Skandapurana 1.3.4

English (machine translation) 1.3.4

Language: English

1.3.4.1

The seers said: / 'How was consecration established in the liṅga, leaving aside Śiva [himself]? / Let that be told, O fortunate one, for we are eager to hear.' 6.1

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Lomaśa said: / 'When the lord Śambhu wandered in the Dāruvana for the sake of alms, 6.2

sky-clad, his mass of matted hair unbound, knowable through the Vedānta, the sole protector of the world, / that Īśvara, wearing the crescent of Brahmā, the supreme and beyond the lords of yogins, 6.3

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subtler than the subtle, greater than the great, of great majesty, the great sovereign of the world, / that Īśvara, the great soul in the form of a mendicant, wandered for alms in the Dāruvana. 6.4

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At midday, the seers, the brahmins, went to the sacred ford from their hermitage. / At that very time, all those wives of the seers gathered together. 6.5

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Beholding that Śambhu, they said to one another: / 'Who is this one in the form of a mendicant who has arrived, never seen before? 6.6

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Let us give alms to him together with our companions.' / Saying 'So be it', all of them joyfully brought [food] from their homes. 6.7

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Alms-food of various kinds, delicate, and accompanied with respectful service according to their ability, / was offered and accepted as alms by that god of gods, the bearer of the trident. 6.8

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Filled with wonder, a certain woman spoke to the beloved Śambhu: / 'Who are you, having become a mendicant, who have come here, O wise one? 6.9

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Why do you not sit in the pure hermitage of the seers?' / Though addressed by her then, Śambhu spoke as if smiling: 6.10

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'I am Īśvara, O fair-haired one, and I have arrived at this purifying [place].' / Hearing the words of Īśvara, the seer's wife said to him: 6.11

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'You are Īśvara, O fortunate one, the very lord of Kailāsa. / Why do you wander alone for alms, O god?' 6.12

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Thus addressed by her, Śambhu spoke words to her again: / 'Separated from Dākṣāyaṇī, I wander sky-clad 6.13

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for the sake of begging alms, O fair-hipped one, always free from desire. / Without that Satī, no woman whatsoever pleases me, O lady; / I tell you the truth, O wide-eyed one.' 6.14

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Hearing the words spoken by him, the lotus-eyed woman said: / 'Women are indeed of delightful touch for a man, without doubt. 6.15

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Those women are avoided, O Śambhu, by a wise person like you.' 6.16

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Thus all the women gathered where Śaṃkara was, / and that begging bowl of Śambhu was filled with excellent things, 6.17

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completely filled with the four kinds of food and the six flavors. / When Śambhu wished to go toward Mount Kailāsa, / then all the wives of the brahmins followed, filled with joy. 6.18

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Abandoning their household duties, they walked along with their minds fixed on him. / When all those wives had gone, the best of seers, 6.19

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as soon as they returned to the hermitage, saw it completely empty. / Then they said to one another: 'Where have all the wives gone? 6.20

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We do not know by what vile creature they have all been taken away.' / Deliberating thus, searching here and there, 6.21

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they all then saw them following after Śiva. / Seeing Śiva, those seers approached, filled with rage. 6.22

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Then stepping in front of Śiva, they all spoke in haste: / 'What has been done by you, O Śambhu, a great soul who is supposedly detached? / You are an abductor of others' wives, the wives of seers, without doubt!' 6.23

1.3.4.24

Though thus reproached, Śiva remained silent while continuing toward the mountain. / Then Mahādeva, the imperishable, was approached by the seers [who said]: / 'Because you are an abductor of wives, therefore become an eunuch at once!' 6.24

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Thus cursed by the sages, his liṅga fell upon the earth; / and that liṅga, having reached the ground, grew rapidly and exceedingly vast. 6.25

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Enveloping the seven netherworlds in an instant, the liṅga [extended] downwards and upwards; / pervading the entire earth, it covered the atmosphere. 6.26

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All the heavens were covered, and then it surpassed heaven. / There was neither earth, nor the circle of directions, nor water, nor fire, 6.27

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nor wind, nor space, nor ego, nor the cosmic intellect, / nor the unmanifest, nor time, nor primordial nature. 6.28

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There was no division of duality, and everything dissolved in that instant. / Because the entire universe dissolved in that liṅga of the great soul, 6.29

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the wise call it 'liṅga' on account of dissolution. / Seeing it growing in such a manner, the divine seers as well, 6.30

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along with Brahmā, Indra, Viṣṇu, Vāyu, Agni, the world guardians, and the serpents, / their minds overcome with wonder, then said to one another: 6.31

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'What is its length and its breadth? Where is its end, and where is its pedestal?' / Thus filled with anxiety, all the gods then spoke to Viṣṇu. 6.32

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The gods said:
“Its base [should be seen] by you, O Viṣṇu, and its head by you, O lotus-born [Brahmā]! / It should be looked for by you two; in this position, be its protectors!”

