Skandapurana 2.1.19
English (machine translation) 2.1.19
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Now, the description of the continuous residence of Brahmā and others on the holy Mount Veṅkaṭa.
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The glorious Sūta said:
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Now, therefore, I shall describe the majesty of Mount Veṅkaṭa
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to you with attentiveness; listen, being well concentrated! // 1
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Hundreds of thousands and millions of lakes as well as rivers,
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and most meritorious oceans, and even forests and hermitages;
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holy sacred fields such as Vedāraṇya and others;
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and sages headed by Vasiṣṭha, siddhas, cāraṇas, and kiṃnaras;
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the Blessed Lord Madhusūdana together with Lakṣmī and Dharaṇī;
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the Four-Faced One [Brahmā] accompanied indeed by Sāvitrī and Sarasvatī;
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the Lord of Gods, the Three-Eyed One, Destroyer of Tripura, together with Pārvatī;
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and the gods led by Indra, preceded by Heramba and the Six-Faced One [Skanda];
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the planets headed by Āditya, and likewise the eight Vasus, O twice-born ones;
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the ancestors, the guardians of the worlds, and other hosts of deities—
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in that which purifies the world and destroys multitudes of major sins,
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day and night dwell upon the summit of Mount Veṅkaṭa.
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By the mere darśana of it, men obtain happiness of intellect.
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The wives of the siddhas and cāraṇas, having made their dwelling on its summit,
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worship at all times the Lord of Veṅkaṭa, the treasure-house of mercy.
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Crores of sins of killing a brahmin, crores of sins of approaching the forbidden,
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clinging to one's body, are destroyed by the breezes of Mount Veṅkaṭa.
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Now the sequence of meditation at the time of ascending holy Mount Veṅkaṭa.
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One should pray to that mountain, Mount Veṅkaṭa, which increases merit:
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“O Golden Mountain, most meritorious, attended by all the gods,
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whom even the gods headed by Brahmā serve with faith—
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O best of mountains, I would tread upon you with my feet.
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Pardon this offense of mine today out of compassion, since my mind is full of sin.
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Grant me the darśana of Mādhava, who has made his abode upon your summit.”
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Having thus prayed to Mount Veṅkaṭa, the best of mountains,
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a person should then walk with gentle steps up holy Mount Veṅkaṭa.
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On Mount Veṅkaṭa, most meritorious, the destroyer of all sins,
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having bathed in accordance with rules in the Svāmipuṣkariṇī tīrtha,
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one should then make an offering of a rice ball, even if the size of a mustard seed,
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or offer to the ancestors rice balls equal in size to a śamī leaf.
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Those dwelling in heaven attain liberation; those dwelling in hell attain heaven.
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Now the māhātmya of the tīrtha named Pāpavināśana.
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Then, above it, is the great and world-renowned [tīrtha],
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the best of all tīrthas, holy, named Pāpavināśana.
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It exists, O brahmins, on the most meritorious and pure Mount Veṅkaṭa,
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by the mere recollection of which dwelling in the womb does not recur.
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Reaching it, to the north of the Svāmitīrtha, a man should bathe.
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From bathing there, men go to Vaikuṇṭha; there is no doubt in this.
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The seers said:
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O Sūta, speak of the grandeur of the tīrtha named Pāpavināśa.
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For, instructed by Vyāsa, you know everything, O great sage.
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The auspicious Sūta said:
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I shall tell you, O best among brahmins, an auspicious story
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that took place at the Brahmāśrama hermitage, on an auspicious flank of the Himālaya.
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That meritorious hermitage was the auspicious Brahmāśrama,
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filled with various trees, on an auspicious flank of the Himālaya,
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abounding with many shrubs and creepers, frequented by deer and elephants,
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resounding with siddhas and cāraṇas, a delightful forest in full bloom,
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crowded with many ascetics, adorned with practitioners of tapas,
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and by highly fortunate brahmins who resembled the sun and fire,
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teeming with ascetics endowed with restraints and observances,
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initiated, devoted to sacrifice, self-controlled in diet, and of perfected souls;
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surrounded by Vedic scholars accomplished in Vedic recitation,
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by students, householders, forest-dwellers, and mendicants,
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devoted to the conduct of their own stage of life, performing what is prescribed for their own class,
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and surrounded on all sides by the Vālakhilya seers.
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Now the account of the śūdra named Dṛḍhamati.
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In that hermitage long ago, O twice-born ones, a certain bold śūdra named Dṛḍhamati,
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joyful, came into the presence of the brahmins.
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He arrived at the hermitage and was received hospitably by the ascetics.
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A śūdra named Dṛḍhamati bowed down prostrate indeed.
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Seeing those hosts of sages, who resembled gods and possessed great splendour,
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performing various sacrifices, the śūdra rejoiced exceedingly.
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Then the intention arose in him to perform peerless austerity.
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Then, approaching the sage who was the head of the hermitage and an ascetic, he said:
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Dṛḍhamati said:
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“O rich in austerity, salutations to you! Protect me, O ocean of compassion!
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By your grace I desire to perform a sacrifice; be gracious to me.”
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Now, the duties of a śūdra taught to Dṛḍhamati by the sage called the head of the hermitage.
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Thus addressed by the śūdra, the brahmin then said to him:
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The head of the hermitage said:
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“A śūdra, born of low birth, cannot be initiated into a sacrifice.
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If such an intention arises in you, become intent upon service.
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Instruction should never be given to one who is of low caste.
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In instructing [such a person], a great fault accrues to the teacher.
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A wise man should not teach a śūdra, nor should he officiate at a sacrifice for him.
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Likewise, he should not make a śūdra study sacred treatises, grammar, and the like,
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nor poetry, nor drama, nor indeed poetics.
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He should never teach Purāṇa and epic to a śūdra.
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And if a brahmin should ever teach these to a śūdra,
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the brahmins would expel that brahmin from a village filled with sacred knowledge.
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And one should abandon like a caṇḍāla a twice-born man who instructs a śūdra;
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and one should avoid from afar a śūdra endowed with literacy.
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Therefore, serve a brahmin with faith; good fortune to you!
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Service to the twice-born is proclaimed for a śūdra by Manu and others.
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For you ought not to abandon the duty inherent to your nature.”
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Thus addressed by the sage, that śūdra then reflected:
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“What should be done by me now? For my faith in religious observances is supreme.
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I will strive today so that true knowledge may arise in me.”
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Having thus resolved in his mind, the śūdra Dṛḍhamati then,
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going not far from the site of the hermitage, made a beautiful hut of leaves.
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There indeed, a shrine for deities and holy sanctuaries,
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flower-gardens and the like, as well as the digging of ponds and such,
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he caused to be made with faith, for the attainment of his own austerity.
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Performing ritual baths, vows, and also fasts and the like,
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offering food and oblation, he worshipped the deities.
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Endowed with firm resolves and observances, subsisting on fruit, with his senses conquered,
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constantly with bulbs, roots, flowers, and fruits,
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he duly honoured the guests who arrived.
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In this way indeed, a very long time passed for him.
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Now, the procedure for performing rites disclosed to Dṛḍhamati by the brahmin named Sumati.
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Then to his hermitage came [a brahmin] named Sumati by name,
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a twice-born man born in the lineage of Garga, truthful of speech, with senses mastered.
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Honouring the sage with welcoming words and pleasing him with fruits and the like,
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telling sacred tales, [the śūdra] inquired after his welfare.
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Thus honoured by offerings such as water for washing feet,
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that brahmin, felicitating him with blessings and accepting his hospitality,
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took leave of him with a delighted heart and returned to his own hermitage.
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Thus day by day, that brahmin, fond of this śūdra,
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came to his hermitage to see that person born of śūdra birth.
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For a long time there was association of the twice-born man with the one of śūdra birth.
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Having fallen under the power of affection, he did not transgress what the śūdra said.
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Then the śūdra said to the twice-born man who had arrived, brought under the sway of affection:
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“Explain to me the injunction for offerings to gods and ancestors; for you are considered my guru.”
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Thus addressed by the śūdra, he instructed [him] in all this.
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He then caused the rites for the ancestors and others to be performed for the śūdra.
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When the ancestor-rite was performed by him, that best of the twice-born was dismissed.
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Now, the miserable state suffered by Sumati due to instructing a śūdra in Vedic rites.
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Then, after a long time, having been sustained by the one of śūdra birth,
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abandoned by the hosts of brahmins, that twice-born man met his death.
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Led away by the soldiers of Yama, he was cast into the hells,
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for thousands of tens of millions of kalpas, and hundreds of tens of millions of kalpas.
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Having experienced the hells in turn, at the end of them he became an immovable thing.
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Then he was born as a donkey, and after that as a dung-eating hog.
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Then he was born as a dog, and afterwards he became a crow.
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Then, having become an outcaste, he thereafter entered the womb of a śūdra.
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Afterwards he became a vaiśya, and immediately following that, a kṣatriya.
