Skandapurana 2.2.44
English (machine translation) 2.2.44
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Jaimini said:
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Here I shall relate to you the supreme annual observance,
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on the full-moon day in the month of Phālguna, the first day of the year.
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The twelve forms of the beginningless God Hari,
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celebrated by the names beginning with Viṣṇu, one should worship month by month.
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Each one of these forms throughout the twelve months
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one should worship every day with flowers and likewise with twelve kinds of fruits:
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the aśoka, mallikā, pāṭala, kadaṃba,
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karavīra, jāti flower, mālatī, hundred-petalled lotus,
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blue lotus, vāsaṃtī, kuṃda, and punnāga.
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These flowers one should joyfully offer in order to Hari.
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Pomegranate, coconut, mango, jackfruit,
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date, palmyra fruit, and prācīnāmalaka,
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wood-apple, orange, areca nut, carambola,
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and nutmeg: these fruits indeed one should offer in order.
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Having offered foods to be chewed, eaten, sucked, and licked, and sweet delicacies,
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and attendances beginning with a seat, and having praised the Guru of the universe:
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“O All-Pervading One, Lord of the Universe, master of what has been, what is to be, and what is!
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Save me, O lotus-eyed one, O Viṣṇu, from the ocean of worldly existence!
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Of old, in the dreadful waters of the single ocean without support,
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you slew Madhu for the protection of the universe; O Slayer of Madhu, protect me!
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You who strode the three strides and, having slain the great host of Daityas,
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protected the three worlds—O Trivikrama, homage to you!
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Having assumed the dwarf form containing the Ṛg, Yajur, and Sāma Vedas within,
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having enchanted [all] with your wondrous form, homage to that master of illusion!
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To him who constantly bears Śrī upon his chest and gives fortune
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to his devotees—homage to that Śrīdhara!
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The presiding ruler of all the senses, the eternal sovereign,
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the sole cause of joy for devotees—O Hṛṣīkeśa, homage to you!
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From whose navel-lotus this universe of moving and unmoving beings arose,
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the eternal seat of the Creator—O Padmanābha, homage to you!
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By whom this moving and unmoving universe is bound with the three qualities,
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yet who was bound with a rope by a cowherdess—O Dāmodara, homage to you!
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You who slew the demon Keśin who devastated the three worlds,
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the ruler of all joys—protect me, O Lord Keśava!
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The Creator who created all beings, the primordial cause of the worlds,
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of inconceivable majesty, O Viṣṇu—O Nārāyaṇa, homage to you!
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By whose beginningless māyā this universe is deluded,
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homage, homage to Mādhava, the embodiment of all righteousness!
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You are accessible by knowledge to the wise, the giver of a refuge to the shelterless;
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O Govinda, may my observance be made complete through your grace!”
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Every month, at the end of the worship, with joined palms using these mantras,
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one should pray with supreme devotion to Janārdana until the worship is concluded.
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Having thus spent a year in the observance known as the Mūrtipañjara,
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one should perform the concluding rite of consecration for the attainment of the full fruit.
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Twelve images of Viṣṇu fashioned of gold,
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made according to one's means, are to be placed on twelve pitchers,
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which are covered with vessels of mango wood, directly on them, individually,
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wrapped in white cloths, containing fragrant water and sprouts,
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in the eight directions and the four directions, on a sarvatobhadra maṇḍala.
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Those pitchers should be set up, and the images worshipped upon them,
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with the twelve-syllable mantra, with individual offerings,
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and first a ceremonial bath of all with the five nectars, O twice-born ones,
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accompanied by songs, instrumental music, dances, and so forth, as well as worship of brahmins,
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with twelve pairs of garments, and likewise pairs of parasols and sandals,
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with fans, water pitchers, and beds with pedestals,
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with perfumes, garlands, good betel leaves, and likewise finger-rings and earrings.
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Lamps fueled with ghee should be lit, twelve by twelve in order.
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Having spent the night in this manner, in the morning the fire ritual [is performed]—
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three hundred [oblations] of firewood, ghee, and sacred cooked food for each deity,
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and then a thousand and eight with sesame seeds accompanied by the vyāhṛtis.
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At the end of the fire oblation, having partaken of the remnants, one should give the preceptor's sacrificial fee:
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twelve brown cows adorned with ornaments should be given.
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Then one should feed one hundred and forty-four brahmins.
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That host of deities, together with the pots, the canopy, and the chowries,
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along with all the offerings, he should present to the preceptor.
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Having performed this king of observances, one obtains all desires.
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The twelve festivals of Viṣṇu that are renowned, beginning with the Guṇḍicā—
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the religious merit born from witnessing them is attained through this observance.
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The state of Indra, universal sovereignty, and the status of an emperor,
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and the eight supernatural powers he attains by the grace of the God of gods.
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This most sacred observance was performed by Nārada;
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having performed it for twelve years, the sage became liberated while living.
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And other Vaiṣṇavas who performed it many times in the past— / there is no observance higher than this that produces delight in the Lord.
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It leads to righteousness, fame, longevity, brahminhood, and the increase of one's lineage.
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You too, self-restrained, should perform this supreme observance.
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Thus ends the forty-fourth chapter, titled 'Description of the Jyeṣṭhapañcaka Observance', in the Praise of Puruṣottamakṣetra, in the second section, the Vaiṣṇavakhaṇḍa, of the glorious Skanda Mahāpurāṇa consisting of eighty-one thousand verses.
Linked texts (1)
- Skandapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit