Skandapurana 6.3.78

Chapter 78

Śrī Mārkaṇḍeya said: / Then, O best of kings, one should go to the excellent Naradeśvara, / the supreme sacred ford among sacred fords, founded by Nārada.

Yudhiṣṭhira said: / O best of sages, why was this sacred ford founded by Nārada? / Relate all this to me, if you are pleased [with me], O most virtuous one.

Śrī Mārkaṇḍeya said: / Nārada, the son of the Supreme Lord [Brahmā], is the best of sages, O son of Pṛthā; / formerly, austerity was performed by him on the northern bank of the Revā.

By restraining the nine channels and remaining motionlessly absorbed like wood, / the Lord of Beings was truly pleased by Nārada, O Yudhiṣṭhira.

Īśvara said: / I am pleased with you, O best of brahmins, lord among yogins, unborn from a womb! / Ask a boon of me, child, whatever is in your mind.

Nārada said: / By your grace, O Śambhu, may my yoga be accomplished, / and may I have unswerving devotion to you at all times.

May I wander at will, O God, well-versed in the Vedas and Vedāṅgas; / may I know the three times, O Lord of the World, and may I always know the art of song.

Day after day, just as there is conflict among gods, Dānavas, and human beings / in Pātāla, in the mortal world, or even in heaven, O Maheśvara,

may I behold [it], and by your grace behold you and Pārvatī likewise; / and [grant] a sacred ford renowned throughout the worlds, destroying all sins.

Īśvara said: / Thus, O Nārada, all shall come to pass, there is no doubt. / Whatever you have thought will be accomplished through my grace; there is no doubt here.

You will wander at will, my child, in heaven and in the realm of Pātāla; / wander also in the mortal realm, O yogin, and you will not be restrained by anyone.

The seven musical notes, the three scales, the twenty-one modulations, / and the forty-nine melodic patterns [shall be yours] by my grace, surely.

Divine song and dance will be pleasing to me; / and you will constantly behold strife among gods, Dānavas, and Kinnaras.

Your sacred ford on the face of the earth will be holy through my grace. / Knowing the essence of the Vedas and Vedāṅgas, skilled in all knowledge, / you are solitary and unattached through my grace, O Nārada.

Having spoken thus, the God disappeared. Then, O best of kings, Nārada / installed the Bearer of the Trident there, who benefits all beings.

An excellent sacred ford on earth was founded by Nārada; / whichever self-controlled person goes to that sacred ford, O best of kings,

on the fourteenth day of the dark fortnight in the month of Bhādrapada, O son of Pṛthā, / fasting with supreme devotion, should keep vigil at night.

An umbrella should be given there to a brahmin endowed with auspicious marks. / For those who were killed by a weapon, one should offer a śrāddha; / they go to the supreme realm through the power of the gift of rice-balls.

A brown cow should be given there for the sake of the ancestors, O descendant of Bharata, / uttering thus, it should be given to a twice-born: 'May they attain the supreme state!'

'Through the intention of this śrāddha, through the grace of the brahmin, / through the nature of the waters of the Narmadā, and through wealth earned righteously, / and through their power, may the spirits of the dead attain the supreme state!'

Having uttered thus, a sacrificial fee should be given to the twice-born according to one's capacity, / and one should feed the twice-born with sacrificial food, O large-eyed one.

A lamp should be offered with devotion, and dance and song should be performed; / indeed, everything is obtained by him who performs this in the abode of Īśvara.

He goes to the presence of Rudra; so Rudra himself proclaimed. / And by the singular gift of knowledge, he attains an imperishable state.

Draught-oxen should be given there, [and] land bearing crops, O king. / One should please the fire [Citrabhānu] there with devotion, using auspicious mantras,

with abundant clarified butter and sacrificial materials, O descendant of Bharata. / Those who always worship with devotion at the three times of day and [offer] dance

at the sacred ford called Nārada on the northern bank of the Revā— / the gods have Citrabhānu as their mouth, and the sage is composed of all the gods.

All are pleased by the sage; therefore, the consumer of oblations is pleased. / When the bearer of oblations is worshipped, poverty never arises.

Great satisfaction through wealth arises in every birth; / and they are of noble family and handsomely attired at all times through wealth.

A raft for rivers, a husband for women, a king devoted to good conduct for his subjects, / wealth for men, and seasons for trees bring back their departed youth again and again.

The status of the giver of wealth was attained by the Lord of Wealth at that very sacred ford; / and the status of Yama by Yama, and the status of Indra by the wielder of the thunderbolt.

Sovereignty over the earth was attained by other kings as well; / Dhruva achieved steadfastness through the māhātmya of Nāradeśvara.

The sacred ford, best among all sacred fords, was founded by Nārada / on the ocean-bounded earth, on the northern bank of the Revā; / it is the best of all sacred fords, destroying the greatest sins.

Thus ends the seventy-eighth chapter, entitled 'Description of the Māhātmya of Nāradeśvara Tīrtha', in the Revākhaṇḍa of the fifth [section], the Āvantyakhaṇḍa, in the glorious Skanda Mahāpurāṇa, a compendium of eighty-one thousand [verses].