Skandapurana 2.2.18
English (machine translation) 2.2.18
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Jaimini said:
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Then the pressing of soma in the horse sacrifice of the king began.
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In it, O twice-born, the three worlds became like a single abode. // 1
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By the sacred texts and hymns reaching to the sky, brilliant with the order of syllables,
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having the proper arrangement of words and accents, other sounds were drowned out. // 2
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There, desired things were given to the wretched without restriction;
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to actors, dancers, and bards, it was like the wish-fulfilling tree. // 3
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In the midst of it, where a tent had been erected for bathing at the concluding ablution,
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on the southern shore near Bilveśvara, // 4
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the servants appointed by the king, arriving in haste,
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with folded hands reported to the king, O twice-born: // 5
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"O lord, a huge tree has been seen on the shore of the great ocean,
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its top having entered the sea, its base floating on the billows, // 6
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madder-red in color all over, marked with the conch and discus, floating.
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Near the bath pavilion, this most wonderful [tree] was seen by us. // 7
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This tree has never been seen before, resembling the rising sun in brilliance,
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scenting the entire shore with fragrant perfume. // 8
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This is perceived to be no ordinary tree, [but] a celestial tree;
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some god, surely, seems to have arrived under the guise of a tree." // 9
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Having heard the words of the appointees, the king said to Nārada:
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"What then is the cause of that excellent tree which they say was seen?" // 2.2.18.10
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Nārada, smiling, spoke words to the best of kings:
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"Let the final oblation be completed, so that the sacrifice may bear fruit. // 11
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That good fortune has arrived for you which you saw previously in your dream.
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The imperishable Viṣṇu whose form is the universe, who was seen in Śvetadvīpa— // 12
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a hair fallen from his body has attained the state of a tree.
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The enduring partial descent of the Supreme Lord upon the earth— // 13
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into that form the Blessed One, affectionate toward devotees, descends.
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For that superhuman tree—no one is worthy to behold it // 14
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except you on earth, O tiger among men, best of kings.
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Through the power of your good fortune, he will become a guest to the eyes of all people, // 15
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O great king, destroying all impurities.
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Having concluded the avabhṛtha bath on the shore of the lord of rivers,
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and having performed a great festival with celebratory auspicious rites,
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install here upon the great altar the Lord of Sacrifice who has assumed the form of a tree.”
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Having thus deliberated, filled with joy, both the king and Nārada,
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richly equipped, went to the place where that divine tree stood.
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Beholding it, all rejoiced, as if the Absolute itself had manifest before them;
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those exalted men, liberated while alive, deemed their birth to have borne fruit.
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King Indradyumna too plunged into an ocean of ambrosia.
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Just as that beloved of the Lord had seen Jagannātha in a dream,
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so he beheld that tree, four-armed, with branches resembling eyes.
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Deeming his own labor to have borne fruit, the best of kings,
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O brahmins, cast off the grief born of Nīlamaṇimādhava’s disappearance.
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Bowing to it again and again, his eyes filled with tears of joy, the king
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had the brahmins fetch the tree that was tossed by the waves,
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to the accompaniment of conches, kāhālas, murajas, ḍhakkās, and paṭahas,
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with the sounds of songs and musical instruments, and thousands of shouts of victory,
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amidst recurrent showers of fragrant flowers falling from the sky,
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and incense burners all around, fuming with black aloe,
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being swayed by beautiful courtesans intoxicated with youth,
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fanned on all sides with chowries having jeweled handles,
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splendidly adorned with banners of celestial silk and dukūla cloth,
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surrounded by hosts of royal sages and kings, by horses and foot soldiers,
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extolled by bards and praised by great seers,
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and served by officiating priests, brahmins, learned men, Vedic scholars,
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nobles, men born of Vaiśya families, and virtuous Śūdras.
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With manifold hymns from the Vedic, Smṛti, and Purāṇic traditions,
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the tree of Viṣṇu was praised, surrounded on the earth;
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adorned with garlands and perfumes, the two brought that divine [tree] to the great altar.
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Enclosed completely under an excellent, variegated canopy,
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upon the altar they placed it by order of Indradyumna.
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According to Nārada’s instruction, the king worshipped it
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with thousands of divine-like offerings, that best of kings.
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At the conclusion of the worship, he asked Nārada, the best of sages:
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“What kind are the images of Viṣṇu? And who will fashion them?”
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Hearing that, the sage said to him: “Inconceivable is the majesty of the Guru!
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Who indeed knows his deeds, O king, which transcend all the worlds?
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Even for the creator of the worlds, this is an object of doubt.”
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While the two of them, Nārada and the king, were thus pondering,
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a bodiless voice was then heard from the sky:
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As all who were listening marveled at it, [the voice said:]
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“The Lord is not made by human hands; he remains beyond the path of speculation.
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Upon the well-concealed great altar, he will descend of his own accord.
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Let it remain covered for fifteen days.
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This old carpenter who has arrived, tool in hand—
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having led him inside, bar the door with care.
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Let them play musical instruments outside as long as the fashioning takes place.
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For the sound of the carving, if heard, causes deafness and blindness,
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causes dwelling in hell, and destroys offspring.
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One must not enter within, nor should one ever look.
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If anyone other than the appointed one should look, for the king and the kingdom,
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and for the beholder as well, there will be great dread and blindness in both eyes.
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Therefore, no looking should be done until the completion of the images.
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The divine one, having emerged himself, will tell at the end of the work
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what must be done with effort to bring happiness to all the world.”
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Hearing that, Nārada and the others, exactly as spoken by Viṣṇu himself,
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wished to act accordingly; and a carpenter arrived there.
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He then said to the king: “Those which were seen by you in your dream,
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those very ones I will fashion out of this divine-formed wood.”
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Having spoken thus, assuming the form of an old carpenter, he disappeared into the altar—
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he, the all-pervading Nārāyaṇa in person, to delude mortals.
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Thus ends the eighteenth chapter in the dialogue with the seer Jaimini, in the "Puruṣottamakṣetra-māhātmya", in the second section, the Vaiṣṇavakhaṇḍa, of the eighty-one-thousand-verse collection of the glorious Skandapurāṇa.
Linked texts (1)
- Skandapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit