Skandapurana 4.21

Dhruva said:

Obeisance to Hiraṇyagarbha, the creator of all creation,

to You whose seed is gold, who grant pure gold. (1)

Obeisance to the one whose form is Hara, the destroyer of creatures;

obeisance to the self of the great elements, the lord of creatures. (2)

Obeisance to You, the sustainer, Viṣṇu, all-powerful,

the remover of thirst, Kṛṣṇa, the bearer of great burdens. (3)

Obeisance to the one whose form is the forest fire to the great forest of Daityas,

the axe to the trees that are Daityas; obeisance to You holding the Śārṅga bow in hand. (4)

Obeisance to You whose hand is occupied with Kaumodakī, O bearer of the mace,

destroyer of great Danujas; obeisance to the wielder of the Nandaka sword. (5)

Obeisance to You, the lord of Śrī, and obeisance to the holder of the discus,

the supporter of the earth, possessing the form of the Boar, the Supreme Self. (6)

Obeisance to You who hold a lotus in hand, the beloved of Kamalā;

obeisance to the one having forms beginning with the Fish, obeisance to the one with the Kaustubha on his chest. (7)

Obeisance to the one to be known through the Vedānta, obeisance to the bearer of the Śrīvatsa;

obeisance to the one whose form is the qualities, who possesses qualities, and is devoid of qualities. (8)

Obeisance to You with a lotus in your navel, and holder of Pāñcajanya;

O Vāsudeva, obeisance to You, and to the son of Devakī. (9)

Obeisance to You, Pradyumna; obeisance to You, Aniruddha;

obeisance to the destroyer of Kaṃsa, obeisance to the crusher of Cāṇūra. (10)

O Dāmodara, Hṛṣīkeśa, Knower of the earth, Acyuta, Mādhava,

Upendra, enemy of Kaiṭabha, slayer of Madhu, Adhokṣaja! (11)

To Nārāyaṇa, the destroyer of Naraka, the remover of sins,

to Vāmana, obeisance to You, to Hari, to Śauri; obeisance! (12)

Obeisance to You, Ananta, and reclining on Ananta;

to You, the husband of Rukmiṇī, and the crusher of Rukmin. (13)

Obeisance to You, slayer of the king of Cedi, foe of the Dānavas, enemy of the Asuras,

Mukunda, supreme bliss, and dear one of the cowherd Nanda! (14)

Obeisance to You, lotus-eyed one, slayer of the lords of Danujas;

obeisance to the one having the form of a cowherd, player of the flute. (15)

To the beloved of the gopīs, slayer of Keśin, and uplifter of Govardhana,

to Rāma, lord of the Raghus, Rāghava, obeisance, obeisance! (16)

O foe of Rāvaṇa, obeisance to You, giver of refuge to Vibhīṣaṇa,

unborn one, whose form is victory, expert on the field of battle! (17)

To the one whose form is time beginning with moments, having multiform appearances, bearer of the Śārṅga bow,

wielder of the mace, wielder of the discus, to You, crusher of the host of Daityas! (18)

To Bala, Balabhadra, and the beloved of the enemy of Bala,

O disruptor of the sacrifice of Bali, obeisance, O granter of boons to devotees! (19)

O tearer of the chest of Hiraṇyakaśipu, lover of battle,

obeisance to the deity of the brahmins, and the benefactor of cows and brahmins! (20)

Obeisance to You whose form is dharma, and obeisance to the sattva quality;

obeisance to the thousand-headed one, the supreme Puruṣa. (21)

O thousand-eyed, thousand-footed one, and having a thousand rays,

of a thousand forms, beloved of Śrī, obeisance to You, O Cosmic Person of sacrifice! (22)

To the one whose nature is known through the Vedas, and obeisance to the lover of the Vedas,

to the Veda, the speaker of the Veda, the traveler on the path of good conduct. (23)

Obeisance to You, Vaikuṇṭha, obeisance to the dweller in Vaikuṇṭha;

to You, Viṣṭaraśravas, obeisance to the one who rides Garuḍa. (24)

O Viṣvaksena, obeisance to You, all-pervading, Janārdana,

to Trivikrama, Truth, and obeisance to the lover of truth! (25)

Obeisance to You, Keśava, master of māyā, praised by Brahmā,

whose form is austerity, obeisance to You, the giver of the fruits of austerities! (26)

To the one worthy of praise, whose form is praise, and delighting in the praise of devotees;

obeisance to You whose form is revelation, and fond of conduct taught by revelation. (27)

Obeisance to You born of an egg, obeisance be to You born of sweat;

to the one whose nature is born of a womb, obeisance to the one whose form is born of the earth. (28)

Among the gods, You are Indra; among the planets, You are the sun;

among the worlds, You are Satyaloka; among the seas, the Ocean of Milk; (29)

among rivers, You are the river of the gods; among lakes, Lake Mānasa;

You are Himavān among mountains; you are the wish-granting cow among milk cows.

You are gold among minerals, and you are crystal among stones.

You are the blue lotus among blossoms; you are tulasī among plants.

Among all stones worthy of worship, you indeed are the Śālagrāma stone.

Among sacred fields of liberation, you are Kāśī; you are Prayāga among lines of sacred fords.

You are the color white among colors; you are the brahmin among two-footed beings.

You are Garuḍa among the egg-born, O Lord; you are speech in transactions.

You are the form of the Upaniṣads among the Vedas; you are indeed the praṇava among mantras.

You are the syllable 'a' among letters; you bear the form of Soma among sacrificers.

You are fire among those with splendour; you are forbearance among the forbearing.

You are Parjanya among givers; you are the supreme among purifiers.

You are the bow among all weapons; you are the wind among the swift.

You are the mind among the faculties of sense; you are the hand among the fearless.

You indeed are the sky among all-pervading things, and you are the Supreme Self among selves.

You, O Lord, are the twilight worship among all regular duties.

You are the horse sacrifice among sacrifices; you are the gift of fearlessness among gifts.

You are the gain of a son among gains; O, you are spring among seasons!

You are the first among yugas; you indeed are the new-moon day among lunar days.

You are Puṣya in the host of asterisms, [and] the solar transit among all festival days.

You are the Vyatīpāta among planetary yogas; you are indeed the kuśa among grasses.

You are indeed the final emancipation of all striving efforts, O Lord!

Among all thoughts here, you are the righteous thought, O unborn one!

You are the sacred fig among all trees, and the soma vine among creepers.

O, you are breath control among all pure spiritual practices!

Among all liṅgas, you are the illustrious Viśveśvara, the bestower of all.

For you are the wife among friends, you are righteousness among all relatives.

Other than you there is nothing in this world of the moving and unmoving, O Nārāyaṇa!

You alone are mother, you are father, you are son, you are immense wealth;

you alone are the treasure of happiness, you are life-span, the Lord of life.

That [alone] is a true story wherein is your name; that is mind which is offered to you;

that is deed which is truly for your sake; that is austerity which is remembrance of you.

That wealth of the wealthy is pure which is spent for your sake.

That alone is fruitful time in which you are worshipped, O victorious one!

And life is auspicious only so long as you abide in the heart.

Diseases go to complete cessation by partaking of the water from your feet.

Even great sins, O Govinda, acquired across many births,

instantly go to dissolution through chanting 'Vāsudeva!'

Ah, what great delusion of men! Ah, what heedlessness of men!

That having disregarded Vāsudeva, they have exerted effort elsewhere!

This alone is auspiciousness; this alone is the acquisition of wealth;

and this is the fruit of life: chanting the name of Dāmodara.

There is no righteousness higher than Adhokṣaja; there is no goal higher than Nārāyaṇa;

there is no desire other than Keśava; there is no liberation without Hari.

This alone is the supreme loss, this indeed is a dire calamity,

and this is supreme misfortune: that one should not remember Vāsudeva.

What, alas, does worship of Hari not accomplish for men?

It bestows sons, friends, wives, wealth, kingdoms, heaven, and liberation.

It removes evil, destroys diseases, restrains anxieties,

swiftly increases righteousness, and grants every desire of the heart.

Free from dualities, supreme meditation upon the pair of the Lord's feet,

performed even inadvertently by a sinner, brings about supreme welfare for oneself.

Whatever sins sinners have, even those sharing the title of 'great'—

the utterance of Hari's name, accompanied by deeply absorbed contemplation, takes them all away.

Just as a spark of fire burns even if touched by accident,

so Hari's name, having touched the cavity of the lips, takes away evil.

Whoever, having made his mind completely calm in the beloved of Kamalā,

practices contemplation for a moment, Kamalā surely remains steadfast for him.

This alone is supreme righteousness; this alone is supreme austerity;

this alone is the supreme sacred ford: that one drinks water from Viṣṇu's feet.

He who partakes with devotion of your offering, O Person of sacrifice,

by that one of great intellect, the sacrificial cake has surely been enjoyed.

He has taken the final sacrificial bath, and he has been submerged in the water of the Gaṅgā,

that man who takes the water from Viṣṇu's feet into a conch and bathes [with it].

By whomsoever the Śālagrāma stone has been worshipped with tulasī leaves,

he is worshipped with garlands of pārijāta flowers in the abode of the gods.

Be he a brahmin, a kṣatriya, a vaiśya, a śūdra, or even another,

if he is endowed with devotion to Viṣṇu, he should be known as the highest of all.

His body marked with the conch and disc, bearing flower-spikes on his head,

his limbs smeared with gopīcandana—if he is seen, whence could there be sin?

Whoever worships daily twelve Śālagrāma stones,

accompanied by a stone from Dvāravatī, is magnified in Vaikuṇṭha.

In whose house tulasī is worshipped every day,

to that house the servants of Yama never approach.

Whose mouth bears the syllables of Hari's name, whose forehead is marked with gopī clay,

whose chest is adorned with a tulasī garland—the followers of Yama cannot touch him.

Gopī clay, tulasī, a conch, a Śālagrāma along with a disc:

in whose house these five are present, whence could there be fear of sin for him?

Whatever muhūrtas, whatever moments, whatever kāṣṭhās, and whatever twinklings of an eye

have passed without the remembrance of Viṣṇu, in those he has been robbed by Yama.

Where is the two-syllabled name of Hari, blazing like a spark,

and where is the great heap of sins, comparable to cotton?

Govinda, Supreme Bliss, Mukunda, Madhusūdana—

leaving aside [Him], I know no other, worship no other, remember no other.

I bow to none, nor do I praise any, nor do I look upon any here with my eye;

I touch none, nor do I smell, nor do I sing of anyone except Hari.

In water, on land, and in Pātāla, in wind, in fire, on a mountain,

among vidyādharas, asuras, gods, kinnaras, monkeys, and men,

in grass, among women, in stone, in trees, shrubs, and creepers,

everywhere I behold the dark-complexioned body, the chest marked with the Śrīvatsa.

You alone are the resident within the hearts of all, the manifest witness;

without You, outside and inside, I indeed know no other all-pervading one."

Having spoken thus, O Śivaśarman, Dhruva then fell silent.

The god, Lord Viṣṇu, with a gracious look, spoke to him:

The Holy Lord said:

“O child, large-eyed Dhruva, of steadfast mind, sinless one,

the desire abiding in your heart has been fully understood by me.

From food beings arise; from rain is the production of food;

the cause of that rain is the sun. O Dhruva, become the support of the sun!

Of the entire circle of lights, the planets, constellations, and the rest on every side,

wandering constantly in the sky, you shall be the support.

Having become the central pivot [holding] all of them bound by cords of wind,

remain in that place until the end of the kalpa, turning the host of celestial lights.

Formerly, having worshipped the glorious Mahādeva, this position was obtained

by me; that very [position] has now been bestowed upon you by your austerity.

Some remain for four yugas, some for a manvantara, O Dhruva;

but you indeed shall rule over this place for a kalpa.

That which was not attained even by Manu, what to say of other men, O Dhruva?

That place, difficult to attain even for Śakra and others, has been made yours.

Pleased by this hymn of praise, I grant you other boons:

your mother Sunīti also will dwell near you.

Whosoever, concentrated in mind, recites this excellent hymn of praise

at the three junctures of the day, that man's sin will go to destruction.

Lakṣmī will not abandon his dwelling, beyond doubt,

nor will there be separation from a mother, nor the arising of quarrels with kinsmen.

This holy praise of Dhruva destroys great sins;

even the killer of a brahmin is purified—what need to speak of other sinners?

It is the mother of great merit, the bestower of great wealth,

the pacifier of great portents, the destroyer of serious diseases. / Whosoever has supreme devotion to me with a pure mind,

by him this praise of Dhruva, which brings about my pleasure, should be chanted.

Whatever fruit a man obtains by bathing in all the sacred fords,

he fully attains that fruit by chanting with joy this hymn of praise.

There are many hymns of praise that bring me pleasure,

yet they are not worth a sixteenth part of this hymn by Dhruva.

Even upon hearing this hymn of praise with supreme faith and joy, a mortal

is instantly freed from sins and would obtain great merit.

One without a son obtains a son; one without wealth would obtain wealth;

and one lacking devotion obtains devotion from reciting Dhruva's hymn.

The gains a man obtains by giving numerous gifts

and performing diverse vows, he obtains just so through this hymn.

Setting aside all tasks and abandoning numerous mantras to be recited,

this hymn of Dhruva should be recited, which grants all desires."

The Blessed Lord said:

"Dhruva, pay attention; I shall tell you what is beneficial, O large-minded one,

whereby this position of yours shall become completely immovable.

I was indeed desirous of going to the auspicious city of Vārāṇasī,

where Viśveśvara himself dwells, the cause of liberation,

and where Viśveśvara himself into the ear of dying creatures

performs the recitation capable of uprooting all karma.

For this suffering of saṃsāra, which brings about every affliction,

there is only one remedy: the ground of joy that is Kāśī.