Skandapurana 6.3.155

Śrī Mārkaṇḍeya said: / Hereafter I shall proclaim Śuklatīrtha on the northern bank of the Narmadā, / the highest of all sacred fords, O Yudhiṣṭhira.

Due to its holiness and auspicious sight, all other sacred fords / on earth do not equal a sixteenth part of that sacred ford.

Yudhiṣṭhira said: / I desire to hear the māhātmya of that sacred ford in truth, / together with all my brothers and also other best brahmins.

Śrī Mārkaṇḍeya said: / Hear of the origin of Śuklatīrtha, O ruler of men, / by the mere sight of which the murder of a brahmin is dissolved.

The Narmadā is the foremost among rivers, destroying all sins; / whatever sin was committed in childhood is destroyed merely by seeing it.

They do not grant liberation everywhere except for Śuklatīrtha, O king. / The māhātmya of Śuklatīrtha that was heard by me in the Purāṇa,

as it was related by Śitikaṇṭha, the god of gods, / at an assembly of sages and likewise of the gods, on the excellent mountain Kailāsa, / that I shall relate to you, O Bhārata.

Formerly, at the beginning of the Kṛta Yuga, Viṣṇu performed vast austerity / for a thousand years in order to please the husband of Girijā, / subsisting on wind, taking no food, settled at Śuklatīrtha.

Then Maheśvara, the god of gods, became visible; / he suddenly manifested at that sacred ford, O ruler of men.

He made this [expanse of] two krośas the bestower of enjoyment and liberation. / Having bathed at that sacred ford, a person is freed from all misdeeds.

The Gaṅgā is holy at Kanakhala, the Sarasvatī at Kurukṣetra; / whether in a village or in a forest, the Narmadā is holy everywhere.

Among all herbs, food is foremost; among all drinks, water is foremost; / sleep is foremost among pleasures, a woman among sensual delights, the head is foremost among all limbs;

and just as the forehead is the auspicious part of one who has bathed, O best of kings, / so is Śuklatīrtha holy upon the Narmadā, O Yudhiṣṭhira.

And as Gaṅgā is foremost of rivers, as Janārdana is of deities, / even so is Śuklatīrtha, established upon the Narmadā, sacred.

As Surabhi is among four-footed beasts, as the brahmin is among social classes, / so too is Śuklatīrtha the chief of all sacred fords, O king.

As the sun is among the planets, as the moon is among the lunar mansions, / or the head among all limbs, truth is held to be the foremost among dharmas.

Even so, O son of Pṛthā, Śuklatīrtha is unsurpassed among sacred fords. / Just as the eternal Supreme Self is difficult to perceive in the world,

and indescribable on account of its extreme subtlety, so is Śuklatīrtha, O king. / A man who has fallen into foolishness and is full of great delusion

does not know Śuklatīrtha situated on the bank of the Narmadā. / What more is to be said here repeatedly, O son of Dharma?

The highly sacred Śuklatīrtha is reached by the exhaustion of sins. / He who, having become pure, offers here a single handful of water from the Revā,

by him the ancestors are propitiated for thousands of kotis of kalpas.

There was a singular son on the face of the earth who destroyed the distress of his ancestors; / he was a king named Cāṇakya, and he knew Śuklatīrtha.

Yudhiṣṭhira said: / Who is this one named Cāṇakya, O best among the foremost of the twice-born, / who was the knower of Śuklatīrtha, and indeed no one else was a knower?

By what means was that sacred ford known by him on the earth's surface? / I wish to hear that, for great indeed is my curiosity.

Śrī Mārkaṇḍeya said: / A king arisen from Ikṣvāku, and the grandson of Śuddhodana, / a royal sage named Cāṇakya ruled over this earth.

Valiant, intelligent, heroic, undeceived by anyone in all the worlds, / that best of kings was suddenly tricked by two rogue crows.

Yudhiṣṭhira said: / How was that king deceived by two crows, or whence did it occur? / By whom of old, a great-souled one endowed with wisdom, it had been resolved:

'I shall not live if deceived by another; I will abandon my life, there is no doubt.' / Tell me this, O foremost of vipras, for my curiosity is great.

Śrī Mārkaṇḍeya said: / Knowing himself to be tricked, he seized the two crows then, / and sent them by severe punishment to the abode of Yama.

The two crows said: / 'We are the sons of Sunda and Upasunda, arrived into crowhood. / Do not kill us, O fortunate one, for the sake of some different reason!

Both of us have made our resolution; O giver of honor, whether expelled / or unexpelled by you in anger, we shall attain the supreme state.

Therefore, command us, O supreme king, so that, having done what is exceedingly pleasing to you, / we two may become freed from the curse; such is the word of Brahmā.'

Hearing that speech of the crows, Cāṇakya, the best among kings, said: / 'Knowing this, I cannot live having been ever tricked by anyone.

Therefore, you two birds, find out about the sacred ford in the abode of Yama! / I dispatch you duly; having heard of it, you shall tell it to me.'

Released by him, those two swift-flying crows, adorned with garlands and sandalwood paste, / were dispatched towards the abode of Yama.

The king said:
"Having gone to the City of Dharma and wandering there, here and there, / if the righteous Yama, the great Restrainer, asks:

'Tell [me], from where have you two come, or by whom are you both adorned?' / then my word must indeed be spoken to him without fear:

'A righteous king born of Ikṣvāku's race named Cāṇakya / has died; on his twelfth day, we two were satiated with food and offerings.'"

Having heard those words of the king, the two went to Yama's dwelling. / They frolicked in his courtyard, adorned with garlands and sandalwood paste. / Seen by the King of Dharma, the two bold crows were questioned.

Yama said:
"From what place have you two arrived, or by whom are you both adorned? / O two crows, tell this account indeed without hesitation."

The two crows said:
"A righteous king born of Ikṣvāku's race named Cāṇakya / has died; on his twelfth day, we were satiated with food and offerings."

Having heard that statement of the two, the eternal Vaivasvata Yama, / having looked at Chitragupta, Kali, and Kāla, said this:

"Of beings born of eggs and sweat among the moving and unmoving, / by Brahmā, the presence of the makers of the worlds has been assigned to me.

Where has the wicked one named Cāṇakya gone from here? / Let the destiny that is [recorded] in the Purāṇas and Itihāsas be investigated!"

Then, by those guardians of dharma urged by the King of Dharma, / the arrival and destiny born of karma as spoken in the Purāṇas was examined.

Then Dharma, the foremost of the maintainers of dharma, / spoke a statement in a voice deep as a thundercloud while the guardians of dharma listened:

"Of those who die at Śuklatīrtha, in the clear water of the Narmadā, / among those born of eggs or sweat, there is no going to my presence.

That righteous sacred ford in the world was fashioned by Brahmā, Viṣṇu, and Maheśvara / with supreme devotion, wishing for the welfare of the worlds.

Men who are joined with sins and minor sins, / who die purified in the water of the Narmadā at Śuklatīrtha, are never my subjects."

Having heard this speech uttered by Yama, / those two swift-flying crows, having seen the great city of Yama, returned, O Pārtha.

Questioned by the king as they bowed, as it happened and as it was heard, / the two Dānavas who had become crows spoke, O Pārtha:

"From this place, we two went to the excellent city of Yama, / in the southern quarter of the earth, passing beyond many [destinies] born of wombs.

That city moves at will, celestial, with golden ramparts and archways, / crowded with countless houses, adorned with jewels and gold,

graced with crossroads, squares, and ringing thoroughfares, / covered with parks and woods, ornamented with clusters of lotus ponds,

resounding with swans and sāra-cranes, teeming with multitudes of cuckoos, / filled with lions, tigers, and elephants, frequented by bears and monkeys,

crowded with men and women, adorned with perpetual festivals, / resounding with the sounds of conches and drums, and with the melodies of viṇas and flutes.

Even on the path of Yama it is constructed like another heavenly world. / Having gone there, again by other messengers of Yama by Yama's order,

we were announced and sent to where the god, the lord of the universe, was. / Out of fear for our lives, that lord was seen seated upon a lion-throne:

huge-bodied, huge-shanked, huge-shouldered, huge-bellied, / huge-chested, huge-armed, with a huge face and huge eyes, great,

mounted upon a huge buffalo, adorned with a great crown. / And there other [figures were seen]: Kali, Kāla, and the wise Citragupta,

who had arrived and were seen with blazing fire between them, / masters of the meaning of the Śrutis and Smṛtis, [examining] the merits and sins of living beings.

Constantly deliberating, those two stand day and night. / Then, at the conclusion of our salutation, by Yama in the form of the Restrainer,

we were asked the cause of our arrival. We spoke to him—hear that: / 'In Ujjayinī there was a glorious king named Cāṇakya.

He died, and on his twelfth day, having eaten, we reached the abode of Yama.' / Then, having heard our words, shaking his head, Yama

spoke a true statement in the midst of the assembly, smiling as it were: / 'There is a reason by which Cāṇakya, a man of sin,

has not come to my realm, which is terrible to all sins. / For those who die at Śuklatīrtha on the Narmadā, the supreme abode

arises for all living creatures; there is no doubt about this. / Helpless or master of himself, when a creature dies in the circle of that sacred field,

he surely becomes an attendant of Rudra—there is no doubt.' / Having heard that righteous word, having gone outside the city,

seeing the various dreadful torments of the worlds in hell— / for there are thirty crores of dreadful hells, O best of kings—

we, being terrified, reached the greatest distress there on the great highway. / The hell Raurava was there, and also Mahāraurava,

Peṣaṇa, Śoṣaṇa, and Kālasūtra, Asthibhañjana, / Tāmisra, Andhatāmisra, and Kṛmipūtivaha,

and another, Mahājvāla, was seen right there, and Viṣabhojana, / the two hells Daṃśamaśaka, and likewise the Twin Mountains.

The river Vaitaraṇī was seen, destroyer of all sins, / where [the virtuous] drink cool water resembling nectar,

yet that same water turns into blood for sinners. / And another, the Asipatravana forest, was seen, and another huge stone,

resembling a mass of fire, and another vast Śālmalī tree. / These and others designated in the hundreds and thousands,

dreadful and more dreadful, were seen, where human beings are tormented / on account of verbal and mental sins, and various kinds born of action,

faults caused by egotism preceded by deceitful words: / father, mother, guru, brother, the helpless, and the disabled,

who wander and have not been rescued—such people's destination is indeed in Raurava. / Having spent twelve years there in Raurava, those vile ones

In this human world, they become wretched and blind. / For men of evil deeds who rob the property of the gods and brahmins,

dwelling in Yama's abode, consigned to Mahāraurava, is certain. / Then, after a long time, the sinful ones, wrapped up in their sin,

are born pierced by thorns, or as silkworms within cocoons. / Killers of deer, birds, and winged creatures, and eaters of flesh,

go to the Peṣaṇa hell, and Śoṣaṇa from binding living beings. / Having endured the terrible torment there ordained by the scriptures,

and attaining humanity here, men become lame, blind, and deaf. / For those speaking untruths in this world for the sake of cattle or a brahmin,

a fall into the Kālasūtraka hell occurs for men. / Having experienced the terrible torment there ordained by the authors of the scriptures,

and having returned here, they shall attain an outcaste birth. / And those who bind living beings, abandoning the lineage of their own family,

fall, without a doubt, into the Asthibhañjana hell. / There, at the end of a hundred years, having attained humanity here,

those sinners are born as hunchbacks and dwarfs, experiencing sorrow. / Those foolish men considering themselves learned who abandon their own wives,

go to the terrible hell Tāmisra; there is no doubt of this. / There, at the end of a hundred years, having attained humanity here,

those men are indeed born with skin diseases and misfortune. / But those who speak false measures, false balances, and falsehoods,

those lowest of men are cooked in the Andhatāmisra hell. / Having dwelt there for a period of a hundred thousand years, those men,

wretched in form, wander blind here in an enemy's house. / Those who eat here without offering food to ancestors, gods, and twice-born,

those nourishers of their own selves fall into the Kṛmibhakṣya hell. / Then, at the time of rebirth, eaten by worms and full of sores,

such a person is born foul-smelling here, living off the fortune of others. / The sinners fallen from their proper duties, devoid of caste and stage of life,

suffer in the hell filled with pus for ten thousand years. / Then, when that time is completed, having attained a human rebirth,

they are born repellent to living beings and afflicted with diseases. / An arsonist, a poisoner, and a man filled with greed and delusion,

that evil-minded person sinks into the hell filled with poison. / Remaining there, he emerges from that time after a hundred years;

having attained humanity on earth, he is born miserable again. / For not giving sandals, shoes, an umbrella, a bed, and coverings,

they are eaten by gadflies and mosquitoes for seventy lifetimes. / Those who seize a father's wealth, engaged in beating and reproaching [him],

their crushing is done where those two twin mountains are. / As for that terrible Vaitaraṇī, the river flowing with blood,

those who approach a menstruating woman drink blood there. / In the terrible Asipatravana, the evildoers are tormented—

those men who perpetually cause torment to others and have intercourse with outcaste women. / And for those great sinners delighting in the wife of a guru,

embracing a stone pillar occurs for seventy lifetimes. / A blazing, dreadful iron tree covered with many thorns—

the Śālmalī—is embraced by those who delight in another's wife. / Having abducted another's woman and stolen a brahmin's property,

he will become a cruel rākṣasa in a waterless wilderness. / And he who seizes the property of gods and of brahmins through greed,

that sinful-souled one lives on the leavings of vultures in the other world. / Such and other punishments of sins they experience by Yama's decree,

the mere sight of which, and the hearing of which, produces dread. / Likewise, others enjoying the fruit of gifts in Yama's palace

were seen, and heard of as the messengers related by Yama's order: / some accompanied by chariots, others by elephants, and some by horses,

were seen there, O noble one, established in their accumulated austerities. / The giver of cows, the giver of gold, and men who give land and gems—

that world grants the desires of mortals regarding beds, food, houses, and the like. / Those men who give food accompanied by water here,

rejoice there, sated and fully contented, in Yama's abode. / Whatever gift is given here, even the measure of the tip of a hair,

all that has imperishable fruit at Śuklatīrtha, O best of kings. / All this has been related to you—what was seen and what was heard.

Do what is intended, if you are able to be released.' / Having heard the word of the two, Cāṇakya, joyful in mind,

dismissed the two birds, honouring them again and again. / When the two had departed, giving away all his wealth to the brahmins, O descendant of Bharata,

and abandoning desire and anger, he went to Amaraparvata. / Fastening firmly a small boat there, suspended by a black cord,

he quickly set out floating, meditating upon Lord Janārdana. / One should desire health from the sun, and wealth indeed from fire;

one attains knowledge from Īśāna, and attains liberation from Keśava. / The cord that was blue, red, and dark-coloured,

seeing the rope resembling pure crystal, the wise one / plunged into the spotless water and went to the realm of Viṣṇu.

That eternal Nārāyaṇa, called Acyuta, the ancient one whom knowers of the Veda sing, / that high-souled king's son attained, having cast off his body at the auspicious Śuklatīrtha.

This attainment of perfection of King Cāṇakya has been told to you, O king. / Likewise I shall tell you another; listen with focused mind.

Thus ends the one hundred and fifty-fifth chapter, named 'The Description of Cāṇakya's Attainment of Perfection', in the Revākhaṇḍa of the Avantyakhaṇḍa, in the glorious Skanda Mahāpurāṇa, a collection of eighty-one thousand [verses].