Skandapurana 6.3.83

Chapter 83

Śrī Mārkaṇḍeya said:
Then one should go, O great king, to the extremely beautiful sacred ford,
said to remove the murder of a brahmin, situated on the bank of the Revā.
For here exists the excellent liṅga named after Hanumat.

Yudhiṣṭhira said:
Tell me how Hanūmanteśvara came to be,
the sacred ford that removes the murder of a brahmin, situated on the southern bank of the Revā.

The venerable Mārkaṇḍeya said: / Excellent, excellent, O mighty-armed one, ornament of the lunar dynasty! / I have not told anyone of this sacred ford, which is more secret than the secret.

Out of affection for you I shall declare it, though I am afflicted by old age. / Long ago, a great battle took place between Rāma and Rāvaṇa.

Pulastya was the son of Brahmā, and Viśravas was indeed his son. / From him was born Rāvaṇa, the ten-faced brahmarākṣasa.

And by the grace of the wielder of the trident, he became the conqueror of the three worlds. / All the gods were conquered, and Rāma's wife was abducted.

The sinner was repeatedly restrained by Kumbhakarṇa, by Vibhīṣaṇa, / and by Mandodarī: 'Release Sītā, release her!'

'You were defeated by Kārtavīrya, and he too by the son of Reṇukā; / that Rāma [was defeated] by Rāmabhadra; how then could there be your victory in battle?'

Rāvaṇa said: / 'By monkeys, men, bears, and by unarmed boars, / and by hosts of gods and asuras, I was never defeated.'

The venerable Mārkaṇḍeya said: / Yet by Rāmacandra, with Sugrīva and Hanumān, / with Kumuda, Aṅgada, and with these and other allies, he was indeed conquered.

By Rāmacandra, the mighty son of Pulastya was slain in battle. / The forest was broken, and heroes were slain by the son of the Wind.

Rāvaṇa's son, Prince Akṣa, was slain in combat, / and the dreadful might of the rākṣasas was crushed by the monkey.

When this event of the Rāmāyaṇa had thus passed and Sītā had been freed, / and Rāma had gone to Ayodhyā, that great monkey Hanumān

went to the mountain named Kailāsa to bow before the Great Lord. / 'Wait, wait!' that best of monkeys was told by Nandin:

'You are tainted with the sin of killing brahmins, on account of slaying the rākṣasas. / Truly, O monkey, the assembly hall of Bhairava must not be seen by you.'

Hanumān said: / 'O Lord Nandin, ask Hara what gives pacification of the sin. / For I am a monkey, a sinner born through another cause.'

Nandin said: / 'Have you not heard of her who is born from the body of Rudra, who rests upon the earth? / Through hearing [of her], the sin born of a lifetime is removed, and double through chanting [her name].

The sin accumulated over thirty births is destroyed by plunging into the Revā. / Therefore, go to the bank of the Narmadā and perform great austerity.'

Having heard what was said by Nandin, the son of the Wind / departed for the bank of the Narmadā, to its confluence on the south of the Aurvā.

Far to the south, he meditated upon the god, the three-eyed wielder of the trident, / endowed with a diadem of matted locks, wearing a serpent as a sacred thread,

all his limbs smeared with ashes, resounding with the sound of the ḍamaru, / taking Umā into half his body, peaceful, seated on the bull-lord.

For many years he worshipped Īśvara, / until Mahādeva, pleased, arrived together with Umā.

He spoke sweet speech, resounding deep like a rain-cloud. / 'Excellent, excellent!' said the Lord, 'Child, you have endured hardship!

You committed no sin before in the destruction of Rāvaṇa. / Devoted to the business of your master, you are perfected by the sight of me.'

And Hanumān, beholding Hara, steadfast, taking Umā into half his body, / bowed with eight limbs and said: 'Victory, O Śambhu! Homage be to you! / Victory to the destroyer of Andhaka! Victory, O bearer of the Gaṅgā upon your head!'

Thus praised, Mahādeva, granting a boon, spoke these words: / 'Request a boon from me, my child, born of the essence of my vital breath!'

The venerable Hanumān said: / 'The guilt of killing [a brahmin] arose for me from slaying the brahmarākṣasa, O Maheśvara. / May I be free from sin, O Lord, this instant, by conversing with you!'

Īśvara said: / 'By the greatness of the sacred ford of the Narmadā, by the power of the practice of dharma, / and by the sight of my form, O son, you are sinless; there is no doubt.

And I grant you another boon, O bull among monkeys: / your names for the benefit of the worlds, O son of the Wind:

Hanūmān, son of Añjanā, son of the Wind, exceedingly mighty, / beloved of Rāma, Phālguna's friend, yellow-eyed, of immeasurable prowess,

best at leaping the ocean, crusher of the pride of the ten-necked one, / giver of life to Lakṣmaṇa, and dispeller of Sītā's sorrow.'

Having spoken thus, the god Śaṅkara vanished together with Umā. / Hanumān then established a liṅga there with devotion,

by the power of his own yoga and the strength of his celibacy. / By the grace of Īśvara, that liṅga grants desires; / it cannot be severed, it is incomprehensible, and free from destruction and arising.

The venerable Mārkaṇḍeya said: / Hear, O son, the visible proof concerning Hanūmanteśvara, / which took place at the beginning of the Dvāpara and end of the Tretā age, O joy of Pāṇḍu.

There was a king named Suparvan upon the earth. / That king always had happiness, and people were always long-lived.

Endowed with sons and wealth, he was free from the afflictions of thieves. / He had a son of terrible prowess named Śatabāhu.

He was always attached to sinful ways, O lord of men. / He wandered over all the earth, the mountains, and the forests.

For the sake of hunting herds of deer, he went to the Vindhya mountain, / which was crowded with various kinds of trees and filled with herds of elephants,

rich in the beauty of lions and leopards, swarming with deer and boars. / Having sported in the forest, that king bowed to the Narmadā somewhere,

and reached the forest of Hanūmat, extending a hundred krośas, / rich in the beauty of tamarind groves and crowded with kadamba trees,

always adorned with pālāśa, jambīra, karañja, and khadira, / combined with pāṭala and badara, and embellished with śamī and tinduka,

covered with herds of deer, resounding with the cries of peacocks, / and beautified on all sides by the sounds of flocks of pigeons.

In autumn, during the dark fortnight of Āśvina, the king delighted there. / Having gone into the middle of the forest, he saw a tawny brahmin wandering about,

with a manuscript resting in his hand, and he questioned that restless brahmin.

Śatabāhu said: / Why do you wander alone in the forest with a booklet in your hand, / looking here and there? Tell me, best of brahmins.

The brahmin said: / I have come from Kānyakubja, sent by a king's daughter, / to cast bones into the waters at Hanūmanteśvara, O king.

The king said: / Why are bones being cast into the waters at Hanūmanteśvara, O brahmin? / For what purpose is this done? Tell me the wondrous tale.

Leaving his vehicle and bowing down upon the earth, / folding his hands in reverence to the brahmin, O king, / the son of Suparvan told his entire former account:

The brahmin said: / There is a valorous king named Śikhaṇḍin in Kānyakubja; / this ruler was childless, but through desires a daughter was born to him.

She remembered her past births and was very beautiful in body, through the power of the Narmadā. / Once that maiden was addressed by her father for marriage:

"In this impermanent worldly existence, daughter, I shall give [you] in marriage. / What is to be done tomorrow one should do today, and in the morning what is to be done in the afternoon; / for death does not wait to see whether one's work is done or not done."

The maiden said: / "At whatever time I wish, at that time I should be given [in marriage] by you, father." / At his daughter's words, that king, astonished, spoke [these] words:

Śikhaṇḍin said: / "Tell me, blessed one; you have spoken wondrously." / At her father's words, that excellent girl came near,

and told what had happened at Hanūmanteśvara, O king: / "Father, I was a peahen, and I lived then united with my mate.

Dwelling near the confluence of the Revā and the Uru, on the southern bank of the Revā, / I disported at will in the sacred forest of Hanūmat.

Having fallen asleep with my mate at night on an upright tree, / hunters, afflicted with hunger, arrived there in that excellent forest.

United with my mate, I was seen by those wicked men intent on slaughter. / Taking a snare, I was captured together with my husband.

They twisted [our] necks, plucked off our plumes; / and into the fire's mouth, together with my beloved, [we were thrown] by those hunters.

Roasting the flesh of us two, eating as much as they wished, / they slept at night, their senses at ease, until that night came to an end.

In the morning, the remainder of the meat [was taken] by jackals and scavenging vultures; / and a bone produced from my body, covered with sinew and flesh,

was seized by a predatory bird, and then dropped from the sky. / Seeing him eating flesh, other birds arrived.

Seeing that flock of birds, he released the piece of bone, / while all the birds chased and watched.

It fell into the waters of the Narmadā at Hanūmanteśvara, O king; / that piece of bone of mine fell into the water of the Narmadā.

By the merit of that sacred ford, I was born as your daughter; / I was born a king's daughter, with a face like the full moon.

Remembering my past lives, I was born into your royal lineage; / therefore I do not desire marriage. My husband, O best of kings,

still remains in a wretched condition among the species of birds and beasts. / The remainder of his bones will be at that sacred ford, O king of kings.

For the sake of casting them [into the river], O father, send an excellent brahmin today. / This entire reason has been told to you, O best of kings.

My husband is in a wretched place among the species of birds and beasts. / If you send someone, father, to the bank of the Narmadā,

I will tell him [the place], marked by locations and signs." / And there I was summoned by Śikhaṇḍin, O lord of the earth:

"I will give twenty villages; go to the bank of the Narmadā." / The mission was agreed to by me, who was afflicted by poverty.

The maiden said: / "Go to the holy Narmadā, destroyer of all sins. / To the south-east of Somanātha is the supreme Hanūmanteśvara.

Half a krośa from the Revā is a sprawling banyan tree, / and a karañja and a kaṭaha near that banyan tree.

Near the root of the banyan you will see small bones; / gathering them and collecting them, go to the Revā, O best of brahmins.

In the dark fortnight of Āśvina, on the fourteenth day sacred to the foe of Tripura, / bathe the trident-bearing Lord with devotion, and keep a vigil through the night.

At dawn you should cast them, standing in navel-deep water, / pronouncing: 'O best of brahmins, let liberation arise for him!'

Having cast the bones, another ritual ablution must be performed that destroys sin. / When this is done, O king of kings, higher state will be his."

And whatever was told by the maiden, all that was recorded in a booklet. / I have arrived, O best of kings, at this sin-destroying sacred ford.

Seeing that mark, bringing the bones, O lord of men, / by the method previously stated I cast [them] into the waters of the Narmadā, O Pāṇḍava, [amid] a rain of flowers and cries of "Well done! Well done!"; / and then a celestial aerial chariot arrived for that peacock.

Taking on a celestial form, the peacock went to heaven. / Having witnessed such confirmation at Hanūmanteśvara, O king,

the brahmin and King Śatabāhu undertook fasting; / devoted to the worship of Īśvara, both of them emaciated themselves.

Meditating on the God, the best of brahmins and Śatabāhu remained; / after half a month, the noble King Śatabāhu died.

And an aerial chariot arrived there, splendid with a network of tiny bells: / "Well done, well done, O best of kings! Ascend the aerial chariot!"

Śatabāhu said: / "I will not proceed on the path to heaven as long as the brahmin has not died; / the best of brahmins gave me instruction, taking the role of a guru."

The apsarases said: / "This brahmin was overcome with greed, and from greed comes the accumulation of sin; / those who die at Hanūmanteśvara, O king, established in purity, [attain heaven]."

They go to Śaṃkara's realm, which brings destruction to all sins; / but this brahmin’s sins are not destroyed at all, O king of men.

His home and his wife are active in the brahmin's mind.' / Then Śatabāhu, full of humility, addressed the brahmin:

'Renounce this greed, the root of ruin, O best among the twice-born.' / Having said this, the king went to heaven, surrounded by celestial maidens.

After some days the brahmin went to heaven, surrounded by heralds, / as did the peacock, the son of the king of Kāśī, by the power of the sacred ford.

Remembering his past birth and himself having been given by the maiden, / and she, seeing that he had grown up, and having obtained her father's permission, / that virtuous woman gained the prince as her husband at a svayaṃvara.

Śrī Mārkaṇḍeya said: / This incident took place at that sacred ford, O best of kings; / for this reason, O king, this sacred ford is forever pure.

On the eighth or fourteenth [lunar day], at all times, O lord of men, / and especially on the fourteenth day of the dark fortnight in the month of Āśvina,

one should bathe Īśvara with devotion using honey, milk, ghee, / curd mixed with sugar, and again with kuśa-water.

One should smear Maheśvara with fragrant sandalwood paste; / then one should worship him with fragrant flowers and bilva leaves,

with mucakunda, kada, and blossoms of jātī, kāśa, and kuśa, / with clusters of unmattaka flowers and flowers of the sage, and with seasonal flowers.

With supreme devotion one should worship Śiva, Hanūmanteśvara; / one should offer a lamp with ghee, or with oil in its absence.

One should have a śrāddha performed there by brahmins who have mastered the Vedas, / endowed with all auspicious marks, of noble birth, and maintainers of households.

With devotion one should gratify the brahmins with garments, food, and gold, / and, declaring, 'May those dwelling in hell go to heaven,' bow to the twice-born.

One should shun fallen brahmins whose housewife is an unchaste woman, / who, abandoning her own bull, acts like a cow in heat with other bulls.

The gods know such a one to be a vṛṣalī; a śūdra woman is not [thereby] a vṛṣalī. / The murder of a brahmin, the drinking of liquor, intercourse with the guru's wife,

the theft of gold, and sins arising from betrayal of a deposit or a friend: / all such sin is destroyed—thus Śaṅkara has spoken.

Śrī Mārkaṇḍeya said: / What use is my much speaking with rambling words, my child? / Even one weighed down with every sin should make a gift to a twice-born.

A gift of a cow should especially be made at this sacred ford; / for a gift of a cow, O Pārtha, is considered superior to all gifts.

Cows comprise all gods; all gods have their self in them. / Upon the tips of her horns, O protector of the earth, Indra continually dwells.

Her chest is Skanda; her head, Brahmā; on her forehead is the Bull-bannered [Śiva]; / the Moon and Sun deities are her eyes, and Sarasvatī is upon her tongue.

The host of the Maruts and the Sādhyas are always her teeth, O king of men; / in her lowing sound one should know the four Vedas with their aṅgas, padas, and kramas.

Countless ascetic seers dwell in her hair follicles. / Holding a staff in hand, of huge body, dark-complexioned, mounted on a buffalo,

Yama continually abides on her back, assessing good and evil; / the four holy oceans and streams of milk are in her teats.

The Gaṅgā, arisen from Viṣṇu's foot and destroying sins by its very sight, / resides in her urine; therefore it is always worshipped by the wise.

And Lakṣmī, pure and all-auspicious, is always in cow dung; / therefore anointing with cow dung must be performed, O son of Pāṇḍu.

Gandharvas, apsarases, and nāgas reside on the tips of her hooves. / Whatever sacred fords there are on the earth bounded by the oceans, O Bhārata, / one should know all of them [to be in the cow]; therefore cow products are purifying.

Yudhiṣṭhira said: / The cow consists of all gods and is adorned by the immortals and others. / Tell me this, father: why have they taken refuge in cows?

Śrī Mārkaṇḍeya said: / Viṣṇu consists of all gods; cows are born from Viṣṇu's body; / therefore, from both of these, the various gods have been formed by people.

Whether white or tawny, giving milk, O son of Pāṇḍu, / with her calf, of good disposition, covered with a white cloth,

a bronze milking pail should be given, with gold on her horns, well-adorned; / one should offer it with devotion to a brahmin before Hanūmanteśvara.

It should be given by one abiding by vows, desiring endless heaven; / those who give it to one who is destitute proceed to Viṣṇu's realm.

When he falls from that realm, O king, to the earth into a twice-born's household, / a son is born skillful, endowed with virtues, learning, and abundance of wealth.

Hanūmanteśvara is a sacred ford that removes all sins, O king; / hearing [of it], one is freed from the sin arising from intermixture of castes.

Even staying far away, remembering or seeing it, one is liberated; there is no doubt in this.

Thus ends the eighty-third chapter, named 'Description of the Glory of Hanūmanteśvara Tīrtha', in the Revākhaṇḍa of the fifth Āvantyakhaṇḍa in the glorious Skanda Mahāpurāṇa consisting of eighty-one thousand verses.