Skandapurana 7.4.52_38

Sanatkumāra said:
“At that very time, O Vyāsa, King Dakṣa Prajāpati,
the son of the Pracetases, performed a horse sacrifice.
There, impelled by mantras, the fire carrying the offerings
was then conveying the portions everywhere for the hosts of gods.
And the goddess, the daughter of the best of mountains, saw him conveying [them],
remembering that enmity and the cause of the curse.
And the mountain-born [goddess], prompting the ancient one, spoke to him
fittingly in sweet words, accompanied by reason:
‘You are the god of all the gods, their refuge and their shelter.
Without you, how does a sacrifice proceed, O protector of all gods?
This fire, O Bhava, is conveying the portions of the gods;
he is not [conveying] yours, O Maheśāna of great splendor! What is the reason?
An aim is not achieved through conciliation without prowess, O Lord!
This king, the son of the Pracetases, is foolish and arrogant;
remembering previous enmity, he will never give [your share] unless he is chastised.
Moreover, a boon was given by you to Dadhīca at that time, O Lord;
the time for that has come—let [action] be taken for that purpose!’”

Sanatkumāra said:
“Addressed thus, O Vyāsa, the blessed Lord who bears the bull upon his banner
smiled and spoke to the goddess: ‘O lady of bright smiles, your father
in a previous birth, O fair-hipped, auspicious one, was the son of Prajāpati.
Testing my disposition, O goddess, do you speak [thus]?
For no passionate woman wishes sorrow upon her father in this world.’
Spoken to thus at that time, O Vyāsa, by the pure-souled god,
the goddess of wide eyes then knit her brows upon her forehead,
and in anger the brightly smiling one rubbed the tip of her nose with her hand.
As that nose was being rubbed, a woman of great radiance
was born, with a frown on her face, four fangs, and three eyes,
wearing armguards of leather and finger-protectors, clad in armor, wearing a girded belt,
having a sword, a bow, quivers, and a banner,
twelve-faced, ten-armed, slender-waisted, dark as gloom,
with firm breasts, broad hips, thighs like elephant trunks, imperishable.
The goddess with a lovely face addressed that goddess as Bhadrakālī.
Then she spoke to the god: ‘She has been created by me, O Lord;
you also create another suitable attendant. Homage be to you!’
Then the god looked upon his own radiant shoulder;
from it was born a divine man, as if burning up the three worlds,
his face adorned with knitted brows, equipped with leather armguards and finger-protectors,”

Armored, with quiver bound, holding arrows, sword, and bow, / three-eyed and four-armed, a youth of adamantine frame— / having been created, he bowed down, the troop-lord named Hari, / and with cupped hands addressed the God of gods together with Umā: / “Command, O Lord of gods, what I am to do, O pervasive Lord.” / Then the Blessed One spoke to Hari, the commander of the troops: / “Go, destroy this sacrifice of the son of Pracētas. / Together with Bhadrakālī, swiftly carry out this deed, O lord of the troops.” / Then the blessed god, wise, created lords of troops / of multifaceted shapes from his own limbs, able to assume any form at will. / He touched his arm properly, and from it were born mighty ones. / There were ninety hundred crores [of them] born of the Lord. / The Blessed One said to them: “O sinless ones, destroy the sacrifice!” / Sanatkumāra said:

Then the two, surrounded by that vast army, / went forth with roars like the ocean and rumblings like clouds and thunderbolts. / And the god, together with Pārvatī, staying near the hermitage of Raibhya, / watched that work of destroying the sacrifice by the troop-lords. / Sanatkumāra said: / The trees of Kanakhala stood near the gate of the Gaṅgā, / and there was a mountain with golden peaks resembling Mount Meru. / In that region, Dakṣa's sacrifice was taking place. / And the formidable army of the troop-lords arrived, led by Kālī. / Having arrived, all those exalted ones, radiant as blazing fire, / spoke to the patron of the sacrifice, the officiating priests, the sages, and the gods: / “We are indeed all followers of Śarva, the Supreme Self. / We have come here desiring shares; bestow the desired shares! / By austerity, by strength, or by restraint are [people] worthy of sacrificial shares, / or by majesty, or by yoga—by whatever means before you. / All of that is indeed in us as well; we too are share-takers. / If the gods are masters, and therefore have attained worthiness of shares— / in mastery, strength or austerity is the cause, no doubt of this; / both of those reside in us alone, and therefore our mastery is superior. / But if this is someone's command, O best of sages and gods: / ‘A share must be given to you [gods], but not to us,’ let it be stated! / Tell us who commands this, and then we will know.”

Thus addressed by Hari, all of them, led by the gods, / said: “The mantras are the authority regarding your share, O troop-lords.” / And the mantras said to the gods: “Your minds are overpowered by darkness, / since you did not offer sacrifice to Maheśvara, who is worthy of the first share.” / When, even though being addressed by the mantras, they still did not give shares, / the mantras then departed from there to the eternal realm of Brahmā. / Then the gods, Śakra and others, said to the troop-lords: / “[…] / having advanced, we will strike down in battle all of you who have come!” / Hearing their arrogant words, Hari, the vanquisher of foes, / laughing, spoke to all of them these forceful words: / “The mantras have not been accepted as authority by you who are arrogant with power; / because you acted violently, today I will destroy you who roar [in pride]. / Prompted together with the sacrifice, the officiating priests, and the shares, / and whatever power you possess, all of that will I destroy.” / Having spoken thus, the radiant, glorious Haribhadra / and the furious Bhadrakālī rushed against the gods. / And the enraged troop-lords, tearing up the sacrificial posts, hurled them away. / The troop-lords, all angered, seized the *hotṛ* priest along with the *prasthātṛ*, / and the horse, and hurled them into the current of the Gaṅgā; / and having bound the patron of the sacrifice with a snare, they led him away at their pleasure. / Others [seized] the altar, others the *kuśa* grass, others the ladles, and others the cups.

They destroyed and threw down [the vessels], and set fire to the other sheds. / Then Haribhadra, blazing in spirit and undaunted, / paralysed Indra's arm as he raised it, and did likewise to the other gods. / His face furious, he struck Bhaga's eyes and Pūṣan's teeth / with the tip of his bow and knocked them out while [all] were watching. / And Viṣṇu's terrible discus, which had the radiance of the sun at the end of an age, / he paralysed with undaunted spirit; stationed in [Viṣṇu's] hand, it did not even stir. / And the Tuṣita gods, ready and longing for battle, / he struck down with a Vāyavya weapon and felled them to the earth. / And that flawless god bewildered all the other gods / arrayed for battle with his supreme weapon, the Mohana. / And whatever kings had arrived there desiring to see [the sacrifice], / he drove them all forcibly to their own homes by the power of his weapon. / Seeing the jars smashed, the sacrificial posts and arches broken, / and the great sheds set ablaze, the Sacrifice fled. / As it was running towards the sky in the form of a deer, / Hari fitted an arrow and decapitated it. / Then the valiant Vīrabhadra took another arrow / and pursued that Sacrifice as it fled in the form of a deer; / he reached it, bound and struck down, so that it attained equality with the constellations. / Sanatkumāra said: / Thus humiliated, O Vyāsa, by the gaṇas, by Kālī, / and by the god Hari, they all took refuge.
[…]

[Critical notes]
[…]
Then to all those gods who had surrendered, along with the sages and world-protectors, / Hari, together with Kālī, said: 'Go to the unswerving Soma. / Propitiate the Lord of the Gods, and peace will come to you.' / Sanatkumāra said: / Thus addressed by Hari, they went, overcome with anger [and grief], / composed, afflicted with suffering and sorrow, to propitiate the god. / Then, not far off, those great-souled ones, / their minds entirely focused on him, saw Īśvara accompanied by Ambā and his retinue. / Having seen him, bowing low, placing Brahmā at their head, / they praised the one of blazing splendour with sacrificial words. / The gods said: / 'Obeisance to you, slayer of the enemies of the gods, crusher of the gods' sacrifice, / O great sacrifice, O great being, praised by hundreds of great sacrifices! / Obeisance to the destroyer of the sacrifice, and the giver of the all of the Veda; / to the maker of the Śipiviṣṭa [form], the slayer of Viṣṇu's Narasiṃha [incarnation]; / to the dweller on Mount Mandara, the giver of every auspicious thing; / to him who travels in a great aerial chariot, the causer of hindrance to the seasons; / to the performer of the end of mantras, to the observer of mantra vows; / to the destroyer of Pūṣan's teeth, to the taker of Bhaga's eyes;

to the paralyser of Śakra, and indeed of Viṣṇu's discus; / obeisance to the leader of the sacrifice, and the bringer of the sacrifice's origin; / to him who is reached by bestowing boons, to the father of Brahmā; / to you who wear the tiger-skin, clad in a black antelope skin;
[Critical notes]
[…]
obeisance to the wearer of the foremost garland, and likewise the father of man; / to the progenitor of Viṣṇu, to Jaya and Vijaya; / obeisance to the destroyer of wrath, to him whose progeny is Vīrabhadra; / obeisance to joy, to anger, obeisance to the creator of the lords of gaṇas; / obeisance to the repentance of the gods, and to the shooter of the arrow at the deer. / Obeisance to you, O Lord, O God; obeisance to you, O Lord Śiva! / Obeisance to you, O Lord of all worlds; obeisance to you, O creator of the world! / By you this universe was created, as well as the sacrifice and the gods, O destroyer of the sacrifice! / Be gracious! Do not be angry with us; do not destroy us!' / Sanatkumāra said: / Whoever, restrained and risen at dawn, always recites this [praise], / obstacles never arise for him. / Sanatkumāra said: / Thus addressed at that time, the Lord of Gods [looked upon] those standing praising him—

Smiling, the Self of all, the creator of all, spoke words:
The God of gods said:
"I am not angry; you are forever very dear to me. / If I were angry, in the next moment there would be no life for you."
Sanatkumāra said:
Having spoken thus, the god then, wishing the welfare of the gods, / caused all those gods to enter through yogamāyā,
into his own body, Mahādeva, in order to astonish them with his power. / Then they entered the body of the noble Īśvara.
They saw a wondrous universe endowed with seven worlds. / Having wandered through all those worlds, all filled with fear,
having gathered there, they saw the heroic Gaṇapa Pañcākṣa. / By him all those tigers among gods, unwearied, were cast upwards,
and having arrived in another world in an instant, / those fortunate ones saw a city resembling the sun,
surrounded by a vast rampart of crystal, / and with varied, wonderful crests shining brightly with jewels and gold.
Then, above that, those best of gods saw in its midst / an auspicious city of seventy million yojanas all around,
divine, surrounded by a silver rampart having the luster of the moon. / In the middle of it, further above, was a city extending for sixty million [yojanas],

completely surrounded by a rampart made entirely of Jāmbūnada gold. / In its middle, then, was another, measuring fifty million [yojanas],
surrounded by a rampart of sapphire. / In the middle of it, those gods, O best of sages, saw [a city]
of forty million yojanas, equal in extent and length, / surrounded by a rampart of lapis lazuli.
And in its middle was an auspicious city of thirty million yojanas, / surrounded by a rampart adorned with every kind of gem.
In their midst were provinces free from all sorrow, / endowed with noble folk and all having perpetual youth,
freed from hunger and thirst, devoid of disease and grief, / immortal, abandoned by old age, with minds ever joyful,
adorned with various elongated ponds and stepped wells, / and with diverse, wondrous trees always bearing flowers and fruits.
Other auspicious trees there produce all kinds of foods; / and others ornaments, and others all varieties of garments;
others all kinds of flowers, and indeed all kinds of fruits;

and others all kinds of pleasures, as well as auspicious honey made without bees.
Other trees there, O Vyāsa, are milky and full of great splendor; / all continuously flow with cow-like milk.
The entire ground is gem-studded with auspicious golden sands; / there are water springs and mountain cascades.
Among them there is no anger or greed, no fighting, hatred, or malice; / no delusion, no arrogance, nor are there other faults there.
In its middle was another auspicious city, extending twenty million [yojanas], / adorned with a rampart made of ruby.
Having passed by such cities, then the gods [saw a city] / extending ten million yojanas, encircled all around by fire,
having the appearance of the cosmic fire at the end of an aeon, terrible to look upon, a vast city; / without a gateway, divine, and boundless, those foremost gods beheld it.
Having seen it, they were seized with great wonder and fear. / To those lords of gods, whose faces were terrified and who were trembling, O Vyāsa,
the Gaṇapa Pañcākṣa said: "Let there be no fear in you, O gods!
This very vast, dreadful city surrounded by terrible fire / is to be seen by you, noble ones, for the sake of which you have come here."
Sanatkumāra said:
Having spoken thus, that Pañcākṣa, with a trident blazing like fire,

While the hosts of gods watched, the exceedingly powerful one made an entrance. / The great-souled gods entered, accompanied by Pañcākṣa. / They saw that divine, vast city filled with lions, / resembling Mount Meru and Mount Mandara, equipped with claws and fangs, / terrifying, fire-colored, enraged, and of immense splendor. / Then one powerful lion among them snapped his bond / and charged forward in fury, his great mane trailing down. / At the terrifying roar of that lion, the gods, / their faces downcast, all took refuge with Pañcākṣa. / Pañcākṣa said: / "Do not fear, O gods! I will now show you the God." / Sanatkumāra said: / Having been told this, they suddenly beheld Śarva together with Umā; / and [they saw] neither that city, O Vyāsa, nor the lion, nor anything at all. / Trembling with fear, they approached the Lord for refuge. / Laughing then, the Blessed Lord, the refuge [of all], spoke to them, / addressing all the gods terrified by fear, the Lord of gods [said]: / "Indeed, you have seen my angers in the terrifying form of lions! / By just one fierce one among them, you all were terrified. / If ever out of anger I were to unleash them all, / - - - -- - -- - ---- - -- -- -- - -- - --

[Footnotes to text: 154 nāgatāstviha - ka. kha. . 155 paṃcāsyaḥ - gha . 156 mahānadaḥ - gha. . 157 pūrvaṃ - kha. . 158... taṃ - ka. kha. . 159... ktvā - ka. kha. gha. . 160 sarve yūyaṃ - ka kha. gha . 161 taissahomayā - ka. . 162 siṃho - gha, siṃhāṃ ( n) - kha. . 163 bhayārtān- - kha. gha . 164 sarvaṃ - ka. . 165 bhayā ( t) - ka., bhayārtāstān - kha. gha. . 166 dṛṣṭvā - ka., dṛṣṭa - kha. . 167 sarve yūyaṃ - ka. kha . 168 vinirjitāḥ - ka. . 166 krodhān? krodhe - gha. . 170 kathaṃcana - ka kha. gha .] / - - - -- - -- - ---- - -- -- -- - -- - -- / you all would cease to exist within an instant, without a doubt. / But this Goddess, the daughter of the mountain, is angry with you. / Propitiate her; I am not angry with you, O gods." / Sanatkumāra said: / When the Master had spoken thus, the enraged Goddess with red-copper eyes / produced from her mouth a terrifying goddess who increases dread, / having a mouth dreadful with fangs, and numerous feet, hands, and fingers, / bearing a bow, an axe, a fierce sword, a discus, a trident, and arrows, / having the brilliance of a thousand blazing suns, possessing a cosmic form. / The measurement of her body was ten thousand yojanas. / Overwhelmed by her and being struck down on every side, / the gods were not able to stand before her, like herds of deer before a tiger. / Then, their minds distressed from the fear of Kālakarṇī, the gods / entered out of fear into a heap of ashes standing beside the God. / Seeing those gods who had sought refuge enter the heap of ashes, / their limbs smeared with ashes, the Goddess restrained the [other] goddess. / The Goddess said: / "Kālakarṇī, turn back! Do not kill the foremost of the gods! / Having become Pāśupatas, their bodies are smeared with ashes.

This is the Pāśupata observance formerly proclaimed by Paśupati, / namely, that ritual ablution with holy ashes is the highest of all ritual ablutions. / These foremost of the gods are surely to be favored by the Blessed Lord. / Since they have entered into the ashes, do not destroy them! / - - - -- - -- - ---- - -- -- -- - -- - -- / [Footnotes to text: 171 bhaveyurasandehaḥ - ka. kha. . 172 kṣaṇepica - kha. . 173 vā - ka. . 174 yuddhavātamralocanā - ka. kha. . 175... daśanāṃ - kha. . 176 gatiṃ - gha . 177... grāṃ - ka. . 178 ... lāsidhāriṇīm - ka. . 179.. .sāṃ - kha. . 180 sāhasrāṃ - kha. . 181 dehaṃ prakīrtitam - ka. . 182 vardhamānāśca - gha. . 183 tatyajuḥ - gha. . 184 kālakarṇabhayāt - ka, nyā - kha,, kalpa - gha. . 185 purā - gha. . 186 devāste - gha. . 187 devo - ka., devīṃ - kha . 188 devī - ka. kha. . 189 mā dhāva - gha. . 190 pāśupatā- ka. gha. . 191 nirdagdhamūrtayaḥ- gha. . 192 vaśyā - ka. . 193... gṛhyā - kha. . 194... ste - ka. .] / - - - -- - -- - ---- - -- -- -- - -- - -- / For, by their entering into the ashes, these creatures of Rudra now / have all become leaders of the gaṇas, O Sovereign Lady; they must not be slain by you. / Death has no power over those whose minds are offered to Śaṅkara. / Indeed, this observance sacred to Śarva, which fulfills all desires, was performed by me." / Having been addressed thus by the Goddess, Kālakarṇī of terrifying form / turned back from the gods and abandoned the anger that had arisen. / Having seen that Kālakarṇī had turned back / and that the fierce danger had ceased, the gods praised the daughter of the Himavat. / The gods said: / "To the supreme queen of Hara, the wife of Mahādeva, / the beloved of Tryambaka, Ambikā, the monosyllabic speech, / the agent of the cosmic destruction of the world, Umā, / the auspicious wife of the God of gods, who [shines like] a conch and kunda [flower]—

[We take refuge in her] whose terrible fangs are white as the moon, a necklace, or water; who is victorious in battle; / who is hard to gaze upon, whose terrible glance is beyond thought; wide-eyed, wearing yellow silk garments; / whose staff bears a great trident, a bell, and a flag; who loves divine fragrance, ghee, and incense; / whose fierce hand holds the staff of death, a sword, and a shield; whose vessel is filled with omentum, blood, entrails, and fat; / who faces the southern quarter; who wears a charming golden fillet; whose eyes resemble the fire at the end of an aeon; who emits loud laughter; / who acts according to her own will; who is unpierced by the weapons of the bodiless god [Kāma]; who has a army of heroes; who is the famous river; / who dwells eternally on Mount Mandara; who abides in heaven; we take refuge in her, the longed-for one (?), / who tore apart the demon Mahiṣa; who tore apart Dundubhi; who slew Sunda; / who was death to Niśumbha; who creates a radiance shining like the moon, the sun, and fire; who bestows what is desired; / who removes grief, sorrow, and pain; sorrowless; fierce; dense; who brings an end to Death; / the vital strength of the sage, son of Jamadagni; and the queen of the king of kings; / charming, dreadful, the night, the science of governance; stability, desired perfection, the auspicious Kālarātrī; / Aparṇā, meditative absorption, the refuge; who loves dwelling on the king of mountains; who eternally abides in the Ocean of Milk; auspicious; / adorned with large tinkling bells; whose hair is dishevelled and stands upright; whose splendor has the hue of kindled fire and evening clouds; / wearing a finger-guard made of monitor-lizard skin; three-eyed; adorned with a garland interwoven with reddish lotuses in her matted locks; free from grief; / born from the spark of the eye of the foe of the bodiless god [Kāma]; adorned with a garland woven of golden wreaths; wearing a long, lovely braid; / endowed with renown and glory; having a multi-colored banner fastened with peacock plumes; passionate; the bringer of peace;

I ever take refuge in that one alone, who wears bracelets made of a hundred serpents; / who is drunk on the life-breath of great Daityas; whose limbs and hair are rough with the ashes of funeral pyres; whose great knees hang down and belly is swollen; / wearing a serpent as a sacrificial thread; whose ornaments are wet hands, half a face, raised eyes, and half a foot; / wearing a garland of various flowers hanging down from a great girdle-cord; / who delights in dancing to the fierce music of large drums that sound like great thunderclouds; / who loves songs, laughter, chatter, and joy; who transcends dwelling, living abroad, and residing through recitation, oblation, and fasting; / whose fierce essence accords with the essence known through great yoga; / firmness itself; whose bowstring and bell sound with fierce noise; / whose roar is sharp and terrible, resembling a great thundercloud, the fall of a thunderbolt, and the ocean; / the ritual act, and the initiation of the initiated; the wife of the uneven-eyed god; dwelling in half of Hara’s body; / I take refuge in the primordial, supreme Goddess, Pārvatī, born from the spark of his mouth; / the presiding deity of all branches of knowledge; the refuge; the embodiment of restraint, observance, and self-control; / the auspicious daughter of the ancestors, the daughter of the king of mountains; who brought an end to Dakṣa’s sacrifice; / who knocked out the teeth of the Sun when residing in half of Bhava's body; / who paralyzed the raised arm of Indra; who took away the hair of Viṣṇu; / whose great conveyance is harnessed to a great lion; Mahābhairavā; terrifying; the fire-stick [that brought forth] Skanda and the moon; / the foremost mother of the elephant-faced god; the fire-stick for the birth of Viśākha; / the producer of Nandin and Naigameṣa;

and the primordial fire-stick of all the worlds; the venerable mother; the yoginī meditated upon by yogins; the firmness / unapproachable through great yoga and logic by gods and brahmins; / who resides among the distinguished, the desirable, and the refined; Lakṣmī; / the woman (?); the fire-stick for the glorious worlds of earth, atmosphere, heaven, Mahar, Janas, Satya, and Vairāja; the cause of the sense-faculties; / the creator of the 'I-maker' and the subtle elements; the activity of darkness, purity, and passion, and the supreme activity; / the power of the great lord Maheśa, and consciousness, to be contemplated through all supreme knowledge; we take refuge in the Goddess, / Umā, the mother: bestow happiness upon us, O Mother, being pleased! / The auspicious wife of Mahādeva, whom we contemplate, meditating with focused consciousness: / and also destroy today, O Mother, being pleased, all the harsh [harm] done by us, / just as [frost is destroyed] by the body of the great sun; and all that was done by us previously in thousands of crores of births, / that which we shall do, and that which we are doing; and give to us / all wealth along with desire, as well as health, strength, / prosperity, knowledge, wisdom, retentive memory, concentration, deliberation, reasoning, refutation, firmness, noble character, / and a divine path, as well as eternal righteousness, and whatever other virtues there may be in addition to these—partake of them all today, O Goddess; / obeisance to you! (123–144)

Sanatkumāra said:
Praised thus by the gods with joyful hearts,
and through Tryambaka's grace, the pleased Goddess spoke this to the gods: / 145
The Goddess said:
Go forth, all of you, freed from anguish; I am pleased with you, without a doubt.
Do not act in this way again, O gods, lest destruction befall you. / 146
Sanatkumāra said:
Then that god, the smiling, matted-haired, blue-and-red one,
the slayer of the gods' enemies, restored all the gods to their natural state. / 147
And the Lord of Gods said to them: "Go forth, freed from anguish;
and when a sacrifice is to be performed, then this [sacrifice] will indeed belong to you. / 148
Joined together with its head, O sons of Diti, by this mantra."
Then the God gave the Atharvan hymn and imperishable joining mantra,
and spoke this in a melodious voice: / 149
The God of Gods said:
Let this sacrifice attain parity with the constellations, O best of gods!
And let this god Hari, pursuing the deer, become its [protector]. / 150
Bhadrakālī, Hari, and these mighty attendants,
all of them will forever bring good fortune to you, O immortals! / 151
Sanatkumāra said:
Addressed thus by the Lord, those gods, together with Brahmā,
all bowed their heads and spoke these words to Śarva: / 152
"Let this best of sacrifices belong only to you, O Lord;
everything, O God, Lord of Gods, imperishable one, is worshipped... / 153