Skandapurana 2.7.11

The King of Mithilā said:

The religious duties of Vaiśākha are easy to perform, produce a heap of merit,

bring immediate delight to Viṣṇu, and are indeed causes of the goals of human life.

Why are they not renowned in the world, eternal though they are and enjoined by the Vedas?

Religious duties of the nature of rajas, and even those of the nature of tamas, are widely renowned,

difficult to accomplish, requiring great effort, and entailing the expenditure of much wealth.

Some praise the month of Māgha; others proclaim the four months of the rainy season (Cāturmāsya).

And in this world they describe at length the religious observances on vyatīpāta and other occasions.

Explain this distinction in detail to me, who am eager to hear.

Śrutadeva said:

Listen, O king; I will explain why these are not renowned,

and how the other religious duties have gained renown on earth.

On earth, people of the nature of rajas and tamas are numerous, full of desire.

They desire worldly enjoyments and the wealth of sons, grandsons, and the like.

Rarely, somehow, somewhere, only one person among men, with utmost difficulty,

strives for heaven in this world; therefore, sacrifices and other pious rites

a man performs with intense effort, but does not pursue liberation.

People of petty hopes, engaged in manifold rituals, pursue desire-driven rites.

Therefore, indeed, duties of the nature of rajas and even tamas are renowned,

while these duties of the nature of sattva, pleasing to Hari, are not renowned.

These desireless duties bestow both this world and the next;

yet foolish people do not know them, deluded by divine illusion.

Just as, when sovereignty has been attained, every wish is fulfilled,

yet a place obtained for delusion's sake falls away through that sovereignty,

so also I shall declare to you the cause of the concealment on earth,

in regard to these sattva-natured duties prescribed for Vaiśākha among men here.

Formerly, in Kāśī, there was a universal monarch, an ornament of the lineage of Ikṣvāku,

renowned as Kīrtimān, the illustrious son of Nrga, / with senses conquered, anger conquered, devoted to brahmins, the best of kings.

Once, devoted to hunting, he arrived at the hermitage of Vasiṣṭha.

Going along the road during the harsh heat of Vaiśākha, he saw

the disciples of that great soul engaged again and again in various tasks.

In some places they set up water-sheds and shaded canopies;

clearing away the crumbling of the bank, they made a step-well clear of impurities.

To those seated comfortably beneath a tree, they fanned with fans;

in some places they gave pieces of sugarcane, in some places fragrant unguents, in some places fruit.

At midday [they made] gifts of umbrellas, and in the evening, of cooling drinks;

in some places they offered betel, and applied camphor to the eyes.

In pleasant shade and in the forest, some in well-swept courtyards,

some indeed spread out beneficial sands.

They made swings hanging from tree branches, O king.

“Who are you?” he asked; “We are the disciples of Vasiṣṭha,” they replied.

“What is this?” he asked. “These are duties enjoined for Vaiśākha,

causes of the goals of human life, which are being performed by us directly,

and by the command of Vasiṣṭha,” they told that best of kings.

“By performing this, what fruit accrues to men, and who is pleased?

Explain this in detail to me, properly, just as you have heard it.”

Thus questioned by the king, they replied to the lord of the earth:

“For us who are performing benevolent deeds on the road solely in obedience to our guru's command,

there is no leisure here; ask the guru properly.

He, the highly renowned one, truly knows these duties in essence.”

Addressed thus by the disciples of Vasiṣṭha, he quickly went

to Vasiṣṭha's holy hermitage, filled with sacred learning and yoga.

Seeing the king arriving, Vasiṣṭha, pleased in mind,

rendered hospitality according to rule to that great soul along with his retinue.

Comfortably seated, having received hospitality, pleased, he questioned that guru.

The king said:

On the way, a great marvel was seen, an auspicious act performed by your disciples.

Though questioned by me, they did not speak of what was being performed, which brings auspiciousness.

“We have no opportunity here to praise this dharma;

and the rite instructed by our guru must be performed by us.”

Told by them, “Go to the guru,” I have come into your presence.

With a mind intent on hunting, exhausted, desiring hospitality,

this holy deed, indeed performed by your disciples, was seen on the way.

Therefore there arose a desire to know, to hear these dharmas, O lord of sages.

Since you are the first, practicing the primeval dharmas,

to a disciple eager to hear those dharmas and bowed down in reverence,

to me, faithful, speak in detail, O best of sages.

Thus questioned by the king born in the Ikṣvāku lineage, the illustrious one

felt satisfaction in his mind: “I have now been properly questioned by him.

Ah, resolute is your intellect today, O king, well-disciplined,

since both regarding the discourse on Viṣṇu and in the practice of his dharma

an ultimate disposition has arisen; your meritorious deed has borne fruit!”

Addressing the king thus, filled with joy, he said to him:

“Listen, O king, I shall speak of what I have now been asked by you,

by the mere hearing of which one is freed from all sins.

Even if one lives devoted to sensual pleasures, abandoning all dharmas,

if intent upon the ritual ablution in Vaiśākha, he is dear to the enemy of Madhu.

By whomsoever the month of Vaiśākha is disregarded, even though he performs dharmas with their limbs,

through meritorious ritual ablutions, gifts, and worship, Hari is very far from him.

By whomsoever the month of Vaiśākha is spent without bathing [the deity] and without giving gifts,

he is indeed a caṇḍāla by action; no deliberation is to be made here.

And by whomsoever Hari is worshipped with the great dharmas enjoined for Vaiśākha,

by those [offerings] he attains satisfaction and grants the desired object.

The husband of Lakṣmī, the Lord of the World, the destroyer of the entire mass of sins,

is pleased by subtle dharmas, not by great efforts or wealth.

Worshipped with devotion, Viṣṇu grants what is desired.

Therefore, O king, devotion to the enemy of Madhu must always be practiced.

Hari, the Lord of the World who removes afflictions, even when worshipped with water,

speedily reaches satisfaction, just as a person afflicted by thirst [is satisfied] with water.

Even a great action may yield little, and likewise a small one may yield much.

The greatness or smallness of an action are not the cause of whether it yields little or much;

rather, the nature of the action [matters], and deep is the course of action.

These dharmas enjoined for Vaiśākha, even when performed with very little effort

and free from great expense, are pleasing to Viṣṇu and auspicious.

Therefore, O king, you too must practice those [dharmas] enjoined for Vaiśākha,

and cause all the people of your realm to perform these auspicious [rites].

And the vile man who does not perform the dharmas enjoined for Vaiśākha,

even when instructed in many ways, must be punished by you, O king.”

Having thus fully demonstrated to him its necessity through the scriptures,

he then proclaimed in full the dharmas specified for Vaiśākha.

Having heard all those dharmas and worshipped his guru with devotion,

that king went home and indeed performed all those dharmas.

Devoted to Keśava, O king, to the taintless God of gods,

the ruler of the earth saw none other than the lotus-navelled Lord of gods.

Mounting a drum upon an elephant, he had his soldiers proclaim throughout his realm:

“Any mortal older than eight years and not yet eighty,

whosoever does not bathe at dawn when the sun is in Aries,

he shall certainly be punished by me, executed, and banished from the realm.

Be it father, or son, or wife, or a friend,

if devoid of the Vaiśākha dharma, he shall be seized by me like a bandit.

Gifts must be given to foremost brahmins after bathing at dawn in auspicious water;

and perform dharmas such as providing water booths according to your capacity, O sinless ones!”

And he appointed a brahmin expounder of dharma in every village,

and he made an officer over every five villages,

attended by ten horsemen, for the purpose of punishing those who abandoned dharma.

In this way, [dharma] was set in motion everywhere by the decree of the universal emperor;

this tree of righteousness grew extensively throughout all lands.

Whatever men met death in that king's realm,

even inadvertently, O best of kings, they went to Hari's abode.

The realm of Viṣṇu is swiftly attained by men without fail:

one who has bathed even once under any pretext in the morning while the sun is in Aries,

is freed from all sins and goes to the supreme abode of Viṣṇu.

One does not reach Yama [or his] law because of a single ablution in Vaiśākha;

then the king [Yama], the son of the Sun, fell into bewilderment, O king.

Citragupta then rested from his work of writing,

and the former records arising from sin were wiped away.

As the people, steadfast in their duties, went in an instant to Viṣṇu's world,

all the hells became completely empty, devoid of sinful creatures.

The path [to Yama's world] became broken of travel through the power of Vaiśākha;

all people, pure in form, went to the abode of Hari.

And the worlds of the gods also became completely desolate.

When heaven had become empty, and the hells had become empty,

Nārada went to the King of Dharma and spoke these words:

"No wailing is heard, O king, such as was heard before in hell;

nor is any record made of the evildoers.

Citragupta remains silent, standing like a silent sage.

Tell me the reason, O king of kings, why they do not go to your abode—

men who are committed to sinful deeds, thriving in illusion and deceit?"

When these words had been spoken by the great-souled Nārada,

King Vaivasvata [Yama] replied, filled with a touch of despair:

"This king who is now reigning on the earth, O Nārada—

he is exceedingly devoted to Hṛṣīkeśa, the ancient supreme Puruṣa.

He rouses [the people] to the duties of Vaiśākha with the sounding of kettle-drums:

'Any mortal older than eight years and not yet eighty

who fails to observe Vaiśākha is undoubtedly to be punished by me!'

Out of fear of him, indeed, all people never transgress [this rule].

They go to the abode of Viṣṇu through that deed, O Nārada;

through practicing [the duties of] Vaiśākha, all people will go to Hari's mansion.

By that king, O best of sages, my pathway has now been obliterated;

the hells have been rendered empty, and the worlds of the gods as well.

The scribe has rested from writing; what was written has been erased by the people.

Such indeed is the māhātmya of the duties of the month of Vaiśākha, O sage!

People are freed from sins such as the killing of a brahmin, O twice-born one;

performing the rites of Vaiśākha, they go to the supreme abode of Viṣṇu.

I have become like a piece of wood; no one comes within my range.

Having fought, I will kill him today by all means, mighty though he is.

If one remains inactive without doing his master's work,

[yet] eats his wealth, he surely goes to hell.

If he cannot be slain by divine decree, then having gone to Brahmā

and reported everything to him, I shall afterward remain at ease."

Having said this and taken leave of the twice-born sage, he set out for the earth with his attendants.

That Death (Kāla), mounted on a buffalo, raised his terrifying staff,

exceedingly formidable, accompanied by attendants such as Death, Disease, and Old Age,

and surrounded then by messengers of Yama numbering fifty crores.

He swiftly besieged the entire city of that royal seer;

he blew a terrifying conch that struck terror into all worlds.

Hearing that, that royal seer, knowing [the attacker] to be Yama, the son of Vivasvat,

equipped all his forces and marched out of the city in wrath.

A terrifying battle that made the hair stand on end took place there between the two.

Death, Time, Disease, Yama, and the lord of messengers—

having conquered [them] in an instant, the royal seer routed them in his fury.

Then King Yama, enraged, advanced against him in person with anger,

fought with many arrows, and uttered a lion's roar;

the king, however, cut down his bow with three arrows.

Then, taking up a sword and shield, Yama came forward to slay him.

Seeing him, the enraged king cut down his sword and shield once more,

and struck into [Yama's] forehead an arrow shining like a deadly serpent.

Struck by it, the enraged Yama then took up his staff,

and, consecrating the staff with the Brahmāstra, hurled it at him.

Then arose a great cry of dismay among the people watching.

Then Viṣṇu dispatched his discus to protect his devotee.

Then the discus hurled by Viṣṇu came swiftly to that battle,

fought with Yama's staff, warded off that Brahmāstra,

and the wondrous thousand-spoked [discus] began to kill Yama.

Then the devotee of the gods, terrified, immediately praised the discus:

“O Thousand-spoked One, homage to you, ornament of Viṣṇu's hand!

You were borne in ancient times by Hari for the protection of all the worlds.

Today I beg you to spare Yama, the devotee of Viṣṇu of great strength.

For you alone, and no other, are Death to mortals who hate the gods.

Therefore protect this Yama; have mercy, O Lord of the Universe!”

Praised thus by the king, the discus spared Yama,

and returned to the presence of the king, O great king, as the gods watched in heaven.

Then Yama, utterly despondent, went to the abode of Brahmā.

He saw him seated, surrounded by corporeal and incorporeal beings,

the steadfast refuge, the seed of the universe, the grandfather of all the worlds,

attended upon by the gods, world-protectors, and guardians of the directions;

by deities embodied as histories, Purāṇas, and the like;

by personified oceans, rivers, and lakes;

by embodied trees, the sacred fig and all others without exception;

by stepped wells, wells, ponds, and personified mountains;