Skandapurana 1.4.8

English (machine translation) 1.4.8

Language: English

1.4.8.1

Nārada said: / Having heard these words of the vulture, filled with sorrow and wonder, / Indradyumna took leave of him and prepared to die.

1.4.8.2

Then, seeing him thus wishing to die, [the vulture] along with Kauśika and the others / reflected, and then spoke of someone having a longer life than himself:

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"Do not do so! Listen to [my] word, O good man! There is one older / even than me, and he will clearly know what you desire.

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In Lake Mānasa lives a tortoise renowned by the name of Mantharaka; / nothing is unknown to him. Come, let us go there!"

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Then, trusting [his words], they—the king, the sage, the vulture, and the crane, / together with the owl—all went, wishing to see the tortoise.

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The tortoise, stationed on the shore of the lake, seeing them approaching from afar, / panicked and entered the water very swiftly then.

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Kauśika then, laughing, spoke these words himself to him: / "Why, O tortoise, have you fled today and turned away even when guests have arrived?

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Fire is the guru of the twice-born, the brahmin of the castes, the husband of women, / the father is the guru of sons, and the arrived guest is the guru of all.

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Abandoning this righteousness, why do you turn away from hospitality / and take upon yourself the sin of all? Speak your answer now, O tortoise!"

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The tortoise said: / "Being very old, I indeed know how to perform the respectful rites of hospitality, / and reverence towards arrived guests, as determined in the treatises on dharma.

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There is a very great reason in this matter; listen, I shall tell it to you. / I have not turned my face away [from anyone] in all these days,

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holding the good vow of all kinds of hospitality toward any guest who arrived. / But who is this fifth one among you, seen to have an upright form?

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It is King Indradyumna; I fear him exceedingly! / Formerly, when he was the sacrificer in the city named Raucaka,

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my back was burnt by the sacrificial fire, and even today it is not free of scars. / Therefore, fear has arisen in me once more: will he now again

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burn me on the earth, establishing an enclosure for the pressing of soma?" / At the conclusion of the tortoise's statement, O best of the Kurus,

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a shower of flowers fell from the sky, released by groups of apsarases, / and celestial instruments sounded at the restoration of the king's fame.

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Astonished, they saw an aerial chariot stationed before them, / occupied at that time by a messenger of the gods for the sake of Indradyumna.

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The gods and brahmins bestowed unwaning blessings upon him; / there was a great shout of acclaim in heaven for that king.

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Then, clinging to the aerial chariot, the messenger of the gods spoke loudly / this to Indradyumna, while the dwellers of heaven listened:

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The messenger of the gods said: / "Now your stainless fame has been renewed, O protector of the earth, / even in the three worlds. Therefore, quickly mount this aerial chariot!

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Let it be gone to the world of Brahmā, which endures until the end of the kalpa, acquired by austerity! / I have been sent by him alone for the purpose of bringing you.

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As long as a man's fame remains renowned on earth, / so long does he dwell in heaven, when endless merit exists.

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The construction of temples, lakes, large wells, wells, and gardens— / indeed for this purpose is it designated as 'pūrta' in the dharma treatises."

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Indradyumna said: / "These are my friends: Mārkaṇḍa, the crane, and Kauśika, / and the vulture and the tortoise; this power of theirs has brought about my advancement.

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Therefore, if these go together with me to the world of Brahmā, / standing in front, then I shall go to the world of Brahmā, and not otherwise.

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He who acts solely for the benefit of others without expecting / any return for what was done is called a true friend by the wise.

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Those whose minds are devoted to their own self-interest, though bearing life-breaths, are useless. / When death is the natural state and life is merely an alteration,

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the highest gain for living beings is solely friendship with living beings. / The impoverished who are passionate, those who break their promises, those who betray their elders,

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those who destroy their friends, and sinners generally adorn hell. / But these five virtuous ones have now spent themselves for the sake of another.

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The restoration of my fame is due to the power of these great souls. / If they will go to heaven along with me, / then I too will go, O messenger of the gods, otherwise not."

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The messenger of the gods said: / "All these are Hara's attendants who have fallen to earth due to a curse.

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At the end of the curse, they will go to the side of Hara, O lord of the earth. / Therefore, leaving these behind, O king, come with me!

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Heaven does not please them, forsaking the god Maheśvara." / Indradyumna said: / "If it is so, then go, O messenger! I will not come to heaven.

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I shall strive in such a way that I too may become an attendant [of Śiva]. / It is censured by the faults of impurity, decay, and excess;

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heaven is ever dependent on Vedic tradition, therefore I do not desire it. / For one stationed there, the fear of falling again does not depart from the mind.

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Since there is a fall again for a person, therefore I do not desire heaven. / Even when merit still exists, I was cast down from his own world by him,

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and I have been humiliated by the four-faced [Brahmā]—how could I go to him?" / Having said this to that messenger, while the messenger listened in wonder,

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the king then asked the tortoise the cause of his lifespan: / "How did this exceedingly long life of yours come to be, O tortoise?

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You are my benevolent friend, ally, and elder, by whom my fame has been restored."

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The tortoise said: / "Listen, O king, to a divine story that destroys sin upon hearing, / a very sweet story endowed with the glory of Śiva.

Hearing this story also with good faith, O king, a man has his body freed from sin. / Having attained the grace of Śambhu, as [my] life [was spared], so too through his grace this tortoise-state of mine came to be.

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Thus ends the tenth chapter, titled “Manifestation of the Earth,” in the Kaumārikākhaṇḍa of the first [section], the Māheśvarakhaṇḍa, in the glorious Skandapurāṇa, a collection of eighty-one thousand verses.

Linked texts (1)

Skandapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit