Skandapurana 6.3.198

Chapter 198
Mārkaṇḍeya said:
Then one should go, O protector of the earth, to the confluence called Bhadrakālī, / renowned as Śūlatīrtha, fashioned by the god himself.

In the midst of the pañcāyatana stands the Supreme Lord, / the great god who bears the trident in his hand, worshipped by all the deities.

That confluence, O best of kings, is perpetually resorted to by the gods. / From the darśana of that sacred ford, and especially from bath and gifting,

misfortune, ill omens, curses, royal oppression, / and whatever other evil deed there is, are destroyed; so Śaṅkara declared.

Yudhiṣṭhira said:
How did the goddess become Śūleśvarī? How did Hara become Śūleśvara, / renowned on the bank of the Narmadā? Tell this in detail.

Mārkaṇḍeya said:
There was a certain brahmin renowned as Māṇḍavya, / of good conduct, knowing all dharma, steadfast in truth and austerity.

Dwelling in the Aśoka hermitage at the foot of a tree, practicing great austerity, / with raised arms and of great splendour, he remained observing the vow of silence.

After a long time, while he was engaged in intense austerity, / robbers carrying stolen goods arrived at that hermitage.

Being pursued by many men, O bull of the Bharatas, / they deposited the stolen goods in his dwelling, O joy of the Kurus.

Having hidden them, they concealed themselves right there in the precinct of the hermitage. / While they were hidden, the force of the guards quickly arrived.

Pursuing the thieves, they then saw that seer. / The guards then questioned that ascetic about what had happened:

'Tell [us], by which path did the robbers go, O best of twice-borns? / We shall proceed along that [path], O brahmin, so that we may go more swiftly.'

Although they spoke such words, that ascetic / said nothing, O king, neither good nor bad.

Then those royal officers, searching that hermitage, / bound him and delivered all the robbers to the king.

The king commanded regarding him along with the thieves: 'Let him be put to death.' / Having bound him with them, O king, the practitioner of great austerity was impaled upon a stake.

Then, having impaled that sage upon the stake, the guards / returned, O protector of the earth, taking all those riches.

Remaining on the stake for a long time, that righteous-minded one, / meditating on the god, the lord of the three worlds, Śaṅkara, the lord of Umā,

remained meditating in his mind upon the great lord for a long time. / Even without food, the brahmin-seer did not succumb to death.

That bull among brahmins held Hari in his heart; / tormented upon the tip of the stake, he performed austerity at that time.

Hearing this, all the sages experienced great distress; / becoming birds in the night, they assembled around him, O Bharata.

Revealing their power to the sage, they questioned that best of twice-borns: / 'We wish to hear, O brahmin: what sin have you committed?'

Glorious Mārkaṇḍeya said:
Then that tiger among sages said to those ascetics: / 'Whom shall I blame for this fault? Indeed, no other person has wronged me.'

Having spoken thus, the sage then recounted everything to all of them; / and on the second day, the sages reported it to the king.

Hearing of that seer, the king came forth with his kinsmen; / he then propitiated that best of seers impaled upon the stake.

The king said:
'Whatever great wrong I have committed against you through ignorance, father, / for that I propitiate you; you ought not to be angry with me.'

Thus addressed by the king, the sage granted his favor. / Once he had granted favor, the king brought him down.

As he was being brought down, since the stake had become embedded in his flesh, / the brahmin was exceedingly tormented, and went in mind to Śaṅkara.

Śaṅkara was contemplated by him through long-standing fasting; / the great god became manifest and severed his stake.

Standing at the base of the stake, Śambhu was pleased and said repeatedly:
"Speak, what shall be done, O brahmin devoted to remaining in goodness?

Even what cannot be given I shall bestow; today I am pleased together with Umā.
Yet, is there not greater fulfillment in the world for those who adhere to truth?

For living beings experience the fruit corresponding to their own deeds;
by a good deed comes prosperity, but from sin comes suffering.

Divided into many varieties, it ripens among human beings:
for some as poverty, and for some born from the loss of wealth;

for some born from the absence of offspring, and for some its opposite;
likewise from bad conduct the fruit manifests for men;

for some at the death of a son, or from separation from dear friends;
for some there is suffering wrought by fate through kings, thieves, or fire.

In the body of some it is seen through [their own] action;
for some various old-age [infirmities] are seen, and likewise diseases.

And curses accumulated according to past deeds are seen;
some, though innocent, have fallen into difficult and most terrible states.

Through the ripening of past deeds, those established in righteousness and austerity,
self-controlled, devoted to their own wives, generous givers, worshippers,

modest, endowed with good conduct, and others possessed of many virtues,
having met with insurmountable misfortune born of their own past actions,

those mortals who do not feverishly lament and do not revile righteousness,
regarding this very [distress] as austerity, endure it with clear minds;

those who do not cry out in hardships, 'Alas, brother! Mother! Son!',
[but] remember Me, the Great Lord, or the Lotus-Eyed [Viṣṇu]—

that former bad deed, having to be experienced, is surely completely pacified.

For as many days as he may dwell in hardship, meditating upon God, the Lord, in accordance with what he has done, / so many [days] are rendered benign by Him; O brahmin, this is the command of the Veda.

Because I have been constantly remembered and worshipped in mind by you while you were in distress, / therefore I, accompanied by Gaurī, have come here; tell me now what is to be done, what indeed may be done, O brahmin?"

Māṇḍavya said:
"If you are pleased together with Umā, if you grant boons, O Śaṅkara,
then resolve a supreme doubt of mine, situated on the stake:

No pain at all has arisen in me, though my limbs are impaled on the stake;
that stake is dripping with nectar; tell me, by whose power is this?"

The Lord with the Trident in Hand said:
"Because, while situated on the stake, you meditated on Me in your mind, O brahmin—
I am the destroyer of misfortunes, the dispeller of sorrows.

For merely upon being meditated upon, O brahmin, even if situated in Pātāla, / I, Śambhu, was at the base of the stake, and the Goddess herself stood at the tip; / Goddess Ambikā, Mother of the Universe, filled you with nectar."

Māṇḍavya said:
"Since you were already present, pervading the stake together with Umā,
and are now disposed to show grace to me together with Her,

from the mere remembrance of whom misfortune comes to destruction—
indeed, there is no sorrow in the world worse than misfortune;

indeed, such an account is heard in the Purāṇas, O best of gods:
when you were burning the three worlds, good fortune merged into one;

reaching the chest of Viṣṇu, it remained there, so we have heard;
frightened of his chest, it was drunk by Dakṣa, the supreme lord;

from him she was born as Satī, this blue-lotus-eyed one;
while he was sacrificing, O Lord of Gods, because of the insult to your honor,

that Goddess offered herself, called the vital breath, into the fire;
having reduced herself to ashes, she then [became] the daughter of the Snowy Mountain,

born of Menakā, O Lord, who is now named Umā;
the Goddess has neither beginning nor end, and is beyond contemplation, O Lord of Gods.

If you are pleased, O Lord of Gods, and if Umā grants me a boon:
both of you are indeed stationed in this place, at the tip and base of the stake;

wherever the descent is, establish your presence permanently right there."

Śrī Mārkaṇḍeya said:
When he had spoken thus, suddenly cleaving the earth in two,
two forms, an image and a liṅga, came forth from the base and the tip of the stake.

Illuminating all the directions, a liṅga was seen at the base;
on the left stood the image, the Goddess, Śūleśvarī,

enchanting the world, shining, and filling the directions;
seeing it, the best of twice-born folded his hands in reverence and offered praise.

Māṇḍavya said:
"You are the Mother of this universe, the goddess of universal good fortune;
there is nothing in the cosmic egg devoid of you, O fair-faced one!

Grant your grace, O knower of righteousness; you should instruct me:
in which places do you abide in this very form?
Being disposed to show grace, speak of them, O Great Goddess!"

The Goddess said:
"Everywhere-going, I am to be seen in all beings and on every side upon the earth;
nothing whatsoever is ordained in all the worlds without me.

Nevertheless, in which places I am to be seen by those desiring perfection
and remembered by one desiring prosperity, those I will declare in truth.

In Vārāṇasī [I am] Viśālākṣī; in Naimiṣa, Liṅgadhāriṇī;
in Prayāga, Goddess Lalitā; on Gandhamādana, Kāmukā;

at Mānasa, Kumudā by name; Viśvakāyā likewise in another;
on Gomanta, Gomatī by name; on Mandara, Kāmacāriṇī;

Madotkaṭā in Caitraratha; Hayantī in the city of Hāstina;
at Kānyakubja resides Gaurī; Rambhā indeed on Amala Mountain;

in Ekāmraka, Kīrtimatī; in Viśveśvara they know [me as] Viśvā;
at Puṣkara, Puruhūtā; and at Kedāra, Mārgadāyinī;

Nandā on the plateau of the Himavat; Bhadrakarṇikā at Gokarṇa;
Bhavānī at Sthāneśvara; Bilvapattrikā at Bilvaka;

Mādhavī by name on Śrīśaila; and Bhadreśvarī at Bhadra;
Jayā on Varāha Mountain; Kamalā in Kamalālaya;

Kalyāṇī at Rudrakoṭi; likewise Kālī at Kālañjara;
Kapilā at Mahāliṅga; Mukuṭeśvarī at Mākoṭa;

In Śāligrāma [she is known as] Mahādevī, in Śivaliṅga as Jalapriyā, / in Māyāpurī as Kumārī, and in Saṃtāna as Lalitā.

In Sahasrākṣa [she is] Utpalākṣī, in Hiraṇyākṣa Mahotpalā, / in Gayā named Vimalā, and in Puruṣottama Maṅgalā.

At the Vipāśā Amoghākṣī, in Puṇḍravardhana Pāṭalā, / Nārāyaṇī in Supārśva, and in Trikūṭa Bhadrasundarī.

In Vipula named Vipulā, Kalyāṇī on Mount Malaya, / Koṭavī at the Koṭitīrthas, and Sugandhā on Mount Gandhamādana.

At Godāśrama [she is] Trisandhyā, at Gaṅgādvāra Ratipriyā, / in Śivacaṇḍa Sabhānandā, and Nandinī on the bank of the Devikā.

Rukmiṇī in Dvāravatī, Rādhā in the forest of Vṛndāvana, / Devakī in Mathurā, and Parameśvarī in Pātāla.

Likewise Sītā in Citrakūṭa, Vindhyanivāsinī in the Vindhya, / Ekavīrā in the Sahyādri, and Caṇḍikā in Hariścandra.

Ramaṇā at Rāmatīrtha, Mṛgāvatī at the Yamunā, / Mahālakṣmī in Karavīra, and Rūpādevī in Vināyaka.

Ārogyā at Vaidyanātha, Maheśvarī at Mahākāla, / Abhayā at Uṣṇatīrtha, and Mṛgī in the cave of the Vindhya.

Named Māṇḍukī in Māṇḍavya, Svāhā in Māheśvarapura, / Pracaṇḍā in Chāgaliṅga, and Caṇḍikā at Amarakaṇṭaka.

Varārohā at Someśvara, Puṣkarāvatī at Prabhāsa, / Vedamātā at the Sarasvatī, and Pārā on the bank of the Pārā, O sage.

Mahābhāgā at Mahālaya, Piṅgaleśvarī at the Payoṣṇī, / Siṃhikā at Kṛtaśauca, and Śāṅkarī in Kārtika.

Lolā at Utpalāvartaka, Subhadrā at the confluence of the Śoṇa, / considered Lakṣmī at Siddhavaṭa, and Taraṅgā at Bhāratāśrama.

Viśvamukhī in Jālandhara, Tārā on Mount Kiṣkindha, / Puṣṭi in the Devadāru forest, and Medhā in the region of Kāśmīra.

Bhīmādevī on the Himālaya, and Puṣṭi at Vastreśvara, / Śuddhi at Kapālamocana, and Mātā at Kāyāvarohaṇa.

Named Dhvani at Śaṅkhoddhāra, and Dhṛti at Piṇḍāraka, / Kālā at the Candrabhāgā, and Śaktidhāriṇī at Acchoda.

Named Amṛtā at the Veṇā, and Urvaśī at Badarī, / Oṣadhī in Uttarakuru, and Kuśodakā in Kuśadvīpa.

Manmathā on Mount Hemakūṭa, Satyavādinī in Kumuda, / Vandinīkā in the Aśvattha tree, and Nidhi in the abode of Vaiśravaṇa.

