Skandapurana 2.3.1

Obeisance to Śrī Badarīnātha.

Śaunaka said:

O Sūta, O Sūta, highly fortunate one, foremost among knowers of all duties,

knower of the true meaning of all scriptures, firmly established in the Purāṇas, (1)

Vyāsa, son of Satyavatī, is the imperishable Lord Viṣṇu;

since you are his beloved pupil, there is no one who knows more than you. (2)

Now that the terrible Kali age has arrived, stripped of all righteousness,

men are indeed committed to wicked deeds, devoid of all virtue, (3)

short-lived, with diminished breath, strength, vitality, austerity, and ritual action,

all intent on unrighteousness, bereft of the Vedas and the scriptures, (4)

and devoid of pilgrimage to sacred fords, austerities, giving of gifts, and devotion to Hari.

How can there be deliverance for these lowly ones with little effort? (5)

What is the supreme sacred ford among sacred fords, and likewise the supreme among sacred fields?

Whence is spiritual success for seekers of liberation? Where is the assembly of seers? (6)

Where do austerities and mantras bestow accomplishment with little effort?

Where does the glorious one reside, the supreme ruler over the rulers of the worlds,

the abode of compassion who shows favor to his devoted and loving devotees? (7)

Tell me all this and whatever else has the sole purpose of benefiting others,

for the welfare of the worlds, O you who are skilled in bestowing grace! (8)

Sūta said:

Well said, well said, O highly fortunate one! You are intent on the welfare of others,

having the impurities of your mind washed away by clinging devotion to Hari. (9)

Now the son of Devakī ascends the lotus of my heart

by virtue of your discourse, O brahmin seer! Association with the virtuous is difficult to obtain. (10)

It removes the accumulation of evil deeds; it extends the highest state abundantly to those who identify with their bodies;

in this world, association with the virtuous is hard to attain for uncontrolled souls, except through immense religious merit. (11)

It cuts the bond of the heart for those afflicted by the snare of karma; it bestows the highest station upon those engaged solely in simple prayers;

it is the cause of rest for mortals weary from the toil of birth and death; contact with the good is hard to attain in the three worlds. (12)

Sūta said:

In ancient times, O virtuous one, this very question was asked in every respect by Skanda

upon the delightful summit of Kailāsa, while the seers listened,

in the presence of the husband of the Mountain's Daughter, in order to bring about the ultimate bliss of the virtuous. (13)

Skanda said:

O Lord, creator, destroyer, father, and spiritual teacher of all the worlds,

resolved on austerity for the welfare of all living beings, (14)

now that the Kali age has arrived, devoid of the Vedas and scriptures,

where does the glorious Lord, the master of the Sātvatas, reside? (15)

Which sacred fields, sacred fords, and rivers are holy?

By what means is the Lord Madhusūdana attained directly?

Tell me, O Lord, O father, out of compassion for one who has faith! (16)

Śrī Mahādeva said:

There are many sacred fords and sacred fields, O Six-faced One,

that are entirely devoted to being dwelling places of Hari for seekers of the supreme goal. (17)

Some grant desired objects, while some grant liberation;

indeed, they bestow benefits in this world and the next, granting great merit.

The Gaṅgā, Godāvarī, Revā, Taptī, and Yamunā rivers,

the holy Kṣiprā, Sarasvatī, Gautamī, and Kauśikī,

the Kāverī, Tāmraparṇī, Candrabhāgā, and Mahendrajā,

the Citrotpalā, Vetravatī, and the holy river Sarayū,

the Carmaṇvatī, Śatadru, and the Payasvinī born from Atri,

the Gaṇḍakī, Bāhudā, the Sindhu, and the Sarasvatī—all are holy.

When resorted to repeatedly, they bestow both worldly enjoyment and liberation.

Ayodhyā, Dvārakā, Kāśī, Mathurā, and Avantikā,

Kurukṣetra, Rāmatīrtha, Kāñcī, and Puruṣottama,

Puṣkara, Dardura, the Vārāha sacred field created by Brahmā,

and the highly auspicious sacred field named Badarī, which accomplishes all goals.

Having duly seen the city of Ayodhyā, the sole means of liberation,

freed from all sins, people go to the abode of Hari.

Having performed worship, dance, and praise preceded by various kinds of service to Viṣṇu,

having abandoned home through constant contemplation of Hari, they overcome the power of death acquired from domestic life.

A purified man, having bathed at Svargadvāra and seen the temple of Rāma—

I see no further duty for him, because he has accomplished his purpose.

In Dvārikā, Hari visibly never leaves his own abode;

even today, his residence is seen by certain meritorious souls.

Having bathed in the Gomatī and beheld the lotus-face of Kṛṣṇa,

liberation is attained, O six-faced one, without need for Sāṃkhya philosophy.

Within the five-krośa circuit between the Asī and Varuṇā rivers, the fruit is immense;

even the immortals desire death there, so what to say of other people?

At Maṇikarṇikā, Jñānavāpī, and the Viṣṇupādodaka,

and having bathed in the pool at Pañcanada, one does not drink a mother's milk again.

Even by chance, having seen Viśveśa in Kāśī, O six-faced one,

liberation is attained by men, freed from birth and death.

What is the use of saying much here? Nowhere is there a sacred field equal to this.

Devoted to austerity and fasting in Mathurā, O six-faced one,

upon reaching the birthplace, one is released from all sins.

Having duly bathed at Viśrāntitīrtha and offered water with sesame seeds,

one rescues the ancestors from hell and goes to the world of Viṣṇu.

If a man should commit a sin there out of negligence,

upon bathing at Viśrānti, it turns to ashes in that very moment.

Men who bathe duly in the Śiprā at Avantī during the month of Mādhava

do not see the state of a piśāca, even after hundreds of rebirths.

Having bathed at Koṭitīrtha and fed excellent twice-born men,

and having seen Mahākāla, Hara, a man is freed from all sins.

This sacred field of liberation visibly constitutes the sole means to reach my world;

through gifting [here], poverty is destroyed in this world and in the next.

Having given gold at Rāmatīrtha in Kurukṣetra according to one's means,

duly during a solar eclipse, that man becomes a sharer in liberation.

Those men who accept gifts there, overcome by greed,

do not attain human birth even after hundreds of millions of kalpas.

Having seen Hari in Harikṣetra and bathed in the foot-water,

a person freed from all sins rejoices with Hari.

Flocks of various birds dwell here, oh, and hosts of seers eating fruits, roots, and leaves,

as well as sages here who have mastered the power of their senses by the method of breath-control.

In Viṣṇukāñcī resides Hari directly, and in Śivakāñcī Śiva himself;

because of the non-difference of both, liberation rests in the palm of one's hand through devotion.

By imagining difference between them, a wretched state befalls men.

Having seen Jagannātha once and immersed oneself in the Mārkaṇḍeya pool,

even without knowledge or yoga, one does not drink a mother's milk again.

Having bathed in the Rohiṇī pool, in the ocean, and likewise in the Indradyumna pool,

and having eaten food offered to Viṣṇu, one attains residence in Vaikuṇṭha.

The sacred field extends ten yojanas, situated on the conch;

even insects attain four-armed form [there], without doubt.

Having bathed at Puṣkara on the full moon of Kārttika and performed an ancestral rite with priestly gifts,

and having fed brahmins with devotion, he is glorified in the world of Brahmā. (46)

Having bathed once in that pool, gazing upon the sacrificial post with mind composed, (47ab)

freed from all sins, he becomes the best of the twice-born. (47cd)

Whatever fruit is attained by the practice of yoga for sixty thousand years— (48ab)

having bathed according to rule at Sūkara and, purified, having worshipped Hari, (48cd)

the sin committed over seven lifetimes is destroyed that very instant. (49ab)

It is the king of sacred fords, highly meritorious, frequented by all sacred fords. (49cd)

The desire of all living beings who have desires is fulfilled through [their] deeds. (50ab)

Having bathed at the Veṇī, become purified, and had darśana of Mādhava, (50cd)

having enjoyed the pleasures of the meritorious, he ultimately attains the state of Mādhava. (50ef)

When a man bathes at the Triveṇī in the month of Māgha, filled with devotion, (51ab)

that human being obtains the merit that comes from praising Badarī. (51cd)

The sacred ford Daśāśvamedhika bestows the fruit of ten horse-sacrifices. (52ab)

This has been told in brief, son. What more do you wish to hear? (52cd)

Skanda said:

The sacred field of Hari called Badarī is difficult to attain in the three worlds. (53ab)

Merely by remembering that sacred field, men guilty of great sins, (53cd)

immediately freed from blemish, become partake of liberation upon death. (53ef)

Whatever extremely severe austerity has been performed by someone at another sacred ford, (54ab)

a pilgrimage to Badarī becomes equal to it, even if done only in the mind. (54cd)

There are many sacred fords in heaven, on earth, and in the netherworld; (55ab)

a sacred ford equal to Badarī has never been nor will ever be. (55cd)

Whatever fruit is attained by thousands of horse-sacrifices and by subsisting on air, (56ab)

that fruit is attained in just a moment at Viśālā among all sacred fields. (56cd)

In the Kṛta age it is said to bestow liberation; in the Tretā age it bestows success in yoga; (57ab)

in the Dvāpara age it is called Viśālā, and in the Kali age, Badarikāśrama. (57cd)

The gross and subtle bodies are indeed the dwelling-place of the individual soul; (58ab)

it destroys that through knowledge; therefore it is called Viśālā. (58cd)

Because nectar flows from the connection with the jujube tree, (59ab)

and where there is an assembly of seers, it is called Badarī by the wise. (59cd)

One may abandon all sacred fords from time to time, age to age; (60ab)

the blessed Lord Viṣṇu never abandons Badarī. (60cd)

Whatever fruit is obtained by plunging into all sacred fords, and through the absorption of austerity and yoga, (61ab)

that fruit is fully obtained, O Guha, merely from the darśana of Badarī. (61cd)

Whatever fruit is attained by the practice of yoga for sixty thousand years, (62ab)

or in a single day at Vārāṇasī, that fruit is attained upon going to Badarī. (62cd)

Where there is the dwelling of sacred fords, and likewise the dwelling of gods, (63ab)

and where there is the dwelling of seers, therefore it is called Viśālā. (63cd)

Thus ends the first chapter, named "Description of the Superiority of Badarikāśrama over All Sacred Fords" in the dialogue between Śiva and Kārttikeya in the Badarikāśramamāhātmya, in the second section, the Vaiṣṇavakhaṇḍa, in the Skandamahāpurāṇa consisting of eighty-one thousand verses. (1)