Skandapurana 3.3.21

Sūta said:

Having heard this nectar-like speech spoken by the brahmin sage,

the king, delighted, with folded hands spoke once more:

The king said:

“Oh, association with the virtuous purifies all sins of men;

it destroys desire and anger, and yields to man all that is desired.

The darkness of my delusion is destroyed, the eye of wisdom is illuminated;

by merely beholding you, I have become almost like the foremost of immortals.

The past conduct of these two boys has been heard correctly;

I ask also about the future conduct of my son, O sage.

Tell me, how many years is his lifespan, and what is his fortune like?

What will his learning, fame, power, faith, and devotion be like?

You ought to tell all this entirely, O sage.

I am your disciple, I am your servant, I have sought refuge with you.”

Parāśara said:

How can I utter what should not be spoken here,

hearing which even resolute men fall into despair?

Even so, since you ask with a sincere heart,

I will tell you, O king, out of affection, though it is unspeakable.

Twelve years of this son of yours have passed;

hereafter, on the seventh day, he will meet his death.

Hearing these words of his, like kālakūṭa poison spoken aloud,

the king swooned and fell suddenly to the earth in grief.

Raising him up and consoling him, that sage, his mind melting with compassion,

said, "Do not fear, O king! I shall tell you once more what is for your good.

Prior to creation, that which was light without darkness, one, partless, supreme,

consisting of consciousness and bliss—he is the primal, absolute Śiva.

He alone at the beginning created from himself Brahmā having the form of rajas;

and to him, appointed to the work of creation, he gave the Vedas.

Furthermore, the Lord gave the sole compendium of the truth of the Self;

he gave the Rudrādhyāya, the essence of all the Upaniṣads.

That which is the one imperishable, eternal Light of Brahman directly,

the supreme reality whose nature is Śiva, is established in the Rudrādhyāya.

That self-born cosmic being, creating the universe through his four faces,

emitted the four Vedas for the purpose of sustaining the worlds.

There, among the Yajur mantras, from the southern face of Brahmā,

emerged the Rudrādhyāya, the essence of all Upaniṣads.

This was retained by all the sages, led by Marīci and Atri,

along with the gods; from them their disciples received it.

By their disciples' disciples, by their sons, and by their sons descending in succession,

this essence of the Vedas, embodying Rudra, was preserved and propitiated.

This alone is the supreme mantra; this alone is the supreme austerity;

the recitation of the Rudrādhyāya is the supreme means to liberation for men.

Those who are declared perpetrators of major sins and those of minor sins,

even they attain the supreme state immediately by reciting the Rudrādhyāya.

Again, good, bad, and mixed wombs were created by Brahmā—

gods, beasts, humans, and others; thereby the world was filled.

Their actions were created corresponding to their individual births,

and creatures engage in them and experience their fruit.

For the sake of the continuous stream of cosmic creation, Prajāpati himself,

at the outset, created dharma and adharma from his chest and back.

Those who practice dharma obtain merit as its fruit;

those who practice adharma enjoy the fruit of sin.

Heaven is the fruit of meritorious action; hell is the reverse of that.

Over the two, the Creator established two rulers: the one of a hundred sacrifices (Indra) and the Ender (Yama).

Lust, anger, greed, arrogance, pride, and other such vices

were the sons of adharma, all of them leaders of hell.

Violating the teacher's bed, drinking wine, and intercourse with an outcaste woman—

these are declared to be the primary sons of lust.

From anger were born patricide and another, matricide;

and the murder of a brahmin was a single daughter: these were the offspring of anger.

Stealing the property of gods, stealing the property of brahmins,

and theft of gold: these are remembered as the sons of greed.

Summoning these outcaste leaders of sins,

Yama granted them lordship for the enlargement of hell.

Commisioned by Yama, the nine leaders of sins,

all gathered together once more, terrible leaders of sins,

and governed the hells along with their servants, the minor sins.

When the Rudrādhyāya, the direct means of liberation, arrived upon the earth,

all these leaders of sins fled in terror,

and along with the other minor sins, they addressed Yama:

"Victory, O lord, great king! We are indeed your servants;

we were endowed with authority by you for the enlargement of hell.

Now, O master, we are unable to abide in the world;

scorched by the power of the Rudrādhyāya, we have fled! / "

In every village, on riverbanks, and in sacred temples,

when the recitation of the Rudra is fully accomplished, how can we roam in the world?

Indeed, we count a thousand expiations as nothing at all;

alas, we are unable to bear even the syllables of the recitation of the Rudra!

For us, the foremost of great sins, who destroy the world,

the recitation of the Rudra is a terrifying dread; the recitation of the Rudra is a great poison.

Therefore, you ought to remove this great, unbearable,

and terrible distress of ours brought about by the recitation of the Rudra.”

Having been thus petitioned directly by the chiefs of sins,

Yama approached Brahmā and reported everything to him:

“O God of gods, O Lord of the universe, I have come to you alone for refuge.

I was appointed by you to punish sinful mortals.

Now there are no sinful mortals upon the surface of the earth;

the great multitude of sins has been slain by the Rudrādhyāya.

With the multitude of sins destroyed, the hells have become desolate.

When hell has become desolate, my sovereign rule is indeed useless.

Therefore, O Lord, a means must be devised by you yourself,

so that my dominion over embodied mortals is not overthrown.”

Having been thus petitioned by the distressed Yama, the Creator

devised a means to obstruct the recitation of the Rudra.

He directed Lack of Faith and Foolishness—the two daughters of Ignorance

who destroy faith and intelligence—among mortals.

When the world was bewildered by the two and turned away from the Rudrādhyāya,

Yama returned to his own abode, feeling as if his purpose were accomplished.

Through sins committed in previous lives, people are born short-lived.

Those sins are destroyed for men who recite the Rudra.

When all sins are exhausted, long life, strength, firmness,

health, knowledge, and sovereignty increase for all embodied beings.

Those who bathe the god Maheśvara with the Rudrādhyāya

and take a bath with that water cross over death.

Those who perform an ablution with water consecrated by the Rudrādhyāya

have no fear of death, and are glorified in the world of Śiva.

Through the Śatarudriya-bath, a man attains a lifespan of a hundred years;

freed from all sins, he becomes dear to Śiva.

Let this son of yours perform the bath of ten thousand Rudras;

he will rejoice on earth like Indra for ten thousand years.

With unobstructed strength and power, his enemies destroyed, free from disease,

his entire mass of sins washed away, he shall rule a kingdom without thorns.

Let calm, accomplished brahmins, knowers of the Vedas, steadfast in vows,

intent on knowledge, sacrifice, and austerity, devoted to the worship of Śiva,

pure-minded, properly perform the recitation of the Rudrādhyāya.

Through the power of their recitation, welfare will come immediately.”

To the great sage who had spoken thus, the king first chose him alone as the presiding master of the rite;

then in an instant he summoned thousands of other sages who had abandoned desire for wealth.

Those calm-minded brahmins, numbering a thousand,

set up a hundred jars filled with the sap of sacred trees.

Having thoroughly bathed that king's son with the Rudrādhyāya,

they bathed him according to the prescribed rules when the seventh day arrived.

While being bathed by the sages, that prince,

suddenly terrified, fell into a faint for a moment.

Quickly awakened, having been protected by the sages,

he said: “A certain man with a staff in hand arrived.

Frightful, with a terrifying staff, he was intent on striking me;

but he was beaten all around by other men of great valour,

and, bound with a great noose, he seemed to be carried far away.

Protected by you, this much I saw.”

To the king's son who had spoken thus, the best of brahmins

honoured him with blessings and reported the danger to the king.

Then the best of kings, having honoured all the excellent seers

with priestly gifts and fed them with choice food in devotion,

Having received the blessings of those sages who speak of Brahman,

he sat down in the assembly with devotion together with his kinsmen. // 67

When that heroic king had arrived together with the sages,

the great yogin Nārada, the celestial seer, arrived in person. // 68

Seeing him arrive, the guru of the sages, together with all the assembly members and chief sages,

the king bowed with devotion, seated him upon a throne, rendered homage, and spoke: // 69

The king said:

O brahmin, has anything wondrous been seen by you in the three worlds?

Tell us that; we are all eager for the nectar of your words. // 70

Nārada said:

A great wonder was seen today by me as I descended from the sky.

Listen to that, O great king, together with these eminent sages. // 71

Today Death came here to slay your son,

staff in hand, invincible, constantly tormenting the world. // 72

Īśvara, too, knowing that he had come to slay your son,

dispatched a certain Vīrabhadra along with attendants. // 73

He, having arrived, seized Death by force as he approached to slay your son,

bound him very firmly, and struck him with a staff in fury. // 74

Swiftly learning that he was being led into the presence of the Lord of the Universe, the blessed Yama himself

joined his hands, uttered, 'O God, be victorious!', bowed with his head, and addressed the trident-bearing Lord: // 75

Yama said:

O God of gods, O Mahārudra, O Vīrabhadra, homage be to you!

Why has your wrath arisen against Death, who is blameless? // 76

When Death undertook to strike the prince whose lifespan had run out

in accordance with his own past action, what was the offense? Tell me, O Lord. // 77

Vīrabhadra said:

The prince's lifespan is ten thousand years. How

can he meet with premature calamity when his evil has been destroyed by the Rudra-bath? // 78

If you have a doubt even concerning my unhindered word,

Citragupta must be summoned and asked this very day without delay. // 79

Nārada said:

Then Citragupta, summoned by Yama, swiftly arrived.

Questioned about the measure of your son's lifespan, he said: // 80

'Twelve years is his lifespan.' Having said this, he reflected,

and then declared what was recorded: a life of ten thousand years. // 81

Then, terrified, King Yama bowed to Vīrabhadra

and somehow released Death from his irresistible bonds. // 82

Released by Vīrabhadra, Yama went to his own abode,

and Vīrabhadra went to Kailāsa; and I have come to you. // 83

Therefore, this prince of yours, by the power of the recitation of the Rudra hymns,

has crossed over the fear of death and has become happy for ten thousand years. // 84

Having spoken thus and taken leave of the king, when Nārada had gone to heaven,

all the brahmins, delighted, then went to their respective hermitages. // 85

Thus the king of Kāśmīra, through the power of the Rudrādhyāya,

crossed beyond all sorrows and achieved his goal along with his son. // 86

Those mortals who proclaim this māhātmya of the Supreme Lord, or drink it in with the cups of their ears,

freed from masses of sin committed in ten million births, serene, attain the supreme state of the Moon-crested Lord. // 87

Thus ends the twenty-first chapter, entitled 'Description of the Glory of the Rudrādhyāya,' in the Brahmottarakhaṇḍa of the third [part] of the glorious Skanda Mahāpurāṇa, in the Samhitā of eighty-one thousand [verses]. // 21