Gāyatrī in the mouth of the Veda, Pārvatī in the presence of Śiva, / Indrāṇī in the heavenly realm, and Sarasvatī in the mouth of Brahmā.

Known as Prabhā in the sun's orb, as Vaiṣṇavī among the Mothers, / Arundhatī among chaste wives, and Tilottamā among beautiful women.

Named Brahmakalā in the soul, the power of all embodied beings, / Śūleśvarī in Bhṛgukṣetra, and Saubhāgyasundarī in Bhṛgu.

Thus the supreme one hundred and eight names have been proclaimed in brief; / and these one hundred and eight sacred fords have been enumerated.

This indeed will be the highest [benefit] for all, O brahmin: / whoever recites the one hundred and eight names in the presence of Śiva,

that man is freed from sins and obtains the woman he desires. / Having bathed on the third lunar day and having worshipped me with devotion,

she shall never experience sorrow, O best of men, through my power. / The woman who is constantly devoted to darśana of me,

she shall never meet with grief caused by husband or son. / Moreover, whatever woman in my temple, having performed the [rite] called tulāpuruṣa,

having worshipped, should adorn the gods and the world-protectors along with Agni, / and having honoured the brahmins together with their wives with garments and ornaments,

the priest, together with the officiants, should make an offering to the spirits; / then, having circumambulated [the balance], he should consecrate the balance with mantras thus:

Either [the worshipper], pure and wearing red garments, holding an añjali of flowers, [shall say]: / 'Homage to you! You stand as the supreme power of all the gods,

serving as the witness, the sustainer of the world, fashioned by the Source of the Universe. / You, O balance, are proclaimed here as the standard of measure for all beings!'

With clenched fists in both hands, one sits looking upon Umā's face; / then, in the other pan of the balance, the eminent brahmins should place

eight kinds of substances there, according to one's own wealth, / which exist on the earth in the form of property, O chief of brahmins:

gold, beans, wild mustard, safflower, / coconut, camphor, salt, and saffron as the eighth.

One should use one of these according to one's wealth, / until the gold and other goods exceed the balance [of the person's weight], O brahmin.

So long the man or woman should sit [there], and afterwards recite this: / 'Homage, homage to you, O Lalitā, designated as the balance-man!

Do you, O Umā, deliver us from this mire of worldly existence!' / Then, stepping down, he should offer the first half to the guru,

and the other half to the officiants, accompanied with [the pouring of] water. / Then, having obtained permission from them, he may give to other suppliants.

He should clothe the guru and his wife in red garments, / and the other officiants according to his means, and the guru with armlets and bracelets.

He should give a white milch cow, [saying], 'May Lalitā be pleased!' / Whatever woman performs [this] in my temple according to this rule,

she shall become like me among queens, spotless in splendour like Śrī, / and like Sāvitrī in beauty, for fifteen lifetimes.

The venerable Mārkaṇḍeya said: / Having thus heard the speech of Gaurī, that best of eminent brahmins / bowed down and quickly departed to the abode of Dharmarāja.

From that time forward that sacred ford has been known as Śūleśvarī. / Whoever bathes in that sacred ford and offers libations to the ancestors and gods,

[honours] brahmins with food and garments, ancestors and forefathers with rice-balls, / the Lord of the Gods, Śaṅkara, together with Umā, with dedicated offerings,

and with gifts of incense, bdellium, and brightly lit lamps, / freed from all sins, shall go to the presence of Śiva.

Moreover, whatever man in that sacred ford is accused, O lord of men, / and likewise cursed, having bathed for three days, is freed [from it].

The man who stays awake at night on the fourteenth day of the dark fortnight, / devoted to fasting, pure, and worships Śiva— / freed from the delusion of sin, he goes to the world of Rudra.

Three-eyed and four-armed, another Rudra incarnate, / he sports with celestial maidens as long as the moon, the sun, and the stars endure.

Thus ends the one hundred and ninety-eighth chapter, titled 'Description of the Māhātmya of Śūleśvara Sacred Ford', in the Revā Section of the fifth Avantī Section, in the glorious Skanda Mahāpurāṇa of eighty-one thousand verses.