Skandapurana 2.2.41
English (machine translation) 2.2.41
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2.2.41.1
Jaimini said:
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I shall explain the Puṣyasnāna festival as declared of old by Brahmā.
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When the full moon day is conjoined with the constellation Puṣya,
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in the month of Pauṣa, one should thus perform the Puṣyasnāna festival of Hari.
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On the eleventh day, one should perform the sowing of sprouts in the northeast.
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Then, every day in Hari’s shrine, one should perform [rites] before the image,
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and offer oblations every night with dancing, singing, and offerings.
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On the night of the fourteenth day, however, the consecration of the water-pots [is performed],
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eighty-one in number, auspicious and made of gold;
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and he should set up twenty-one filled with cow’s ghee.
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One should have a sarvatobhadra maṇḍala made before Hari.
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In its center, on a large base, one should place an auspicious mirror.
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At night, one should keep vigil with an abundance of songs, dances, and other festivities.
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At dawn, O brahmins, one should perform the fire ritual dedicated to those deities,
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with firewood sticks of palāśa, offering cooked oblation (caru) and clarified butter,
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a thousand oblations for each of Brahmā, Viṣṇu, and Śiva,
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offering into the fire with their characteristic mantras; and at the end of that, one should offer to Puruṣottama.
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One should worship the reflected [image] in the mirror with those offerings of service.
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Then, with the Puruṣasūkta, one should consecrate those jars with mantras.
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With that unbroken stream alone, one should bathe Puruṣottama,
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and then the deities with the Pāvamānī verses, followed by the Śrīsūkta.
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One should bathe [him] with the jars of clarified butter, and after that with the Gāyatrī.
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With scented water [consecrated by] the hymn of Viṣṇu, and with the Śrīsūkta, one should worship [him].
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With a shower of a thousand streams [one should bathe] the God; then one should remove the previous offerings.
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One should smear the limbs of the God and his form with fragrant substances and sandalwood paste.
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One should apply the ornaments in their proper places and for proper splendor;
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immediately after, one should adorn [him] with fragrant flower garlands.
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One should place the God's eight weapons, beginning with the discus, in front [of him].
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Holding up a jeweled umbrella, one should worship Puruṣottama,
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accompanied by Lakṣmī, again, O brahmins, splendidly with presentations,
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while conches are blown, resounding smoothly and deeply,
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while beautiful courtesans are occupied in waving chowries,
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with auspicious songs, dances, and recitations of praises by bards,
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and while the twice-born repeatedly shout cries of victory.
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Having worshipped Keśava with three handfuls of dūrvā grass and unbroken grains,
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with extremely pure golden vessels holding lamps of cow's clarified butter
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and wicks infused with camphor, one should wave lights before Jagannātha.
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Pleasing betel, well prepared and set in a golden vessel,
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one should slowly present to each near the mouth.
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One should give sacrificial fees to the preceptor and worship the brahmins.
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Those who, filled with joy, witness the sacred festival of the Puṣya ablution,
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having all their desires fulfilled, go to the abode of Viṣṇu.
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One fallen from kingship regains his kingdom and obtains universal sovereignty;
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a sonless woman or one whose children have died obtains a long-lived son.
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Destroying poverty, conferring fortune, and causing brahminic splendor,
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the Puṣya ablution has been proclaimed to you. Hear now about the Uttarāyaṇa.
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Thus ends the forty-first chapter, named 'Description of the Rule for the Puṣya Consecration,' in the Puruṣottamakṣetra-māhātmya, in the second, Vaiṣṇava section of the venerable Skanda Mahāpurāṇa consisting of eighty-one thousand verses.
Linked texts (1)
- Skandapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit