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Skandapurana 14.34

English (machine translation) 14.34

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14.34.2

Pulastya said: / Then one should go to Kṛṣṇatīrtha, always beloved of Kṛṣṇa, / where Viṣṇu himself is eternally present, O protector of the earth. / Yayāti said: / How did Kṛṣṇatīrtha arise there, O best of brahmins? / At what time, O sage? Tell me everything in detail. .... 2 ..

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Pulastya said:
In that dreadful solitary ocean, when the stationary and moving [beings] had perished, / when the moon, sun, and wind had vanished, and the luminaries had dissolved into destruction,

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then, at the end of a thousand yugas, the lotus-seated [Brahmā] awoke. / Being alone, he pondered: “How may creation come to be?”

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And while wandering, the four-faced [god] saw from afar / a four-armed, large-eyed male standing before him.

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And the four-faced [god] said to him: “Who are you? By whom were you created? / For what purpose have you arrived here? Tell me everything in full.”

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Govinda then said to him, laughing with a smooth voice:

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“I am the one primal male; you too were created by me. / I desire to create once again the fourfold aggregate of beings.”

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Pulastya said:
Hearing that statement of his, the grandfather god was enraged, / and reproaching him repeatedly, he spoke harsh words:

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“Indeed, you were created by me, fool! I am the first, without a doubt. / I shall make thousands of beings like you, without a doubt!”

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Thus disputing with each other, O king, those two of great splendour, / their eyes red with wrath through rivalry, fought each other.

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With fists, with arms, with nails, teeth, and grappling, / their battle continued thus for a thousand years.

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Then, at the end of a thousand years, O best of kings, between the two of them / there appeared a great liṅga, divine, full of fiery radiance, and auspicious.

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At that very moment, a bodiless voice spoke: / “Desist from battle, O Brahmā, and you too, O Viṣṇu, at my command!

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This is a liṅga of Maheśvara. Whoever reaches its end, / he shall be the elder, he the all-pervading lord and creator of you two; of this there is no doubt.”

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"Let one go to the lower region and one go upward by my command."
Hearing that, Brahmā quickly set out along the path of the sky.

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Tearing through the earth, Kṛṣṇa too went swiftly downward.
Piercing the seven netherworlds, as far down as he went,
just so far was Kālāgnirudra seen by that great-souled one.

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Wishing to go below him, as much speed as he exerted,
just so much was he scorched by his flames and turned black.

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Then, distressed by fainting, being burned by the marvelous fire,
Viṣṇu hastily turned back, having fallen into the deepest embarrassment.

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Then, approaching the liṅga, he performed worship with devotion;
he uttered praise, O king, with supreme and subtle [hymns] prescribed in the Vedas.

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Brahmā also went along the path of the sky on his swan-vimāna;
for a thousand divine years, he did not reach its end.

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Then, at the end of a thousand years, he saw a ketakī [flower]
coming along the path of the sky; and the Four-faced One was asked by her:

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"Where are you going, O Brahmā, on this great path devoid of support,
in the void? Tell me the truth, for my curiosity is indeed great."

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Brahmā said:
"A rivalry has arisen between me and Viṣṇu, O fair one:
whoever among the two of us finds the end of this liṅga,

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he will be the elder, the other inferior—thus it was spoken by the bearer of the Pināka.
Then I departed upward, and Hari went along the downward path.

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Having found the end of the liṅga, I will go back to the circle of the earth."
Hearing those words of his, that flower said:

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"Your effort is in vain, O lord of the world! There is no end to the liṅga.
One crore of thousands of four-age cycles [has passed], O Grandfather,

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since the time I have been falling from the top of the liṅga, O you of great splendor;
even so, I have not reached the surface of the earth by any means!

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In the time that your swan travels a single yojana,
in that same time I travel a hundred yojanas.

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Therefore, turning back is proper for you on my advice, O lord;
and having shown me to Viṣṇu, attain the status of the elder now."

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Then, becoming delighted in mind and taking her, the Four-faced One
arrived back at the surface of the earth at the end of another thousand years.
He showed her to Viṣṇu, [saying,] "From the top of the liṅga

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this auspicious garland was brought by me, and the end was found, O four-armed one!
Did you find it, or not? Speak the truth to me, O Puruṣottama."

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Viṣṇu said:
"To the endless, immeasurable god of gods, the bearer of the trident,
I was not able to reach the supreme end by any means, O Brahmā.

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If its end has been found by you somehow, O Brahmā,
then the god of gods, Maheśvara, has truly become pleased with you.

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Otherwise, its end is not seen by anyone anywhere;
therefore, you are the elder and the superior; I am the younger, without doubt."

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Pulastya said:
At that very moment, the Blessed One who bears the bull upon his banner
instantly showed anger toward Brahmā, O great king.

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Then, coming into sight, he said: "Fie! Fie, you babbler of useless things!
While speaking falsely, what is this rash act that has been done?

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Because you have falsely spoken of seeing my end,
therefore you shall not be worthy of worship by all castes.

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And whatever human beings, overcome with delusion, shall worship you,
they, meeting with the greatest distress, shall meet with utter destruction.

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And since [a false testimony] was likewise spoken by the ketakī, the extremely wicked one,
therefore, by touching her, a person shall attain the state of an outcaste."

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Having thus given a curse to the two of them, the god spoke to Keśava;
having become bright-faced, Maheśvara was then pleased.

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The Blessed One said:
"O Vāsudeva, mighty-armed one! I am pleased with you, O highly intelligent one!
Just because you spoke the truth, choose a boon, O one of good vows."

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Śrī Vāsudeva said:
"This alone is the praiseworthy boon, that you are pleased, O Maheśvara;
and toward the unmeritorious, O god, you do not attain pleasure.
If a boon must certainly be given to me by you, O lord of gods,

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bring this liṅga, called endless, to smallness without delay,
so that there may be creation in the world, for by this the universe is pervaded."

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Pulastya said:
Then, having compressed that liṅga and made it small, Maheśvara
said to Keśava once more: "Listen to these words, O Hari:

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'Establish this liṅga of mine in the purest region, O Hari!
Worship it according to the rule; you shall attain supreme welfare.'

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"Since, completely scorched by my radiance, you became black,
therefore the name 'Kṛṣṇa' ('the Black One') shall indeed become famous in the world.

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Rising in the morning, which human being with devotion
shall recite your name as 'Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa', he goes to the supreme state."

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Pulastya said:
Having spoken thus to him, Īśāna disappeared right there.
Vāsudeva too, having taken that liṅga on Mount Arbuda,
installed it in a waterfall that was very holy and had pure water.

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From that, it became known indeed on the earth's surface by the name Kṛṣṇatīrtha.
Listen, O tiger among kings, to the fruit of one who has bathed there:

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Having bathed in the holy pool of Kṛṣṇa, whoever sees that liṅga,
that mortal attains all the welfare arising from all sacred fords.

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And likewise, without desire, he would obtain the fruit of all gifts;
and even with desire, [he would obtain] the desired fruit, even if it were very hard to attain.

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Therefore, one should take a bath there with all effort;
whoever desires eternal welfare, here no doubt should be made.

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On the eleventh day [of the lunar fortnight], O great king, fasting, with senses subdued,
whoever, having kept a vigil there before the liṅga with great devotion,

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performs a śrāddha at dawn, endowed with faith,
that knower of dharma delivers all ancestors together with their forebears.

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The man who gives black sesame seeds to brahmins there, / that mortal is surely freed from sins such as killing a brahmin.

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O king of kings, simply by the darśana of Kṛṣṇatīrtha, / a human being is freed from all sins; there should be no doubt about this.

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Thus ends the thirty-fourth chapter, entitled 'Description of the Glory of Kṛṣṇatīrtha,' in the third Arbuda section of the seventh Prabhāsa section, in the Mahāpurāṇa composed by Skanda containing eighty-one thousand verses.

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