Skandapurana 4.32

Agastya said:

O peacock-rider, explain the origin of Harikeśa.

Who was he? Whose son was this illustrious one? Of what sort was his great austerity?

And how did he attain dearness to the god of gods?

Or how did he become a benefactor of the dwellers in Kāśī, and the Chief of the Rod?

I wish to hear this; grant me your grace, O Lord!

And how did this wise one attain the state of the giver of food?

How are both Saṃbhrama and Vibhrama his followers,

always causing delusion to men who are enemies of the sacred field?

Skanda said:

Properly have you asked, O jar-born one, O brahmin seer,

the story of Daṇḍapāṇi, which brings welfare to the residents of Kāśī,

hearing which, O wise one, a man attains without obstacle

that fruit of dwelling in Kāśī, through the grace of the Sustainer of the Universe.

On Mount Gandhamādana, there was of old a highly righteous yakṣa

renowned as Ratnabhadra, possessed of the splendour of a hundred thousand virtuous deeds.

Having obtained a son, Pūrṇabhadra, he was one whose wishes were fulfilled.

Having reached the final stage of life and enjoyed numerous worldly pleasures,

casting off the earthly body through Śāmbhava yoga,

having calmed all objects of the senses, he attained the tranquil [abode of] Śiva.

When his father had passed away, then the highly renowned Pūrṇabhadra,

enjoying the worldly experiences and wealth acquired through good deeds,

obtained all desires, except the sole means to heaven,

the great, wholesome, ancestral ornament of the householder's stage of life—

offspring, a spray of nectar for the limbs tormented by the heat of saṃsāra,

a boat for those falling into the great ocean of many afflictions.

Then Pūrṇabhadra, seeing his palace, beautiful in every way,

destitute of auspiciousness because it lacked the tender prattle of a child,

empty like the heart of a poor man, or like a decayed forest,

like a wilderness to a traveller, was extremely distressed at being childless.

Then, having summoned his wife, Kanakakuṇḍalā,

that yakṣa Pūrṇabhadra spoke to that excellent yakṣiṇī, O jar-born one:

"A palace does not give pleasure, O beloved, though beautiful like the surface of a mirror,

charming with latticed windows of pearl, having a courtyard of moonstone,

whose attics are adorned with the lustre of rubies and sapphires, echoing [with sounds],

abounding in the beauty of coral pillars, possessing gleaming crystal walls,

with a multitude of fluttering banners, garlanded with gems and rubies,

delightful with the abundant fragrance of the great incense of black agallochum,

furnished with priceless seats, adorned with lovely couches,

endowed with charming bolted door-leaves, its pavilions covered with fine silk,

rich in delightful pleasure-chambers, resplendent with rows of horses,

crowded with hundreds of male and female servants, ringing with the sound of tinkling bells,

filled with the calls of peacocks eager for the sound of anklets,

with flocks of cooing pigeons, and excellent conversations of venerable maina birds,

with sporting pairs of swans, possessing the splendour of jīvañjīvaka birds—

resounding with the sweet humming of bees attracted by garlands,

fanned by breezes kindred to the fragrance of camphor and musk,

where pomegranates of ruby were seized by the fangs of pet monkeys,

and pearls were snatched by the beaks of parrots mistaking them for pomegranate seeds,

abounding in wealth and grain, like a second abode of Padmā,

and filled with the fragrance of lotuses. Yet, O dear one, without an embodiment of our lineage,

how can I look upon an infant's face, O Kanakakuṇḍalā?

If there is any means, speak of it; fie upon the life of a sonless man!

Bereft of an offspring, this house appears entirely empty.

Fie upon the beauty of this mansion; fie upon this accumulation of wealth;

and fie upon our life without an offspring, O dearest!

To her beloved who was thus lamenting aloud, Kanakakuṇḍalā,

that faithful yakṣiṇī wife, sighing inwardly, spoke:

Kanakakuṇḍalā said:

Why are you dejected, beloved, when you are a man of wisdom?

There is indeed a means to obtain offspring here; listen with confidence.

What is difficult to attain in the moving and unmoving world for men endowed with effort?

For those whose intellect is dedicated to Īśvara, their desires manifest right before them.

Cowards repeatedly proclaim fate to be the cause, O husband;

that fate is nothing other than deeds performed by oneself in the past.

Therefore, taking resort to human effort for the pacification of that past karma,

one should take refuge in Īśvara, the cause of all causes.

Offspring, wealth, wives, necklaces, mansions, horses, and elephants,

pleasures, heaven, and liberation are not far off through devotion to Śiva.

For one who practices devotion to Śambhu, O dear one, all desires

and the eight supernatural powers attend at the door of his house; of this there is no doubt.

Even the blessed lord Nārāyaṇa, the inner Self and protector of the universe,

became the preserver of moving and unmoving beings through the worship of Śrīkaṇṭha.

The role of creator was granted to Brahmā by that very Śambhu;

Indra and the other world-guardians attained their stations through Śambhu's grace.

Even the childless Śilāda obtained a death-conquering son;

even Śvetaketu regained his life from the noose of Death.

Upamanyu attained the sovereignty over the Ocean of Milk;

even Andhaka became Bhṛṅgin, exalted to the rank of leader of the gaṇas.

Dadhīca defeated the wielder of the Śārṅga bow in battle through the worship of Śambhu;

Dakṣa attained the status of lord of creatures by propitiating Śaṃkara.

Whatever is beyond the reach of desires and unapproachable by speech,

Mṛḍa can bring that state within the realm of perception in an instant.

Without worshipping the great Lord, the giver of everything to all embodied beings,

no one anywhere can obtain anything in this world; this is certain.

Therefore, with every effort, go for refuge to Śaṃkara,

if you desire a dear son who is a benefactor to all people.

Hearing this speech of his wife, Pūrṇabhadra, the king of yakṣas,

skilled in music, worshipped glorious Mahādeva with the art of singing.

In only a few days, his wish fully granted,

firm in his vow, he obtained his longing for a son with that wife.

Having worshipped Nādeśvara, by whom indeed has one's heart's desire not been obtained?

Therefore, in Kāśī, Nādeśvara should be worshipped diligently by men.

Then, pregnant in due time, his wife gave birth to a son.

His father gave him the name Harikeśa, O twice-born one.

Then, beholding the face of his son, he gave immense gifts out of affection.

Pūrṇabhadra, O Agastya, and Kanakakuṇḍalā rejoiced.

The child, whose face was like the full moon and who resembled the god of love,

grew with every moment, like the moon, the king of stars, during the bright fortnight.

When the child Harikeśa was about eight years of age,

from that time onward he constantly thought only of Śiva.

Even while absorbed in playing in the dust, he would fashion a liṅga of sand,

and eagerly worship it with green, tender grass.

He would call all his friends by names of Śiva:

"Candraśekhara! Bhūteśa! Mṛtyuṃjaya! Mṛḍeśvara!"

"O Dhūrjaṭi, O Khaṇḍaparaśu, O Lord of Mṛḍānī, O three-eyed one,

O Bharga, O Śambhu, O Paśupati, O Pināka-bearer, O fierce one, O Śaṃkara,

O Śrīkaṇṭha, O Nīlakaṇṭha, O Lord, O enemy of Smara, O Lord of Pārvatī,

O bearer of the skull, O three-eyed one on the forehead, O spear-in-hand, O Maheśvara,

O clad in skin, O space-clad, O hair wet with the celestial river,

O Virūpākṣa, O clad in serpents!"—reciting this string of names,

he constantly summoned his peers in this manner, fondling them.

His two ears would receive no other name except Hara.

His feet moved nowhere else except to the courtyard of Bhūteśvara;

his two discerning eyes [refused] to look upon any other form.

His tongue would savor only the nectar of the syllables of Hara's name;

his nose would take delight in nothing other than the fragrance of Śiva's lotus feet.

His two hands were occupied only in rites for Him; his mind thought of nothing else.

All drinks, having been offered to Śiva, were drunk by him with pure intellect;

all foods were eaten only after being presented before the three-eyed Lord.

In all states and everywhere, he would see nothing without Śiva.

Walking, singing, sleeping, standing, lying down, eating, and even drinking,

he looked upon the three-eyed Lord all around; he recognized no other condition of being.

Even while asleep at night, repeatedly saying, "Where are you going?

O three-eyed Lord, wait a moment!", that boy would awaken.

Seeing such obvious behavior of Harikeśa, his father

then instructed his son: "Devote yourself to household duties!

These horses, my child, are yours, and these colts;

these are manifold garments and these fine silk cloths;

these are jewels purified from the mine, of many diverse kinds;

this is base metal of many varieties, and immense herds of cattle;

these are precious vessels made of silver and bronze;

these are trade goods produced in various lands;

these are manifold fly-whisks, and fragrant substances of many kinds;

these and many other things, and abundant heaps of grain:

all this collection of wealth around us is yours.

Learn all the arts of acquiring wealth, my son!

Abandon these practices of beggars who are smeared with dust!

Having learned all sciences and having enjoyed the finest pleasures,

and then having reached that final stage of life, practice devotion!"

Though repeatedly instructed in this way by his father, disregarding the elder's words,

and once observing his father's angry gaze,

the noble-minded Harikeśa left home in fear.

Then he fell into deep anxiety, and even became disoriented in all directions:

"Alas! Out of childish foolishness, why did I leave home?

Where shall I go? Where remaining, O Śambhu, will my welfare be secured?

I have been driven away by my father, and I know nothing at all."

[Then he reflected:] "Thus was clearly heard by me previously, as I sat on my father's lap,

from the speech of someone speaking before my father:

'For those abandoned by mother and father, those abandoned by their own kinsmen,

for those who have no refuge anywhere—Vārāṇasī is their refuge.

For those overcome by old age, those afflicted by disease,

for those who have no refuge anywhere—Vārāṇasī is their refuge.

For those who are beset at every step by calamities day and night,

for those who have no refuge anywhere—Vārāṇasī is their refuge.

For those overwhelmed by heaps of sins, those defeated by poverty,

for those who have no refuge anywhere—Vārāṇasī is their refuge.

For those terrified of the fear of worldly existence, those bound by the bonds of action,

for those who have no refuge anywhere—Vārāṇasī is their refuge.

For those devoid of Śruti and Smṛti, those bereft of purity and proper conduct,

for those who have no refuge anywhere—Vārāṇasī is their refuge.

And for those fallen from yoga, those devoid of austerities and gifts,

for those who have no refuge anywhere—Vārāṇasī is their refuge.

For those who face humiliation at every step among their kinsmen,

Śambhu's Ānandakānana alone gives bliss.'"

For the virtuous whose desire is to dwell in the Ānandakānana,

favoured by the Lord of All, the dawn of bliss arises. // 82

Where the seeds of karma are roasted by the fire of the Lord of All,

that is therefore the Great Cremation Ground, the supreme resort of the shelterless. // 83

Reflecting thus, Harikeśa went to the city of Vārāṇasī,

where, in Avimukta, for living beings casting off an earthly body, // 84

there is no further bond of the flesh, by the grace of the Enemy of the Bodily [Kāma].

Reaching the Ānandavana, he took refuge in austerity. // 85

Then, after a time, Śambhu entered the Ānandakānana,

and showed his pleasure-grove to Pārvatī: // 86

Adorned with kovidāra and mandāra of abundant fragrance,

rich in lovely campaka and mango trees, with blossoming fresh mallikā, // 87

with expanding clusters of mālatī, radiant with oleander,

with groves of burst-open ketakī, strengthened by rising kurabaka, // 88

exuding the scent of opening vicakila, with gleaming aśoka sprouts,

resounding with bees drawn by the scent of fresh mallī, // 89

with groves of blossoming punnāga, delighted with the fragrance of bakula,

with the quarters of the sky ever gladdened by the rich perfume of pāṭalā, // 90

its ground garlanded with many clinging garlands of bees,

crowded with cuckoos delighting on moving sandalwood boughs, // 91

its noble birds intoxicated by abundant agallochum,

delighted by bracket-figures perched upon branches of nāgakesara, // 92

with Kinnaras playing in the shade of nameru trees lofty as Mount Meru,

its parrots and kiṃśukas echoing the songs sung by Kinnara couples, // 93

with pairs of bees buzzing amid thickets of kadamba trees,

radiant with tall karṇikāra blossoms surpassing the color of gold, // 94

covered with śāla, tāla, tamāla, hintāla, and lakuca trees,

shining with the scent of saptacchada, splendid with rows of date-palms, // 95

canopied by coconut trees, tinted with the hue of oranges,

crowded with clusters of fruit-bearing limes and bees around madhūka trees, // 96

a great forest of neem trees, cool with the shade of śālmali trees,

covered with sweet-scented damana, flourishing with marjoram, // 97

stirred by a gentle breeze bearing the playful sport of lavalī creepers,

echoing with the chirping of crickets beloved in the hallīsaka dance of Bhil women, // 98

with herds of wild boars frolicking in places near the edge of the lakes,