Skandapurana 2.2.15
English (machine translation) 2.2.15
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Jaimini said:
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Then those [people] set out with joy towards the presence of Nīlakaṇṭha, O brahmins,
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and having worshiped that Mahādeva and bowed down to holy Durgā,
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leaving their excellent chariot, on foot together with their attendants,
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with senses subdued, they proceeded to climb the blue mountain [Nīlācala],
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covered with various trees and creepers, crowded with flocks of various birds,
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hedged all around by an impassable barrier of rocks,
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having massive boulders that induced dizziness caused by wandering bees,
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its slopes enveloped by the surging waters of the southern ocean,
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ever inconceivable to mortals, difficult to enter for great serpents,
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its interior made terrifying by the trumpetings of herds of rutting elephants,
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thronged with wild beasts that had dwelt there long and knew not the blow of weapons,
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filled all around with numerous herds of deer devoid of fear.
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When they, wishing to enter, could find no path into its interior,
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then, having learned the summit of the mountain through the company of Nārada,
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they reached where the all-pervading Lord dwells beneath a black agallochum tree,
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possessing a celestial lion's body, the destroyer of all perils and fears,
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beholding whom, crores of sins of killing a brahmin dissolve away for men;
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with open mouth, terrifying fangs, and thick reddish-brown mane,
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fierce, three-eyed, tearing the chest of the demon
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lying supine on His own lap, with claws terrible as thunderbolts,
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the all-pervading Lord, radiant as dawn, with flickering tongue and a face loud with boisterous laughter,
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whose arms shone with conch and discus, resplendent with a diademed crown,
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terrifying the quarters with sparks of fire flashing from His eyes,
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whose lotus feet had penetrated into the earth under violent impact.
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Then, seeing before Nārada that primal form, Hari,
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they, free from fear, beheld Him from afar and bowed down, relieved of feverish anxiety.
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Indradyumna too, having beheld Him, placed his faith in Nārada's words.
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Trusting in what was to come, he said this to the great sage:
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“O great seer, my purpose is fulfilled! You are indeed the supreme treasure of knowledge.
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Difficult to worship is this Nṛsiṃha, terrifying even to look upon.
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He may well be served by people like you, but by people like me only from afar.
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From his darśana my purpose is fulfilled, all my sins dissolved.
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It is only through your presence, O sage, that we stand here without fear.
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How can the Lord of exceedingly fierce form be worshipped
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by men of little power, tearing apart the king of daityas, the master of the three worlds?
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In what place does the form made of sapphire of that ocean of mercy reside,
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O best of sages, which grants liberation merely upon darśana?
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Show that to me, O best of brahmins, which is considered to grant me liberation.”
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Addressed thus, Nārada showed him the purifying
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place where the god stayed, covered with golden sand:
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“Behold this banyan tree, one yojana in breadth and two yojanas high,
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which lasts until the end of the kalpa, O king, granting liberation to men.
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From stepping into its shade, one is freed from the slough of sin;
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a man giving up his life-breaths at its root would attain liberation.
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Even upon merely seeing spotless Nārāyaṇa in the form of a banyan tree,
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a mortal becomes sinless—how much more so worshipping and praising him?
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To the west of its root and to the north of Nṛsiṃha, O king,
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where the all-pervading Mādhava, bearing four forms, once stood—
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in order to favor you alone, he will manifest here again.
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Just as Viṣṇu has his own abode in Śvetadvīpa, the realm of enjoyment,
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so this is remembered as his own place in Jambudvīpa, the realm of action.
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Because it is supremely secret even to himself, its revelation is not widely granted.
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Only one entitled to liberation knows this place, O king;
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it is an object of disbelief to men, especially to evildoers.
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Even another image of Viṣṇu consecrated here by citizens
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grants liberation, O king—how much more one [consecrated] by the self-manifest [Lord]?
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The disappearance and appearance of the Lord of the universe occur for an auspicious cause
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in each age, for the sake of favoring the virtuous.
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The Lord [appears] in various incarnations, such as the fish and the tortoise, O king,
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and when the cause ceases, the Supreme Lord disappears.
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Without any cause, the ocean of compassion abides here eternally.
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Just as the Lord Viṣṇu descends elsewhere from Śvetadvīpa,
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so, though remaining here, he becomes manifest out of compassion in Dvārakā, Kāñcī, Puṣkara, and other places,
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like shoots from the root of a tree.
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In various sacred fords, regions, sacred fields, and shrines,
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there are partial incarnations of him; let there be no doubt in you, O king.
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The Lord does not leave this sacred field for an instant, just as [a husband does not leave] his own wife.
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Yet, initiated by you, O king, another manifestation will occur.”
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When the place was thus shown by the high-souled Nārada,
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Indradyumna prostrated himself on the ground with all eight limbs.
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Conceiving the god to be present before him, as if manifest, he praised him:
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Indradyumna said:
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“O God of gods, Lord of the world, destroyer of the distress of those bowed down,
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save me, O lotus-eyed one, fallen into the ocean of worldly existence!
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You alone are the destroyer of the flood of sorrows, O Supreme Lord!
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The petty indeed serve the petty, desiring a tiny fraction of happiness,
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of their own great sin, a beginningless three-fold flood,
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a heap hard to cut off, constantly fulfilled through rebirth.
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How much more [is it achieved] by devotion to him who directly grants liberation to men?
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Those fools who describe you, the treasure of compassion, as subordinate to karma
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do not know, O Lord, that karma itself is impelled by you.
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By the brahmin Ajāmila, abandoning what is prescribed for class and life-stage,
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what sin was not committed, O Master? Yet even he, from reciting your name,
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became liberated; merely by remembrance, he was freed by the snare-handed [attendants of Yama].
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All spiritual means, O Lord of gods, are said to [culminate in] seeing you;
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for when you are seen, the doubts residing in the heart are shattered.
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One becomes instantly free of doubt, and sin and merit are surely destroyed.”
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You alone are my refuge; have mercy on me, a miserable soul, O omnipresent Lord!
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Whatever [circumstances] were determined by you, O God, while I was in the womb,
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my birth is indeed through them alone; yet I beg this one thing of you:
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that form of yours which grants liberation to animals, which stood here—
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may I behold it again with these eyes, O Lord; I have no other purpose!
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Having thus praised Madhusūdana with folded hands,
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the king bowed down again to the surface of the earth, his eyes filled with tears.
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Then an incorporeal voice traveling through the sky, speaking in the sweet tones of the Sāmaveda,
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resounded in the midst of the heavens while Indradyumna listened:
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“Do not worry, O king; I shall come into the path of your sight.
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Perform that which Nārada told you, the instruction of the Grandfather [Brahmā].”
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Having heard that divine voice and the utterance of Nārada,
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he placed his faith in the horse sacrifice, eager to please the Lord.
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And he spoke again to Nārada with words choked with joy:
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“O sage, that which was commanded by you at the direction of the four-faced [Brahmā]—
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this bodiless voice has indeed confirmed precisely that.
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Between the Grandfather and Jagannātha there is never any difference.
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You are indeed the son of the lotus-born [Brahmā]; your word is the Lord's word.
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That which brings about the highest good must be carried out with great effort.”
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Thus ends the fifteenth chapter in the dialogue between the sage Jaimini in the Puruṣottamakṣetramāhātmya, in the second section, the Vaiṣṇavakhaṇḍa, of the glorious Skandapurāṇa consisting of eighty-one thousand verses.
Linked texts (1)
- Skandapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit