Skandapurana 3.3.1

Salutation to venerable Gaṇeśa. / Salutation to the venerable Gurus. / Now begins the Brahmottarakhaṇḍa. / Oṃ, salutation to Śiva. / To the one whose nature is pure light, who has the eye of spotless knowledge, / salutation to Śiva, peaceful, the absolute, embodied as the liṅga. (1)

The seers said: / You have recounted, O Sūta, the supreme māhātmya of Viṣṇu, / which removes all sins and brings merit, and it has been heard by us in brief. (2)

Now we wish to hear the māhātmya of the enemy of Tripura, / and the supreme māhātmya of his devotees, which removes all sins, 3

and likewise the māhātmya of his mantras, O best of the twice-born. / Relate also the majesty of stories about him and devotion to him. 4

Sūta said: / This alone is the mortals' supreme and eternal welfare, / namely, that unmotivated devotion should arise towards tales of Īśvara. 5

Therefore, even a fraction of the māhātmya of devotion to him is described by me; / for even in a lifespan of a kalpa it could nowhere be told at length. 6

Among all merits, among all goods, / and among all sacrifices, the sacrifice of mantra repetition is regarded as supreme. 7

There, first of all, the fruit of the sacrifice of mantra repetition is a great blessing of welfare; / the great seers call the six-syllabled Śaiva [utterance] the divine mantra. 8

Just as the destroyer of Tripura is indeed the supreme god among the gods, / so the Śaiva six-syllabled [mantra] is the supreme mantra among mantras. 9

This five-syllabled mantra grants liberation to those who chant it; / it is constantly served by the best of sages, by all who desire accomplishments. / Even the four-faced [Brahmā] is not capable of reciting the greatness of its syllables. 10

wherein the scriptures have reached their final conclusion, supremely blissful. 11

Omniscient, complete, characterized by existence, consciousness, and bliss— / that Śiva delights in the auspicious five-syllabled Śaiva [mantra]. 12

By means of this king of mantras, the essence of all the Upaniṣads, / all the sages attained the supreme, disease-free Brahman. 13

Through the bow of greeting, the state of the individual soul merges into unity with Śiva here, the Supreme Self; / therefore, this mantra indeed consists of the supreme Brahman. 14

Desiring the welfare of embodied beings bound by the fetters of mundane existence, / Śiva himself uttered the primeval mantra: 'Oṃ namaḥ śivāya'. 15

What need has he of many mantras, what of sacred fords, what of austerities and sacrifices, / in whose heart the mantra 'Oṃ namaḥ śivāya' dwells? 16

Embodied beings wander in mundane existence, dreadful and filled with sorrow, / only so long as they do not utter this mantra even once. 17

This is the king over sovereign mantras, the crest of all the Vedāntas, / and this six-syllabled one is the repository of all knowledge. 18

This six-syllabled mantra is the lamp on the path to liberation, the submarine fire to the ocean of ignorance, / [and] the forest fire to heinous sins! 19

Therefore, this five-syllabled mantra is held to grant everything; / it may be maintained by women, śūdras, and people of mixed castes who desire liberation. 20

It requires no initiation, no oblation into fire, no preparatory rite, no water offering, / no specific time, and no formal instruction; this mantra is always pure. 21

For the destruction of heinous sins, the two syllables 'Śi-va' / are sufficient; coupled with homage, it is fit for liberation. 22

When taught by a true guru and chanted in a purifying sacred field, / it immediately grants the desired accomplishment—what wonder is there in this? 23

Therefore, having resorted to a true guru, this sovereign of mantras should be received; / it should be chanted in holy sacred fields: it grants immediate accomplishment. 24

Gurus are pure, tranquil, virtuous, of measured speech, / free from desire and anger, of righteous conduct, having their senses conquered. 25

When bestowed out of compassion by these [teachers], the mantra quickly yields success. / I shall tell concisely of the sacred fields suitable for mantra repetition. 26

Prayāga, delightful Puṣkara, Kedāra, Setubandha, / Gokarṇa, and Naimiṣāraṇya immediately bring accomplishment to men. 27

Here an ancient legend is recounted by the virtuous, / which brings blessings to those who hear it, whether repeatedly or even once. 28

In Mathurā, there was an eminent Yadu known as Dāśārha, / a king wise, of great energy, and possessing great strength. 29

He knew the scriptures, spoke with prudence, was heroic, resolute, of immeasurable splendor, / unconquerable, very deep, never retreating in battles, 30

a great chariot-warrior, a great archer, skilled in the meaning of various treatises, / generous, endowed with beauty, youthful, and marked with auspicious signs. 31

He married the daughter of the king of Kāśī, beautiful of face, / a beloved lady named Kalāvatī, endowed with beauty, good character, and virtues. 32

Having concluded the wedding, that lord of kings reached his own palace; / at night, when she had mounted the bed, he called her for union. 33

Called by her husband and entreated many times, the virtuous woman / did not fix her mind on him, nor did she approach his side. 34

When his beloved wife did not come though called for union, / the king stood up, desiring to seize her by force. 35

The queen said: / Do not touch me, O great king, [me] who know the cause and stand observing a vow; / you know righteousness and unrighteousness—do not commit rash violence against me. 36

What is enjoyed by the beloved sometimes pleases the wise; / union through the love of both husband and wife increases love. 37

When love arises in me, then your union may take place with me; / what love, what pleasure is there for men in enjoying women by force? 38

A man should not forcefully lust after a woman who is unwilling, diseased, pregnant, / observing a vow, menstruating, or without desire. 39

Having shown pleasing, fondling, nurturing, delighting, gentleness, and pity, / an affectionate husband should approach his bride, a young woman; / one who desires pleasure should act [gently] toward a young woman as toward a flower. / Though addressed in this way by that virtuous woman, the king, overcome with passion, / dragged her by the hand with force and embraced her, desiring to make love. 40–41

As soon as she was touched, she was like a heated lump of iron; / feeling as though he were burning, he let go, distraught with fear. 42

The king said: / Ah, a very great wonder has been seen in you, my dear! / How has your body, tender as a leaf-bud, become like fire? 43

The king was thus greatly astonished and afraid; the king's beloved, / smiling purely, laughed and replied to him with modesty. 44

The queen said: / O king, formerly in my childhood, Durvāsas, the foremost of sages, / out of compassion imparted to me the five-syllabled Śaiva teaching. 45

By the power of that mantra my body is freed from defilement; / it cannot be touched by sinful men abandoned by fate.

By your nature, O king, unchaste women, courtesans, and the like— / women constantly addicted to tasting liquor—are always enjoyed by you.

Ritual ablution is not performed daily, the pure mantra is not recited, / [and] Īśāna is not worshipped by you; how are you fit to touch me?

The king said: / Tell me that auspicious five-syllabled Śaiva lore, O fair-hipped one; / having sins destroyed by that lore, I desire pleasure with you, my beloved.

The queen said: / I must not initiate you, for you are my master. / Approach the guru Garga, O king, the best among knowers of mantras.

Sūta said: / Thus conversing, the husband and wife approached the presence of Garga, / and bowed down to his feet with their heads, their hands joined in reverence.

Then the king, having repeatedly worshipped the pleased guru, / with a humble mind declared the secret desire of his heart:

The king said: / Make me fulfilled, O guru, as I have approached you, your mind tender with compassion; / you ought to teach [me] the five-syllabled Śaiva lore.

Give me that mantra, O guru, by which that sin may be cleansed, / whatever has been done unknowingly or knowingly through royal acts.

Thus requested by the king, Garga, the best among brahmins, / led the two of them to the most excellent, highly sacred bank of the Kālindī.

There, seated himself at the base of a sacred tree, the guru, / to the king who had bathed in the water of the sacred ford and had fasted,

having seated him facing east and bowed to Śiva's lotus feet, / placed his hand on his head and imparted the mantra consisting of Śiva.

Merely from holding that mantra, and from the touch of that guru's hand, / hundreds of millions of crows came forth from his body.

With scorched wings, screeching, falling to the surface of the earth, / they were all then seen in thousands, reduced to ashes.

Seeing that flock of crows burning, both exceedingly amazed, / the king and the royal queen questioned that guru:

O venerable one, how did this wonder arise from the body? / A flock of crows was seen; explain truly what this is!

The venerable guru said: O king, as you wandered through thousands of births, / endless sins were accumulated in manifold ways.

Whatever merits you had across those thousands of births, / by their preponderance one is born somewhere in virtuous wombs.

Likewise, one goes to a most sinful womb somewhere on account of sin; / and when merits and demerits are equal, you obtained a human womb.

When the five-syllabled Śaiva lore entered your heart, / millions of sins went forth from you in the form of crows.

Millions of slaughters of brahmins, millions of approaches to women who must not be approached, / millions of thefts of gold, liquor-drinkings, and abortions, / and whatever other heaps of sins across thousands of millions of births—

they are reduced to ashes in an instant when the five-syllabled Śaiva [mantra] is held. / Today, O lord of kings, your millions of sins have been burned away.

With your soul purified, enjoy pleasures with her at your will. / Having spoken thus and taught the mantra, the best of sages,

accompanied by the two whose hearts were amazed, went to his own home; / and having taken leave of the excellent guru, the husband and wife were joyful.

Then, having reached their palace, the two of great splendour shone. / Firmly embracing his wife, who was cool like sandalwood, / the king attained supreme contentment, like an impoverished man who has gained wealth.

This crown of all the Vedas, Upaniṣads, Purāṇas, and treatises, destroying sin— / the supreme, great power of the five syllables alone has been related in brief by me.

Thus ends the first chapter, named 'Description of the Glory of the Five-syllabled Mantra', in the Brahmottarakhaṇḍa, the third [khaṇḍa] in the glorious Skanda Mahāpurāṇa consisting of eighty-one thousand verses.