Skandapurana 1.4.46

English (machine translation) 1.4.46

Language: English

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“Now, therefore, I shall clearly declare the greatness of Somanātha,

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hearing which as I recount it, one attains release from sin.

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Formerly in the Tretā age, O son of Pṛthā, born in the country of Cauḍa,

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there were two brahmins of great splendor, Ūrjayanta and Prāleya.

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Once, among the contents of the Purāṇas, they saw a single verse.

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Seeing it, knowing all scriptures, their skin bristled with excitement:

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‘The lotus-born [Brahmā] said to Pulastya: “Regarding the sacred fords beginning with Prabhāsa, / what sacred ford has been worshipped by those who have not bathed there?”’

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Having read this praised verse again and again,

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the two excellent men set out at that very moment for Prabhāsa to bathe.

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the two crossed the auspicious Narmadā, crowded with hosts of great sages.

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[Knowing] the greatness of the hidden sacred field, the confluence of the Mahī and the ocean,

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having bathed there, they departed for Prabhāsa right through it.

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Then, because the path was desolate, intensely afflicted by thirst and hunger,

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the two brahmins were senseless near Siddhaliṅga.

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Having bowed to Siddhanātha, they set forth with great fortitude.

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Scorched by the midday sun, through the fierce assault of hunger and through thirst,

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they suddenly fell to the ground, paralyzed in their limbs, fallen unconscious.

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Then, after a moment, Prāleya spoke to Ūrjayanta,

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recovering somewhat and taking courage: 'Friend, have you not heard?

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Just as a person's body becomes pale through pilgrimage,

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so too Someśvara Hara becomes humble through gifts.'

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Though this had been spoken and heard, the two continued rolling on the ground.

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Rolling along, Prāleya went a little distance,

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and suddenly a liṅga, very hard to behold, rose up breaking through the earth.

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And in the sky a voice arose there, preceded by a shower of flowers:

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'Prāleya, for your sake, yielding a fruit equal to Somanātha,

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a liṅga has risen on the shore of the ocean. Remain here, O you of noble vows!'

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'Even if this is so and true, nevertheless my resolve was formed:

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clearly I must journey to Prabhāsa even until death.'

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Then Ūrjayanta also, rolling forward in a state of fainting,

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saw the liṅga that had risen up, and he too understood thus.

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Then Bhava, having become manifest, made their two bodies firm

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by his gaze; then they went to Prabhāsa, the abode of Śiva.

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These are the two Somanāthas near Siddheśvara:

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Ūrjayanta is in the west, and the other is the lord of Prāleya.

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Having slowly bathed in the water of Somakuṇḍa, in the water of the ocean and the Mahī,

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one who beholds the pair of Somanāthas is freed from the sin of birth.

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Having installed here the liṅga named Hāṭakeśvara,

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which is very charming, brought from Pātāla to Mahīnagara,

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Brahmā devoutly praised the god. Listen to that hymn of praise, O Pāṇḍava:

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'Homage to you, O blessed Rudra, possessing the immeasurable splendor of the sun!

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Homage to Bhava, to Rudra, to the taste whose essence is water!

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Homage to Śarva, who has the form of the earth and is ever fragrant!

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Homage, homage to you, the Lord, the wind, the sense of touch!

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And [homage] to the Lord of beasts, to fire of supreme brilliance!

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Homage to you, Bhīma, who have the form of space, whose essence is sound!

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Homage be to you, Mahādeva, the moon, the nectar!

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Homage to Ugra, the sacrificer, to you, the performer of actions!'

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Thus this hymn was uttered with divine names.

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A person who recites or hears this hymn composed by the Grandfather

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to the liṅga of Hāṭakeśvara, being ever devout,

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attains union with the eight-formed Lord; of this there is no doubt.

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And whoever, being devout, even remembers the liṅga of Hāṭakeśvara,

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to him Brahmā becomes the granter of boons, by whom this was installed, O Arjuna.

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Such sacred fords at the confluence of the Mahī and the ocean,

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many and holy, have been described in brief by me.

Thus ends the forty-eighth chapter, named 'Description of the Account of Somanātha,' in the praise of Stambhatīrtha, in the Kaumārikākhaṇḍa, in the first Māheśvarakhaṇḍa, in the glorious Skanda Mahāpurāṇa consisting of eighty-one thousand verses.

Linked texts (1)

Skandapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit