Skandapurana 2.2.40

English (machine translation) 2.2.40

Language: English

2.2.40.2

On the sixth day of the bright half of the month of Mārgaśīrṣa, having celebrated or witnessed

2.2.40.3

the festival of covering (Prāvaraṇotsava) with devotion, a man attains the realm of Viṣṇu.

2.2.40.4

I shall tell its procedure; listen now, O sages.

2.2.40.5

One skilled in the rites should perform the preliminary consecration of the cloths on the night of the fifth.

2.2.40.6

In front of the deity, in a pavilion, he should make an eight-petalled lotus.

2.2.40.7

He should worship the regents of the quarters in their directions, and [worship] Kṣetrapāla and the lord of the Gaṇas.

2.2.40.8

Outside, in the four directions, he should worship Caṇḍa and Pracaṇḍa.

2.2.40.9

Having placed a vessel in the center, he should sprinkle it with water through a cloth.

2.2.40.10

With the mantra “Dyutānastu…” he should cover it with a celestial garment.

2.2.40.11

A collection of cloths numbering twenty-one, well-perfumed with incense,

2.2.40.12

he should place in the middle thereof, while reciting a Vaiṣṇava mantra.

2.2.40.13

Having covered that diligently with another cloth,

2.2.40.14

and touching it, he should repeat this mantra, meditating on Puruṣottama:

2.2.40.15

“Viṣṇu, who is imperishable, is the coverer of the worlds with his splendor;

2.2.40.16

by his wearing, O cloth, do you abide in the garment of the Lord of the world!”

2.2.40.17

With the mantra “Indraghoṣastu…” he should perform protection for it on all sides.

2.2.40.18

He should worship with fragrant paste and flowers; then he should worship the deity.

2.2.40.19

He should perform anointing with all [fragrances], and spend the night with dancing and singing.

2.2.40.20

Then, at the time of dawn, near the morning twilight,

2.2.40.21

he should again worship the deity, well-concentrated, as before.

2.2.40.22

Then he should bring out that worshiped collection of cloths,

2.2.40.23

rich in cotton, silk, and linen, and covered in that same way, O twice-born ones,

2.2.40.24

with umbrellas, banners, and flags, and with the waving of fly-whisks,

2.2.40.25

with songs, instrumental music, and dances, and with scattering of flowers.

2.2.40.26

Having circumambulated the temple three times, he should then circumambulate the deity three times.

2.2.40.27

Taking off the covering, he should consecrate it with glances and other [rites].

2.2.40.28

He should wrap the deities with seven cloths each;

2.2.40.29

excepting the face, all the limbs [should be wrapped] with winter coverings, O twice-born ones.

2.2.40.30

Then, having offered betel and camphor sprigs,

2.2.40.31

and having worshiped with dūrvā grass and unbroken grains, he should perform the waving of lamps for the Lord.

2.2.40.32

Those who cover Nṛsiṃha with fine garments at the arrival of winter,

2.2.40.33

or those who behold the covering, have no covering of delusion;

2.2.40.34

they never experience the fear arising from the pairs of opposites, wind, and cold.

2.2.40.35

Those who behold with devotion this festival of covering

2.2.40.36

of Viṣṇu, the supreme God of gods, obtain all desires.

2.2.40.37

In honor of the Lord, one should give to brahmins,

2.2.40.38

to gurus, to other deities, and also to the poor and helpless;

2.2.40.39

one should give a winter covering, honoring [them] with supreme joy.

2.2.40.40

The Lord, pleased, grants him an incomparable boon.

Thus ends the fortieth chapter, entitled “Description of the Festival of Covering,” in the Puruṣottamakṣetramāhātmye of the second [section], the Vaiṣṇavakhaṇḍa, in the Skandapurāṇa, the great Purāṇa in eighty-one thousand verses.

Linked texts (1)

Skandapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit