Skandapurana 5.32

Sūta said: / Likewise, O best of the twice-born, in that auspicious field there is another / well-renowned hermitage of the Seven Seers which grants all desires.

A person who, with mind restrained, takes a ritual ablution there on the fifteenth day of the month of Śrāvaṇa, / obtains the desired fruit.

Whoever performs a śrāddha there with bulbs, roots, fruits, and vegetables, / attains the entire fruit of the rājasūya and aśvamedha sacrifices.

On the fifth day of the bright fortnight in the month of Bhādrapada, O twice-born, / whoever worships them with devotion with flowers, incense, and ointments / according to this rite, O leaders of brahmins, all of them in order:

"Oṃ, homage to Atri! / Oṃ, homage to Vasiṣṭha! / Oṃ, homage to Kaśyapa! / Oṃ, homage to Bharadvāja! / Oṃ, homage to Gautama! / Oṃ, homage to Kauśika! / Oṃ, homage to Jamadagni! / Oṃ, homage to Arundhatī!" / The mantra of worship: / "May the seers, granting all desires, whose limbs are purified by the Daughter of Jahnu, holding rosaries for japa, / accept the offering of water given by me!"

The seers said: / "At what time was the sacred ford established there by the Seven Seers? / Tell in detail, O son of Sūta, for great indeed is our curiosity."

Sūta said: / Formerly a twelve-year drought occurred in the world; / the loss of all herbs took place, and then people were oppressed by decay.

With only bones remaining, devoid of energy, having abandoned the rites of virtue and vows, / intent on eating uneatable food, and likewise drinking undrinkable liquids,

mothers abandoned sons, and men abandoned wives; / masters of wealth even [abandoned] their own servants, not to speak of those born of others!

The agnihotra sacrifices were abandoned by the brahmins and by sacrificers; / vows were abandoned by the observant, even by the self-controlled, even by the oldest of elders, O twice-born!

And wherever grain was seen somehow, / men emaciated by hunger, devoid of shame, seized it there.

When food was thus exhausted and the surface of the earth was afflicted, / the seven seers, overcome with hunger, wandered here and there:

Atri, Vasiṣṭha, Kaśyapa of great austerity, / and likewise Bharadvāja, another [being] Gautama of strict vows, / Kauśika, and Jamadagni, as well as the virtuous Arundhatī.

Now Caṇḍā was the female attendant of them all, / and Paśuvaktra was their servant, endowed with humility.

Then, exceedingly emaciated by hunger, the sages arrived at the territory / of King Vṛṣādarbhi, in the country named Ānarta.

There they wandered from house to house for the sake of alms, / but those best of brahmins did not receive even a mouthful of grain.

Then they saw a dead boy fallen on the ground; / having conferred together, they then picked him up to eat.

While they, tortured by hunger, were cooking him in the fire, / King Vṛṣādarbhi arrived, having heard of their deed.

Vṛṣādarbhi said: / "What is this despicable deed being done, O best of sages? / This eating of human flesh is the practice of rākṣasas!

I shall give you grain, villages, rice, and barley; / at my word, without hesitation, abandon the dead child!"

The seers said: / "An expiation is prescribed for eating human flesh, / but never for accepting gifts from kings, even in times of distress, O king!

Afterwards we shall perform penance arising from [eating] human flesh, / and destroy the sin; therefore we shall eat it."

Vṛṣādarbhi said: / "Accepting gifts is declared to be the blameless livelihood of the twice-born; / therefore it should be taken from me by all; no doubt should be made here."

The seers said: / "Accepting gifts from a king is dreadful, sweet to taste but like poison; / it should be avoided from afar by brahmins, especially by men of virtue, O king!

An oil-presser is equal to ten slaughterhouses; an owner of a liquor-flag is equal to ten oil-pressers; / a courtesan is equal to ten owners of liquor-flags; a king is equal to ten courtesans.

Accepting a gift from a king is equal to ten thousand slaughterhouses. / Who would accept it, like a greedy brahmin?

He cooks in all the hells, such as Raurava. / Therefore go home, O king; may there always be welfare for you!

We will go elsewhere; we will not take your wealth." / Having spoken thus, all those sages of praiseworthy vows,

abandoning that dead boy as well as that king, / then set out toward the sacred field of Camatkārapura.

Then that king also, rebuked by them and filled with great anger, / performed an act to test them, O best of brahmins:

Having filled udumbara fruits with gold, / he then scattered them all around on the ground in front of their path.

Sūta said: / Then those sages, seeing the udumbara fruits / fallen on the earth, took them, afflicted as they were with hunger.

Then, observing them to be heavy, O best of sages, / Atri split one open, saw the gold, and said:

Atri said: / "O sages, we are not ignorant, nor are our minds fixed on household life. / Knowing these udumbara fruits to be filled with gold, shall we take them?

Therefore, casting these gold-filled udumbara fruits / far away, free from desire we shall go on.

One is an emperor over the earth, and the other is a man without desires; / but between the two, the desireless one is always far more fortunate.

Even for the sake of dharma, the accumulation of wealth is despised for brahmins; / for rather than washing off mud, it is better not to touch it from afar.

For one who renounces all accumulations, afflictions come to an end; / indeed, no one who possesses all kinds of wealth is seen free from affliction.

A wise man should place poverty and kingship on a balance; / possessionlessness outweighs it—this is my conviction."

Kaśyapa said: / "A calamity has arrived, O sage, since this acceptance of wealth has occurred! / For he whose mind is deluded by wealth and power is separated from the highest good.

Abundance of wealth leads to delusion, and delusion leads to hell; / therefore, one seeking the highest good should diligently abandon wealth from afar.

Dharma which is accomplished through wealth is proclaimed to be perishable; / that, however, which is accomplished through austerity leads to liberation; this is my view."

Bharadvāja said: / "The hairs of an aging man age, the teeth of an aging man decay; / the eyes and ears of a man decay likewise; craving alone remains youthful.

Just as a seamstress passes the thread through cloth with a needle, / so this soul leads the thread of saṃsāra through desire.

Just as a horn grows as the body grows, / so craving grows as wealth grows.

Craving is endless, insatiable, the bringer of hundreds of sorrows, / and full of unrighteousness; therefore one should abandon it."

Gautama said: / "By what can a contented man be shaken, even when destitute of fruits? / The whole world wanders in distress due to greed of the senses, O brahmins.

Wealth is everywhere for him whose mind is contented; / for one whose foot is covered with a shoe, is not the earth as if spread with leather?

That happiness belonging to the peaceful-minded who are satiated with the nectar of contentment, / whence could it belong to those greedy for wealth, running this way and that?

Discontent is supreme sorrow; contentment is supreme happiness. / Therefore, a person seeking happiness should always remain contented."

Viśvāmitra said: / "If that desire of a desiring man is fulfilled, / then another desire is conceived for that man at that very instant.

Never is a lustful man satisfied even by thousands of desires; / his craving increases like a fire fed with clarified butter."

Craving desires out of delusion, a man cannot attain happiness, / like a francolin going into the shade of a falcon's roosting-tree. 53

He who continually enjoys this earth as far as the ocean, / and regards a clod and gold as equal, is fulfilled [like the greatest] of kings. 54

Jamadagni said: / A base brahmin who, having obtained wealth, rejoices when he ought to grieve, / and, dull-minded, does not see hell—from what does he fear nothing? 55

For those who are capable of accepting gifts, but refrain from accepting them, / the same worlds that belong to the givers belong to those who do not accept. 56

Arundhatī said: / Just as the lotus fiber, endless, remains having reached into the stalk, / even so desire, without beginning or end, remains in the body of embodied beings. 57

That which is hard to abandon by the wicked-minded, which does not age as one ages, / which is a fatal disease—giving up that desire brings happiness. 58

Caṇḍā said: / Since these masters of mine fear wealth as they would a serpent, / for what reason should I not fear it even more? 59

Paśumukha said: / Whatever the wise, ever devoted to dharma, practice, / that alone should be done by an intelligent person who desires his own welfare. 60

Sūta said: / Having spoken thus and abandoned those gold-bearing fruits, / all the seers of firm vows went elsewhere. 61

Then they entered the sacred field of Camatkārapura; / suddenly they saw a mendicant with the face of a dog who had arrived there. 62

Having gone with him to another forest there, / they then saw a lovely lake adorned with lotuses. 63

Then, seized by hunger, they gathered abundant lotus roots, / laid them on the shore of the lake, and performed their sacred water rite. 64

Then, having emerged from the water, they all assembled together, / and, not seeing those lotus roots, spoke these words: 65

The seers said: / By what pitiless person have all the lotus roots / been taken from this spot while we were tormented by hunger? 66

Suspecting one another, the seers of celebrated vows / uttered fierce oaths for the sake of their own purification: 67

Kaśyapa said: / May he who steals the lotus roots always eat anything, / or let him crave a trust deposit, or incur the state of a false witness! 68

May he perform dharma out of deceit, and let him attend upon a king; / may he always eat honey and meat—he who steals the lotus roots! 69 / Vasiṣṭha said: / May he have sexual intercourse out of season, by day, or on a forbidden day; / and may he then be an unwelcome guest to another—he who steals the lotus roots! 70

Bharadvāja said: / May he who steals the lotus roots be burdened with the sin / of one who, having received teaching from a guru, does not give the fee! 71

May he be cruel in all matters, conceited on account of wealth, / envious, and a slanderer—he who steals the lotus roots! 72

Viśvāmitra said: / May he eat sweet delicacies alone, praise himself, / and be a seller of the Veda—he who steals the lotus roots! 73

Jamadagni said: / Let him give his daughter to an old man, may he become the husband of a Śūdra woman, / or may he always be a usurer—he who steals the lotus roots! 74

Gautama said: / May he accept gifts of sheep, engage in selling horses, / and utter revilement of his guru—he who steals the lotus roots! 75

Atri said: / Wicked-minded, may he continually despise his mother and father; / let him ask a Śūdra for instruction in dharma—he who steals the lotus roots! 76

May he who steals the lotus roots be burdened with the sin / of one who, having promised cattle and the like to a brahmin, does not give them! 77 / Arundhatī said: / May she eat before her husband, and likewise sleep before him, / a woman of wicked conduct—she who steals the lotus roots! 78

Caṇḍā said: / May she be contrary to her master, bear hatred toward dharma, / and be intent on hating the virtuous—she who steals the lotus roots! 79

Paśumukha said: / May that sinful man always be devoted to betraying his master, / and intent on hating the virtuous—he who steals the lotus roots! 80

Śunomukha said: / May he study the Vedas properly, be a householder fond of guests, / and constantly speak the truth—he who steals the lotus roots! 81

The seers said: / The oath sworn by you is entirely desirable for the twice-born; / surely, then, the theft of our lotus roots was done by you! 82

Śunomukha said: / These lotus roots of yours were taken by me, O twice-born, / out of a desire to hear righteous duties; know me to be Purandara. 83

I am well-pleased with you, O best of the twice-born, because of your absence of greed; / therefore, come quickly with me to heaven! 84

The seers said: / Dedicated to the path of liberation, we do not desire heaven; / therefore, we shall perform austerity here at the lake for final liberation. 85

We have wandered all over this earth up to the ocean, / sustaining our lives on lotus roots, O best of sages; / therefore depart; may good fortune come to you from this meeting with us. 86

Śakra said: / My sight can never be in vain, O men of noble vows; / therefore, choose whatever is constantly desired in your hearts. 87

The seers said: / O Śakra, may this hermitage become very famous on earth / by our name, destroying all sins for mankind. 88

We shall remain forever right here, O best of gods, / with purified minds for the sake of austerity, until our attainment of liberation is secure. 89

Indra said: / Your hermitage will be well-renowned even in the three worlds, / and it shall likewise grant the desires of people. 90

Whoever performs an ancestral rite here on the full-moon day in the month of Śrāvaṇa, / intending any desire, shall obtain all of it. 91

Or whatever desireless person performs a śrāddha or gives gifts,
he shall attain liberation, without a doubt.

And those who cast off their bodies here in your auspicious hermitage,
even though joined with sins, shall attain the highest state.

With inguda, jujube, bilva, or bhallātaka fruits,
whoever, being concentrated, performs a śrāddha dedicated to the ancestors

shall attain the highest perfection, difficult to obtain even by the gods,
freed from all sins and praised by kimnaras.”

Sūta said: / Having spoken thus, the thousand-eyed [Indra], congratulated by them all,
vanished from sight; and those best of twice-born remained there.

Then, as time passed, having performed severe and great austerity,
they reached the supreme realm, devoid of old age and death.

A liṅga of the god of gods, the trident-bearer, was established there by them;
merely by the sight of it, a man is freed from sin.

Moreover, whoever worships that liṅga with devotion, through flowers, incense, and unguents,
surely attains liberation, O best of twice-born.

This holy, life-promoting, all-sin-destroying
recitation of the hermitage of the Seven Seers has been proclaimed.

Thus ends the thirty-second chapter, named "Description of the Greatness of the Hermitage of the Seven Seers," in the Greatness of the Sacred Field of Hāṭakeśvara, in the Nāgarakhaṇḍa, the sixth [part] of the eighty-one-thousand-verse collection of the glorious Skanda Purāṇa.