Skandapurana 3.2.37

Vyāsa said:

Then all those brahmins replied to the son of the wind:

“Now our birth has borne fruit, and our life is well-lived!

Today, for us Moḍha people, blessed is our righteousness and our households;

and blessed is the entire earth, and the manifold sacrificial duties!

Salutations to the devotee of glorious Rāma, and the destroyer of Akṣa!

Salutations to the burner of the city of demons, the wielder of the thunderbolt!

To the protector of Jānakī's heart, whose nature is compassion,

and the beloved of glorious Rāma, who was tormented by separation from Sītā!

Homage to you, O great hero! Protect us who are sinking on the earth!

Salutations to the deity of brahmins! Salutations to you, son of the wind!

Homage to the devotee of Rāma, who seeks the welfare of cows and brahmins!

Homage to the form of Rudra, the black-faced! Salutations to you!

To the son of Añjanī constantly, the remover of all afflictions,

who has a serpent as a sacred thread, the mighty one—salutations to you!

To the one who crossed the ocean on his own, the maker of the causeway!”

Vyāsa said:

Pleased by this very hymn of praise, the son of the wind spoke [these] words:

“Hear, O brahmins: whatever boon pleases your mind [shall be yours]!”

The brahmins said:

“If you are pleased, O lord of the gods, O master who obeys Rāma's command,

show today your true form, that which was assumed in Laṅkā, O Hari!

And likewise, destroy today the sinful king,

the wicked Kumārapāla and Āma without doubt!

Act in such a way that he immediately receives the fruit of destroying our livelihood.

For the sake of conviction, O mighty-armed one, why the delay? Tell us!

When his mind is directed toward you, that king may become a recipient of merit.

When proof is shown, O hero, he will respect the royal grant.”

And the religion of the three Vedas will attain expansion upon the earth.

O steadfast in righteousness, O great hero, reveal your true form to us!"

Hanumān said:

"My true form, possessing a vast body, cannot be an object of sight in the Kali age.

Let the brahmins know this: it is divine, composed of a mass of fiery energy.

Even so, pleased by your supreme devotion through praises and the like,

I will show my form veiled by a garment. Behold!"

Having been spoken to thus, the brahmins, eager for every task,

seeing that immense form, possessing a vast body, endowed with an enormous tail,

that divine true form of Hanumān, rejoiced.

Somehow summoning their courage, the brahmins spoke very slowly:

"Just as it is described in the Purāṇas, exactly so indeed is it seen."

He indeed spoke to all of them, who stood covering their eyes:

"Take these fruits for food, O lords among seers!

When these are eaten, O brahmins, there will be extreme satisfaction.

Even without Dharmāraṇya, today your hunger will surely be appeased."

Vyāsa said:

Then the eating of the fruits was done by the brahmins overcome with hunger.

Satisfaction arose for them, as if from drinking nectar.

Neither thirst nor hunger [remained]; the brahmins whose minds had been afflicted,

suddenly became possessed of wonder in their hearts, O king.

Then the son of Añjanā said: "When the Kali age has arrived, O twice-born,

I shall not go there, except to Śiva, Rāmeśvara.

Take this token given by me and go there;

this will be recognized as the truth by that king, no doubt."

Having spoken thus, lifting his arm from both sides,

and taking hairs separately, he made two packets.

Wrapping them with birch-bark, he placed them in the armpits of a brahmin:

in the left, the one from his left armpit, and in the right, the one from the right,

granting the desires of a devotee of Rāma, and bringing ruin to others.

And he said: "When the king says, 'Let a sign be given,'

then let the packet produced from the left armpit be given at once;

or rather, throw the packet at the door of that king.

It will burn his army, his palace, and likewise his treasury;

his queens, his sons—everything will be set ablaze.

When, however, the livelihood, the villages, and the tribute from merchants,

whatever previously existed, all that he gives [back], O brahmins,

and writing it down and making a firm resolve, he gives it just as before,

and when the king bows down making an anjali with folded hands,

having restored the former livelihood given by Rāma, O best of the twice-born,

then let this packet of hairs from my right armpit

be thrown down; then the army will become as before,

and likewise the houses, the treasury, and the sons and grandsons.

They will be seen instantly released from the fire."

Hearing this supreme nectar-like word uttered by Hanumān,

the brahmins obtained joy; they danced and sang exceedingly.

Some raised shouts of victory, while others laughed among one another.

With all their limbs covered in horripilation, they praised him again and again;

and some, full of eagerness, seized his tail and kissed it.

One said: "By my effort alone was the task surely accomplished!"

Another said: "O fortunate one, this was done by me!"

Then Hanumān said: "Stay here for three nights,

so that you may obtain the fruit of the sacred ford of Rāma, O brahmins."

Saying "So be it," those brahmins then performed the Vedic recitation;

by that great Vedic chant, that forest was deafened.

Having stayed three nights, those brahmins, resolved on departure,

said this at night before Hanumān with deep devotion:

The brahmins said:

"In the morning we shall go to the pure Dharmāraṇya.

We must not be forgotten, father! Forgive us, forgive us!"

Then, O king, the son of the wind, [taking] from a mountain a great rock

that was large, square-shaped, and ten yojanas in length,

spread it out and said to those brahmins: “O best of brahmins,

protected by me, O brahmins, lie down free from feverish anxiety.”

Having heard this, they then all went to sleep, which bestowed comfort.

Having thus fulfilled their purpose, they slept at nightfall.

And he, compassionate, identical in spirit to Rudra, keeper of Rāma’s command,

stood upon the surface of the earth for the protection of the brahmins.

Vyāsa said:

When midnight had arrived and all had fallen asleep,

he petitioned his father: “May you bestow a favor:

O wind, please convey these twice-born to their own place!”

Then, impelled by the son of the wind,

the father, lifting up that rock with those who were overcome by sleep, O descendant of Bharata,

the distinguished one, conveyed the best of the twice-born to their own abode.

The path that had been traversed by the twice-born in six months

he reached Dharmāraṇya in just three muhūrtas.

Perceiving the rock moving, one brahmin before the twice-born,

born in the Vātsya gotra, sang sweetly to the people.

Hearing the songs sung by the singer, they were filled with amazement.

When morning dawned very clearly, they arose together.

All of them, astonished, said: “Is this a dream, or is it an illusion?”

Rising in agitation, they saw the abode of truth.

Reflecting in their minds, [they realized] it was the power of the son of the wind;

and hearing the sound of the Vedas, the brahmins attained supreme joy.

Then the village people, seeing that great rock,

all considered it a wonder, thinking: “What is this? What is this?”

Indeed, in house after house, those people spoke of such a wonder:

“This great, auspicious rock is filled with brahmins.

Whether it is inauspicious or auspicious, we do not know!”

Then the people exchanged these words with one another.

Vyāsa said:

Then the sons and grandsons of those twice-born arrived.

They said: “By good fortune, O brahmins, have the traveling twice-born arrived!”

With satisfied minds, they joyfully went out to meet them.

With rising to greet them, saluting them, and embracing them,

kissing the crown of their heads, and honoring them appropriately,

everything was recounted at length—the quickness of their arrival.

Then, having honored them all with fragrances, betel, and saffron,

chanting the peace prayer, they went rejoicing to their own homes.

Having risen in the morning at the great sacred site of Ānandā, the travelers

saw the great place with eager longing, filled with joy.

They attained the highest wonder: “What is this excellent place?

At this southern gate, the peace prayer is being recited here.

Charming houses are seen, like the house of the husband of Śacī.

The mansions of the family Mothers are seen, splendid like fire.”

While the brahmins were speaking thus at the worship of the Great Śakti,

a brahmin arrived and saw the assembly of brahmins there.

Delighted and devoted there where the brahmins of the assembly were,

he said: “By good fortune, O brahmins, have the traveling twice-born arrived!”

Then the brahmins, having taken worship offerings and gathered, stood up to welcome him.

They exchanged rising to greet and saluting one another.

Having quickly honored them appropriately according to the prescribed rules,

the account of Harīśvara was made known before the brahmins.

Hearing the words of the travelers, the best of the twice-born were filled with joy;

chanting the peace prayer, they went rejoicing to their own homes.

Having deliberated, they met in the morning, guided by the astrologers;

and rising at the hour of Brahmā, the twice-born departed for Kānyakubja.

Some were carried in litters, others on horses, as well as on chariots;

some mounted on palanquins, riding on various conveyances.

Having reached that city on the beautiful bank of the Gaṅgā,

the heroes took up residence and performed ritual ablutions, charitable giving, and other rites. // 72

Seen by a certain spy, it was reported in the presence of the king:

“Many horses, palanquins, chariots, and many bulls // 73

of the brahmins residing in Dharmāraṇya are seen here.

Surely they have arrived, as was spoken by the king before me: // 74

‘Let me know when those previously sent to the monkey have arrived.’” // 75

Thus ends the thirty-seventh chapter, entitled “Description of the Return of the Brahmins,” in the Dharmāraṇyamāhātmya in the first part of the third Brahmakhaṇḍa in the glorious Skandapurāṇa, an eighty-one-thousand-verse collection. // 37