Skandapurana 17

English (machine translation) 17

Language: English

17.0 — 20 parts
17.1 — 132 parts
17.2 — 17 parts
17.3 — 8 parts
17.4 — 5 parts
17.5 — 5 parts
17.6 — 143 parts
17.7 — 41 parts
17.8 — 21 parts
17.9 — 236 parts
17.10 — 20 parts
17.11 — 39 parts
17.12 — 47 parts
17.13 — 45 parts
17.14 — 101 parts
17.15 — 76 parts
17.16 — 134 parts
17.17 — 264 parts
17.18 — 281 parts
17.19 — 41 parts
17.20 — 23 parts

17.0.p20

Table of contents of the Vastrāpathakṣetramāhātmya.

17.1.p3

Now begins the second [section], the venerable Vastrāpathakṣetramāhātmya, in the seventh [book], the Prabhāsakhaṇḍa, in the glorious Skanda Mahāpurāṇa.

17.1.1

Īśvara said: / Now I shall tell you of the most prosperous interior of the sacred field, / that māhātmya of Vastrāpatha where Mount Raivataka is situated. // 1

17.1.2

Dāmodara is at Raivataka, and Bhava likewise at Vastrāpatha; / this Raivataka sacred field is known as Vastrāpatha. // 2

17.1.3

Where the river Suvarṇarevā flows, destroying sins, / where Kṛṣṇa resides in visible form, remembered as Dāmodara; // 3

where Mṛgīkuṇḍa is situated, which destroys great sins, / where, if a śrāddha is performed even once, for a thousand crores of kalpas / the ancestors attain satisfaction that yearns for freedom from rebirth. // 4

17.1.5

The Goddess said: / Lord, relate in full the great fortune of Dāmodara, / the māhātmya of the interior of the sacred field which is positioned in the form of a pericarp. // 5

17.1.6

Īśvara said: / Listen, O Goddess, I shall recount concerning Dāmodara-Hari / the ancient historical account told by seers dwelling for a kalpa. // 6

17.1.7

On the auspicious, delightful, and holy bank of the Gaṅgā, crowded with inhabitants, / constantly attended by seers, which certainly grants the path to heaven, // 7

17.1.8

there brahmins knowledgeable in spiritual wisdom sacrifice with diverse rituals, / seers [worship] through Sāṃkhya and Yoga, and other people purely through giving. // 8

17.1.9

Brahmins, kṣatriyas, vaiśyas, and śūdras, all desiring heaven, / resort to that divine water which is difficult to attain even for the gods. // 9

17.1.10

There a mighty king named Gaja, ruler of all people, / abandoned his kingdom and went to bathe in the waters of the Gaṅgā. // 7.2.1.10

17.1.11

His wife, chaste, virtuous, endowed with children and with beauty, / she too, devoted to her husband, went along with that very husband. // 11

17.1.12

Saṃgatā by name, she was capable like Dākṣāyaṇī. / As they were living there thus, ten thousand years passed away. // 12

17.1.13

There arrived a seer named Bhadra, of great renown, / accompanied by many brahmins devoted to silent recitation and fire-offerings. // 13

17.1.14

Having forsaken the path of worldly existence, striving to conquer the path to heaven, / having attended upon the Gaṅgā and dispelled their innate impurities, // 14

17.1.15

having offered water to the living beings and worshipped Janārdana, / as the seers, Bhadra and the rest, were going toward the riverbank, / they saw King Gaja, resembling an excellent elephant. // 15

17.1.16

By that king, the sages whose sins were destroyed were seen, / just as the seven seers [are seen] in heaven by the wise king of the gods. // 16

17.1.17

Looking upon that seer, taking fifteen steps, [he said:] / "May you, worthy of worship, come here to my residence. // 17

17.1.18

May all of you behold Saṃgatā, my illustrious wife; / having received homage from her, whatever path is set in your mind, // 18

17.1.19

upon that proceed, O highly fortunate, holy ones who desire the holy." / Thus spoken to by the king, the seers, filled with curiosity, / went to his bright dwelling, resembling the city of Purandara. // 19

17.1.20

Having offered them variegated seats, the high-minded / Saṃgatā stood in front [of them] along with the king of kings. // 7.2.1.20

17.1.21

Having folded his hands in reverence to the seers of holy deeds, / the king spoke words to Bhadra that were auspicious and well-composed: // 21

17.1.22

"The earth is filled with wealth, adorned with town and city, / with mountains and oceans, and with rivers and lakes; // 22

17.1.23

it is teeming with villages, terrible crossroads, and herds of cattle, / and crowded with jewels among men, jewels among horses, and jewels among elephants. // 23

17.1.24

It is hard to abandon for those enjoying pleasures who do not know supreme knowledge. / In this terrible saṃsāra, which brings about repetition [of births], // 24

17.1.25

men fall again and again, O Bhadra, like leaves. / By what performed [deed] does one attain spotless heaven, O leader of brahmins, / through giving or austerity? Explain that reality, O one of noble vows." // 25

17.1.26

Bhadra said: / "Sacred fords are full of water, and deities are made of stone and clay; / those who do not behold the One dwelling in the Self do not behold that supreme [reality]. // 26

17.1.27

There are numerous sacred fords and holy sanctuaries, / rivers with holy waters, purifiers, and likewise oceans; / at every place and every step, the earth bestows abundant merit. // 27

17.1.28

If you have spiritual knowledge, O lord of kings, best among the wise, / [behold] Viṣṇu, victorious, Hṛṣīkeśa, holding the conch and mace, // 28

17.1.29

the four-armed, mighty-armed slayer of Daityas at Prabhāsa, / the Boar, the Dwarf, the Man-Lion, Bala, and Arjuna,

17.1.30

Rāma, Rāma, and Rāma, and Puruṣottama, / the lotus-eyed, and likewise mace-in-hand,

17.1.31

the descendant of Raghu, the subduer of Indra, Govinda who bestows great merit, / Jaya, the earth-supporter, Janārdana the god of gods,

17.1.32

the best of gods, the bearer of Śrī, Hari the lord of yogins, / Kapileśa, the lord of beings, Hari the lord of Śvetadvīpa,

17.1.33

the two dwellers in the hermitage of Badarī, Nara and Nārāyaṇa, / Padmanābha, Sunābha, and Hayagrīva, O lord of the people,

17.1.34

the lord of the twice-born, the lord of the earth, and likewise sword-in-hand, / Dāmodara, whose abode is in the waters, Hari who removes all sin:

17.1.35

these indeed are the places of the god of gods who bears the discus; / wherever one goes to them, there one is freed from all sins.

17.1.36

The Gaṅgā, the Yamunā, and likewise the goddess Sarasvatī, / the Dṛṣadvatī, the Gomatī, the Tāpī, and the Kāverī,

17.1.37

the Narmadā that bestows happiness, and likewise the river Godāvarī, / the Śatadru, and likewise the Vindhyā, the Payoṣṇī, and the Varadā,

17.1.38

the Carmaṇvatī, the Sarayū, the Gaṇḍakī that removes terrible sins, / the Candrabhāgā, the Vipāśā, and repeatedly the Śoṇa:

17.1.39

these and many other auspicious rivers arising from the Himavat, / a man who has bathed in them, freed from sins, goes to heaven.

17.1.40

Forests beginning with Nandana, mountains beginning with Mandara, / at the mere utterance of whose names sin sinks to the netherworld.

17.1.41

Gaja said: / Auspicious indeed was that spoken, O noble one, an account resembling nectar. / I ask you indeed something, O knower of all righteousness:

17.1.42

in which month, on which day, at which sacred ford in due order / eternal heaven is attained by men—tell me that, O you of noble vows.

17.1.43

Bathing, giving, recitation of mantras, oblation, study of the Veda, worship of deities— / that by which heaven becomes truly imperishable, you ought to tell me that.

17.1.44

Bhadra said: / Let it be heard, O tiger among kings, as I tell the story, / hearing which a man is freed from sin, O best of excellent men.

17.1.45

It was told formerly to the seers by the great-souled Nārada. / [45]

17.1.46

And thus questioned by all of them, Nārada, the best of sages, / greatly delighted, spoke in a voice like the rumbling of thunder-clouds: / [46]

17.1.47

“On the lovely ridge of the Himavat, in an assembly, it was heard by me; / that I will tell you who desire to hear, O bull among men.

17.1.48

All other sacred fords indeed cause one to return [to rebirth], / but that sacred ford through which one attains imperishable worlds, I shall tell to you.

17.1.49

Having dwelt at Kānyakubja in Mārgaśīrṣa, O best of kings, / a man or woman does not grieve and goes to the highest heaven.

17.1.50

If the full-moon day of Pauṣa is observed on Arbuda, / one rejoices together with the ancestors in heaven for an arbuda of years.

17.1.51

If on the full-moon day of Māgha a man offers a śrāddha at Gayā to the ancestors, / he becomes a fourth alongside the three gods.

17.1.52

Dwelling for a single night on the ridge of the Himavat on the full-moon day of Phālguna, / a man goes to that supreme abode where God Janārdana resides.

17.1.53

Those wise people who perform a śrāddha at Prabhāsa on the full-moon day of Caitra, / those best of men do not become mortals here again, along with their kinsmen.

17.1.54

Those who perform it on the full-moon day of Vaiśākha at Caturbhuja, fond of water, / or any person in Avantī, goes to the supreme goal.

17.1.55

Those who perform a śrāddha on the full-moon day of Jyaiṣṭha conjoined with the Jyeṣṭhā constellation at Tritakūpaka, / dwell in the heavenly abode for three yugas.

17.1.56

Whatever man stays at the river in Vrajeśavana for nine and five days, / goes to heaven, to Vaikuṇṭha.

17.1.57

On the full moon of the month of Śrāvaṇa at the eastern ocean, / a man performing bath, gift, recitation, and śrāddha does not grieve.

17.1.58

Likewise, having worshipped the moon-adorned liṅga in the sacred field of Prabhāsa in Bhādrapada, / a man will then become endowed with a divine body.

17.1.59

He who performs bath and śrāddha at the Candrabhāgā in Āśvina, / by him an abode in heaven is secured for thousands of yugas.

17.1.60

The best of sages meditate upon the four-armed one with the eight-syllable mantra; / what need of saying much here? O Gaja, I tell you:

17.1.60_4

[[File:Damodar Kund - Junagadh - Gujarat - DSC004.jpg|thumb|600px|dāmodarakuṇḍaḥ]]

17.1.61

There was never, nor will there ever be, a sacred ford equal to Dāmodara. / Among the months Kārttika is the best, and in Kārttika the five days of Bhīṣma.

17.1.62

Even there the twelfth day is best in the waters of Dāmodara, O king. / What is the use of other numerous sacred fords, what of sacred fields, what of great forests? / Having bathed at Dāmodara, a man is completely freed from all sins.

17.1.63

Gaja said: / O Bhadra, auspicious things have been spoken by you, like another elixir of life. / Again I wish to hear the great fruit of this sacred ford.

17.1.64

What regions, what size, what river, and what mountains are there? / What people live there, what seers and ascetics?

17.1.65

Bhadra said: / The earth is filled with wealth and encircled by the ocean, / adorned with cities and villages, and with gods, O conqueror of enemy cities.

17.1.66

Vārāṇasī, Prabhāsa, and the confluence of the white and black [rivers]— / these are the essential sacred fords, because they take away death.

17.1.67

Those who remember [the name] 'Dāmodara', wherever they may be, / live in Hari's abode and never wander [in transmigration].

17.1.68

In the presence of Somanātha is the great mountain Udayanta; / on its western side is known the one called Raivataka.

17.1.69

There flows a stream, a river from Kāñcanaśekhara. / The minerals there are red, white, blue, and black.

17.1.70

The rocks have the shapes of elephants, others resemble buffaloes, / others have the form of chickpeas, and others have the appearance of gokṣuraka thorns.

17.1.71

There are trees, creepers, shrubs, and groves in abundance; / every root, flower, fruit, and leaf there is made of gold.

17.1.72

A sinful soul does not see it, but one freed from sin sees it. / That mountain is continually frequented by men intent on alchemy,

17.1.73

by brahmins, kṣatriyas, vaiśyas, śūdras, and outside by followers of śūdras. / Many are the birds there, uttering auspicious and inauspicious cries then:

17.1.74

swans, cranes, and cakravākas, parrots, cuckoos, and peacocks; / deer and lordly monkeys, swans, and tigers likewise.

17.1.785

By the power of that sacred ford, they do not commit wicked deeds. / When beasts, birds, and reptiles meet death in due course of time,

17.1.785_5

They all mount aerial chariots and go to the abode of Hari. / Where leaves, flowers, fruits, and the like are brought down by the wind,

17.1.785_6

everything that touches the water of that river attains liberation. / That river, O king, has pierced the earth and come from Pātāla.

17.1.785_7

Formerly, the king of serpents came by that path / to bathe in the Damodara tīrtha, which destroys Death and Yama.

17.1.785_8

Even the Moon, having come from heaven to perform a most plentiful sacrifice, / was freed from consumption and went to heaven free from disease.

17.1.785_9

Gifts were given there, having arrived in Kārtika, by Bali, / and according to rule by Hariścandra, Nala, and Nahuṣa,

17.1.785_10

and by Nābhāga, Ambarīṣa, and others deeds most difficult to perform were done. / Having given many gifts—elephants, cows, horses, chariots,

17.1.785_11

bulls, gold, land, and various kinds of gems, / umbrellas, vehicles, and garments to the foremost of brahmins,

17.1.785_12

and foods mixed with savory flavors—before Dāmodara, / they went to the realm of Viṣṇu and do not return to the surface of the earth.

17.1.785_13

Whoever gives a leaf, a flower, a fruit, or water at that sacred ford / to the twice-born with devotion, goes to the One who reclines upon the waters.

17.1.785_14

And whoever gives food in its natural state, or a fistful, to one afflicted by hunger, / mounts an excellent aerial chariot and goes to Soma.

17.1.785_15

Having made mountains made of food before Dāmodara, / worshiped with fruits and flowers, one should offer a lamp with a wick.

17.1.785_16

Attaining a station difficult to reach, he delivers a hundred families. / Even if a gift measuring merely four finger-breadths is given before Dāmodara,

17.1.785_17

he is exalted in heaven for a thousand yugas. / Do not go to the slope of the Himālaya, nor to Malaya, nor to Mandara;

17.1.785_18

go to Mount Raivataka, where Dāmodara resides. / A twice-born man who observes a fast for a month before Dāmodara

17.1.785_19

does not return in time, but goes to the city of Dāmodara. / And whatever man or woman undertakes a complete fast, / having transcended all worlds, reaches the home of Hari.

17.1.785_20

Five hundred obstacles stay there constantly, / working the destruction of dharma; a man does not easily go there.

17.1.785_21

By Pradyumna, Balarāma, Śaineya, Gada, Cakra, and others, / amounting to hundred-thousands, that great mountain is always served.

17.1.785_22

Indeed, their women sport constantly before Dāmodara— / moon-faced, fair, dark, of slender waists,

17.1.785_23

large-hipped, fine-haired, radiant, with wide and long eyes, / with charming cheeks and graceful, with lovely armpits and beautiful breasts,

17.1.785_24

splendid, with well-formed shanks, feet, and lovely toes— / royal daughters laugh and take delight on that mountain.

17.1.785_25

Safflower dye on both feet, saffron, and a yellow bodice / they give to brahmin women here, competing one by one.

17.1.785_26

Foods to chew, to feast on, to drink, to lick, to suck, and glaucous dishes, / betel leaf together with flowers on the day of Hari in Kārtika,

17.1.785_27

and beholding the Revatīkuṇḍa, one should bestow excellent fruit. / She becomes a mother of sons, endowed with prosperity, fortunate, and chaste.

17.1.785_28

Having acted thus, that night is spent without sleep / through holy chants of the Vedas and readings of the Bhārata narrative,

17.1.785_29

with shouts of huṃ, the clapping of palms, and rhythmic beats again and again, / while women speaking regional tongues within the circle of women / join in laughter and dance, O king, before Dāmodara.

17.1.785_30

Whoever builds an abode of Śiva made of five stones / is exalted in the world of heaven for five thousand years.

17.1.785_31

Having built one made of ten stones before Dāmodara, / he sports and rejoices in heaven for ten thousand years.

17.1.785_32

Whoever builds an edifice of a hundred stones, O great king, / a beautiful, shining temple, goes to the abode of Hari.

17.1.785_33

Having made a sanctuary of a thousand stones, endowed with many forms, / he transcends all worlds and attains the supreme Brahman.

17.1.785_34

One should offer a five-colored banner above the temple of Dāmodara; / for as many divine years as that measure, he goes to heaven.

17.1.785_35

The auspicious sacred field Vastrāpatha extends for one gavyūti around it; / upon seeing it, many sins are completely dissolved.

17.1.785_36

O king, he attains that state having gone to which one does not return. / Having worshiped the god Bhava, who destroys the cause of worldly existence,

17.1.785_37

a man or woman, O best of kings, is exalted in the world of Śiva. / Having heard that well-spoken word of Bhadra,

17.1.785_38

he came to celebrate the Kārtikī festival before the god Dāmodara; then, / accompanied by brahmins knowers of the Veda, versed in the Ṛg, Yajur, and Sāma Vedas,

17.1.785_39

by kṣatriyas knowing the duties of the kṣatriya, by vaiśyas devoted to giving, / and together with śūdras, King Gaja arrived at that sacred ford.

17.1.785_40

Having given many gifts, having offered oblations into the sacrificial fire, / King Gaja, concentrated in mind, performed in accordance with rule / Agniṣṭoma and other sacrifices, and many horse-sacrifices.

17.1.785_41

And then he dwelt there to perform austerity together with the seers. / Brahmins stood with feet raised upward, drinking smoke with their heads turned down; / others ate dried leaves, while others fed on fruits;

17.1.785_42

others ate roots, and other twice-born ate only water; / others gazed within themselves, and others reclined in the water.

17.1.785_43

And others practiced the five fires; [others] ate powdered stone; / and others, fully purified, chanted the Gāyatrī, mother of the Vedas, / while others mentally [recited] Sāvitrī, and others the goddess Sarasvatī; 114

17.1.785_44

and the purifying hymns created by Brahmā. / Others then dwelt there meditating on the twelve-syllable mantra. 115

17.1.785_45

Having examined all the scriptures and deliberated again and again, / this alone has been firmly settled: Nārāyaṇa is always to be meditated upon. 116

17.1.785_46

In this world of transmigration so difficult to cross, except for the Lord who is worshipped, / there is likewise none other than Mahādeva who protects one who is falling. 117

17.1.785_47

The planets—the moon, sun, and others—undergo rising and setting, / [yet] even today those who meditate on the twelve-syllable mantra do not turn back [to samsāra]. 118

17.1.785_48

Those imperishable seers and others who desire to conquer the realm of the gods / attain that place from there, and thus their seeds [of karma] are burnt. 119

17.1.785_49

He by whom the two syllables "Ha-ri" are uttered even once / has girded his loins to depart toward liberation. 7.2.1.120

17.1.785_50

Observing a single meal a day, fasting at night, or eating only unasked-for food, / and performing other such [vows] before Dāmodara, / they achieve their purpose here until the dissolution of the elements. 121

17.1.785_51

As long as that king remained there together with the seers, / so long did thousands of aerial chariots arrive there. 122

17.1.785_52

Gandharvas, apsarases there, siddhas, cāraṇas, and kinnaras— / all mounted aerial chariots by the hundreds and by the thousands. 123

17.1.785_53

Together with all the countryside people, that king, along with his wife, / mounted an aerial chariot and went to that abode free from disease. 124

17.1.785_54

The mortal who constantly recites this or listens to it / is completely freed from all sins and attains the supreme Brahman. 125

17.1.785_55

Thus ends the first chapter, named 'Description of the Glory of Dāmodara', in the Vastrāpathakṣetramāhātmya, in the second [sub-section] of the Prabhāsakhaṇḍa, in the seventh part of the glorious Skanda Mahāpurāṇa, in the text of eighty-one thousand verses. 1

17.1.785_56

Purāṇic references on Dāmodara

17.1.785_57

Note on Dāmodara

17.2.p1

[[File:Bhavnath Mahadev.jpg|thumb|600px|Bhavanātha Mahādeva]]

17.2.1

Īśvara said: / Then one should go, O great goddess, once more to the sacred field Vastrāpatha, / which is the all-in-all of Prabhāsa, the navel [of the earth], and dear to me. 1

17.2.2

Where the god Bhava is present in visible form, the cause of creation and dissolution, / he is the presiding deity upon earth, the primeval lord of the principles. 2

17.2.3

He stands there in Prabhāsa as the self-manifest Bhava who grants prosperity; / since this universe comes to be (bhavati) from him, he is remembered as Bhava. 3

17.2.4

He who makes a pilgrimage even once to the sacred field Vastrāpatha / and bathes in the sacred fords there achieves his purpose. 4

17.2.5

Now, having beheld the god Bhava and worshipped him once according to the rule, / that best of men shall obtain the fruit of a pilgrimage to Kedāra. 5

17.2.6

Beholding Bhava in the month of Caitra, one is not born again on earth; / or, beholding Bhava properly on the full moon of Vaiśākha, one is liberated. 6

17.2.7

Whatever fruit is [found] in Vārāṇasī, in Kurukṣetra, and on the Narmadā, / that fruit is [gained] in half a twinkling of an eye by beholding Bhava day by day. 7

17.2.8

Dwelling there is hard to attain, and the darśana of Bhava is hard to attain; / for him there is no state of being a ghost, nor the hellish torment of Yama. 8

17.2.9

Those whose vital breaths depart in the abode of Bhava, O fair-complexioned one, / are the most blessed among the blessed, and deities even to the gods. 9

17.2.10

They praise the gift of a cow and the feeding of brahmins there / for those whose minds are set on Vastrāpatha and whose minds are firm in Bhava; / and the offering of rice-balls in that very place will bring satisfaction until the end of the kalpa. 7.2.2.10

17.2.11

Thus has the māhātmya pertaining to Bhava been declared to you in brief; / when heard, it pacifies sins and grants the fruit of ten thousand sacrifices. 11

17.2.11_2

Thus ends the second chapter, named 'Description of the Glory of Bhava in the Sacred Field of Vastrāpatha', in the Vastrāpathakṣetramāhātmya, in the second [sub-section] of the Prabhāsakhaṇḍa, in the seventh part of the glorious Skanda Mahāpurāṇa, in the text of eighty-one thousand verses. 2

17.2.11_3

Purāṇic references on Vastra/Vastrāpatha

17.2.11_4

It is stated that the sacred field of Vastrāpatha is the navel. It appears that this navel is the maṇipūracakra. The maṇipūracakra is the place of fire. According to Rajneesh (Kuṇḍalinī and the Seven Bodies), the maṇipūracakra is the state of faith and unfaith, faith and doubt. As is universally widespread in the world, Brahmā appears upon the lotus from the navel of Viṣṇu, and thus Brahmā carries out creation. It appears that the maṇipūracakra is that state where divine destiny is predominant and human effort does not have predominance. The manifestation of Brahmā is the first ray of human effort. He can perform creation by his own will. In the context of Bhava, it is stated in the Purāṇas (Bhāgavatapurāṇa 5.17.15) that in Ilāvṛta, the blessed lord Bhava is the only male, indeed no other.
Purāṇic references on Bhava

17.2.11_5

Note on Bhava/liver

17.2.11_6

Note on navel

17.3.1

Īśvara said: / Now, in the sacred field of Vastrāpatha there are crores of sacred fords; / nevertheless, I tell you their essence, the great elevation of all sacred fords. // 1

17.3.2

At Dāmodara a river is proclaimed, known as Svarṇareṣā; / Brahmakuṇḍa is right there, and likewise Brahmeśvara is recorded. // 2

17.3.3

And Kālamegha is proclaimed, and Bhava [along with] Dāmodara are recorded. / Just two gavyūtis away, Kālikā is celebrated there. // 3

17.3.4

And Indreśvara is right there, as well as Mount Raivata; / and Ujjayanta is right there, and the deity is recorded as Kumbhīśvara. // 4

17.3.5

And Bhīmeśvara is right there; beyond it lies the splendid sacred field / named Tailasāraṇika, called Haimamāraka in the Tretā age. // 5

17.3.6

That sacred field is proclaimed to measure just five gavyūtis; / and Mṛgīkuṇḍa is right there, destroying all sins. // 6

17.3.7

This sacred field of Vastrāpatha, a mine of jewels and minerals, / has thus been described to you again in brief by me, O ruler of gods! // 7

17.3.7_1

Thus ends the third chapter, named 'Enumeration of the Foremost Sacred Fords,' in the Vastrāpathakṣetramāhātmya, in the second [sub-section of] Prabhāsakhaṇḍa, in the seventh part of the glorious Skanda Mahāpurāṇa consisting of eighty-one thousand verses. // 3

17.4.1

Īśvara said: / Then, O great goddess, one should go to the well-known Dunnāvilla, / at a distance of a yojana to the west of the station of Maṅgalā, O goddess. // 1

17.4.2

Where, having eaten, the dunnaka was formerly discarded by Bhīma, O beloved, / right there is a divine chasm that provides a great path to Pātāla. // 2

17.4.3

Its ritual procedure was told long ago in the Pātālottarasaṃgraha; / there are many liṅgas there, sixteen abodes of perfections. // 3

17.4.4

Formerly, that place was a mine of gold, O beloved; / men desirous of prosperity should go to that place, O goddess. // 4

17.4.4_1

Thus ends the fourth chapter, named 'Description of the Glory of the Dunnāvillahṛda Mountain Abode,' in the Vastrāpathakṣetramāhātmya, in the second [sub-section of] Prabhāsakhaṇḍa, in the seventh part of the glorious Skanda Mahāpurāṇa consisting of eighty-one thousand verses. // 4

17.5.1

Īśvara said: / Then, O great goddess, one should go to that situated to the west of Maṅgalā: / the current of Gaṅgā, as well as the liṅga, and Surārka in particular. // 1

17.5.2

One should go to them according to rule, O goddess, if one desires the fruit of pilgrimage; / having bathed, one should properly offer rice balls there, / and abundant food with fees should be given to brahmins. // 2

17.5.3

Thus has this auspicious [teaching] been spoken by me to you, O beloved, which destroys the mass of sins of the Kali age; / reciting this, the complete rise of the glory of the sacred ford destroys the multitude of sins. // 3

17.5.4

This, supremely destructive of sins, should not be given to one of wicked intellect; / it should be heard according to rule, in accordance with the injunction stated in the Bhaviṣya [Purāṇa]. // 4

17.5.5

Thus ends the fifth chapter, named 'Description of the Glory of Gaṅgeśvara,' in the Prabhāsakṣetramāhātmya, in the first [sub-section of] Prabhāsakhaṇḍa, in the seventh part of the glorious Skanda Mahāpurāṇa consisting of eighty-one thousand verses. // 5

Linked texts (1)

Skandapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit

Skandapurana 17

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