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Being tormented by powerful adversaries, he then became a brahmin.
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Invested with the sacred thread by his father in the eighth year from conception, that brahmin,
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dwelling in his father's house and intent upon observing proper conduct,
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while once walking in a dense forest, was seized by a brahmarākṣasa.
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Weeping, wandering, stumbling, bewildered, babbling, laughing aloud,
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and constantly crying, “Alas, alas!”, he abandoned Vedic rites.
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Seeing his son in such a state, the father, stricken with grief,
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took his son and, out of affection, went for refuge to Agastya,
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who was performing austerity in the presence of Śiva on the bank of the Suvarṇamukharī.
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Having bowed to the sage with devotion, the father of that son
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reported to him his son's conduct.
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Now, the departure of Sumati to Mount Veṅkaṭa by the instruction of Agastya for the removal of misfortune:
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Then the brahmin said to the pitcher-born eminent sage:
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“O brahmin, this son of mine has been seized by a brahmarākṣasa.
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He finds no peace, O brahmin; protect him with a compassionate glance!
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I have no other son for the discharge of the debt to the ancestors.
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Tell me a means to destroy his suffering, O pitcher-born one!
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In the three worlds, there is no one devoted to austerity equal to you.
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Except for you, there is no savior for this son of mine.
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Show mercy to my son, O master! For the virtuous are compassionate by nature.”
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Śrī Sūta said:
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Being thus addressed by him then, the pitcher-born one entered into meditation.
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Having meditated for a long time, he then spoke to the brahmin:
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Agastya said:
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“In a previous life, O wise one, this son of yours was a brahmin.
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A brahmin named Sumati, he indeed imparted instruction to a śūdra;
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he instructed him in all Vedic rites.
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Therefore, having experienced the hells for a thousand tens of millions of kalpas,
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at the end of them he was born on earth in the wombs of immovable things and others.
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Now, through the residue of his karma, he has been born as your son, a brahmin.
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He has been seized here by a brahmarākṣasa sent by Yama,
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due to the terrible sin committed in his previous birth.
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I will tell you the means for the destruction of the brahmarākṣasa.
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Listen with faith, concentrating your mind:
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On the bank of the Suvarṇamukharī, frequented by hosts of seers,
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there is the sacred Mount Veṅkaṭa, worthy of being resorted to by the gods.
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Upon it there is a great sacred ford named Pāpavināśana;
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it is holy, renowned, and a destroyer of great sins.
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Of bhūtas, pretas, piśācas, vetālas, and brahmarākṣasas,
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as well as of great diseases, that sacred ford is traditionally known as the destroyer.
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Taking your son, go to that sacred ford situated in the midst of the mountain.
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Pure and concentrated, bathe your son in the Pāpavināśana sacred ford.
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By bathing there for three days, the brahmarākṣasa will be destroyed;
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on earth, no other means exists for its destruction.
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Therefore, go quickly to the mountain named Veṅkaṭa;
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there bathe your son in the sacred ford named Pāpavināśana.
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Make no delay here; go with haste, O brahmin!”
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Being thus addressed, that brahmin bowed down to Agastya on the ground like a staff,
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and, permitted by him, he departed for Mount Veṅkaṭa.
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Having gone with his son to Pāpavināśana, that brahmin—
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Now, the removal of Sumati's misfortune through bathing in Pāpanāśana:
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having bathed his son for three days preceded by a formal vow,
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the father, foremost among brahmins, also bathed himself in Pāpavināśana.
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he arrived, performed the sequence of his daily rites, and drank the water.
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Then his son was freed there from the brahmarākṣasa;
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he became free from disease, healthy, and endowed with handsome form.
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Enriched with all prosperity, after enjoying numerous pleasures,
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at the end of his body he attained liberation through ritual ablution in Pāpavināśana.
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The father too, by ritual ablution there, attained liberation at the end of his body.
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Now, the removal of the wretched state incurred by Dṛḍhamati, who performed Vedic rites:
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That śūdra who had been instructed by him, having experienced the hells in turn
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and having been born in many vile wombs,
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afterward obtained a birth as a vulture on the mountain Veṅkaṭācala.
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Once, in order to drink water at the sacred ford Pāpavināśana,
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he arrived, drank the water, and sprinkled his own body.
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At that very moment, possessing a divine body and adorned with all ornaments,
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he mounted a celestial aerial chariot and went to the abode of the immortals.
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Śrī Sūta said:
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Such indeed is the power of this sacred ford Pāpavināśana;
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Linked texts (1)
- Skandapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit