Skandapurana 5.173

Sūta said: / "I shall also tell you of another liṅga that is located there, / installed by Pippalāda, called Kaṃsāreśvara—how wonderful!

Merely by seeing it, the sin of human beings born of a single day departs; / when bowed to, [the sin] of six months; and when worshipped, that born of a whole year." / The seers said: / "Tell us, O son of Sūta, why that liṅga installed by Pippalāda / is called Kaṃsāreśvara.

Who is this Pippalāda, whose son is he? Tell us: / for what reason was the liṅga installed by that great soul in that sacred field?"

Sūta said: / "This great burden of questions has been raised by you; / nevertheless, I shall tell it, having bowed to the self-manifest one.

The sister of Yājñavalkya, known as Kaṃsārī, / performed terrible austerity with lifelong celibacy,

living together with her kinsman in Yājñavalkya's holy hermitage. / Then after some time, O brahmins, [the semen] of Yājñavalkya,

who was in the state of youth and endowed with austerity, O noble brahmins, / fell at the end of a dream upon seeing a certain excellent apsaras.

His garment was drenched with that copious semen, / and it was discarded by him when the morning arrived.

Then Kaṃsārikā took that garment for bathing, / not knowing that it was soaked with the unfailing semen, O best of brahmins.

As she performed the rite, the water mixed with semen / entered into the midst of her womb, for the fertile season had arrived.

Then an embryo formed inside her belly, / and it grew constantly, like the lord of the stars in the bright fortnight.

Carrying that embryo situated in her womb, the ascetic woman / was filled with great sorrow and enveloped in shame.

She reflected for a long time, seized by wonder; / concealing herself at that time, she did not go into the sight of men.

Using the observance of vows as a pretext, she remained constantly in secret. / When the tenth month arrived and midnight was reached, / a boy was born to her, possessing a radiance like the morning sun.

Then she took him, wrapped him in a fine cloth, / and went to a forest devoid of human beings, / her eyes full of tears, miserable, weeping in secret.

Then, having approached a very large peepal tree in that deserted place, / she left him beneath it and spoke these words:

“O peepal tree, you are of the form of Viṣṇu, established among the gods. / Therefore, protect my son from every side, O tree!

This child, my son, has sought refuge with you / from a sinful and merciless [mother]; therefore, afford him protection!”

Having spoken thus and wept for a long time, that ascetic woman / afterwards went to her own hermitage, her eyes agitated with tears.

As the mother wept beneath that tree, / just then a voice from the sky arose, sounding like a thundercloud:

“Do not grieve on account of this child, O auspicious woman! / Through the curse of his elder brother Utathya, this Bṛhaspati / has descended upon the surface of the earth; he will attain high competence.

And he will make the Atharva Veda, which has a hundred rituals, is very extensive, / and has a hundred divisions, into nine branches and five rituals.

He will consume the juice of the peepal tree; / therefore he will be known in the world as Pippalāda.

Since you are astonished, thinking, ‘How was this tall infant / born to me without a man?’, listen therefore to the reason for it.

The bathing cloth of your brother, which was drenched with semen— / that was worn by you as a garment in your fertile season, O auspicious lady.

At the time of bathing, the waters touched that water containing semen; / through that unfailing semen, this son of yours was established.

Knowing this, O fortunate lady, do what is proper!”

Sūta said: / Hearing that speech of the world of the gods, resembling a thunderbolt strike, / she broke into loud lamentation and fell onto the surface of the earth.

Like a creepers cut down from a tree, that ascetic woman fell.

When she delayed, the great sage Yājñavalkya, / seeing the hermitage empty, asked the other best sages:

“Where has my sister Kaṃsārī, the devout ascetic, gone? / Without her today, the entire circle of my hermitage is empty.”

A certain ascetic declared: “Your younger sister, / motionless, has fallen onto the ground near the peepal tree.

She was seen by me, O best of sages; attend to her without delay!” / Then, filled with haste and agitated, he ran forth,

to where that ascetic woman had been reported by that ascetic; / as he looked, she was lying there, gasping for breath.

Then, sprinkling her again and again with cold water / and repeatedly fanning her, just as he brought her back to consciousness, / right then Kātyāyanī and Maitreyī arrived in great agitation:

“What is this? What has happened, sister-in-law? Speak without delay!

Have you been bitten by a serpent, or afflicted by a morbid fever?

Or have you been possessed by a ghost, or seized by an intense fever?”

Then, regaining consciousness and seeing Yājñavalkya standing before her / together with his wife, she gave up her life out of shame.

Then, seeing her dead and weeping for a long time, O brahmins, / Yājñavalkya, accompanied by his wife, bearing sorrow, offered fire [for cremation], / and afterwards, having offered a handful of water, went to his own hermitage.

That boy too grew, sustained by the taste of peepal berries; / beneath that peepal tree, he gradually attained growth.

Then, after some time, Nārada, the best of sages, / came along that path in the course of a pilgrimage to sacred fords.

Seeing the boy there, radiant as twelve suns, / all alone in the deserted forest, intent on eating peepal berries, / he asked, filled with wonder: “Who are you here, all alone,

in this deserted, terrifying forest infested with lions and tigers? / Where are your mother and father, and for what purpose do you remain here?

And how do you live? Tell me everything in detail.”

Pippalāda said: / “I do not know my father, nor my mother, nor any relative, / nor even who you are who have now come to my side.”

Sūta said: / Hearing that statement of his, the lord of sages meditated for a long time; / then, having perceived [the truth] with his divine eye, he smiled and said to him:

Nārada said: / “You are known to me, dear boy: you were born from the semen of Yājñavalkya, / by the turn of fate, in the womb of his sister during her fertile season.

Through the flaw of Utathya's curse, you are Bṛhaspati, the preceptor of the gods, [born] / for the fulfillment of the task of the gods; therefore listen to the reason for it.

This Atharva Veda, which was composed with a hundred branches / and a hundred rituals, having hidden meaning, for the success of kings' tasks—

it must be rendered by you into nine branches and five rituals, bringing happiness.

By your mother, O fortunate one, the garment of Yājñavalkya / which was drenched with semen was worn,

by that very ascetic sister, for bathing and not out of desire; / that semen, mixed with water, entered into the midst of her womb.”

Being unfailing, by it you were born here on the surface of the earth. / Indeed, having realized this, your mother died out of shame.

In Camatkārapura, your maternal uncle who is also your father / resides, O fortunate one; go from here to his side.

Now is the time for your sacred rite of initiation, and your eighth year has arrived.” / Having heard his words, [the boy] stood with downcast face in shame.

Then, after a long time, he spoke these wretched words to him: / “Tell me, what sin did I commit in a previous life,

Because of which [I have received] this deplorable birth, and separation from my mother has occurred? / I will abandon my own life out of this sorrow, O good sage!”

Nārada said: / “You committed no misdeed in any previous life. / But hear how this misfortune of yours has properly arisen.

You were born with Saturn in your ascendant; of this there is no doubt. / Because of that, you have reached this state; indeed there is no other cause.”

Having heard his words, with eyes reddened with rage, / he looked upward, aiming at Śanaiścara.

At the fall of his gaze, he instantly fell down / from his aerial chariot, the son of the Sun, like Yayāti the son of Nahuṣa.

Head downwards, O best of brahmins, abiding by his father’s instruction, / even in his infancy the two feet of the Sun were burnt by him at that time.

Then Nārada spoke to him as he fell headlong: / “O Śanaiścara, you have been cast down by this one out of childhood nature.

Therefore do not gaze upon him, [lest] he become full of wrath! / Do not fall onto the earth by the force arising from my word!”

Having thus immobilized Śanaiścara remaining in the sky, / the lord of sages then spoke to that boy, Pippalāda:

“Do not be angry, O boy! He is the planet who is the son of the Sun; / he causes distress even to the gods when situated in the eighth zodiacal sign,

And especially when situated in the ascendant, and likewise another [time when in] the second. / If he, being enraged, should ever gaze upon you,

He will, without doubt, reduce [you] to a heap of ashes before me! / As soon as he was born, the two feet of the Sun were gazed upon by him;

For knowing him to possess terrible eyes, when his garment was made to vanish / as [the Sun] arrived pleased with a desire to see his son,

Then both [his feet] were burnt, and they remain wrapped in skin; / even today the two are seen in the image fashioned on the surface of the earth.”

