Skandapurana 16.347
English (machine translation) 16.347
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Īśvara said: / Then one should go, O great goddess, to the Hāṭakeśvara liṅga, / situated to the east of Naleśvara at a distance of two hundred bow-lengths.
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The mango grove named Agastyāmravana is located in that place; / three hundred bow-lengths to the east of Cintāmaṇi, in the northeast. / There, austerity was performed in ancient times by the great-souled Agastya.
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The goddess said: / At what time, O Mahādeva? Tell me everything in detail!
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Īśvara said: / Long ago, O fair-complexioned one, there were fearsome hordes of Daityas / known as the Kālakeyas, who caused the destruction of the three worlds.
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Then they were all slain by the all-powerful Viṣṇu, / residing in Prabhāsa-kṣetra under the name Daityasūdana,
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having assumed the form of a tiger named Cakramukhī. / By means of that form, they were indeed slain; thereafter He became [known as] Daityasūdana.
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Those who survived the slaughter entered the interior of the ocean, distraught with fear; / then they deliberated: 'How can the deities be tormented?'
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'Let the righteous ones who exist here on the face of the earth be slain— / those devoted to austerity and Vedic recitation, and those devoted to sacrifice and charity.'
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Then, having made an agreement, emerging from the ocean at night, / they slaughtered the ascetics there who were devoted to sacrifice and charity, O beloved.
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In Prabhāsa, O great goddess, in that area of twelve yojanas, / in the hermitage of Vasiṣṭha, five thousand ascetics / [and] seven [thousand] of the great-souled great seers were devoured; / five hundred of Raibhya's, sixteen [hundred] of Viśvāmitra's,
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seven of Cyavana's, two hundred of the sage Jābāli's, / [and] six hundred in the sacred hermitage of the Vālakhilyas [were devoured] by those evil-minded ones.
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Wherever a sacrifice took place, having gone there at nightfall, / they devoured the officiating priests engaged in sacrifice and charity.
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Then all became agitated with fear on the face of the earth; / and no one knew the activity of the Daityas.
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At night the sages slept, having gone to comfortable beds; / but in the morning, at their sacrificial rites, only heaps of bones [remained].
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Then religious rites were abandoned by all mortals on the face of the earth; / the earth became devoid of Vedic recitation and the vaṣaṭ-call.
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Then other ascetics joined together at night, bearing weapons; / and as dharma was being eradicated, the denizens of heaven were distressed.
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Saying 'What is this?', they went to Brahmā for refuge: / 'O blessed one, all the ascetics as well as those possessed of knowledge
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are being devoured by someone at night and are going to their deaths. / On the face of the earth, all religious rites have perished, O Great-grandfather!
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He who performs righteous deeds by day meets death at night; / there is no Vedic recitation or vaṣaṭ-call across the whole surface of the earth, O Lord! / Due to the absence of dharma, we have all fallen into great doubt.' / Hearing that speech of theirs, having meditated, the divine Grandfather / spoke to all the thirty [gods] who had fallen into great perplexity:
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'The Dānavas renowned as the Kāleyas act terrifyingly; / having taken to the ocean, they devour the ascetics.
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They cannot be slain by you, for your own destruction [would follow]; / strive for their destruction, otherwise your destruction will occur.
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Go quickly to the earth where Agastya resides, / constantly devoted to vows and religious observances in the best sacred field, Prabhāsa.
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He, born of Mitra and Varuṇa, is capable of drinking the ocean; / and he must be propitiated by you: "Drink the ocean, O best of men!"
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Then, once that is done by him, all those lowest of Dānavas / will be fit to be killed by you; and thus, O lords of heaven!'
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Īśvara said: / Having been addressed thus by Brahmā, the creator of the worlds, all the gods, / having arrived at Prabhāsa-kṣetra, went to Agastya for refuge.
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The gods said: / 'Protect, protect, O best among the twice-born! The three worlds have fallen into jeopardy, / ravaged by the Kālakeyas who have taken refuge in the ocean.
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Dry it up, O best among the twice-born, for the welfare of the denizens of heaven; / no other person is capable of performing such an act, O Lord!'
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Īśvara said: / Thus addressed by the hosts of gods, Agastya, the eminent sage, / went towards the ocean with the thirty [gods], filled with joy. / Being sung by the Gandharvas, praised by the Kinnaras, / and extolled by the gods, he spoke these words:
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'Here, for the protection of the three worlds, I shall dry up the great ocean; / you gods shall witness a great wonder, along with fish and makaras!'
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Having spoken thus, the best among the twice-born, the revered sage Agastya, / made a single sip of the entire ocean, the lord of rivers.
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When that great ocean was drunk there by the great-souled Agastya, / the Dānavas, terrified with fear, wandered to and fro.
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Being slain there by the gods with exceedingly sharp weapons, / others, intent on flight, fled into the wilderness. 35
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When most of the Daityas had been killed, tearing through the surface of the earth, / drenched in blood, they swiftly entered Pātāla. 36
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Then the delighted thirty [gods] said to Agastya, the best of sages: / 'All that we desired has been achieved; let the ocean be filled again.' 37
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Agastya said: / 'The water has been digested by me, O gods, and has likewise become impure. / Indeed, an excellent king will be born in the lineage of the Raghus, 38
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renowned as Bhagīratha, foremost among all weapon-bearers. / For the sake of his kinsmen, he will bring Gaṅgā there. 39
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The [ocean] will be filled by that best of rivers [coming] from the world of Brahmā.' / Having spoken thus, the sage went to his own place together with the gods. 40 / Then, when he had arrived at his own hermitage, the gods spoke these words: / 'O brahmin, O sage, we are well pleased by this deed of yours. 41
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Tell [us] your desire; what shall we do, even if it is very difficult to obtain?' 42
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Agastya said: / 'For as long as twenty-five crores of thousands of Brahmās, / I shall dwell in an aerial chariot at the crown of the southern sky. 43
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Whatever person, having come here to my auspicious hermitage-seat, / in the presence of Hāṭakeśvara in the supreme Prabhāsa sacred field, 44
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properly performs a ritual ablution, may he attain the supreme state. / That Maheśvara in the form of a liṅga, who ascended from Pātāla 45
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and was established by me through the power of austerity—whoever worships him, / day by day the fruit of [donating] a hundred cows will surely be his. 46
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Whatever mortal worships me accompanied by Lopāmudrā, / and, composed in mind, duly offers an arghya with kāśa flowers 47
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when the autumn season arrives, may he attain the supreme state. / Having worshipped me accompanied by Lopāmudrā, united with Hāṭakeśvara, 48
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during the northern solstice, one obtains the fruit of [donating] a hundred thousand cows. / And whatever twice-born performs a śrāddha here during the northern solstice, / O best of men, his shall be the entire fruit of a śrāddha performed at Gayā.' 49
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Īśvara said: / Having said 'So be it,' all the gods together with Vāsava / went to their respective abodes with delighted minds. 50 / Therefore, by every effort, when autumn arrives, a mortal / should go to the hermitage of Agastya and worship Hāṭakeśa, 51
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the liṅga of the cosmic age known as Agastyeśvara, dear to the gods. / And whoever hears with devotion this deed of that seer / is at that very moment freed from sin committed during a day and night. 52
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Thus ends the three hundred forty-sixth chapter, entitled 'The Description of the Māhātmya of Hāṭakeśvara', in the first [part], the Prabhāsakṣetramāhātmya, of the seventh section, the Prabhāsakhaṇḍa, in the glorious Skanda Mahāpurāṇa, a compendium of eighty-one thousand [verses]. 346
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- Skandapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit