Skandapurana 2.2.14
English (machine translation) 2.2.14
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The sages said:
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When those two, Nārada and the king, mounted the chariot and departed,
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where did they go, or what did they do? Tell us that, O great sage.
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Jaimini said:
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Along with Vidyāpati, the younger brother of the royal priest,
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at the boundary of the sacred field they approached the vicinity of Nīlakaṇṭha.
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As this ruler of the earth proceeded on the path, an ill omen occurred:
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a repeated twitching and throbbing of the left eye and arm.
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Seeing that, the tiger among kings fell into dejection.
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And he asked the reason for this of the sage, a treasury of all knowledge:
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“My sovereignty is unimpeded; this best of sacred fields has been reached;
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and this journey for the darśana of Mādhava brings good fortune.
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What misfortune might befall me today, O sage? Tell me truthfully.
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For the left eye twitches and the arm throbs repeatedly.”
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Hearing that, Nārada spoke, indicating what was to happen,
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causing him to hear the auspicious statement that had been uttered by the lotus-born [Brahmā].
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Nārada said:
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“Let there be no dejection for you, O king! Good fortune is mostly accompanied by obstacles;
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and at the end of obstacles, good fortune comes once more to fortunate men, O king.”
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"Truly you are an emperor, but this sacred field is Viṣṇu's very body.
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He, for whose sake this journey of yours was made, has disappeared.
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On the day this brahmin Vidyāpati saw him,
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covered in golden sand on the next day at evening-time,
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he, so difficult to attain in the mortal world, went to his abode in Pātāla."
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Jaimini said:
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Hearing that dreadful word, equal to the stroke of a thunderbolt,
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the king fell unconscious upon the ground, O best of brahmins.
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Seeing him fallen thus, led by the family priest,
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all his affectionate companions rushed forward wailing in distress.
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Sprinkling water cooled with camphor repeatedly upon his face,
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they smeared all his limbs with sandalwood, aloe, and camphor.
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They quickly fanned him with chowries and palm fans.
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Even Nārada, agitated, concentrated with yogic meditation;
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knowing the auspicious future there, he protected the king's vital breaths.
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By these supreme efforts, the king at last regained consciousness.
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Rising, O brahmins, he fell again at Nārada's feet:
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"O sage, what severe sin did I commit in some other lifetime,
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at whose fruition there has arisen such terrible sorrow?
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In action, thought, or word, no offense toward brahmins or cows
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was committed by me even in a dream, O eminent sage!
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Whatever obligatory, occasional, and desire-prompted rites are prescribed
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for a king, O tiger among sages, have never been neglected by me.
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Toward the gods, guests, servants, and ancestors, O great sage,
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as well as toward dependents and kin, no disrespect was shown by me.
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The fifty transgressions against Viṣṇu, O best of Vaiṣṇavas,
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were all carefully avoided by me like enraged great serpents.
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What good fortune was practiced by that younger brother of the priest,
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by which the Blessed Lord Nīlamādhava was seen with mortal eyes?
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Why was this loss of kingdom caused by you who knew it?
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Or why was this not proclaimed at the very time of the journey?
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Or why was the displacement from their home caused by me for Vedic scholars?
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Why have lands consecrated for so long been abandoned by them?
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The livelihood maintained by the subjects from the time of their ancestors' rise
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has been abandoned for my sake; how indeed will they live?
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I shall not maintain my vital breaths if I do not behold Hari.
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This is my resolve, O brahmin; when I am perished, what will become of my subjects?
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O sage, you are ever compassionate; teach me what is auspicious and inauspicious.
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Now take my son and consecrate him in Mālava.
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Let him rule righteously; let these subjects not grieve.
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All the kings who have come here, under my command,
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let them depart, obeying the word of my son, the lord of Mālava.
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By the rite of fasting unto death, meditating on Nīlamādhava,
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remaining in the sacred field, I shall make fruitful the remainder of my life."
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Jaimini said:
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Raising the king Indradyumna as he wept, the son of Brahmā,
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consoling him with gentle words, spoke this:
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Nārada said:
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"O King, foremost of the learned, a Vaiṣṇava, an ocean of fortitude,
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how can you not realize that good fortune is constantly accompanied by obstacles?
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For this is the ultimate good of a man, earned through a hundred lifetimes:
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that with mortal eyes one might behold Gadādhara endowed with a physical form.
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The play of Hari is uncurbed; by whom can it be comprehended?
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Even I, though liberated while alive, O King, cannot surpass his play.
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How much have I not been deceived, though standing near as a steadfast devotee?
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His māyā is difficult to cross, even over many hundreds of births.
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This endless māyā of his is difficult to comprehend even by the lotus-born [Brahmā],
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though seated upon the navel lotus and constantly offering praises.
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Thus the nature of that master of māyā has been described, O King.
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Now I shall tell you the specific truth; for you are the best among the fortunate."
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His three forms, too, are disposed to bestow grace upon you.
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He who is the creator of the moving and unmoving, the Grandfather of the worlds in visible form,
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spoke to me: ‘Go swiftly to the presence of Indradyumna.
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He is going to Nīlācala, wishing to behold Nīlamādhava.
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For that all-pervading Lord has disappeared, being petitioned by Yama.
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Grief should not be felt there; it cannot be otherwise in this matter.
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The king, my fifth descendant, should be addressed in my words:
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“For his sake, having propitiated Puruṣottama, the Supreme Self,
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I will bring Him from Śvetadvīpa at the conclusion of a thousand great sacrifices.
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Let that Indradyumna now remain in the sacred field of holy Puruṣottama,
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worshiping Viṣṇu with a thousand horse-sacrifices.
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At the conclusion thereof, he will behold with his own eyes Viṣṇu in a wooden body.
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Through him, that incarnation of Hari will attain renown.
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Then indeed the forms of Viṣṇu must certainly be installed by me.
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Formerly, Hari existed fourfold in a jewel form.
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Having been seen by his family priest, He was made known directly before him.
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Again, with a celestial wooden body, He will descend fourfold.”’
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Therefore do not grieve, O king of kings; your desire will surely bear fruit.
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It will come to pass without doubt; live here free from deceit.
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Jaimini said:
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Having consoled the king in this manner, Nārada then brought him
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to the path of trust, O brahmins, and spoke these words again:
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Nārada said:
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‘Where Nīlakaṇṭha indeed dwells with Durgā at the front of the foremost sacred field shaped like a conch,
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there let us go; that ground is very level and suitable for the horse-sacrifice.
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Having constructed upon it an excellent sacrificial hall that will endure for a thousand years for the horse-sacrifice,
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and having beheld the form of Nṛsiṃha residing on Nīlādri, making our birth fulfilled,
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and having installed an image facing west of Him alone, to be constantly worshiped and honored by you,
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for the sake of destroying all obstacles and augmenting the fruit [of the sacrifice],
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we shall begin the supreme sacrifice with the foremost sages in the proper manner.
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Delay is certainly not auspicious here—such is the word of the Grandfather.’
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Thus ends the fourteenth chapter in the dialogue between the sage Jaimini and others, in the Māhātmya of the Puruṣottama Field, in the second Vaiṣṇava Section of the glorious Skanda Mahāpurāṇa, in the collection of eighty-one thousand verses.
Linked texts (1)
- Skandapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit