Skandapurana 1.2.4

English (machine translation) 1.2.4

Language: English

1.2.4.2

“O sage, you were spoken to in that manner by me in order to test your mind.

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If I do not tell you, to what other person could it be told?

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Is there anyone else like you in the world devoted to the religious path of Śiva,

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by whom, although short-lived, immortality was thus attained through devotion?

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For the sake of whom else [did] the God [kick] Yama, his own servant,

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enraged, restrained Yama, his own servant, crushed under the big toe of his foot?

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You alone should know in secret all the Śaiva duties,

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since previously, wandering like the god of death, you have become mature in mind.

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By you alone, and by what other, have I been thus served for a long time?

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In what other person do I also have such affection as in you?

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I shall instruct you about the sacred field hidden by the ordinances of the law,

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which must be grasped with devotion by those who desire devotion and liberation.

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Which teacher, when a disciple approaches him on his own with reverence,

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does not make him satisfied with instruction? Is such a person a guru?

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Having concentrated your mind, place lasting trust

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in this supreme secret of Parameśvara being taught by me.

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Remember the god who is the end of the god of love; praise the Śaiva tradition of study;

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whisper the syllable Oṃ. Great welfare has come to you.

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O you whose wealth is austerity, in the southern direction, among the Drāviḍas,

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there is the great sacred field called Aruṇa, belonging to him who has the crescent moon as crest-jewel,

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extending for three yojanas, worthy of worship by Śaiva yogins.

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Know it to be the heart of the earth, dear to the heart of Śiva.

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There the god Śambhu himself, having taken the form of a mountain,

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bears the name Aruṇācala, bringing benefit to the world.

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It is the dwelling place of all perfected beings, great seers, gods,

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vidyādharas, yakṣas, and also gandharvas and apsarases.

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Even more than Sumeru, even more than Kailāsa, even more than Mandara,

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it is to be honored by the great seers, for it is Parameśvara himself.

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Even the gods in heaven long for its creatures,

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who attain liberation without effort, while they [the gods] are cheated by their heavenly dwelling.

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The wishing trees of heaven are not equal to the trees there,

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which constantly worship Hara on the mountain with leaves, flowers, and fruits.

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Where hunters, who take pleasure only in violence, by roaming around its form,

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endlessly become receptacles of the fruit of circumambulating the god;

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where clouds moving about its grounds, veiling its peaks,

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consider themselves superior even to the snowy mountain that possesses the Gaṅgā;

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where sweet-sounding birds and even humming reeds

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attain a state difficult to obtain even for yakṣas, kiṃnaras, and gandharvas;

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where fireflies, remembering [him] at the arrival of night during the dark fortnight,

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attain the status of those who offer the waving of lamps to the god;

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where the trees growing along the streams, their embrace made unobstructed every day,

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despise out of pride in their good fortune the goddess Aparṇā;

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meeting the tops of whose towering peaks, even the stars,

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having attained equality with the moon, hold themselves in high esteem;

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where all the deer continually roaming its slopes

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even disregard the deer resting fond in the hand of Śambhu;

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by moving near whose foot, even the wild hunters usually

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attain similarity with the Kumbhas and Nikumbhas without effort;

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what is the use of many words? Even the trees, animals, and hunters

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growing upon his body envy the two sons [Gaṇeśa and Skanda] of the Mother;

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where lions, tigers, and elephants, when they abandon their bodies in time,

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are surely honored by Śambhu on the red mountain because they provided him with skins to wear;

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to the east of it is seen a mountain named Bhāskara,

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abiding upon which the wielder of the thunderbolt [Indra] constantly serves the crimson mountain;

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in the western direction there is a mountain named Daṇḍādri;

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residing at its peak, Varuṇa serves the crimson mountain;

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and to the south of the crimson mountain there is the Amarācala mountain;

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Kāla sits upon its tableland in order to serve the crimson mountain;

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in this northern direction, with caves inhabited by perfected beings,

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shines the Triśūlādri mountain, protected by Kubera;

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on the shores of the other abundant mountains surrounding it,

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the other world-protectors also worship [him];

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borne by which, all the trees continually

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attain a grandeur even greater than [that earned by] worship;

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when which Lord of Mountains is seen, regarding Menā and the Snowy Mountain...

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Because of their equal kinship [with him], the joy [of Menā and the Snow Mountain] increases exceedingly. // 33

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Bearing matted locks perceived as hundreds of thousands of tree-shoots,

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this stationary one is Śambhu himself, just as Īśa here is moving. // 34

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With the moon and sun standing on both sides of his luminous, water-rich peak,

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he reveals to the worlds that he possesses the triple light as his eyes. // 35

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In the rainy season, with a deep-blue cloud beneath his crest,

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he shines as though bearing the Kālakūṭa poison at his throat. // 36

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This lord of mountains, who has a thousand feet and a thousand heads,

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is not merely declared by the Veda, but is also perceived directly with one's own eyes. // 37

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That the stream of the river of the gods formerly rested upon his head is not wondrous;

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even today, this Lord of the Mountain has hosts of numerous rivers resting upon his peaks. // 38

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Having obtained slopes with autumn clouds,

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he imitates [Śiva] mounted upon the foremost bull, the best of cattle. // 39

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Where Nīlalohita clings closely to the tip of the peak—

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he bears the state of Sthāṇu through being stationary, and terror (bhīmatā) through his dense forest (gahanatva); // 1.3.2.4.40

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he also bears ferocity (ugratva) because of his extreme impassibility (sudurgamatva), not merely by name.

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Where petty reptiles, having made their dwelling on the mountain slopes, // 41

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vie with Takṣaka, Ananta, and other lords of serpents;

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who, having manifested with eight corners all around by means of his powers (vibhūti), // 42

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clearly defines, as it were, his own eightfold form (aṣṭamūrti);

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the two rivers [flowing from] energy (śakti) are themselves the Iḍā and Piṅgalā, // 43

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while in the middle, flowing from the peak of Śiva, the lotus-river is the Suṣumnā.

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To see the base and the top of him whose nature is the pillar of fire, // 44

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Brahmā and Viṣṇu, taking the forms of a boar and a swan, were not capable.

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And prayed to by both of them, Śambhu established his presence there. // 45

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Taking refuge [there] under the name Lord of Aruṇācala, along with his attendants,

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there Gautama, the lord of yogins, for a thousand years // 46

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performed severe austerities and brought Sadāśiva before his eyes.

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The daughter of the Snowy Mountain also, having performed austerity there of old, // 47

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obtained the left half of the body of the enemy of Manmatha when he was pleased.

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Installed there by Gaurī under the name Lord of Pravālādri, // 48

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the liṅga grants enjoyment to men and prepares [them] for absolute liberation.

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There, by the command of Gaurī, Durgā, the slayer of Mahiṣa, // 49

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manifesting visibly, grants the perfection of mantras without obstacle to the virtuous.

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Known there at Gaurī’s hermitage is a new [pool], the Khaḍgatīrtha; // 1.3.2.4.50

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from plunging into it but once, the five great sins of men are destroyed.

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And the liṅga worshipped by Durgā, named Pāpanāśana, // 51

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destroys all sins merely by a single bow.

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There King Vajrāṅgada, though rich in wealth, [fell] through transgression, // 52

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yet attained union with Śiva through the greatness of devotion to him.

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Merely by circumambulating it, Kāntiśālin and Kalādhara, // 53

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two lords of Vidyādharas, were released from the bondage of Durvāsas's curse.

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There is no sacred field equal to the Crimson Mountain (Śoṇādri); there is no mantra equal to the five-syllable one; // 54

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there is no duty higher than the Māheśvara path; there is no deity higher than Maheśvara;

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there is no knowledge higher than knowledge of Śiva; there is no Vedic text higher than the Śrīrudra; // 55

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there is no leader of Śaivas higher than Viṣṇu; there is no protection higher than holy ash (vibhūti);

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there is no good conduct without devotion; there is no guru superior to the one who extends protection; // 56

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there is no ornament higher than a rudrākṣa; there is no sacred treatise higher than the Śiva-āgama;

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there is no leaf higher than a bilva leaf; there is no flower higher than the dhattūra (suvarṇaka); // 57

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there is no happiness higher than dispassion; there is no state higher than liberation.

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Meru is not equal to the Crimson Mountain, nor Kailāsa, nor Mandara: // 58

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those are abodes occupied by mountains, but this one is Giriśa himself. // 59

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While the son of Śilāda was speaking thus, that son of Mṛkaṇḍu, his mind delighted,

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having bowed to him again repeatedly, his mind filled with wonder, made an inquiry about worldly existence: // 1.3.2.4.60

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“Which actions of men lead to worldly rebirth? How indeed are each of them heard to lead to hell?

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And what is the remedy for each of these? Let that be told to me.” // 61

Thus ends the fourth chapter, titled ‘Description of the Greatness of the Abode of Aruṇācala,’ in the second half of the Aruṇācalamāhātmya, in the first [section], the Māheśvarakhaṇḍa, of the glorious Skandapurāṇa, the Mahāpurāṇa consisting of eighty-one thousand verses. // 4

Linked texts (1)

Skandapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit