Skandapurana 2.1.14
English (machine translation) 2.1.14
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Now begins the story of the twice-born named Sumati.
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The glorious Sūta said:
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O all you whose wealth is austerity, dwellers of the Naimiṣāraṇya,
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I shall relate once more the māhātmya of the Svāmitīrtha.
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Formerly, through contact with a Kirātī woman, a brahmin named Sumati
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drank wine; bathing in the puṣkariṇī, he was liberated from sin.
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The seers said:
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Whose son was this Sumati? How did he drink wine?
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How did he become attached to a Kirātī woman, O Sūta, best of Purāṇa reciters?
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Tell all of this in detail now out of compassion.
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The glorious Sūta said:
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In the region called Mahārāṣṭra, there was a certain pious brahmin
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named Yajñadeva, who had mastered the Vedas and Vedāṅgas.
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He was compassionate, hospitable, and a worshipper of Śiva and Nārāyaṇa.
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To that Yajñadeva was born a son named Sumati.
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Abandoning his father and his devoted wife,
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he went away to the country of Utkala, devoted to the company of rogues.
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A certain Kirātī woman living in that country, charming to young men,
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had long been taking all the wealth of youths by enticing them.
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Sumati, the lowest of brahmins, went to her house,
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and that Kirātī woman received Sumati, though the twice-born was penniless.
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Now begins [the narration of] the twice-born named Sumati incurring the great sins from association with the Kirātī woman.
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Joined with her, Sumati, intent solely on union with her,
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continually stole much wealth here and there,
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and giving it [to her], sported with her for a long time and ate in her house.
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From a single cup he drank wine together with her.
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Sporting thus with her for a long time,
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sick with sensual desire, he did not remember his parents or his own wife.
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Once, along with the Kirātas, he went to commit theft;
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wearing the guise of a Kirāta, he too [went] into the house of a certain brahmin.
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Reckless, sword in hand, he went to steal property;
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recklessly killing the master of that house, a brahmin, with his sword,
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and taking much wealth, he went to the house of the Kirātī woman.
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As he went, the terrifying Brahmahatyā pursued him:
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dreadful, wearing blue garments, with extremely red hair,
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roaring with loud laughter, and making heaven and earth tremble.
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Pursued by her, he wandered over the surface of the earth.
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Wandering over the whole earth in this manner, once Sumati himself,
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that vile-minded relative of brahmins, went out of terror to his own village.
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Pursued by her, terrified, he went towards his own house.
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Brahmahatyā also pursued [him] and entered the house along with him.
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Sumati went to his father for refuge, crying: "Protect me! Protect me!"
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Saying to him, "Do not fear!", the father prepared to protect him.
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Then that Brahmahatyā spoke to his father:
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Brahmahatyā said:
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"Do not accept him, O Yajñadeva, best of the twice-born!
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He is a wine-drinker, a thief, a killer of a brahmin, and a committer of mortal sins.
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A traitor to his mother, a traitor to his father, an abandoner of his wife, and a sinner,
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corrupted by association with a Kirātī woman—release this evil-minded one!
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If you accept this son, a committer of mortal sins, O brahmin,
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your wife, his wife, you, and this son, O twice-born,
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as well as your lineage, I will devour; therefore release this son!"
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"If you abandon this son, I will release you all right now.
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You ought not to destroy your lineage for the sake of one person, O noble-minded one."
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Thus addressed by her there, Yajñadeva spoke to her:
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Yajñadeva said:
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"Affection for my son torments me; how can I abandon him?"
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Hearing what the brahmin said, the brahmahatyā then spoke to him:
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The brahmahatyā said:
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"He indeed has fallen, cast out from the classes and stages of life.
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Do not show affection toward this son; even the sight of him is despicable."
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Having spoken thus, while Yajñadeva watched,
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that brahmahatyā struck his son named Sumati with the palm of her hand.
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He wept repeatedly, crying out to his father: "Father, father!"
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Now the means of liberation from brahmahatyā spoken by Durvāsas to Sumati.
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Then Sumati's father, mother, and wife also wept.
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At that moment, Durvāsas, a portion of Śaṃkara,
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a yogin, righteous, and the best of sages, arrived there by good fortune.
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Seeing that sage who was an incarnation of Rudra,
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Yajñadeva praised and bowed to him, and sought refuge for the sake of his son:
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"You are Durvāsas, O great yogin, an evident portion of Śaṃkara.
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Darśana of you never happens for the meritless.
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My son has become a slayer of a brahmin, a drinker of liquor, and a thief.
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The brahmahatyā has also come to strike him.
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Tell that means by which this son of mine may be freed from the great sin,
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and how this terrible brahmahatyā may quickly come to an end;
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show compassion toward my son today!
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For this alone is my son; I have no other child, O sage.
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If he dies, my lineage will be cut off completely at the root.
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Then there will certainly be no giver of rice balls to the ancestors.
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Therefore, show grace to us, O venerable sage!"
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Thus addressed, Durvāsas, a portion of Śaṃkara,
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having meditated for a long time, then spoke to Yajñadeva, the best of brahmins:
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Durvāsas said:
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"O Yajñadeva, an extreme sin has been committed by your son.
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There can be no pacification of this sin even through tens of thousands of expiations.
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Nevertheless, for the pacification of that sin of your son,
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I will proclaim an expiation. Listen with an undivided mind, O brahmin!
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On the holy mountain Veṅkaṭādri, which destroys all sins,
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there is [a pool] called Svāmipuṣkariṇī that brings auspiciousness.
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Now Sumati's release from brahmahatyā through bathing in Svāmipuṣkariṇī.
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If this son of yours bathes [there], he will be freed from the sin in an instant."
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Hearing these words of the sage, the noble-minded Yajñadeva,
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taking his son Sumati, went to Svāmipuṣkariṇī.
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He bathed his son Sumati, who was afflicted by the murder [of a brahmin].
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A voice from the sky spoke in a sweet tone to that brahmin:
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"O highly fortunate Yajñadeva, steadfast in vows, by this ritual ablution
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your son has been purified; have no doubt, O brahmin!"
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Such is the power of that sacred ford, an axe to the tree of sin.
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Thus has this ancient history been told to you, O brahmins;
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those who hear or read it shall obtain the fruit of a Vājapeya sacrifice.
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Thus ends the fourteenth chapter, named 'The Description of the Greatness of the Svāmipuṣkariṇī Sacred Ford' in the Veṅkaṭācalamāhātmya of the second section, the Vaiṣṇavakhaṇḍa, in the Skandapurāṇa comprising eighty-one thousand verses.
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- Skandapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit