Skandapurana 15.2

English (machine translation) 15.2

Language: English

15.2.1

Prahlāda said: / Among all living beings, Daityas, Dānavas, and Rākṣasas, / you are indeed most worthy of worship, and so too among the gods and others.

15.2.2

By your permission, however, and indeed by the grace of Keśava, / I shall tell of the abode of the Lord; listen!

15.2.3

Resting on the shore of the western ocean, / there stands the city known formerly as Kuśasthalī, founded by Kuśa.

15.2.4

Where the Gomatī flows into the ocean on every side, / that [city] is renowned among the Ānartas as Dvārāvatī, O brahmins.

15.2.5

In it dwells Hari, the Self of all, the granter of all desires, / endowed with sixteen digits [and] having twelve forms.

15.2.6

That indeed is the supreme abode, that indeed is the supreme step. / Blessed indeed is that Dvārakā where Madhusūdana resides,

15.2.7

where Kṛṣṇa is four-armed, holding the conch, discus, and mace. / Having gone there in the Kali age, men will attain liberation.

15.2.8

Having heard those words of that great-souled Prahlāda, / the best of sages, their minds filled with wonder, said to him:

15.2.9

The seers said: / When the Yadu lineage met its destruction and the burden of the earth was removed, / Hari, the best of the Yādavas, went to his own abode at Prabhāsa.

15.2.10

When Dvārāvatī was inundated on all sides by the ocean, / how is that Lord said to be there in the Kali age, O Daitya?

15.2.11

Tell [us], O best of gods, how Viṣṇu has remained on earth / in the territory of Ānarta; explain this in detail!

15.2.12

While King Ugrasena was ruling the earth, / Kṛṣṇa embellished this city of the Yadus in every way.

15.2.13

While Hari, the Lord of Ramā, was sporting with women, / once, as that best of the Yadus was seated in the assembly,

15.2.14

as various wondrous tales were being related in many ways, / Uddhava reported the movement [of a guest] to the delighter of the Yadus:

15.2.15

"The sinless Durvāsas, having arrived on a pilgrimage, / is staying on the bank of the Gomatī near the Cakra sacred ford."

15.2.16

Hearing that, the Lord Adhokṣaja, possessing the power of the universe, / rose up at once and went to Rukmiṇī's house with a glad mind.

15.2.17

Having arrived, he said to the princess of Vidarbha: "The best of seers has arrived. / This son of Atri, of great austerities, has his sins shaken off by austerity.

15.2.18

Honored with hospitality, the brahmin will grant great prosperity. / In whose house there is no housewife, the arrival of a worthy recipient is in vain.

15.2.19

The gods and the ancestors do not accept his water. / Therefore come, let us go to invite the son of Atri."

Having said, "So be it," that virtuous queen mounted the chariot. / Having mounted the chariot, Hari, the Lord of gods, together with Rukmiṇī, / went to where the best of sages, Durvāsas, was residing.

15.2.21

Having seen him blazing with austerity on the shore of the lord of rivers, / in front of [the shrine of] Kāpālika, well bathed by the excellent spray,

15.2.22

the Lord bowed with devotion and then inquired after his health. / Afterwards Rukmiṇī, the daughter of Vidarbha, bowed to him.

15.2.23

And Durvāsas also, seeing the two arrived for darśana, / welcomed them with greetings and inquired about their welfare there.

15.2.24

Durvāsas said: / Is all well with you everywhere, O Kṛṣṇa? Where is your residence now? / How many wives, how much wealth and offspring [do you have]? Tell this in detail!

15.2.25

Glorious Kṛṣṇa said: / Twelve yojanas of land were given to me by the ocean. / In it, O brahmin, is my city made of gold, where I reside.

15.2.26

There are nine hundred thousand golden palaces in number there; / I live in it rejoiced and completely fearless by your grace.

15.2.27

Hearing those words of his, his mind filled with wonder, / that Durvāsas smiled and replied to Madhusūdana:

15.2.28

"Tell [me], good sir, the number of those people of yours who live there, / and how many wives, sons, and attendants you have."

15.2.29

Glorious Kṛṣṇa said: / O brahmin, I have sixteen thousand and eight wives. / Among them, the most beloved is the daughter of the king of Vidarbha.

15.2.30

Each one has ten sons and one daughter, O sage. / Fifty-six crores of Yadus constitute my retinue,

15.2.31

and the remaining subjects, O brahmin—of them there is no reckoning. / Hearing that, he pondered, astonished, "What is this?"

15.2.32

"Ah, of him whose power is infinite, who abides relying on his māyā, / behold this infinite activity in his role as the doer of everything!"

15.2.33

Durvāsas said: / Welcome to you, O mighty-armed one! Tell me, what shall I do for you? / My mind attains delight by the darśana of you.

15.2.34

Glorious Kṛṣṇa said: / If the lord is pleased, then come to my house; / bearing the water of your feet upon my head, I shall attain purity.

15.2.35

Durvāsas said: / Why do you lead me, whose very essence is impatience, O Mādhava? / Take me, if you will carry out my word together with your wife!

15.2.36

Prahlāda said: / Having said, "So be it," he departed in his own chariot. / Seeing Viṣṇu departed, [Durvāsas] laughed and said reproachfully:

15.2.37

Durvāsas said:
“Do you not know Durvāsas? Release these finest horses;
and you and this wife of yours, carry me on your own chariot!”

15.2.38

The venerable Kṛṣṇa said:
“O holy one, just as you say, O brahmin, so will I do.
By you, who are compassionate, O brāhmaṇa, I along with my kinsmen have been preserved.”

15.2.39

Prahlāda said:
Seeing the two of them so—the goddess yoked to her own chariot,
and likewise the lotus-eyed one—that best of seers said: “Go! Go!”

15.2.40

Seeing Hari bearing the chariot,
all the deities, saying “Well done! Well done!”, spoke to one another:

15.2.41

“Ah, behold the supreme devotion of the deity kind to brahmins,
who indeed, placing the yoke upon his shoulder, draws it along with his wife!”

15.2.42

Strewed with flowers by the hosts of gods, Janārdana,
taking the chariot along with his wife, set out toward Dvārakā.

15.2.43

As that chariot was being pulled along, Rukmiṇī became thirsty.
The daughter of Vidarbha, her eyes wild with exhaustion, spoke to Kṛṣṇa:

15.2.44

“Fatigued, distressed by the burden of carrying the irascible twice-born one,
give me water to drink, beloved, and take me to your abode.”

15.2.45

Hearing her words, by striking the surface of the earth with his foot,
the Lord brought forth the auspicious Gaṅgā, the river of three courses.

15.2.46

Seeing that clear, cool, fragrant, and purifying water of the Jāhnavī,
the thirsty goddess Rukmiṇī drank [it].

15.2.47

Seeing that the water was drunk by her, the best of seers became enraged.
Blazing like fire, he cursed the supreme goddess:

15.2.48

Durvāsas said:
“Because you drank water without asking me, O Rukmiṇī,
therefore you will constantly be devoted to drinking [intoxicants]; there is no doubt.

15.2.49

Because water was drunk by you without being unhitched from the chariot and without asking me,
therefore you will become separated from Kṛṣṇa.”

15.2.50

Prahlāda said:
Having spoken just these words, his eyes reddened with fury,
the brahmin abandoned the chariot and stood upon the ground.

15.2.51

Thus cursed at that time, the goddess, exceedingly perturbed, wept,
and plaintively said to Kṛṣṇa: “How shall I stay without you?”

15.2.52

The venerable Kṛṣṇa said:
“I will come daily, O goddess, twice a day, to your abode.
Whoever sees me situated here, sees only you.

15.2.53

For that person who, having seen me, does not behold you with devotion,
half the fruit of his pilgrimage will perish; of this there is no doubt.”

15.2.54

Having thus comforted his beloved, the delight of the Yadus
then propitiated the sinless brahmin Durvāsas.

15.2.55

Within the outer grove he worshipped him in like manner;
having personally washed his feet, Hari, the purifier of the universe,
placed upon his head the water from washing the brahmin’s feet.

15.2.56

Having offered water of respect, a cow, and a honey-mixture to the brahmin with devotion,
he fed the best of the twice-born with six flavors according to the rule.

15.2.56_1

Thus ends the second chapter, titled “The Description of the Bringing of Durvāsas to Dvārakā and the Curse Bestowed on Rukmiṇī by Durvāsas”, in the Dvārakāmāhātmya, the fourth [sub-section] of the Prabhāsakhaṇḍa, the seventh [part] of the eighty-one-thousand-verse collection in the glorious Skanda Mahāpurāṇa.

Linked texts (1)

Skandapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit