Skandapurana 2.2.26
English (machine translation) 2.2.26
- Language
- English
2.2.26.1
Jaimini said:
2.2.26.2
In a level place, free from portents, and in accordance with prescribed ritual rules,
2.2.26.3
the gods were brought near the temple at an auspicious moment.
2.2.26.4
Then an immense pavilion, fashioned with jeweled colors,
2.2.26.5
was constructed by Viśvakarman at the command of Indradyumna.
2.2.26.6
Materials for worshipping the assembly, oblation offerings, sacrificial sticks, kuśa grass,
2.2.26.7
various kinds of food, as well as manifold songs and dances [were arranged].
2.2.26.8
Whatever wealth previously existed on earth during his universal sovereignty,
2.2.26.9
even far superior to that, O brahmins, was present at the consecration.
2.2.26.10
At that time, there was a king on earth named Gāla.
2.2.26.11
He too had made a stone image here called Mādhava,
2.2.26.12
and, having installed it here in this temple, had worshipped it magnificently.
2.2.26.13
Having constructed a smaller temple, that best of kings
2.2.26.14
then removed it from there and installed it there with reverence.
2.2.26.15
Then that king, hearing of his deed from the mouth of an envoy,
2.2.26.16
Gāla, went angrily with his army to that Blue Mountain (Nīlaparvata).
2.2.26.17
Beholding the preparations for consecration, difficult even to dream of for mortals,
2.2.26.18
King Gāla stood there, his mind filled with wonder,
2.2.26.19
[thinking,] "What is this matter? Or who is having such a thing performed?"
2.2.26.20
With effort learning that the divine king was Indradyumna,
2.2.26.21
who had arrived from Brahmaloka, the builder of the gods' dwelling,
2.2.26.22
who had gathered provisions to consecrate it along with the gods,
2.2.26.23
accompanied by Padmanidhi and the guru Nārada,
2.2.26.24
and that Brahmā, the foremost of gods, was about to arrive for the consecration—
2.2.26.25
having heard the whole account and that divine undertaking, the king
2.2.26.26
considered himself blessed, [witnessing] this supreme wonder in his realm:
2.2.26.27
"A deed more beneficial than this has never been, nor will ever be.
2.2.26.28
Therefore, staying near him and learning the rite and ritual order,
2.2.26.29
and also understanding the festivals, I shall perform them year after year.
2.2.26.30
This wooden Janārdana is truly the supreme Brahman embodied;
2.2.26.31
due to a heap of misfortune, not knowing [him] for such a long time,
2.2.26.32
and not serving [him], my very birth has been made in vain by me.
2.2.26.33
Therefore, bowing down indeed to this Indradyumna, teacher of the world,
2.2.26.34
the foremost great devotee of the Lord, who has come here from Brahmaloka,
2.2.26.35
approaching him for refuge and directly seeing the omnipresent Nārāyaṇa
2.2.26.36
consecrated in the temple, I shall surely attain liberation.
2.2.26.37
Having consecrated Vaikuṇṭha, he will certainly entrust it to me.
2.2.26.38
One who has gone to Brahmaloka—does he ever remain on earth?
2.2.26.39
Having assigned the ritual services and gathered the treasury for the Lord,
2.2.26.40
he will certainly return to that abode together with Brahmā."
2.2.26.41
Having reflected thus together with his ministers, the Vaiṣṇava Gāla then,
2.2.26.42
humble, went with joy into the presence of Indradyumna.
2.2.26.43
Approaching and seeing him from afar, preceded by a prostration,
2.2.26.44
with hands folded into a hollow bowl upon his head, watching with apprehension,
2.2.26.45
King Gāla went very slowly near to him.
2.2.26.46
"O lord, you are a king of kings; though mortal, you are a dweller in Brahmaloka.
2.2.26.47
How can I, a worm of a king, praise you, a liberated soul (jīvanmukta) and sovereign lord?
2.2.26.48
Not knowing your greatness, deliberating repeatedly with my ministers,
2.2.26.49
I came to fight, O lord, but seeing your great valor,
2.2.26.50
superhuman and wondrous, which surpasses even the status of Śacī’s husband (Indra)—
2.2.26.51
seeing this, O lord, it is certain that for one who has returned from Brahmaloka,
2.2.26.52
such a great work is natural, to whom the Great Treasure (Mahānidhi) is an order-follower.
2.2.26.53
Set your mind, inclined toward grace, upon me, O best of gods,
2.2.26.54
to whose command the gods residing in the three worlds are obedient."
2.2.26.55
Jaimini said:
2.2.26.56
To Gāla, that elephant among kings, who was making this submission,
2.2.26.57
he, smiling, spoke these words: "O king, why do you speak at such length?
2.2.26.58
You too are a devotee of Hari, a universal sovereign and ruler of the earth.
2.2.26.59
This lordship over the land is common to kings who dwell on earth.
2.2.26.60
For at present, you are the sole monarch here on earth.
2.2.26.61
All religious rites of mortals and even of the gods depend upon the king.
2.2.26.62
The king was created by Brahmā from portions of the guardians of the eight directions;
2.2.26.63
indeed, a king intent on protecting his subjects has not made small merit.
2.2.26.64
Treading the right path, one attains fame and dharma in this world,
2.2.26.65
O tiger among kings, and especially you, being a Vaiṣṇava.
2.2.26.66
Whoever installs an image of Hari according to the prescribed rules in a temple
2.2.26.67
incurs no bondage of the body, and goes to the supreme abode of Viṣṇu.
2.2.26.68
This wooden image of Mādhava, having auspicious characteristics,
2.2.26.69
granting liberation visibly before one's eyes, you yourself, O king, have set up.
2.2.26.70
Your work was accomplished without obstacle; a Manvantara of mine has passed.
2.2.26.71
Or there might be doubt in my mind on this point: the four-faced [Brahmā] is not independent.
2.2.26.72
He was requested for the consecration; how could anyone other than him install
2.2.26.73
[the image] of the temple of the visible wooden incarnation, O best of kings?
2.2.26.74
If the Creator will bestow his favor here by his personal presence,
2.2.26.75
then, having installed this fourfold Janārdana,
2.2.26.76
and entrusted [Him] to you, I will depart; you alone shall attend upon Him
2.2.26.77
with daily offerings, pilgrimages, and festivals for the Lord of the universe.
2.2.26.78
Whatever the god himself or the Great-Grandfather directs,
2.2.26.79
all those the king who protects dharma should perform with diligence."
2.2.26.80
Then that King Gāla, having heard his own thoughts [reflected]
2.2.26.81
and that it had been commanded by Indradyumna, felt supreme joy.
2.2.26.82
Gāla stood near him as if he were an obedient servant;
2.2.26.83
he quickly carried out everything that Indradyumna commanded.
2.2.26.84
Thus, with all materials gathered, the lord seated on the throne,
2.2.26.85
Indradyumna, surrounded by gods, shone like Śakra.
2.2.26.86
Then auspicious sounds born from celestial kettle-drums were heard,
2.2.26.87
the sounds of clay drums, flutes, lute, cymbals, large drums, and the like,
2.2.26.88
many trumpetings of Airāvata and other elephants in the sky,
2.2.26.89
and shouts of victory on all sides mingled with showers of flowers,
2.2.26.90
drops of water from the heavenly Gaṅgā mixed with Mandāra flowers,
2.2.26.91
the scents of divine garlands, unguents, and incenses pervading the directions,
2.2.26.92
and the tinkling sounds of clusters of small bells belonging to gods in their aerial chariots.
2.2.26.93
And then a mass of brilliance filling the space between heaven and earth,
2.2.26.94
covering the eyes of those standing on earth, appeared, O twice-born ones.
2.2.26.95
Looked upon in front by the subjects with rows of upturned eyes,
2.2.26.96
then by degrees was seen that foremost aerial chariot of the Lord of Creatures,
2.2.26.97
carried on the shoulder from all sides by hundreds of golden swans,
2.2.26.98
attended in front by the guardians of the directions with hands busy holding fly-whisks,
2.2.26.99
with the water of the Jāhnavī and Yamunā sprinkled around by their hands,
2.2.26.100
with two parasols held on both sides by the Moon and the Sun,
2.2.26.101
whose canopies trembled gently with the movement of the wind,
2.2.26.102
being praised with secret hymns by the brahmin seers headed by Gautama,
2.2.26.103
seated in its center, the Lord of Creatures, praised by Indradyumna and others,
2.2.26.104
was seen, extolled with shouts of victory by the hosts of gods.
2.2.26.105
Courtesans headed by Rambhā danced with reverent awe,
2.2.26.106
and singers headed by Hāhā and Hūhū were singing;
2.2.26.107
he was accompanied respectfully on the lute by hosts of Siddhas and Vidyādharas,
2.2.26.108
and worshipped from afar by ascetics with joined hands.
2.2.26.109
Sāvitrī and Śāradā, by varied compositions of speech,
2.2.26.110
were bringing him satisfaction—who else would be capable of pleasing him?
2.2.26.111
His body was sprinkled with the water of the Jāhnavī and Yamunā.
2.2.26.112
And those Gandharvas, Siddhas, and others, the twice-born headed by Nārada,
2.2.26.113
holding canes in their hands, were showing the divine stairway with humility.
2.2.26.114
Great was that crowd of gods moving in the sky;
2.2.26.115
no god was distinguished, nor [could one tell] who went by which path,
2.2.26.116
as those dwellers of heaven were moving in an eager rivalry of "I first!"
2.2.26.117
Because of the intense crowding, they fell off their mounts.
2.2.26.118
When he who is creator, protector, and destroyer of the worlds, who consists of the universe,
2.2.26.119
moves there in person, where is the greatness of these gods?
2.2.26.120
Seeing him, the king, bowing low with awe and folding his hands in devotion,
2.2.26.121
[along] with those gods, with King Gāla, and with [the sages] headed by Nārada—
2.2.26.122
he, along with them, fell prostrate upon the earth,
2.2.26.123
and rising with supreme devotion and a heart filled with joy,
2.2.26.124
all his limbs bristling with goosebumps, he considered himself fulfilled.
2.2.26.125
Beholding the pure Grandfather before the Lord of the universe,
2.2.26.126
the king, with folded hands, plunged into an ocean of bliss. // 62
2.2.26.127
Thus ends the twenty-sixth chapter in the dialogue between the sage Jaimini in the Māhātmya of the Puruṣottama Sacred Field, in the second section, the Vaiṣṇava Section, in the Skanda Mahāpurāṇa consisting of eighty-one thousand verses. // 26
Linked texts (1)
- Skandapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit