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Skandapurana 1.2.8

English (machine translation) 1.2.8

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1.2.8.1

Nandikeśvara said:

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"By asking about the Aruṇācalamāhātmya in detail,

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O Mārkaṇḍeya, I think a great burden has been placed upon me by you. / 1

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Fittingly has your mind been drawn by curiosity, O highly intelligent one;

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That man who does not know the acts of the Lord of the Crimson Mountain is an animal. / 2

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Or how is it possible to tell completely, even if one knows,

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The glorious māhātmya of Śambhu who frequents the Crimson Mountain? / 3

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Or how could this, even when heard,

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Be fully retained in mind by those filled with wonder, even the foremost of the wise? / 4

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Now remember the wondrous deed of the enemy of Smara;

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my mind truly dances, as if experiencing the supreme nectar. // 5

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The wondrous acts of Śiva captivate the mind;

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my intellect is altogether incapable of describing them completely. // 6

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Even so, I shall proclaim them part by part according to my capacity;

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hear, O sage, the holy māhātmya of the Lord of Śoṇādri. // 7

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Formerly, at the beginning of the primeval aeon, Maheśvara, free from conceptual distinction,

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by his own will brought forth the entire universe once again. // 8

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And desiring ever to create and protect that manifested universe,

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that primal god fashioned Brahmā and Viṣṇu. // 9

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From his right side the three-eyed Lord created Brahmā,

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and from his left side the god created Viṣṇu. // 10

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He joined Brahmā with rajas, and Viṣṇu with sattva;

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both Brahmā and Acyuta, appointed by the God of gods, // 11

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ruled over the performance of creation and protection of all the worlds.

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Merely with his mind, [Brahmā] created the ten brahmins beginning with Marīci; // 12

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and from his right thumb the Creator brought forth Dakṣa for the work of creation.

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From his mouth [he created] the brahmins, from his arms the kṣatriyas, from his thighs the vaiśyas, // 13

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and from his feet the lotus-seated one himself fashioned the śūdras.

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From Kaśyapa, the son of Marīci, the gods and asuras were born, // 14

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as well as the Maruts, serpents, vultures, gandharvas, and apsarases,

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and Manu, whose lineage this human race carries on. // 15

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Assuming diverse kinships, initiating diverse activities;

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and from Atri arose a twofold lineage: of seers and of warriors. // 16

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And from Pulastya and Pulaha were born yakṣas and rākṣasas;

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from the sage Aṅgiras were born sons headed by Utathya and Bṛhaspati. // 17

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From Bhṛgu arose Agni, and seers beginning with Cyavana;

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and from Vasiṣṭha and the other [sages] were born great seers, // 18

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by whose sons and grandsons this entire world is filled.

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Thus Brahmā filled this world with his offspring;

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yet through time and also through splendour he forgot Maheśvara. // 19

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Acyuta, too, having married the daughter of Bhṛgu who abides in the lotus,

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and assuming forms such as the Fish in the world, did not remember Īśvara. // 20

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Having indeed acquired autonomy through creation and preservation, Brahmā and Viṣṇu

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bore immense pride; what mortal would not become intoxicated by power? // 21

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Thus ends the eighth chapter, named 'Description of Creation', in the second half of the Aruṇācalamāhātmya, in the first Māheśvarakhaṇḍa in the glorious Skanda Mahāpurāṇa consisting of eighty-one thousand verses.

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