Skandapurana 2.2.22
English (machine translation) 2.2.22
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Jaimini said:
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Then the king said to him: "How can you go without a destination?
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Here is a flower-chariot, O sage, as swift as thought itself.
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Having mounted this, we two will go; wait just for a moment,
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while I take leave of these superintendents at the temple
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and circumambulate the Lord; then I shall come, O best of sages!"
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Hearing his word, Nārada too, trusting the king's words,
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took the king by the hand and entered the great altar.
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Bowing again and again to Kṛṣṇa, who was accompanied by Rāma and Bhadrā,
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he requested permission to depart for the world of Brahmā.
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Indradyumna also, with word, mind, and body, circumambulated Hari,
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bowed again with prostrations of the eight limbs, and with an elevated mind,
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O brahmins, begged with folded hands for departure to the world of Brahmā.
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Both of them, the sage and the king, departed in the celestial vehicle.
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Having circumambulated the sun stationed in the midst of the vault of the sky,
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they went higher and higher, having passed the realm of the Pole Star.
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Looked upon by the Siddhas in Janaloka, who quickly bowed with upturned faces,
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filled with joy, they were conversing with one another
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about the deeds of the Lord, O brahmins, which purify the impurities of the mind.
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"This best of sages, liberated while living, wanders through all the worlds
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with his course unimpeded; just so, this dweller on the mortal plane,
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the king, has gone swiftly through the grace of devotion to Viṣṇu.
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In the realm of the cosmos there is no object difficult to obtain
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that cannot be gained by a devotee of Viṣṇu, or else he attains liberation."
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And the two were respectfully worshiped by the Siddhas stationed in Maharloka.
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Indradyumna did not remember his earthly dwelling
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as he went along, rising higher by degrees, seeing those who are receptacles solely of happiness,
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free from dualities, whose many achievements arise instantly without desire.
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[Remembering] what he had done in the world of works solely for the pleasure of the Lord,
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he worried about the temple: "Will it be completed or not?
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With me gone to the world of Brahmā, will it be overwhelmed by enemies?
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Or will the servants become slack in their respect out of greed for wealth?
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Likewise, will the crowds of artisans, having received their wages, become sluggish in their work
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and not construct it quickly, now that I have gone to the abode of Brahmā?
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Before I return, having fetched the four-faced Creator,
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may the temple not perish while I am far away?
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Thinking, 'Those who came here before never returned to earth,'—
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will my feudatories, evil-minded in this way,
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now seize my kingdom, since they are hostile?"
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To the king who was thus anxious and brooding with an agitated mind,
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the sage, a treasury of knowledge of the past and future, said:
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"Why are you anxious, O best of kings, with such a dejected mind?
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where both of us have arrived; for this is no realm of anxiety.
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Neither mental distress nor bodily diseases ever have power here;
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there is no old age and no death. What else could cause sorrow?
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You have attained your goal, O fortunate one, in that in your very human body
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you have come here to the world of Brahmā and have beheld Hari face to face.
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Those who have come here do not grieve over the worthless, fleeting worldly existence."
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To him speaking thus, the king replied to that lord of sages:
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"O venerable one, I grieve on account of the king's kinsfolk and relatives.
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The temple of the Lord which was begun by me just now—
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knowing that I have come here, my attendants will not carry it out.
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The consecration of what has been begun must surely be performed, O sage.
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Conceiving an obstacle to that, my mind is grieved, O lord."
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Hearing his words, the sage smiled and said:
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"Indeed, [you have] equality with Prajāpati; you are no ordinary king.
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Never has what was undertaken by the ancients on earth been ruined by anyone;
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how much less your deed, [done by you] who effect the creation, maintenance, and destruction [of kingdoms]!
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Though you have gone to the world of Brahmā today, through your majesty and renown,
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which constantly wander through the three worlds like the sun and the moon,
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in whose deeds the four-faced Lord himself is a helper—
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in those deeds, O tiger among kings, can even a suspicion of an obstacle arise?
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He who is before your enemies, O king of kings, stands afar [from you]—
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Śakra himself, the lord of the three worlds, seated in the assembly.
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Especially regarding the temple of Jagannātha, O king, what man
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would desire even in his mind to destroy it? Let there be no doubt of yours in this matter.
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Look before you, O king: with a luster equal to ten million moons,
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producing delight all around like ten million oceans of nectar,
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know this mass of splendors to be that of the abode of Brahmā."
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Conversing in this manner, the two reached the vicinity of the world of Brahmā.
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From far away, both heard emerging from the mouths of the brahmin-seers
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the sound of Vedic recitation, with well-formed words and clear accents, letters, and order—
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the epics, the Purāṇas, the meters, the rituals, and the verses.
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Unconfused, luminous speech was heard distinctly in its divisions.
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"Know this, O tiger among kings, to be the city of Brahmā.
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And here is seen the assembly where the Grandfather of the worlds,
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the four-faced one, is comfortably seated together with the foremost brahmin-seers,
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attended by those liberated while living, variegated by diverse consciousnesses;
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those who have arrived here are not caught in the distress of the ocean of worldly existence.
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'Sat' is the name of Brahmā; this highest of worlds belongs to him,
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known as Satyaloka; above it there is nothing at all.
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Just slightly above this, and below the cosmic egg's shell,
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is the realm of Vaikuṇṭha, O king, where the liberated dwell,
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where Janārdana, the lord of yogins directly contemplated by yogins,
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the Lord whose body is consciousness and whose nature is dense bliss, abides,
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having attained whom they do not return to the path of mortal worldly existence;
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whom Brahmā constantly worships with those liberated while living for his own liberation.
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At the end of his allotted lifespan, he merges into him together with these [beings].
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He is the creator of the worlds, who assumes forms such as the fish and the tortoise,
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the protector, the destroyer in his terrible form, the creator of the universe."
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Speaking thus to Indradyumna, he reached the dwelling of Brahmā.
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And in an instant he arrived at the forecourt at the door of the assembly,
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where the guardians of the directions, Śakra and others, were standing all around,
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engaged in meditation for a long time, and likewise the lords of the manvantaras,
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resembling common men, forbidden entry inside by the doorkeeper.
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Beholding Nārada accompanied by Indradyumna,
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the doorkeeper bowed with humility, bending his neck:
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"O lord, who delight in wandering through the fourteen worlds,
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without you, O master, your father's assembly does not shine.
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Though there are indeed excellent sages, brahmins, foremost among knowers of Brahman,
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Gautama and others, nevertheless this assembly of Brahmā is not delightful [without you].
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A night of the gods, though having many stars, shines only by the moon."
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Praising him thus, filled with humility, he granted him entrance.
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Thus ends the twenty-second chapter in the Puruṣottamakṣetra-māhātmya, in the second, Vaiṣṇava section of the glorious Skanda Mahāpurāṇa consisting of eighty-one thousand verses, in the dialogue of the seer Jaimini. // 22
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- Skandapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit