Skandapurana 16.17
English (machine translation) 16.17
- Language
- English
16.17.1
Īśvara said: / Now I shall tell you the rule of worship, O glorious one, / of the god of Arkasthala, how he is to be worshipped by the best of men.
16.17.2
The Sun (Āditya) is said to be the first of all the gods; / and because he is the first maker, he is called Āditya.
16.17.3
Without the Sun there is neither night nor day, nor water offering, / neither virtue nor vice; nor could the moving and unmoving exist.
16.17.4
The Sun preserves everything; the Sun always creates; / the Sun dissolves everything; therefore he is composed of the threefold Veda.
16.17.5
I shall proclaim the rite of worship of that great-souled Sun, / O great goddess, through the extensive mantras declared in the Vedas; / listen to that which destroys all sins, O woman of beautiful hips.
16.17.6
The rule by which the twelvefold Sun, dwelling in his image, / is worshipped, O great goddess—that I will tell you in full.
16.17.7
First having purified the mouth, and especially having performed ritual ablution, / having purified one's garments and purified one's body, one should then touch the Sun.
16.17.9
First, however, I shall describe to you the rule of the tooth-stick: / from the madhūka there is the gain of a son; from the arka, delight of the eyes, O beloved.
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Eloquence [comes] from the jujube, and with the bṛhatī one conquers wicked people; / sovereignty arises from the bilva, and from the khadira, without a doubt.
16.17.10
Destruction of disease [comes] from the kadamba; gain of wealth from the atimuktaka; / with sticks made of āṭarūṣaka, one goes everywhere among the gods.
16.17.11
Pre-eminence in one's caste [comes from the jātī]; the aśvattha grants fame; / one obtains complete fortune from the use of the śirīṣa.
16.17.12
For one who uses the priyaṅgu, there will be supreme auspicious fortune; / the attainment of one's desired ends comes from the daily use of the plakṣa.
16.17.13
One should not use a tooth-stick that is split, nor one that is blemished, / nor one that is dried at the top, or crooked, nor one devoid of bark.
16.17.14
One should use one that is only a span long, and avoid long or short ones, / facing north or facing east, seated comfortably and with speech restrained.
16.17.15
Holding one's desired wish in heart, and consecrating it, / the wise person should use the tooth-cleanser with this mantra:
16.17.16
'Granting a boon, you recognize my desire, O lord of the forest; / grant me success always, O tooth-stick; salutations to you!'
16.17.17
Having recited this three times, one should chew the tooth-cleanser; / afterwards, having washed that stick, one should cast it in a clean place.
16.17.18
One should not scrape the tongue with the tooth-stick, O ruler of the gods; / that must be done separately if one desires abundant fame.
16.17.19
[Brushing with] a tooth-stick using the finger, [eating] raw salt, / and eating earth are equal to eating beef.
16.17.20
When the mouth is stale [upon waking], a twice-born becomes constantly impure; / therefore, one should chew a tooth-cleanser, whether dry or moist.
16.17.21
And on forbidden days, [one should perform] sixteen mouthfuls of water, / or one should purify the mouth with fragrances of various lotuses.
16.17.22
The twice-born who touches the Sun without having purified his mouth / is born as a leper for three thousand years.
16.17.23
Thus having purified one's clothes and the rest, one should then perform the ritual ablution: / in a clean, delightful place, taking clay with the astra-mantra.
16.17.24
The letter 'ha' joined with an anusvāra and the vowel 'u', accompanied by 'phaṭ'— / taking [clay] with this weapon-mantra, one should perform the ritual ablution there.
16.17.25
Having made three portions, purified and free from grass and stones, / smearing one with the astra-mantra, and likewise another with the sun-mantra,
16.17.26
and consecrating the third with the aṅga-mantras, each one at a time, / having recited the astra-mantra, one should throw it in the directions; then the water becomes free of obstacles.
16.17.27
Covering [oneself] with the second in the Sūryatīrtha, and with the third once each time, / a man should then bathe in the sacred ford of the Sun.
16.17.28
To the sound of trumpets and conches, meditating on the god who makes the day, / having bathed with royal honors, and carefully sipping water again,
16.17.29
and then having performed the ritual ablution, O goddess, joined with the king of mantras: / the 'ha' and 'ra', with a bindu and 'ī' (lakṣmī), and likewise another with a long
16.17.30
vowel mark, joined with 'ra', the letter 'ha' with a bindu, / and the letter 'sa' with a visarga—this is called the king of mantras.
16.17.31
Then one should offer water to all those mantras with the tips of the fingers: / lifting upward to the gods, with the sacred thread on the right shoulder to the sages, / and with the sacred thread on the left shoulder to the ancestors, one should offer with the heart-bīja.
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That which is praised by the wise as the foremost among syllables in the world— / that is proclaimed as the nineteenth syllable of the vowels.
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Having thus bathed according to rule, one should worship the twilight according to rule; / then the learned man should afterwards cast an offering of water to the Sun.
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And one should recite the three-syllable mantra and the six-faced [mantra] at will, / which was previously declared to you by me, O beloved, as the king of mantras.
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Then, drawing in the mantras by means of the sacred ford, one should place them in the heart; / uniting oneself with the mantras in one place, one should offer the argha.
16.17.36
Clean and bathed, with scents of red sandalwood on the surface of the earth, / having made a circular maṇḍala, steady with a one-pointed mind,
16.17.37
Taking oleanders and placing them in a copper vessel, / mixed with sesamum and rice grains, along with kuśa grass and fragrant water,
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accompanied by red sandalwood and incense, properly arranged for the offering of arghya, / placing that vessel upon his head, having gone down upon his knees to the ground,
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one should offer the arghya to the sun, accompanied by the root mantra. / For whoever presents it thus is freed from all sins.
16.17.40
Whatever fruit is obtained in a thousand Yugādis and a hundred Vyatīpātas, / or in a thousand solstices at Jyeṣṭhapuṣkara, / that fruit one completely attains upon presenting an arghya to the sun.
16.17.41
Even one devoid of initiation and mantras, through devotion over the course of a year, / indeed obtains the fruit through this arghya, O goddess; of this there is no doubt.
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Moreover, the wise man who is initiated and presents the arghya according to rule / is not reborn on earth; he merges into the Sun.
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In this birth he quickly attains good fortune, long life, health, and wealth; / together with his wife, O goddess, he becomes a vessel of happiness.
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Thus the solar rule of ritual ablution has been declared to you in brief, / destructive of all sins, for the benefit of the best among men.
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Alternatively, the best of twice-borns may perform the ritual ablution according to the Vedic path, / if he is indeed unable to engage in the detailed mantras without initiation.
16.17.46
Īśvara said: / Now I shall tell you the rule of worship, O glorious one, / according to the divine Vedic path, truly for the benefit of the brahmins.
16.17.47
Having thus assembled the materials and made ready the flowers and other offerings, / one should then invoke the sun and install him upon the pericarp.
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Performing the adoration with this mantra, O lady of auspicious vows— / 'ud u tyaṃ jātavedasam' is the mantra proclaimed.
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Having invoked [him] with this mantra, 'agniṃ dūtam', O lovely lady, / or with this mantra, 'ā kṛṣṇena rajasā', one should worship [him].
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With this mantra, 'haṃsaḥ śuciṣat', one should worship; / with the mantra 'apatye taye', O goddess, one should worship the sun.
16.17.51
And with this [mantra], 'adṛśram asya', O goddess, one should worship the sun. / One should constantly chant with 'taraṇir viśvadarśataḥ'.
16.17.52
With 'citraṃ devānām udagāt', one should always worship the auspicious god; / one should daily worship Vibhūti with 'yena pāvaka cakṣasā'.
16.17.53
One should always [worship] Vimalā with 'vidyām eṣi rajas pṛthu'; / one should daily worship Amoghā with this mantra, O lady of auspicious vows.
16.17.54
With 'sapta tvā haritaḥ', [one should worship] the bestower of success in all undertakings; / and one should worship the god Vidyut with 'sapta tvā haritaḥ'.
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One should constantly worship the ninth goddess, Sarvatomukhī, / indeed with this mantra here, O goddess: 'ud vayaṃ tamasaḥ'.
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With 'udyann adya mitramahaḥ', one should mutter the first syllable. / With 'śukeṣu me harimāṇam', O goddess, one should worship the second.
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With 'ud agād ayam ādityaḥ', the third is also [worshipped]. / With 'tat savitur vareṇyam', the fourth is proclaimed.
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'mahāñ hi vaḥ' is proclaimed as the fifth. / 'hiraṇyagarbhaḥ samavartata' is proclaimed as the sixth seed-syllable.
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'savitā paścātāt savitā' is the seventh, O lady of fair complexion. / Having thus installed the seed-syllables, one should establish the sun, O auspicious one.
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Having installed the sun, one should then install the limbs.
16.17.61
Placing the heart in the south-east, one should place the head in the north-east, / the topknot in the south-west, and the armor in the region of Vāyu (north-west).
16.17.62
Having placed the weapon in the [cardinal] directions, and the pericarp with its own seed-syllable, / one should worship the heart with this [mantra]: 'amo 'si prāṇite na'.
16.17.63
One should worship the head, O goddess, with 'āyuṣyaṃ varcasyam'; / and having worshipped the topknot with the Gāyatrī, situated in the south-west,
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one should worship the armor separately with 'jīmūtasyeva bhavati'; / one should always worship the weapon with 'dhanvanā gā dhanvanā'.
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And one should worship the eye, O goddess, with 'aśvinā tejasā'. / Then on the east Soma, and on the south Budha;
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having placed Guru on the west and Bhārgava on the north; / having placed Maṅgala in the south-east and Śanaiścara in the south-west;
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one should place Rāhu in the north-west and Ketu in the region of Īśāna (north-east). / One should constantly worship Soma, O goddess, with the mantra 'āpyāyasva'.
16.17.68
There one should constantly worship Budha with 'ud budhyadhvam', O great goddess; / one should constantly worship Guru with the mantra 'bṛhaspate'.
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And one should worship Bhārgava, O goddess, with 'śukraḥ śuśukvān'; / one should always worship Maṅgala with the mantra 'agnir mūrdhā'.
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One should worship the son of the Sun with the mantra 'śaṃ agniḥ'; / one should always worship Rāhu, O goddess, with the mantra 'kayā naś citraḥ'.
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The wise man should constantly worship Ketu indeed with 'ketuṃ kṛṇvan'. / On the outside, Śukra in the east, and Yama in the south;
16.17.72
one should recognize Īśvara in the north-east, and Agni is spoken of in the south-east; / Virūpākṣa in the south-west, and Pavana in the region of Vāyu (north-west).
16.17.73
Then one should worship Indra with this: 'tam u ṣṭavāma'; / one should always worship Vaivasvata with 'udīratām avarāḥ'.
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One should worship Varuṇa, O goddess, with the mantra 'tat tvā yāmi'; / one should worship the Bestower of Wealth with the mantra 'indrāsomāvatam'.
16.17.75
One should worship Pāvaka, O goddess, with 'agnim īḷe purohitam'; / one should always worship Virūpākṣa with 'rakṣohaṇaṃ vājinam'.
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One should always worship Vāyu, O goddess, with the mantra 'vāyav ā yāhi'. / The wise man should worship all these in due order, O goddess:
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on the outside, on all sides beginning with Indra in the east, O goddess. / [Him who is] red in color, of great splendor, seated upon a white lotus,
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endowed with all auspicious marks, adorned with all ornaments, / having two arms and one face, his hands holding five gentle [objects],
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standing in the center of a circular orb of light, wearing red garments— / having meditated upon this form of the sun, worshipped in all worlds, / one should daily venerate the raised altar situated in the maṇḍala.
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The Goddess said: / The procedure by which the Sun residing in the maṇḍala is worshipped with devotion / by mortals, O best of the gods, has been declared by you.
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Tell me, O Śaṃkara, the rite by which one should worship the Sun-god, born of the lotus, / the all-pervading god residing in an image.
16.17.82
Īśvara said: / Excellent, excellent, O great goddess! Well have I been asked, O virtuous lady. / Listen with a focused mind, O goddess, [to the rite] by which one should worship him residing in an image.
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With the mantra 'iṣe tvā', one should always worship the head. / With the mantra 'agnim īḷe', one should worship the right hand.
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With the mantra 'agna ā yāhi', one should worship the two feet of the god. / With the mantra 'ājighra', one should worship [him] with a flower garland.
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With the mantra 'yoge-yoge', one should throw an open handful of flowers. / With that which is stated as 'samudrād āgaccha', one should bathe the Sun.
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With that which is declared as 'imaṃ me gaṅge', O beautiful lady, / and with the mantra 'samudrajyāḥ', one should wash the Sun according to the rule.
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With the mantra 'sinīvālī', one should bathe him with conch-water. / With the mantra 'yajñaṃ yajñena', one should protect him with astringent decoctions.
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One should bathe him with milk, O goddess, using the mantra 'āpyāyasva'. / With the mantra 'dadhikrāvṇaḥ', one should bathe the Sun with curd according to rule.
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With that which is proclaimed as 'imaṃ me gaṅge', and with the mantra 'samudrajyāḥ', / O passionate woman, bathing with medicinal herbs is traditionally taught.
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Then one should rub the Sun with the dvipadā verses, O fair-faced lady. / With the mantra 'mā nastoke', one should perform a simultaneous bath.
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With the mantra 'viṣṇor rarāṭam', one should bathe him with fragrant water. / With the mantra 'sauvarṇam', one should offer water for the arghya and pādya.
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With the mantra 'idaṃ viṣṇur vicakrame', one should offer the arghya. / With the mantra 'vedo'si', one should present the sacred thread.
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With the mantra 'bṛhaspate', one should give garments to the Sun. / With 'yena śriyam prakurvāṇaḥ', one should worship him with a flower garland.
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With the mantra 'dhūr asi', one should offer incense accompanied with bdellium. / With the mantra 'samiddho'ñjana', one should apply collyrium.
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With the mantra 'yuñjānaḥ', one should smear the Sun with yellow orpiment. / And one should perform the waving of lamps for the sake of long life.
16.17.96
With 'sahasraśīrṣā puruṣaḥ', one should worship the Sun on the head. / With the mantra 'śaṃbhavāya', one should touch the two eyes of the Sun.
16.17.97
With 'viśvataścakṣuḥ', one should touch the body of the Sun. / With 'śrīś ca te lakṣmīś ca', one should worship the Sun on all his limbs.
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Īśvara said: / Now, O great goddess, O virtuous lady, I shall tell you in brief / the rites and mantras for the worship of the eight-peaked Meru.
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One should worship the eight peaks, O great goddess, by this rule: / First, one should worship in the center with this mantra, O virtuous lady:
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With 'mahāhi vo mahāya', [one should worship] with clusters of various flowers. / With the mantra 'trātāram indram', one should always worship the eastern peak.
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With the mantra 'tam uṣṭavāma', O celestial beauty, / [or] with 'agnim īḷe purohitam', one should worship the southeastern peak.
16.17.102
And with the Gāyatrī addressed to Agni, or one should worship with this: / 'yamāya tvā makhāya tvā', one should worship the southern peak.
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Or one should worship with this: 'udīratām avare'. / With the mantra 'āyaṃ gauḥ', one should worship the southwestern peak.
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One should worship the [quarter] near the asuras with 'rakṣohaṇaṃ vājinam', / or one should worship with the mantra that is 'indrāsomā'.
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With 'abhi tvā sūra nonumaḥ', one should worship the northeastern peak; / or with 'yenedam bhūtam', one may worship with that.
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With 'namo 'stu sarpebhyaḥ', one should always worship the Meru pedestal. / With 'hiraṇyagarbhaḥ samavartata', one should worship again in the center.
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With 'savitā paścātāt', one should worship with a flower garland. / One should worship at the three junctures of the day, O goddess, offering arghya with reverence.
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One should worship in the morning with 'mātā rudrāṇāṃ duhitā vasūnām'. / In the midday, O goddess, one should worship with 'tad viṣṇoḥ paramaṃ padam'.
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Or in the afternoon one should always worship with 'haṃsaḥ śuciṣat'. / Thus one should worship the Sun together with the planets, O woman of excellent complexion.
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The goddess said: / Which flowers are beloved always in the worship of the Sun, / and which have been spoken of, O lord of gods? Tell me out of your grace.
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Īśvara said: / Listen, O goddess, I shall speak of the supreme chapter on flowers, / by which, when worshipped at the place of the Sun, O goddess, he is quickly pleased.
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Worship with mālatī flowers brings about his presence. / And by means of mallikā flowers, a man comes to enjoy pleasures.
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With white lotuses comes good fortune and enduring wealth. / With kadamba flowers, O ruler of gods, one enjoys supreme sovereignty.
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Food becomes inexhaustible through the worship of the Sun with bakula flowers. / Worship with mandāra flowers destroys all leprosy.
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With the leaves and flowers of the bilva tree, one enjoys great prosperity. / A garland of arka flowers yields wealth that grants the fruits of all desires.
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When worshipped with a garland of bakula flowers, he will bestow a shapely maiden. / When worshipped with kiṃśuka flowers, O goddess, the Sun causes no affliction.
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Likewise, with agasti flowers, he grants favor. / And with oleanders, O ruler of gods, one becomes an attendant of the Sun.
16.17.119
With a garland of hundred-petaled lotuses, O goddess, one goes to the world of the Sun. / With baka flowers, O great goddess, poverty does not arise at all.
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Having worshipped the day-maker with seasonal flowers and perfume, / he enjoys this earth bounded by the four oceans.
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Whoever smears the shrine of the Sun with devotion using red chalk / shall attain great fortune and is freed from diseases.
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The eighteen types of leprosy here, and whatever other ailments of men exist, / all of them go to destruction if one smears [it] with clay.
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Among all ungents, saffron and red sandalwood are praised, / and among flowers, oleanders are commended, O fair-faced lady.
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There is nothing superior to this for causing pleasure to the Sun / such as saffron, jasmine, the hundred-petaled lotus, and agarwood.
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What would not come to be in the world for him who worships the Sun with these, / and who, having smeared the temple, makes an auspicious circle?
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With one [mandala] one gains wealth, with two one attains health, / with three one possesses all knowledge, and with four one becomes an enjoyer of pleasures.
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With five [one gains] abundant grain; with six, longevity, strength, and renown; / with seven mandalas drawn, a man becomes the lord of a realm.
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By offering a lamp of clarified butter, a man becomes possessed of good sight; / by offering a lamp of pungent oil, a man conquers his own enemy.
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By offering a lamp of [sesame] oil, one is glorified in the world of Sūrya; / by a lamp of madhūka oil, one obtains supreme good fortune.
Among flowers, jasmine is superior; among incenses, vijaya is foremost; / among fragrances, saffron is best; and among unguents, red sandalwood.
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In offering lamps, clarified butter is best; in food offerings, a sweetmeat is foremost; / with these the lord of gods is pleased and grants his presence.
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Having thus worshipped according to rule, and having made circumambulations for the ancestors, / having bowed with the head to the god at that Arkasthala, O beloved,
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sitting comfortably, he should then look, remaining facing the sun, / having placed a single white mustard seed in his hand along with water.
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Having formed whatever desire he wishes in his heart near Arkasthala, / he should drink it with the water, O goddess, untouched by his teeth, all at once.
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By doing thus, O goddess, a man obtains the fruit of ten million pilgrimages. / Brahmā, Viṣṇu, Mahādeva, the Fire-god, and likewise Kubera—
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all of them rejoice in heaven relying upon the Sun, O lady of good vows; / therefore I see no god equal to the Sun.
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Having done this, O great goddess, he should again perform circumambulation / around the Sun seven times with mantra[s], O goddess of gods, O fair-faced one.
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‘Tam u ṣṭavāma’ is celebrated as the first ṛg-verse; / ‘Eta u nv indraṃ stavāma’ is celebrated as the second;
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‘Indra śuddho na ā gahi’ is celebrated as the third; / ‘Indraṃ śuddho hi no rayim’ is celebrated as the fourth;
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‘Asya vāmasya’, O auspicious one, is celebrated as the fifth; / and ‘Tribhiṣ ṭvaṃ deva’ indeed is celebrated as the sixth.
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Those ten superior Sāmans that are always sung by wise Sāman-chanters— / with them he should have the seventh [circumambulation] performed.
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I tell those ten Sāmans to you today, O beautiful woman: / the huṃkāra, the praṇava, the udgītha, and the prastāva make four;
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the fifth is where the prahāra is, and likewise the sixth is the Āraṇyaka; / the seventh is the nidhana of the Sāmans, remembered as the saptasiddhi.
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This is taught as fivefold; but with hrīṃkāra and the praṇava, / the eighth is Sādhya, and the ninth is Vāmadevaka,
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and the Jyeṣṭhasāman is the tenth Sāman, beloved of the Creator and supreme. / The recitation of these Sāmans, O goddess, must indeed be performed according to rule.
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Hear also from me as I speak of another that is beyond the Jyeṣṭhasāman; / that second one is not to be recited aloud, but murmured by one desiring liberation.
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That supreme text to be muttered was proclaimed by the Sun God himself; / learn from me the ritual application and characteristics of this recitation: / the essence of stobhas, merging with the breath, beginning with the syllable Oṃ, is remembered by the wise.
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‘Ūr, the sun, and likewise dharma; dharma is truth and indeed cosmic order; / dharma, those who are dharmic in dharma, have indeed attained the conclusion in dharma.’
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When one worships with these words as appropriate for Sāma-singing twice-born [brahmins]— / this supreme recitation was taught by the Sun God himself.
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Being muttered, one does not return again [to rebirth]; / freed from all diseases, he is released from [the sin of] killing a brahmin.
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‘Ājyadohādyadohā’ is also the characteristic of the Jyeṣṭhasāman.
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Having thus worshipped the lord of gods, he should then utter supreme praise / with five ṛg-verses; listen to them attentively:
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‘Ukṣāṇaṃ pṛśnim’ is celebrated as the first; / ‘Catvāri vāk pari’ is celebrated as the second;
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and ‘Indraṃ mitraṃ’ is celebrated as the third ṛg-verse; / ‘Kṛṣṇaṃ niyānam’ indeed is celebrated as the fourth;
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‘Dvādaśaprathamaḥ’ is celebrated as the fifth. / With ‘Yo ratnavāhī’, he should fasten the crown of the Sun.
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With ‘Gatehanām’, he should place the avyaṅga belt on the Sun. / In this manner, O goddess, he should worship the Sun according to rule.
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Thus has the rule for worshipping the image been declared to you by me.
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He who continually worships the Sun according to this rule / obtains superior desires in this world and in the next.
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He who desires a son obtains a son; he who desires wealth obtains wealth; / he who desires a maiden obtains a maiden; he who desires knowledge becomes a knower of the Veda.
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He who worships without desire goes surely to liberation / because of the māhātmya of this sacred field and by the power of the Sun of Arkasthala.
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Whatever fruit one may obtain elsewhere by [feeding] ten million brahmins, / that same fruit is gained by feeding just one [brahmin] at Arkasthala.
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Whatever ritual ablution, gifting, recitation, and oblation is performed on a solar eclipse / is multiplied ten million times by the power of ten million suns.
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Whatever man faithfully keeps a vigil on the seventh day [of the lunar fortnight] falling on a Sunday / in the dark fortnight of the month of Māgha, O great goddess, / near Arkasthala, he goes to the supreme state.
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Whatever fruit [comes] from giving a hundred cows in Kurukṣetra, / one obtains that same fruit from the darśana of Arkasthala there.
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Arkasthala should be worshipped by those dwelling in that place, / especially by the sick, with hibiscus flowers and arka flowers.
16.17.165
The Sun should not be worshipped with patrorṇa flowers, / nor with those arising from dhattūra, nor with flowers produced from hog-plum.
16.17.166
The flower of the hog-plum appears like an already-used offering / because it is not fresh on the outside; therefore, one should avoid it.
16.17.167
One desiring prosperity should not offer an unknown garland, nor one that is withered, / nor one that is tainted, nor one that is stale.
16.17.168
Whoever strips the deity immediately out of greed for flowers— / [whether] fragrant flowers or others [offered] by a temple priest—
16.17.169
The bhojaka, deluded by greed, incurs the sin of killing a brahmin; / having reached Mahāraurava, he is cooked for eternal years. // 169
16.17.170
Come, I shall declare to you the supreme rule for offering incense, / [and] which fruit comes from which incense by offering it to the God of gods: // 7.1.17.170
16.17.171
With regular worship by means of incense, the Sun grants proximity; / he would grant every desired thing, whatever a mortal wishes. // 171
16.17.172
Likewise, through aloe incense he would grant a desired treasure; / one who desires health and desires wealth should continually burn bdellium. // 172
16.17.173
The Sun is ever pleased by offering piṇḍāta incense; / he would himself grant health, and supreme happiness would ensue. // 173
16.17.174
Through incense of pine resin, one obtains complete [success in] trade; / and to one who burns the resin of the Sāla tree, influx of wealth will come. // 174
16.17.175
And to one who burns deodar wood, food becomes inexhaustible; / anointment with saffron grants the fruit of all desires. // 175
16.17.176
Having become happy in this world, he would attain imperishable heaven; / through anointment with sandalwood paste, he finds fortune and longevity. // 176
16.17.177
Through anointment with red sandalwood, the Sun gives everything; / even if afflicted with hundreds of diseases, he would attain well-being and health. // 177
16.17.178
A man obtains pleasant fragrance and supreme good fortune; / through massage with musk, he will obtain peerless sovereignty. // 178
16.17.179
With perfumes combined with camphor, he becomes a sovereign of kings; / with fourfold perfume, he will attain all desires. // 179
16.17.180
This excellent māhātmya of the Sun has been told to you, O Goddess; / it has been proclaimed in detail by me; what else do you ask? // 7.1.17.180
16.17.181
The Goddess said: / If the divine Sun is thus the foremost of all luminous beings, / how, O Lord, is he swallowed by Rāhu, the son of Siṃhikā? // 181
16.17.182
Īśvara said: / Listen, O Goddess, I will declare that which destroys all sins, / the cause of the eclipse, which destroys delusion. // 182
16.17.183
Rāhu stands below the solar orb, O spirited lady, / seated in an aerial chariot, desiring nectar, as long as the nectar trickles. // 183
16.17.184
It is screened by the orb, O Goddess; that is indeed the solar eclipse. / No one is able to swallow [him]; the Sun certainly burns. // 184
16.17.184_4
Brahmā and the others worship him; he is the origin of all denizens of heaven. // 185ab
16.17.185
All gods and Dānavas and others were born from the body of the Sun. // 185cd
16.17.186
Because he is himself the original creator, he is called Āditya; / the god is situated at Prabhāsa, destroying all sins. // 186
16.17.187
The god grants enjoyment and liberation, destroying diseases and wicked deeds; / there, in ancient times, O Goddess, the guardians of the worlds and great seers became perfected. // 187
16.17.188
Siddhas, Vidyādharas, Yakṣas, Gandharvas, and likewise sages; / Dhanada as well, and likewise Bhīṣma, Yayāti, and Gālava; // 188
16.17.189
and Sāmba as well, O Goddess, attained supreme perfection from here. / This secret, O ruler of the gods, is the supreme māhātmya of the Sun. // 189
16.17.190
It must not be given to evil-minded persons, and especially not to sinners; / not to an atheist, not to an unbeliever, nor ever to a cruel person. // 7.1.17.190
16.17.191
One may recite this narrative, O auspicious lady, to one who is not envious; / this should be told to a son, to a disciple who is righteous and righteous in conduct, // 191
16.17.192
O lady of noble vows, this great sacred lore [should be told] to a devotee of the Sun; / this is the supreme māhātmya of the god of Arkasthala. // 192
16.17.193
Whoever recites [this] at a śrāddha to brahmins of strict vows, O Goddess, / endless indeed becomes whatever gift that man gives, O Goddess. // 193
16.17.193_5
Where this sacred text is recited, prosperity is indeed ever present. // 194ab
16.17.194
Overcome with fear, the Yātudhānas do not disrupt that śrāddha. // 194cd
16.17.195
Even those who defile the dining row attain the status of sanctifiers of the row; / he will have sons, have a noble birth, and be pleasing in all desires. // 195
16.17.196
A man will always be reunited with his kinsmen living abroad; / he is reunited with lost wealth, and with other desired things as well. // 196
16.17.197
He is protected by Yoginīs, and is not separated from his beloved ones; / having touched water and become pure, a brahmin should always listen to it; / he obtains all desires, there is no doubt about this. // 197
16.17.198
A vaiśya [would obtain] peerless prosperity, a kṣatriya would become a ruler of the earth, / and merchants would obtain undivided trade hundreds of times over, / from the recitation of this origin of the Sun, O fair-faced lady. // 198
16.17.199
And śūdras will obtain their cherished desires, O spirited lady; / the terrible fear of premature death, which is even a greater fear than death, // 199
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Linked texts (1)
- Skandapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit