[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Indian literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in) › [Purāṇas](https://indike.org/pramana/in.purana) › [Skandapurana](https://indike.org/pramana/in.purana.skanda) › 4.40.41 # Skandapurana 4.40.41 Skandapurāṇa 4.40.41 - **Language:** Sanskrit ### [4.40.41.1](https://indike.org/pramana/in.purana.skanda.4.40.41.1) .. skaṃda uvāca .. .. avimukteśa māhātmyaṃ varṇitaṃ tegrato mayā .. atho kimasi śuśrūṣuḥ kathayiṣyāmi tatpunaḥ .. 1 .. .. agastya uvāca .. .. avimukteśa māhātmyaṃ śrāvaṃ śrāvaṃ śrutī mama .. atīva suśrute jāte tathāpi na dhinomyaham .. 2 .. avimukteśvaraṃ liṃgaṃ kṣetraṃ cāpyavimuktakam .. etayostu kathaṃ prāptirbhavetṣaṇmukha tadvada .. 3 .. .. skaṃda uvāca .. .. śṛṇu kuṃ bhaja vakṣyāmi yathā prāptirbhavediha .. svaśreyo dāturetasyā vimuktasya mahāmate .. 4 .. samīhitārtha saṃsiddhirlabhyate puṇyabhārataḥ .. tacca puṇyaṃ bhavedvipra śrutivartmasabhājanāt ..5.. śrutivartmajuṣaḥ puṃsaḥ saṃsparśānnaśyato mune .. kalikālāvapi sadā chidraṃ prāpya jighāṃsataḥ ..6.. varjitasya vidhānena proktasyākaraṇena vai .. kalikālāvapi hato brāhmaṇaṃ raṃdhradarśanāt .. 7 .. niṣiddhācaraṇaṃ tasmātkathayiṣye tavāgrataḥ .. taddūrataḥ parityajya naro na nirayī bhavet .. 8 .. palāṃḍuṃ viḍvarāhaṃ ca śeluṃ laśuna gṛṃjane .. gopīyūṣaṃ taṃḍulīyaṃ varjyaṃ ca kavakaṃ sadā .. 9 .. vraścanānvṛkṣaniryāsānpāyasāpūpaśaṣkulīḥ .. adevapitryaṃ palalamavatsāgopayastyajet .. 4.1.40.10 .. paya aikaśaphaṃ heyaṃ tathā krāmelakāvikam .. rātrau na dadhi bhoktavyaṃ divā na navanītakam .. 11 .. ṭiṭṭibhaṃ kalaviṃkaṃ ca haṃsaṃ cakraṃ plavaṃbakam .. tyajenmāṃsāśinaḥ sarvānsārasaṃ kukkuṭaṃ śukam .. 12 .. jālapādānkhaṃjarīṭānbuḍitvā matsyabhakṣakān .. matsyāśī sarvamāṃsāśī tanmatsyānsarvathā tyajet.. 13 .. havyakavyaniyuktau tu bhakṣyau pāṭhīnarohitau.. māṃsāśibhistvamī bhakṣyāḥ śaśa śallaka kacchapāḥ ..14.. > Skanda said: / The māhātmya of Avimukteśa has been described before you by me. / Now what do you wish to hear? I shall recount that again. // 1 // Agastya said: / Listening repeatedly to the māhātmya of Avimukteśa, both my ears / Have become exceedingly good at hearing; even so, I am not satiated. // 2 // Tell me, O Six-faced One, how may the attainment of these two / Be gained: the liṅga Avimukteśvara and the kṣetra Avimukta? // 3 // Skanda said: / Listen, O Pot-born one! I shall declare how attainment in this world may come to pass / Of this Avimukta, which bestows one's own highest good, O highly intelligent one! // 4 // The attainment of desired goals is obtained from a mass of merit; / And that merit, O vipra, arises from honoring the path of the Vedas. // 5 // From the contact of a man devoted to the path of the Vedas, O muni, \[sins\] perish; / Yet Kali and Kāla, finding a flaw, always seek to destroy him. // 6 // Through omitting what is prescribed by rule, and through performing what is forbidden, / Kali and Kāla indeed slay a brāhmaṇa upon seeing a flaw. // 7 // Therefore I will recount before you forbidden conduct; / Abandoning that from afar, a man will not become an inhabitant of hell. // 8 // Onions, village-pigs, śelu fruit, garlic, and gṛñjana carrots, / Cow's colostrum, taṇḍulīya greens, and mushrooms should always be avoided; // 9 // Red saps oozing from incisions, tree resins, pāyasa, apūpa cakes, śaṣkulī pastries, / Meat not offered to gods and ancestors, and