Skandapurana 2.9: vāsudevamāhātmyam

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Table of Contents

The Devanagari Unicode transcription of the Vāsudevamāhātmya in the Vaiṣṇavakhaṇḍa of the glorious Skandapurāṇa was made with the assistance of the Indsenz Sanskrit OCR integrated with an advanced dictionary file on the lunar date of the dark seventh of Bhādrapada, Vikrama Saṃvat 2072.

Reverence, repeated reverence to Lord Kṛṣṇa.

Now begins the glorious Vāsudevamāhātmya.

Śaunaka said:

O Sauti, for the welfare of living beings, manifold spiritual means

such as dharma, knowledge, detachment, and yoga have been spoken by you to us. (1)

And their meanings have been made clear by diverse traditional narratives;

all of them have indeed been respectfully heard by us, O [sage] of great intellect! (2)

Yet they are exceedingly difficult to practice for all humans,

and on account of the multitude of obstacles, success in them is rare indeed. (3)

Even when practiced with immense effort by men possessing fortitude,

they are accomplished only after a very long time. (4)

Therefore, for the twice-born and for all the stages of life,

and also here for women, śūdras, and others, please tell us an easy means, (5)

by which, even when performed slightly by any embodied soul whatsoever,

a great fruit, unobstructed by obstacles, may come to pass. (6)

Having carefully deliberated upon such a means of liberation, O broad-minded one,

you ought to declare it graciously for the benefit of all living beings. (7)

By the grace of Baladeva, Vyāsa, and Janaka,

you know everything; so tell that to us who wish to know.

Sauti said:

O Śaunaka, the great seer Sāvarṇi, indeed in this very manner,

having become humble, questioned Skanda again, the son of Śaṅkara. (9)

Sāvarṇi said:

Various religious duties have been heard, and Sāṅkhya knowledge in many forms,

as well as means such as yoga, which were spoken of by you, O Guha.

I consider them very difficult to accomplish indeed for people like us;

even for other great beings, they are surely attainable only with difficulty after a long time.

Therefore, you ought now to tell me that highest means,

which brings welfare and is easy to perform for those belonging to the classes and stages of life.

Sauti said:

Having been questioned in this way by that lord of sages, who was desirous of knowledge, Guha,

that Kārttikeya, meditating on Vāsudeva in his heart, spoke:

Skanda said: Listen, O brahmin, I shall declare what was heard by me from the mouth of my father,

an easily performed means of liberation for all living beings.

Equal to pleasing the deity, for those desiring the achievement of their desired end,

there is no other means whatsoever for those belonging to the classes and stages of life here.

Even a small virtuous deed performed in connection with God

bestows a very great fruit without impediment to men.

Work pertaining to the gods, to the ancestors, one's own duty, and whatever work is done with desire—

through connection with the deity, it instantly grants the attainment of desired ends.

What was previously spoken of as difficult—Sāṅkhya, yoga, dispassion, and the like—

even that becomes easy and quickly yields perfection by this very means.

Because whatever is desired is accomplished through the worship of God alone,

therefore, according to their ability, he should be worshipped with love by all human beings.

Sāvarṇi said:

Many kinds of gods were described by you previously, O Six-faced One,

and diverse methods of worshipping them were described.

All their fruits were spoken of by you individually;

prominent among them is attainment of heaven and the like, yet they are seized by time.

From the worship of Brahmā, O Guha, for yogins following the path of cessation,

the fruit is the attainment of worlds such as Jana, yet it perishes at the end of two parārdhas.

Having accomplished difficult deeds here through great hardship,

if the gain of the fruit is perishable, then what is the use of acquiring it?

The worship of those denizens of heaven whose body,

status, power, and the like are destroyed by time does not please me here.

Tell me, O Guha, of that God who is himself fearless, the remover of fear for others, eternal,

whose abode is imperishable, the giver of imperishable fruit, affectionate toward his devotees,

by whose grace all desires whatsoever of all beings

would be accomplished straightforwardly here.

And tell me in full detail that method of worshipping him which is easy

and approved by the wise; truly, I wish to know this.

Sauti said:

Being thus questioned by that great seer, the Lord Guha,

well-pleased and noble-minded, honouring him, said this:

Thus ends the first chapter, named "The Question of Sāvarṇi," in the Vāsudevamāhātmya of the second section, the Vaiṣṇavakhaṇḍa, in the glorious Skanda Mahāpurāṇa consisting of eighty-one thousand verses.

Skanda said:

You, who understand inquiries, ask a great question here, O sinless one.

The answer to this cannot be stated in hundreds of years by one's own reasoning

without the grace of God, O brahmin, even by the best of the wise.

However, by the grace of Vāsudeva, what is known by me I shall declare to you.

Nothing is unmentionable to you, devoted to duty, O noble-minded one.

In this very manner, when the Bhārata war had ceased,

King Ajātaśatru questioned Bhīṣma, the best of knowers of dharma,

who was lying upon the bed of arrows, who had attained Acyuta through meditation,

who had attained undisturbed oneness of soul, and had crossed to the far shore of the Vedas and Āgamas.

Yudhiṣṭhira said:

O father, among the four classes and among the four stages of life,

whoever should desire the attainment of the fourfold aim of life, which deity should he worship?

And what success would arise without obstacles in a short time?

And how may one of little virtue attain an exalted state?

Sever this doubt of mine, for you are omniscient, O grandfather.

Skanda said:

When questioned thus by that righteous soul, O sage, the son of Śaṃtanu,

glanced at the lotus-face of Śrī Kṛṣṇa and smiled slightly.

Impelled by his gaze, he spoke to him of what was proclaimed by Nara and Nārāyaṇa,

the māhātmya of Śrī Vāsudeva which he had heard from his father.

Then, having heard it, Nārada also went back to Kurukṣetra;

and having arrived at Kailāsa, he told it to my father, and he in turn to me.

I shall relate that to you who question me without deceit,

which was determined in the great assembly, free of doubt, O best of sages.

Vāsudeva is the supreme Brahman; Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Puruṣa.

He is the God to be worshipped by the desireless and by those with desires, and even by liberated men.

By the twice-born, by the āśramas, and in every way by women, Śūdras, and others,

he alone is to be pleased through their respective duties with devotion.

Therefore, all action—pertaining to the gods and pertaining to the ancestors—at all times,

and whatever is prescribed in the Veda, must be performed properly only for his pleasure.

Whatever auspicious action is performed here by men for the sake of attaining happiness,

even if well performed, if devoid of connection to Kṛṣṇa,

then it is to be known as perishable, yielding little fruit, and of the nature of the guṇas.

From the conjunction of an inauspicious place and the like, it produces defect in the fruit;

and beset with many obstacles, it does not at all grant men the attainment of their desires.

If this very action is performed for the satisfaction of Śrī Kṛṣṇa,

then, through connection with him, all of it becomes indeed beyond the guṇas.

It yields imperishable fruit, even greater than what was desired by oneself;

and no defect arises in it from association with an improper place or the like.

Moreover, O brahmin seer, by the majesty of the Discus-bearer, no obstacle

can ever prevail against it; it grants the attainment of desired ends.

Even if one’s own meritorious deed is small, nonetheless, O brahmin,

through direct connection with the Supreme Self, it becomes truly exceedingly great.

Just as even a mere spark, through conjunction with a heap of forest wood,

becomes an irresistible conflagration, so does this through connection with Hari.

Therefore, by men abiding in the path of active engagement or of cessation,

desiring the full accomplishment thereof, Vāsudeva must be worshipped.

In this regard also they cite this ancient history:

the conversation between Nārada and the seer Nārāyaṇa.

The Blessed One, Vāsudeva, who dwells eternally in the city of Brahman,

manifested from Dharma through the daughter of Dakṣa for the welfare of the world.

In the Kṛta Yuga of old, during the Svāyambhuva period, O best of the twice-born,

he appeared in two forms: Nara and Nārāyaṇa.

From the hermitage of Dharma, in order to perform austerity solely for the welfare of men on earth,

those two, Nara and Nārāyaṇa, went to the hermitage of Badarī.

There, the two primordial lords of the world, emaciated and covered in veins,

performed austerity with their own splendor, difficult to behold even by the gods.

Only he upon whom they bestow grace is truly able to see them;

they cannot be seen otherwise, even by the dwellers of that realm.

Once the yogin Nārada, being wished to be seen by the two of them,

was also impelled within his heart by the Inner Self.

From the peak of the great mountain Meru, swiftly by way of the sky,

he came, O brahmin, to that place called the hermitage of Badarī.

Having arrived there quickly at the time of their daily rites,

he saw from afar the two absorbed in the rituals of the foremost hermitage.

Having observed that conduct of the two lords, curiosity arose in him:

“Ah, these two are worshipped by the universe, the lords of all embodied beings;

they are indeed the supreme Brahman. What is their daily ritual?

They are the parents of all beings, and the divinity of the deities.

To what deity or ancestors do these two of great intellect offer sacrifice?”

Pondering thus in his mind, that devotee of Nārāyaṇa

approached them, bowed, and stood with folded hands.

When the rites to the gods and ancestors were finished, he was then noticed by the two,

and worshipped in accordance with the rule observed in the scriptures, O sinless one.

Seeing that great wonder, an unprecedented elaboration of the ritual rule,

Nārada sat down beside them, highly pleased and filled with amazement.

Looking upon Nārāyaṇa with a concentrated inner self,

and bowing to that god, he spoke these words: // 36

Thus ends the second chapter, named 'The Meeting of Nārāyaṇa and Nārada', in the exposition of the means to ultimate welfare, in the Vāsudeva-māhātmya, in the second [section], the Vaiṣṇavakhaṇḍa, in the glorious Skandapurāṇa, the Mahāpurāṇa consisting of eighty-one thousand verses. // 2

Nārada said:

You are sung of in the Vedas along with the Purāṇas, with their limbs and secondary limbs.

You alone are the eternal creator, the controller, the immortal one, O Acyuta.

You are the ordainer, and continually this entire universe is in you. // 1

Indeed, all the four stages of life, O God, and all the social classes

worship you day after day through their rites, abiding in your various forms. // 2

For you are the father and mother of all, the eternal deity.

Yet what god or what ancestor you worship, we do not know. // 3

The glorious Nārāyaṇa said:

This secret must not be spoken, being the secret of the self; nevertheless,

to you who are devoted to me, O brahmin, I shall tell it truly. // 4

He who is described by the scriptures as 'truth, knowledge, infinite, and brahman',

and who is beyond the three qualities, the person with a divine form, // 5

who is spoken of as the supreme person and the Lord Vāsudeva,

as the seer Nārāyaṇa, as Viṣṇu, and as the Lord Kṛṣṇa— // 6

know, O good sir, that he alone is our singular god and both our parents.

Indeed, he is worshipped by both of us in rites arranged for gods and ancestors. // 7

There is no father or god higher than him, O twice-born; / for he is to be known as our very self: Kṛṣṇa, the Lord of Brahmapura. // 8

By him, O brahmin, was established this standard that nurtures the world,

wishing the good of the world: that rites to gods and ancestors must be performed. // 9

Vedic action is twofold: active and renounced;