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Hearing this, those two illustrious ones, the dweller of Vaikuṇṭha and the lotus-born, [departed]; / Viṣṇu indeed went to Pātāla, and Brahmā went to heaven.

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Having gone to heaven then, Brahmā, intent upon searching, / could not see the head of the liṅga there, [though] wise.

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Returning by the path he had taken, the lotus-born / reached the ridge of Meru, and was then noticed by Surabhi,

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who, standing in the shade of a ketakī [tree], spoke sweet words. / Hearing her speech, the grandfather of all the worlds / spoke these words, smiling, with a deceptive speech to Surabhi:

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“A greatly wondrous liṅga has been seen, by which the three worlds are pervaded. / I have been sent by the gods in order to see its end.

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The head of that all-pervading, great-souled one was not seen. / What shall I say before the gods? A great anxiety indeed possesses me.

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You should falsely tell the gods: ‘The head of the liṅga has been seen.’ / If all those hosts of deities headed by Indra should say:

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‘Who are the witnesses to this matter? Speak quickly, O gods!’ / In this matter, be a witness together with the ketakī, O lady of good vows!”

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Taking that command of Brahmā Parameṣṭhin on her head, / Surabhi, together with the ketakī, agreed to that.

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Having arrived thus, Brahmā spoke before the gods:

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Brahmā said:
“O gods, I have seen the wondrous head of the liṅga, / auspicious, worshipped, and adorned with ketakī petals,

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vast, stainless, smooth, exceedingly serene, wondrous, / delightful, charming, splendid to behold, and of great splendor.

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Such a thing has been seen by me; nowhere else has anything like it been seen.” / Hearing the words of Brahmā, the gods were filled with wonder.

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While those hosts of deities headed by Indra were thus standing full of wonder, / Viṣṇu, the lord of all, the illuminator of the inner self,

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having just arrived from Pātāla, quickly spoke to all of them: / “Though intent upon searching, its end was not seen by me either.

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Great wonder arose in me as I wandered beyond Pātāla: / Atala, Sutala, and also Nitala, Rasātala,

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and likewise I went to Tala, and Pātāla, and so to Atala; / those various netherworlds appear to be like a void.

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All that was thoroughly inspected by me, emptier even than an empty void: / no base, no middle, and no end exists for it.

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This is Mahādeva in the form of a liṅga, by whom this universe is upheld, / and by whose grace you and the seers were brought forth.”

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Hearing this, the gods and the seers honored his words. / Then Viṣṇu said this to Brahmā, as if laughing:

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“If indeed the head was truly seen by you, O Brahmā, / what witnesses have you prepared for this matter?”

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Hearing Viṣṇu's words, Brahmā, the grandfather of the worlds, / quickly said: “Ketakī and Surabhi.

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Know them, O gods, as my witnesses in truth.” / Hearing Brahmā's words, all the gods in haste

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summoned her, Surabhi, along with that [ketakī]. / Then, at that very moment, both arrived for the purpose of Brahmā.

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Addressed then by the gods headed by Indra, Surabhi thereupon / spoke together with the ketakī: “Indeed, O gods, it was seen by Brahmā!

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The head of the liṅga, O gods, was worshipped with ketakī petals.” / Then a voice from the sky arose while everyone listened:

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“Whatever has been spoken by Surabhi and likewise by the ketakī, O gods, / know that to be spoken falsely; its head has not been seen.”

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Then all the gods, along with Indra and Viṣṇu, / cursed Surabhi in anger, because she had engaged in lying speech:

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“Since an untruth was spoken by your mouth today, O auspicious one, / let your mouth be unholy, excluded from all religious duties!

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And you, fragrant ketakī, will also be unfit for the worship of Śiva; / there is no doubt of this, because you lied, O splendid lady!”

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Then the voice from the sky cursed Brahmā indeed: / “Falsehood was spoken by you, O dull-witted one! Why [did you do so], like a child?

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Together with Bhṛgu, the seers, and likewise the family priest, / therefore you all shall not be worshipped, and shall be sharers in misery!

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Even the seers, though very righteous, shall be excluded from statements of truth, / devoted to disputation, deluded, ignorant of truth, and full of envy,

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beggars, ungenerous, constantly destroying their own knowledge, / self-conceited, obstinate, and revilers of one another!”

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Having been thus cursed, the sages and the deities headed by Brahmā, / cursed by Śiva, all went to the liṅga for refuge.

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Thus ends the sixth chapter, named ‘The Description of the Cursing of Brahmā and Others’ in the māhātmya of the glorious Śivaliṅga, in the Kedārakhaṇḍa of the first [book], the Māheśvarakhaṇḍa, in the glorious Skanda Mahāpurāṇa of eighty-one thousand verses.

Linked texts (1)

Skandapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit