the cause of bondage here.

O giver of all knowledge, eternal one, wish-fulfilling vine for devotees,

protect me, bowed at your lotus feet, with glance-glimpses of compassion!

Having thus praised her of auspicious form, [to the one] standing near her in the chariot,

Viṣṇu's discus Sudarśana, which had assumed a fourth form,

having bowed down with supreme devotion, he uttered this hymn of praise:

“O Sudarśana of great flames, possessing brilliance equal to ten million suns,

shower of the pathway to Vaikuṇṭha for those blinded by the darkness of ignorance,

homage to you, eternal shining abode of Viṣṇu's devotees!

To that form of Viṣṇu which is of irresistible power, I bow down.”

Having bowed down and praised the gods, he turned away from the chariots,

his course of steps pointed out by Indradyumna and Nārada,

and then climbed Nīlācala, eager to behold the temple.

Then, having gone near the temple together with the gods,

he beheld a delightful hall pleasing to his own heart, O twice-born ones.

In its midst he seated the gods, the serpents, the kings,

the celestial seers, yogins, brahmins, Vaiṣṇavas, and ascetics.

Upon an excellent divine throne presented by the king,

the Lord, the all-pervading one, himself sat upon the footstool.

To perform the rites of pacification and nourishment, the king,

by order of the Grandfather, richly chose the great sage Bharadvāja.

Those gods who are prescribed in the ritual of offerings and worship during the consecration,

and likewise in the fire sacrifices, assumed meditative forms.

By command of the lotus-born [Brahmā], they occupied the four directions,

well-worshiped with fragrant perfumes, flowers, garlands, and ornaments.

Then the rite was undertaken by the wise Bharadvāja

before the eyes of the God of gods and of all the heaven-dwellers.

The king joyfully performed the worship of the inhabitants of the three worlds,

having first worshiped the Creator of the universe with all accessories and limbs.

Then all the inhabitants of the three worlds were worshiped by him,

beholding the imperishable Brahmā present directly in their midst,

and Jagannātha in bodily form, manifestly embodying Brahman;

by the grace of Indradyumna they attained liberation while alive.

Having consecrated the very charming temple, the body of the Lord,

upon which the great flag had been raised,

Bharadvāja then requested the Grandfather for the consecration of the soul.

Then Brahmā stood up, having himself recited blessings of well-being,

accompanied by the seers headed by Nārada, by learned brahmins,

by kings, kṣatriyas, Nāgas, and supreme seers.

While divine songs were being sung melodiously by Gandharvas

in musical modes appropriate for auspiciousness, and while apsarases danced,

and while bird-omen hymns were being recited by the twice-born,

when the sound of conches, kāhalā-horns, muraja-drums, and kettledrums,

and of flutes swelled forth, they all then went

onto the chariot and brought [the deity] down from the chariot onto the stairway.

Attentive, established in absorption, their minds restrained through devotion,

placing their hands on the sides, the arms, the head, and the feet,

slowly, gracefully, resting [him] repeatedly upon cushions,

they brought the healthy Nārāyaṇa into the presence of the temple,

while showers of Mandāra blossoms fell continuously from above:

“Victory, O Kṛṣṇa, Lord of the Universe! Victory, O destroyer of all sins!

Victory to you of sportive wooden body! Victory, O granter of the fruits of desires!

Victory to you who effortlessly uplift those plunged in worldly existence! Victory, O imperishable one!”

Victory, O ocean of compassion! Victory, O refuge of the destitute!

Victory, O Acyuta! Victory, O Ananta! Victory, O Īśāna! Homage be to you!”

While he was thus praised with these hymns by the self-manifest Brahmā,

Nārada, filled with joy, praised him while playing upon his vīṇā.

When a pair of jewelled umbrellas was held over his head and from behind

by the Moon and the Sun with devotion, [the deities] were censed with divine incense.

Chowrie-bearers formed ranks on both flanks,

busy waving playfully, adorned in their youth.

Thus, all together, filled with wondrous curiosity,

they led Sudarśana, Subhadrā, and Balabhadra.

In the pavilion with jewelled pillars erected at the entrance of the temple,

having seated them facing a ring of mirrors for the ritual consecration,

with perfumed jewelled jars filled with sacred water from the sacred fords,

with the two sūktas of Śrī and Puruṣa, the Grandsire

the blessed one performed the consecration for the welfare of the worlds, O best of brahmins.

Then, having waved lights before the adorned gods,

who were radiant with fragrant perfumes and garlands, the blessed creator of the worlds himself

installed them according to the mantra upon the charming jewelled throne.

Brahmā said:

“O support of the entire universe, established in all worlds,

well-established, all-pervading one, be firmly steadfast in this temple!

When you are established, O Lord, all of us are established.

By your command and by your grace, may this installation be complete!”

Having installed Jagannātha and touched his lotus heart,

he chanted the king of mantras in the anuṣṭubh metre a thousand times.

In the bright fortnight of Vaiśākha, on the eighth day, in conjunction with Puṣya,