milk from a cow whose calf is absent should be abandoned; // 10 // Milk from solid-hoofed animals is to be rejected, and likewise that of camels and sheep; / Curds should not be eaten at night, nor fresh butter by day; // 11 // The lapwing, the sparrow, the swan, the cakra bird, the plava, and the heron, / All carnivorous birds, the sārasa crane, the cock, and the parrot should be avoided; // 12 // Web-footed birds, wagtails, diving fish-eaters: / An eater of fish is an eater of all meat; therefore one must completely avoid fish. // 13 // But pāṭhīna and rohita fish are edible when appointed for rites to gods and ancestors; / And by meat-eaters, these may be eaten: hares, porcupines, and tortoises; // 14 > — English (machine translation) (machine translation) ### [4.40.41.2](https://indike.org/pramana/in.purana.skanda.4.40.41.2) śvāvidgodhe praśaste ca jñātāśca mṛgapakṣiṇaḥ .. āyuṣkāmaiḥ svargakāmaistyājyaṃ māṃsaṃ prayatnataḥ .. 15 .. yajñārthaṃ paśuhiṃsā yā sā svargyā netarā kvacit .. tyajetparyuṣitaṃ sarvamakhaṃḍasneha varjitam.. 16 .. prāṇātyaye kratau śrāddhe bhaiṣaje viprakāmyayā.. alaulyamitthaṃ palalaṃ bhakṣayannaiva doṣabhāk .. 17 .. na tādṛśaṃ bhavetpāpaṃ mṛgayāvṛttikāṃkṣiṇaḥ .. yādṛśaṃ bhavati pretya laulyānmāṃsopasevinaḥ .. 18 .. makhārthaṃ brahmaṇā sṛṣṭāḥ paśu druma mṛgauṣadhīḥ .. nighnannahiṃsako viprastāsāmapi śubhā gatiḥ .. 19 .. pitṛdevakratukṛte madhuparkārthameva ca .. tatra hiṃsāpyahiṃsā syāddhiṃsānyatra sudustarā .. 4.1.40.20 .. yo jaṃtūnātmapuṣṭyarthaṃ hinasti jñānadurbalaḥ .. durācārasya tasyeha nāmutrāpi sukhaṃ kvacit.. 21 .. bhoktānumaṃtā saṃskartā krayivikrayi hiṃsakāḥ .. upahartā ghātayitā hiṃsakāścāṣṭadhā smṛtāḥ .. 22 .. pratyabdamaśvamedhena śataṃ varṣāṇi yo yajet .. amāṃsabhakṣako yaśca tayoraṃtyo viśiṣyate .. 23 .. yathaivātmā parastadvaddraṣṭavyaḥ sukhamicchatā .. sukhaduḥkhāni tulyāni yathātmani tathā pare .. 24 .. sukhaṃ vā yadi vā cānyadyatkiṃcitkriyate pare.. tatkṛtaṃ hi punaḥ paścātsarvamātmani saṃbhavet .. 25 .. na kleśena vinā dravyamarthahīne kutaḥ kriyāḥ .. kriyāhīne kuto dharmo dharmahīne kutaḥ sukham .. .. 26 .. sukhaṃ hi sarvairākāṃkṣyaṃ tacca dharmasamudbhavam.. tasmāddharmotra kartavyaścāturvarṇyena yatnataḥ .. 27 .. nyāyāgatena dravyeṇa kartavyaṃ pāralaukikam .. dānaṃ ca vidhinā deyaṃ kāle pātre ca bhāvataḥ .. 28 .. > The hedgehog and monitor lizard are also praised, and \[certain\] known deer and birds; / By those desiring long life and heaven, meat is to be abandoned with great effort. // 15 // That killing of animals which is for the purpose of sacrifice leads to heaven, never any other; / One should avoid all stale food, except that which is saturated with unbroken fat. // 16 // At the risk of life, in a sacrifice, in a śrāddha, for medicine, or at the request of a vipra, / Eating meat in this manner without greed, one does not incur fault. // 17 // There is not such sin for one seeking a livelihood through hunting, / As that which occurs in the hereafter for one who indulges in meat out of greed. // 18 // Beasts, trees, deer, and medicinal plants were created by Brahmā for the sake of sacrifice; / A vipra who slaughters \[them\] is not a slayer, and their destiny too is auspicious. // 19 // For the sake of the ancestors, gods, and sacrifices, and also for the madhuparka offering: / In those cases, even killing is non-injury; elsewhere, the injury is exceedingly hard to cross over. // 20 // The fool weak in knowledge who harms living creatures for his own nourishment, / That person of wicked conduct has no happiness here nor anywhere in the next world. // 21 // The eater, the consenter, the cook, the buyer, the seller, the slaughterer, / The deliverer, and the cause of death—these eight are remembered as killers. // 22 // He who sacrifices every year with a horse-sacrifice for a hundred years, / And he who does not eat meat: of these two, the latter is superior. // 23 // Just as oneself, so another should be regarded by one desiring happiness; / Pleasures and pains are equal: as in oneself, so in another. // 24 // Whether happiness or whatever else is done to another, / All that which was done will indeed afterwards happen to oneself. // 25 // There is no wealth without trouble; for one devoid of wealth, whence rituals? / For one devoid of rituals, whence dharma? For one devoid of dharma, whence happiness? // 26 // Happiness is indeed desired by all, and that arises from dharma; / Therefore dharma must be performed here with effort by all four classes. // 27 // Transmundane rites should be performed with wealth acquired through righteous means; / And a gift should be given according to rule, at the proper time, to a worthy recipient, with sincerity. // 28 > — English (machine translation) (machine translation) ### [4.40.41.3](https://indike.org/pramana/in.purana.skanda.4.40.41.3) vidhihīnaṃ tathā'pātre yo dadāti pratigraham .. na kevalaṃ hi tadyāti śeṣaṃ tasya ca naśyati .. 29 .. vyasanārthe kuṭuṃbārthe yadṛṇārthe ca dīyate .. tadakṣayaṃ bhavedatra paratra ca na saṃśayaḥ ..4.1.40.30.. mātāpitṛvihīnaṃ yo mauṃjīpāṇigrahādibhiḥ .. saṃskārayennijairarthaistasya śreyastvanaṃtakam .. ..31 .. agnihotrairna tacchreyo nāgniṣṭomādibhirmakhaiḥ .. yacchreyaḥ prāpyate martyairdvije caike pratiṣṭhite .. 32 .. yo hyanāthasya viprasya pāṇiṃ grāhayate kṛtī .. iha saukhyamavāpnoti sokṣayaṃ svargamāpnuyāt .. 33 .. pitṛgehe tu yā kanyā rajaḥ paśyedasaṃskṛtā .. bhrūṇahā tatpitā jñeyo vṛṣalī sāpi kanyakā .. 34 .. yastāṃ pariṇayenmohātsa bhavedvṛṣalīpatiḥ .. tena saṃbhāṣaṇaṃ tyājyamapāṅkteyena sarvadā .. 35 .. vijñāya doṣamubhayoḥ kanyāyāśca varasya ca .. saṃbaṃdhaṃ racayetpaścādanyathā doṣabhākpitā .. 36 .. striyaḥ pavitrāḥ satataṃ naitā duṣyaṃti kenacit .. māsimāsi rajastāsāṃ duṣkṛtānyapakarṣati .. 37 .. pūrvaṃ striyaḥ surairbhuktāḥ somagaṃdharva vahnibhiḥ .. bhuṃjate mānuṣāḥ paścānnaitāduṣyaṃ ti kenacit .. 38 .. strīṇāṃ śaucaṃ dadau somaḥ pāvakaḥ sarvamedhyatām .. kalyāṇavāṇīṃ gaṃdharvāstena medhyāḥ sadā striyaḥ .. 39 .. kanyāṃ bhuṃkte rajaḥkāle'gniḥ śaśī lomadarśane .. stanodbhedeṣu gaṃdharvāstatprāgeva pradīyate ..4.1.40.40.. dṛśyaromātvapatyaghnī kulaghnyudgatayauvanā .. pitṛghnyāviṣkatarajāstatastāḥ parivarjayet ..41.. kanyādānaphalaprepsustasmādda dyādanagnikām .. anyathā na phalaṃ dātuḥ pratigrāhī patedadhaḥ ..42.. kanyāmabhuktāṃ somādyairdadaddānaphalaṃ labhet.. > He who makes a gift contrary to the rules or to an unworthy recipient / does not merely lose that gift; the rest of his wealth also perishes. > What is given for times of distress, for one's family, or to clear a debt, / becomes inexhaustible both here and in the hereafter; of this there is no doubt. > He who has an orphan consecrated with the investiture of the sacred girdle, marriage, and other rites / through his