Skandapurana 6.3.180

Chapter 180

Glorious Mārkaṇḍeya said: / Then, O protector of the earth, one should go to the supreme Daśāśvamedhika, / a sacred ford endowed with all virtues, destroying great sins.

Having gone there, O great king, bathed, and worshipped Īśvara, / a man obtains the fruit of ten horse sacrifices.

Yudhiṣṭhira said: / The horse sacrifice is a great sacrifice requiring abundant provisions and sacrificial fees, / impossible for ordinary men to perform; how could one obtain its fruit?

This is a most wondrous truth stated by you, an eloquent good man. / Long-lived one, speak in such a way that faith may arise in me.

Mārkaṇḍeya said: / This wondrous matter was indeed asked of the Three-eyed Lord by Gaurī; / that I shall declare to you, who ask with great discernment.

Long ago, Śaṅkara, the lord of gods, mounted on his bull along with Umā, / once wandering over the earth, resorted to the bank of the Narmadā.

Seeing the Daśāśvamedhika sacred ford, the god Maheśvara, / the three-eyed one, folded his hands toward the sacred ford and bowed.

Seeing the god with hands joined in reverent salutation, the goddess said this:

The goddess said: / What is this, O Lord of the gods of gods, bowed to by all moving and unmoving beings, / that you stand with hands folded low in obeisance, filled with supreme devotion?

Explain all this peerless wonder to me, O Lord.

Īśvara said: / See the fruit of the sacred ford directly; do not be amazed. / Remaining in the sky while I am on the earth, be still for a moment, O goddess.

Having spoken thus, the lord of gods became a fair-complexioned twice-born, / his throat emaciated with hunger, with matted hair, dried up, his veins standing out.

Sitting on the surface of the earth, uttering mantras in an exquisite tone, / Mahādeva, who loved the stepwise recitation, delighted [all] with its sweetness.

Hearing that sweet voice produced by the god himself, / all the brahmins who had come there to bathe were bewildered.

And their daily ritual was forgotten due to confusion over the sacred text. / Seeing him reciting, tormented by hunger and thirst,

a certain twice-born invited him with devotion to take food: / “O brahmin, grant me the favor of taking a meal at my house.

Today my birth has borne fruit; today my rituals have borne fruit! / Pleased today, my forefathers will grant all desires.

When you have eaten, O best of the twice-born, be surely gracious to me.” / Thus addressed, Mahādeva, who was then wearing the guise of a twice-born,

laughed gently and replied to the brahmin in smooth words: / “For a thousand years I have performed austerity without food.

Now, O best of the twice-born, I shall take the breaking of my fast / in the house of him who has performed ten horse sacrifices.”

Thus addressed by the god of gods, the brahmin was filled with astonishment; / shaking his head, he went back to his own house.

In this way, many brahmins, when their invitation was rejected,
ignorant of the meaning of the Purāṇas and lacking faith, went away in great numbers.

Then a certain learned brahmin, who knew the truth of the Purāṇic meaning,
invited the god Śiva, who was bearing the form of a brahmin.

He too was addressed in the very same way by the god. Pondering in his mind
what is stated in the Purāṇas, the best of brahmins spoke to him in turn:

“Whatever is stated in the Smṛtis, Vedas, and Purāṇas, that must indeed be so.”
Having thus resolved, as if smiling, he said to that brahmin:

“O brahmin, please wait until my return.”
Having said this, the brahmin went to the supreme Daśāśvamedhika [tīrtha].

A ritual ablution, the great sacrificial rites and the rest were performed by that twice-born;
recitation, an ancestral offering, and charity he performed according to dharma.

Having made a resolution to donate a brown cow there according to the rule declared in the Purāṇas,
he came back quickly to the place where that brahmin was waiting.

Then, having arrived, he said to the brahmin: “A horse sacrifice has been performed by me.
Arise, let us go to my delightful house to eat.”

Thus addressed by that brahmin, Śaṃkara, greatly astonished,
said to the brahmin: “O god-like man, you have only just gone from here;

O best of brahmins, how were ten sacrifices of great expense performed?”

The brahmin said:
“You should have no doubt: the sacrifices have been performed without question,
if the Vedas are an authority, and likewise the gods and brahmins on earth;

if the sacred ford Daśāśvamedhika is truly so, O best of brahmins,
and if the word declared in the Vedas and Purāṇas is beyond doubt;

then all has been obtained by me; there is no deliberation to be made here.”
When addressed in this way, the Lord of gods, [noticing] the faith of his mind,

and considering it in many ways, found no retort whatsoever;
reciting the eternal Veda, he went to his delightful house.

With devotion he worshipped that arriving brahmin with water for the feet and an oblation of water;
a meal of six tastes was then offered by him according to rule.

Then, when the Great God, Śiva who embodies all deities, had eaten,
a shower of flowers fell swiftly from the sky upon his head.
Perceiving his faith, Śaṃkara was pleased and said:

Īśvara said:
“Tell me, what shall be done for you today? I am a giver of boons, O best of brahmins.
I will grant even what cannot be given to you who are single-minded, surely.”

The brahmin said:
“If you are pleased with me, O god, if a boon is to be given to me,
you must always remain in this sacred ford, O Great God,

for the benefit [of the world], O Lord of gods; this is my supreme boon.”
Addressed thus by the god, the best of brahmins mounted

an aerial chariot crowded with Gandharvas and apsarases, granting all desires,
and, being worshipped, he went to the world where beings are free from affliction.

Mārkaṇḍeya said:
Seeing this matchless wonder, the goddess was greatly astonished;
with eyes wide in amazement, she asked Śaṃkara again:

Pārvatī said:
“How could this be true, since here it is inconsistent?
Many people perform ritual ablutions here, O Maheśvara;

how is their departure for heaven [not seen], just as this man went to the heavenly path?
Explain this [to me]; it is my great wonder.”

Hearing this, the Lord of gods, smiling, answered her:
“Regarding a Vedic statement, the meaning of a Purāṇa, the meaning of a Smṛti, and the words of a brahmin,

astonishment is not to be felt, for inference is indeed like that.
What is sung in the Purāṇas seems impossible to people;

if people act out of partisanship, O Pārvatī,
therefore their attainment of success does not occur; it is not a single wonder.

Those who lack faith, who transgress moral bounds, who are devoid of conviction,
success is not found for them; it certainly arises from faith.”

Hearing this account, the goddess bowed to the supreme sacred ford,
which removes all sins, is meritorious, and is situated on the Narmadā.

Mārkaṇḍeya said:
“The Daśāśvamedha, O king of kings, is the best of the best of all sacred fords,
a sacred ford endowed with all virtues, destroying great sins.

The highly fortunate Sarasvatī came there, desiring to bathe—
she who is the most sacred of the sacred, the best river of rivers,

by the mere mention of whose name one is released from all sins.
Those who have bathed there go to heaven; those who die there are free from rebirth.

She, restrained and celibate at Daśāśvamedha, O king,
having worshipped the Lord of gods, reached supreme liberation.

Born from Brahmā, she arrives on the tenth day of the month of Āśvina
to wash away the impurity that has accumulated throughout the year.

Having fasted during that night and worshipped the destroyer of Tripura,
they, cleansed of blemishes, go to the eternal abode on the next morning.”

Yudhiṣṭhira said:
“Sarasvatī is greatly sacred, the best river of rivers.”
Glorious Mārkaṇḍeya said:
“O king, on the tenth day in the month of Āśvayuja, that is distinguished
among all earthly sacred fords, without doubt.

At Daśāśvamedhika, O king, the tenth day is always auspicious,
especially the bright [tenth day] of Āśvina, which destroys great sins.

Having bathed on it, devoted to fasting, one should worship the gods;
having performed an ancestral rite according to rule, one should then worship Śiva.

One should worship the goddess Sarasvatī situated there, desiring to bathe: / ‘Salutations, salutations to you, O Ruler of gods, born from the body of Brahmā!

Bring about the destruction of my sins, O goddess, and deliver me from worldly existence!’
Having worshipped her with perfumes and incense, worshipping again and again,

and circumambulating ten times, one should wind a thread around.
Then, free from jealousy, one should give a brown cow to a brahmin.

Endowed with all auspicious marks and accompanied by all accessories,
having given that brown cow to a brahmin, one does not grieve over what has or has not been done.

Afterwards, one should keep vigil, having kindled a lamp with ghee,
solely through the recitation of Purāṇas, with dances, songs, and instrumental music.”

And he should worship the moon-crested [Śiva] with [mantras] declared in the Vedas. / Then, at clear dawn, having bathed in the waters of the Narmadā,

he should feed brahmins with devotion, as well as devotees of Śiva and yogins. / When this is done, O king, he then obtains the full fruit of the sacred ford.

That man who bathes in that sacred ford and worships Śaṅkara / obtains the supreme merit of the concluding bath of ten horse sacrifices.

Purified in soul by that merit, he goes to the world of Rudra, / mounted upon an excellent vehicle that travels at will and is most splendid.

Fanned there with chowries by divine apsarases, / he sports for a very long time amidst auspicious shouts of victory and the like.

Then, having descended in time, he will surely become a king here, / endowed with elephants, horses, and chariots, enjoying great pleasures, a scorcher of enemies.

Whatever gift is given at Daśāśvamedha to Śaiva yogins / becomes equal to ten horse sacrifices; there is no doubt in this.

The horse sacrifice is distinguished above all sacrifices; / it is hard to attain for those of little wealth, and abundantly so for those of sinful deeds.

Yet at that sacred ford, O best of kings, though hard to attain even for gods and asuras, / it is obtained through bathing and giving; thus spoke Śaṅkara.

Whether free from desire or possessing desire, one who dies there, O lord of men, / even he would attain godhead; no deliberation need be made on this.

Whoever enters into fire at that sacred ford, O best of men, / would dwell in the world of Agni until the dissolution of all beings.

Whoever enters into water at that sacred ford, O ruler of men, / meditating upon Mahādeva, would attain the world of Varuṇa.

Whoever casts off his body at Daśāśvamedha in the conduct of a hero, / his destiny is indeed imperishable; such is the prompting of the Veda.

Not to that destiny do those go who throw themselves from cliffs, nor those who bear the staff, nor the followers of Sāṅkhya and Yoga, / to which those who die in a great battle go in an instant, crowded with banners and resounding with kettledrums and conches.

Wherever a hero is slain, surrounded by enemies, / he attains imperishable worlds, provided he does not speak cowardly words.

Whoever duly performs saṃnyāsa at Daśāśvamedha, / his path never turns back from the world of Rudra.

Whatever merit there is at Daśāśvamedha has been related in brief, O Yudhiṣṭhira, / destroying all sin through supreme devotion.

Thus ends the one hundred and eightieth chapter, entitled 'Description of the Māhātmya of Daśāśvamedhatīrtha', in the Revākhaṇḍa of the fifth [part], the Āvantyakhaṇḍa, in the Mahāpurāṇa of eighty-one thousand verses, the glorious Skandapurāṇa.