Skandapurana 6.3.42

Chapter 42

The glorious Mārkaṇḍeya said: / Then one should go, O king of kings, to the supreme Pippaleśvara, / where the great yogin Pippalāda, of great austerity, attained perfection.

Yudhiṣṭhira said: / I wish to hear about Pippalāda's life, O lord, / and the māhātmya of that sacred ford where the [sage] of great austerity attained perfection.

Whose son was he, O illustrious one, and for what purpose did he perform austerity? / Tell me all this in detail, O sinless one.

Mārkaṇḍeya said: / In ancient times, my dear, the illustrious Yājñavalkya, who lived in Mithilā / and was a master of the Vedas and Vedāṅgas, performed vast austerity.

That wise Yājñavalkya had an ascetic sister. / Through destiny, she became a widow even in her seventh year.

By the ripening of past deeds she was bereft of father and mother. / Nor was there anyone on her husband's side, so she remained alone.

Wandering upon the earth, she slowly went to her brother. / He too was practicing austerity, desiring the happiness of the other world.

Staying there, serving him, she also practiced great austerity. / Then, at a certain time, having bathed on the day [after her period], having menstruated,

she put on an undergarment, having seen a rag in secret. / Where Yājñavalkya also slept that night, well covered,

he had a dream and discharged semen upon his loincloth like a drop of blood, / perfected by radiant austerity, glowing like fire.

When that brahmin woke up, seeing that garment defiled, / he threw it far away as untouchable, having performed purification according to the rules.

Since bathing at night is forbidden, the twice-born went back to sleep. / In the dead of night, she used that garment as a covering for her vulva.

In the morning, the sage searched here and there for the garment. / Then that brahmin woman said: “What are you looking for, my lord? / What do you need it for? Tell me the truth.”

Yājñavalkya said: / “O auspicious lady, an impure dream was seen by me tonight. / My wet garment was thrown down there, and it is not to be seen.”

Hearing that statement, the brahmin woman, terrified, said, O king: / “O brahmin, after bathing, I used that very cloth as an inner garment.”

Hearing her words, the great sage cried out “Alas! Alas!” / and fell to the ground like a tree cut down at its roots.

Saying “What is this?”, pure as the sky, / she comforted the brahmin and then addressed these words to him:

“Tell me the reason, father, even if it is more secret than the secret, / so that a remedy for it may be devised and done with haste.”

Then, having meditated for a long time, regaining his speech a moment later, / his mind filled with dread, he spoke that which [I shall tell you], hear, O ruler of men:

“There is no fault here for you, nor for me, O lady of auspicious vows. / But the fetus in your womb has destiny as its cause.

Its protection must truly be carried out by you at all times; / it must not be destroyed until the passage of time is complete.”

Saying “So be it,” the virtuous woman, ashamed and with an aching heart, / protected that fetus until a son was born.

As soon as he was born, that brahmin woman took the child, / sought the shade of an aśvattha tree, abandoned him, and spoke these words:

“Whatever creatures there are in the worlds, both motionless and moving, / let them all protect this child abandoned by me!”

Having spoken thus, that brahmin woman departed, O best of kings. / That infant who had come into such a state, remaining there for a moment,

flinging his hands and feet, closing his fine eyes, / and making a contorted face, wept with distorted sounds.

Terrified by that cry, both the motionless and the moving, / along with mountains, forests, and groves, shook with great portents.

Then, knowing that best of the twice-born to be a great being overwhelmed by hunger, / from then on the tree did not abandon its shade, and for his drinking / he drank the sap from it and was nourished, O descendant of Bharata.

Thus reared there, the boy confidently thought in his own mind: / “What is within the astrological reach of my planets?”

Then Śanaiścara, who has a cruel manner, having seen [the boy] looking cruelly, / suddenly fell to the earth, the slow-moving one.

Terrified, with folded hands, he then said: / “What wrong have I done, O brahmin, O great sage Pippalāda,

that moving through the sky, I have been cast down to the surface of the earth?” / Thus addressed by Sauri, the great sage Pippalāda,

assuming a wrathful form, spoke these words; hear that, O lord of men: / “To me, an infant bereft of father and mother, O evil-minded one, / why do you cause affliction, O Sauri? Tell me completely!”

Śanaiścara said: / “A cruel nature is inborn to me, and such is my gaze. / Release me; I will do whatever you say, without a doubt.”

Pippalāda said: / “From this day forward, until their sixteenth year, / no affliction should be caused by you to children, O planet! This is the agreement made with you.”

Saying “So be it,” the slow-moving one departed whence he had come, / returning to the path of the gods after bowing down to the best of seers.

When that great planet had disappeared from view, the boy, / reflecting on his father, was stained with anger.

Contemplating the fiery dhāraṇā, he generated a fire, / and with kṛtyā-spells he offered into the fire, saying: “May a kṛtyā come into being!”

Instantly, a maiden appeared, adorned with wreaths of flames, / resembling fire itself, and said: “What shall I do?”

"Shall I dry up the oceans? Shall I crush the mountains? / Shall I envelop the earth? Shall I bring down the firmament?

Upon whose head shall I fall, and whom shall I strike down, O twice-born? / Command my task quickly, lest my time pass away!"

Hearing those words of hers, Pippalāda, rich in ascetic power, / his eyes reddened with rage, spoke these words:

"In a great rush of fury were you conceived by me, auspicious one! / Yājñavalkya is my father; fall upon him without delay!"

Having spoken thus, she went swiftly, rending the firmament. / Residing in Mithilā, the highly wise, magnanimous [sage] was practicing austerities.

Then Yājñavalkya of great splendor saw that quarter of the sky / blazing like the sun, and a great spirit arrived.

Seeing it arriving suddenly, terrified, the great sage, / pursued by the spirit, went to King Janaka.

"Know that I have come to you for refuge, O best of kings! / Protect me from fear of this great spirit, if you are able, O ruler of the earth!"

"The spirit born of brahmic brilliance is irresistible and hard to approach; / I cannot protect you," said the king.

Then, seeking refuge, he of great austerities went to another foremost king; / dismissed by him, he fled in terror to Indra's dwelling.

"O king of gods, salutations to you! Out of fear of this great spirit, O king—" / trembling, the brahmin pleaded again and again, "protect me!"

Hearing his plea, the king of gods said this: / "I cannot protect you from the wrath of a brahmin, O sage."

Then that brahmin, supreme knower of Brahman, went to Brahmā's abode, / and to the realm of Viṣṇu, and by him too he was told the very same thing.

Then the sage, distressed and despairing of his life, O king, / still pursued by the spirit, went to the abode of Śaṅkara.

Endowed with the power of yoga, O descendant of Pāṇḍu, / he hid within the crevice of Mahādeva's fingernail so that the god did not see him.

Directly after him arrived the spirit, shining like the blazing sun, / saying, "Release, release the man!" to Maheśvara, the god of gods.

Addressed thus by that spirit, O Bhārata, Mahādeva / then revealed the lord of yogins inside the crevice of his fingernail.

Having checked the spirit, the lord of spirits said to the sage / who had fallen into extreme peril: "Do not fear, O brahmin; come out, O great sage!"

Then, seeing the spirit standing with an exceedingly subtle form, he said this: / "What will you do to him, O great spirit? Tell me!"

The Kṛtyā said: / "Conceived by Pippalāda when filled with fury, O lord of gods, / I shall destroy his body; know me to be meant for violence, O Lord!"

Hearing this uttered from the mouth of the spirit, / Mahādeva, the knower of mantras, consecrated Yājñavalkya seated on his hip with mantras.

Bestowing the name Yogīśvara upon the brahmin, O Yudhiṣṭhira, / and dismissing [the spirit], the lord of gods vanished right there.

Having dispatched that spirit, Pippalāda too, disheartened / and anxious about his father and mother, took shelter on the bank of the Narmadā.

Standing on one big toe and fasting for sixteen years, O king, / he propitiated Śaṅkara, the lord of gods, along with Umā.

Then, pleased by that austerity, Śaṅkara spoke these words:

Īśvara said: / "I am fully pleased with you, O brahmin, by this austerity, O one of good vows! / Choose a boon; I grant you the auspicious thing desired in your mind."

Pippalāda said: / "If the Blessed Lord is pleased with me, if a boon is to be granted to me, / then, O god, remain present at this sacred ford, O Maheśvara!"

Addressed thus, saying "So be it!" to the great sage Pippalāda, / the god vanished from sight, accompanied by the host of spirits.

When the god had departed, Pippalāda bathed there in the great water, / installed Mahādeva, and departed for the northern mountain.

A person who bathes with devotion at that sacred ford along with mantras, O king, / offers libations to the ancestors and gods, and worships Maheśvara,

obtains the peerless fruit of a horse sacrifice; / upon dying, he goes to the city of Rudra; there should be no doubt about this.

Moreover, he who feeds brahmins on behalf of the ancestors, O Bhārata, / his ancestors, fully satisfied, rejoice in heaven for twelve years.

Whoever abandons the body at that sacred ford by means of renunciation, / his state is one of never returning from the realm of Rudra at any time.

All this that was asked by you, O sinless one, has been related: / the māhātmya of Pippalāda and the very origin of the sacred ford.

This is meritorious, sin-removing, auspicious, and destroys bad dreams; / for those who read or hear it, there is the destruction of all sins.

Thus ends the forty-second chapter, titled 'Description of the Māhātmya of Pippalādatīrtha,' in the Narmadāmāhātmya of the Revākhaṇḍa, in the fifth section, Āvantyakhaṇḍa, of the glorious Skandamahāpurāṇa comprising eighty-one thousand verses.