Skandapurana 6.2.71.75.1

6.2.71.75.1

.. īśvara uvāca .. ..
ekasaptatikaṃ viddhi prayāgeśvarasaṃjñakam ..
advitīyaṃ vijānīhi mahāpātakanāśanam .. 1 ..
hāstine' bhūtpure śrīmāñchaṃtanurnṛpasattamaḥ ..
vaivasvateṃ'tare kalpe yuge dvāparasaṃjñake .. 2 ..
sa cādbhutamahāvīryo vajrasaṃhanano yuvā ..
sarvaśāstreṣu kuśalaḥ kalā puṃjavicakṣaṇaḥ .. 3 ..
balena viṣṇusadṛśastejasā bhāskaropamaḥ ..
gaṃgāmeṣa cacāraikaḥ siddhacāraṇasevitām .. 4 ..
sa kadācinmahābāhuḥ prabhūta balavāhanaḥ ..
vanaṃ jagāma gahanaṃ hayanāgaśatairvṛtaḥ .. 5 ..
gatvā tatra mṛgānvyāghrānghātayāmāsa līlayā ..
mahiṣāśvavarāhāṃśca vinighnanrājasattamaḥ .. .. 6 ..
sa kadācidvane tasmindadarśa paramāṃ striyam ..
jājvalyamānāṃ vapuṣā sākṣātpadmāmivāparām .. 7 ..
tāṃ dṛṣṭvā hṛṣṭaromābhūdvismito rūpasaṃpadā ..
pibanniva ca netrābhyāṃ nātṛpyata narādhipaḥ .. 8 ..
sā dṛṣṭvaiva ca rājānaṃ vicaraṃtaṃ mahādyutim ..
snehādāgatasauhārdānnātṛpyata vilāsinī .. 9..
tāmuvāca tato rājā sāṃtvayañchlakṣṇayā girā ..
devī vā dānavī tvaṃ ca gaṃdharvī yadi vāpsarāḥ .. 5.2.71.10 ..
yakṣī vā pannagī vā tvaṃ mānuṣī vā sumadhyame ..
yāce tvāṃ'bhojagarbhābhe bhāryā me bhava śobhane .. 11 ..
etacchrutvā vaco rājñaḥ saṃstutaṃ mṛdu valgu ca ..
aṃgīkṛtaṃ tayā devi samayaṃ prārthito nṛpaḥ .. 12 ..
vāritā vipriye vāpi tyajeyaṃ tvāmasaṃśayam ..
na praṣṭavyā tvayā rājankāsi kasyeti sarvathā .. 13 ..
evamastviti tenoktaṃ satyena sukṛtena ca ..
sa tasyāḥ śīlavṛttena rūpaudāryaguṇena ca .. 14 ..
upacāreṇa ca rahastutoṣa jagatīpatiḥ ..
divyarūpā hi sā devī gaṃgā tripathagā nadī .. 15 ..

Īśvara said:
Know the seventy-first to be called Prayāgeśvara; / know it to be incomparable, destroying heinous sins. (1)
In the city of Hāstina there was a fortunate and supreme king, Śaṃtanu, / in the Vaivasvata interval of the kalpa, during the age called Dvāpara. (2)
He possessed wondrous great prowess, a youth of adamantine build, / skilled in all sacred sciences, knowledgeable in the host of arts, (3)
equal to Viṣṇu in strength, and like the sun in splendour. / He wandered alone along the Gaṅgā, which is frequented by siddhas and cāraṇas. (4)
Once that mighty-armed king, possessing abundant troops and mounts, / entered the dense forest surrounded by hundreds of horses and elephants. (5)
Having gone there, the best of kings killed deer and tigers sportively, / striking down buffaloes, wild horses, and boars. (6)
Once in that forest he saw a superb woman / blazing with her body, just like a visible second Padmā. (7)
Seeing her, his hair stood on end, amazed by her wealth of beauty; / as if drinking her in with both eyes, the lord of men was not satiated. (8)
And as soon as she saw the king of great splendour roaming about, / that charming woman, filled with love and affection, was not satiated. (9)
Then the king addressed her, soothing her with gentle words: / "Are you a goddess, a Dānavī, a Gandharvī, or an apsaras, (10)
or a Yakṣī, a serpent maiden, or a human woman, O slender-waisted lady? / I beseech you who resemble the interior of a lotus: become my wife, O beautiful one!" (11)
Having heard these words of the king, praised, soft, and lovely, / it was accepted by her, O goddess, and a stipulation was requested of the king: (12)
"If I am prevented or treated with displeasure, I shall certainly abandon you. / You must never ask, O king: 'Who are you and whose are you?'" (13)
"So be it," said he, with truthfulness and virtue. / By her conduct and character, her beauty, generosity, and virtues, (14)
and by her attentions in private, the lord of the earth was delighted. / For she was of divine form, the goddess Gaṅgā, the river flowing along three paths. (15)