own wealth, obtains unending welfare. > Such welfare is not attained through Agnihotra offerings, nor through sacrifices such as the Agniṣṭoma, / as the welfare attained by mortals when a single twice-born is settled. > That virtuous man who causes the hand of an orphan brahmin to be taken in marriage / attains happiness in this world and obtains inexhaustible heaven. > The maiden who sees her menstrual flow unmarried in her father's house— / her father is to be known as an embryo-killer, and that girl is considered a vṛṣalī. > He who out of delusion marries her becomes the husband of a vṛṣalī; / conversation with him, who is unfit to sit in the row \[at a feast\], must always be avoided. > Having ascertained the fault of both the maiden and the groom, / one should then arrange the alliance; otherwise the father incurs the fault. > Women are ever pure; they are not defiled by anything. / Month after month their menstrual flow removes their misdeeds. > Formerly women were enjoyed by the gods: by Soma, the Gandharvas, and Agni; / human men enjoy them later; therefore they are not defiled by anything. > Soma gave purity to women; the Purifier \[Agni\] gave universal sanctification; / the Gandharvas gave sweet speech; hence women are always pure. > Agni enjoys a maiden at the time of menstruation, the Moon at the appearance of body hair, / and the Gandharvas at the swelling of her breasts; therefore she should be given away prior to that. > One whose body hair is visible destroys her offspring; she whose youth has blossomed destroys her family; / she whose menstrual blood has appeared destroys her father; therefore one should avoid them. > Therefore, desiring the fruit of giving away a maiden, one should bestow her before pubic hair appears; / otherwise there is no fruit for the giver, and the recipient falls down \[into hell\]. > Giving a maiden unenjoyed by Soma and the others, one obtains the fruit of the gift; > — English (machine translation) (machine translation) ### [4.40.41.4](https://indike.org/pramana/in.purana.skanda.4.40.41.4) devabhuktāṃ dadaddātā na svargamadhigacchati ..43.. śayanāsanayānāni kuṇapaṃ strīmukhaṃ kuśāḥ.. yajñapātrāṇi sarvāṇi na duṣyaṃti budhāḥ kvacit .. 44 .. vatsaḥ prasravaṇe madhye śakuniḥ phalapātane .. nāryo ratiprayogeṣu śvā mṛga grahaṇe śuciḥ .. 41. > giving one enjoyed by the gods, the giver does not go to heaven. > Beds, seats, vehicles, a corpse, a woman's mouth, kuśa grass, / and all sacrificial vessels—wise men hold that these are never defiled. > A calf is pure when the milk begins to flow, a bird when causing a fruit to fall, / women during sexual union, and a dog when catching deer. > — English (machine translation) (machine translation) ## Translations (1) - [English (machine translation)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.purana.skanda~en-mt.4.40.41.1) — English, machine translation ## Linked texts (3) - [Dāśarathīyatantra](https://indike.org/pramana/in.sampradaya.vaisnava.tantra.dasarathiyatantra.2647) — Sanskrit - [Dakṣasmṛti](https://indike.org/pramana/in.niti.dharma.upasmrti.daksa.3.20) — Dakṣa, Sanskrit - [Smṛtīnāṃ Samuccayaḥ](https://indike.org/pramana/in.niti.dharma.upasmrti.smrtisamuccaya.7.5) — Sanskrit --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.purana.skanda.4.40.41](https://indike.org/pramana/in.purana.skanda.4.40.41) · Pramāṇa