Skandapurana 6.2.71.75.3

6.2.71.75.3

māṃ vihāya gatāḥ kutra hṛdayaṃ kiṃ na dīryate .. 5.2.71.30 ..
mātarmāteti karuṇaṃ bruvāṇāḥ svayamāgatā ..
upaguhye kadā putrānvatsavatseti sauhṛdāt .. 31 ..
kasya jātu praṇītena piṃgena kṣitireṇunā ..
mamottarīyamutsaṃgaṃ kadāṅga malayiṣyati .. 32 ..
aṃgapratyaṃgasaṃbhūtā manohṛdayanaṃdanāḥ ..
mayā tu mātrā hā vatsā māritā nidhanaṃ gatāḥ .. 33 ..
kām̐llokānnu gamiṣyāmi kṛtvā karma sudāruṇam ..
kathaṃ puṇyā bhaviṣyāmi putrapnī nirdayā satī .. .. 34 ..
ityevaṃ karuṇaṃ kṛtvā ruditvā ca punaḥpunaḥ ..
mūrchitā patitāpyārtā niśceṣṭā dharaṇītale.. 35..
etasminnaṃtare devi nārado munisattamaḥ ..
tasyā vilāpaśabdaṃ tamākarṇya sahasā tadā.. 36 ..
vismayopphullanayanaḥ kimetaditi ciṃtayat ..
eṣā sā jāhnavī gaṃgā pāvanī devavaṃditā .. 37 ..
samudramahiṣī divyā puṇyā tripathagā nadī ..
mānuṣaṃ bhāvamāśritya kasmādroditi vihvalā .. 38 ..
ityevaṃ ciṃtayitvā ca samīpamagamanmuniḥ ..
gaṃgāyā vilapantyāśca brahmaputrastu nāradaḥ ..
uvācoccairviyatstho'sau devi gaṃge namo'stute .. 39 ..
nārado'haṃ mahāpuṇye kasmādrodiṣi pāvani ..
himādriputrī vikhyātā devagaṃdharvasevitā.. 5.2.71.40 ..
dhṛtā śirasi devena śivena parameṣṭhinā .. 41 ..
nāradasya vacaḥ śrutvā divyā devanadī tathā ..
avalokya vimānasthaṃ pratyuvāca mahāmunim .. 42 ..
mayā nārada mohena kṛto'dharmo jugupsitaḥ ..
jānaṃtyā sumahatpāpaṃ saptaputrā hatā mayā .. .. 43 ..
samudreṇa viyogastu saṃjāto mama daivataḥ ..
bhāryā jātā manuṣyasya putrā jātā hatāśca me .. 44 ..
ato mayā vilapitaṃ magnayā śokasāgare..

"Where have they gone, leaving me? Why does my heart not burst? / Calling out plaintively, 'Mother! Mother!', coming of their own accord, / when, embracing those sons in affection, crying, 'My child! My child!'— / by whom, coated with tawny dust of the earth, / will my upper garment and lap ever be soiled? / Born from each and every limb, delighting mind and heart, / alas, my children have been killed, sent to death by me, their mother! / What worlds shall I go to after committing such a dreadful deed? / How shall I, a merciless slayer of sons, ever become pure?" / Lameneting piteously thus, weeping again and again, / she fainted and fell to the ground, distressed and motionless. / In the meantime, O goddess, Nārada, the best of sages, / suddenly heard that sound of her lamentation. / With eyes wide with wonder, he thought: "What is this? / This is that Gaṅgā, born of Jahnu, purifier, praised by the gods, / the divine chief queen of the ocean, the sacred three-pathed river; / having assumed human nature, why does she weep so wildly?" / Thinking thus, the sage approached; / Nārada, the son of Brahmā, standing in the sky, said loudly to the weeping Gaṅgā: / "O goddess Gaṅgā, obeisance to you! / I am Nārada, O most holy one. Why do you weep, O purifier? / You are renowned as the daughter of the snowy mountain, attended by gods and gandharvas, / borne on the head by the god Śiva, the Supreme Lord." / Hearing Nārada's words, the divine river of the gods, / beholding him situated in his aerial chariot, replied to the great sage: / "O Nārada, through delusion I have committed a reprehensible unrighteousness; / knowing full well it was a great sin, seven sons were killed by me. / Separation from the ocean befell me by fate; / I became the wife of a mortal; sons were born to me and were slain. / Therefore I lament, submerged in an ocean of grief.