Sūta said: / Having heard those words of Nārada, that young boy, / filled with great fear, then asked that sage:

“Tell me, O good sage, how will he be pleased with me? / Out of ignorance and not knowing his power, I caused him to fall from the sky.”

Nārada said: / “Planets, cows, kings, and especially brahmins: / when honored, they honor in return; when dishonored, they burn down.

Therefore, sing a hymn of praise to this son of the Sun to the best of your ability, O noble one, / so that he may grant grace and abandon the anger born of his fall.”

Then, having joined his palms, that boy uttered a hymn of praise; / filled with great fear, having then inquired of that sage,

Pippalāda, O best of brahmins, bowing down again and again [said]: / ‘Homage to you who are situated in anger! Homage be to you who are tawny!

Homage to you whose form is a Vasu! Homage be to you who are black! / Homage to you of terrible body! Homage to you who are the Ender!

Homage to you named Yama! Homage to you, the son of Sūrya, O omnipresent one! / Homage to you named Manda! Homage be to you, Śanaiścara!

Show grace, O lord of the gods, to the wretched one who has bowed down!’

Śanaiścara said: / ‘I am thoroughly pleased with you, child, by this praise now. / Choose a boon—may it be well with you—which I shall grant right now.’

Pippalāda said: / ‘From this day forth, O son of the Sun, no affliction of children / should ever be caused by you, O fortunate one, in your own [influence],

Until the eighth year is reached, according to my word, O son of the Sun! / Whoever here praises you with this hymn, having risen early in the morning,

Affliction should not be caused to him by you, O son of the Sun! / And whoever, on the occurrence of your weekday, performs an oil-massage,

For eight days no affliction should ever be caused to him. / And he who, having fashioned you out of iron, faces [the idol] downward in the middle of oil,

Should hold [it] and then perform a bath with that oil— / affliction should not be caused to him, [and] the gain of kings should be bestowed [on him].

When a man is under your seven-and-a-half-year transit, / and having arrived on your weekday, who gives sesamum seeds combined with iron,

According to his ability, you must not cause him distress, O lord! / And whoever gives a black cow to a brahmin in your name,

You must not cause him distress born of the seven-and-a-half-year period, O lord! / Whoever offers a fire oblations with śamī wood sticks in your name,

And likewise with black sesamum seeds, black flowers, and ointments, / and performs worship to you, and burns guggulu incense, / having wrapped [the image] in black cloth—his torment must be abandoned by you.’

Sūta said: / Thus addressed by him, Śani, saying ‘So be it!’, / and having taken leave of Nārada, went to his own abode.

Nārada too, taking that boy, filled with compassion, / went to Camatkārapura and delivered him to Yājñavalkya.

He told the whole narrative regarding his birth; / everything that he saw by the lamp of knowledge, he reported to him:

‘This boy, born of your semen, is your sister’s son; / he was found by me at the foot of an aśvattha tree in the forest near the aśvattha tree.

Perform his sacred thread investiture; he is now eight years old. / There is no fault here, O chief of brahmins, neither for your sister nor for you. / Therefore accept your own son, and especially your nephew!’”

Sūta said: / Having spoken thus, that divine seer then vanished from sight. / Hearing that, Yājñavalkya too fell into supreme despondency.

Constantly brooding on that sin, he found no peace. / Continually reproaching himself, he grieved day and night.

And having recognized that son by various distinctive bodily marks of his own, / he then reared him and invested him with the sacred vow.

Thus ends the one hundred seventy-fourth chapter, entitled "Description of the Birth of Pippalāda," in the Māhātmya of the Sacred Field of Hāṭakeśvara, in the Nāgarakhaṇḍa, the sixth [section], in the glorious Skanda Mahāpurāṇa, a collection of eighty-one thousand [verses].