Skandapurana 2.2.48
English (machine translation) 2.2.48
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The sages said:
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At the conclusion of the temple consecration, as for the boons that Hari
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commanded for Indradyumna, and also those twelve pilgrimage festivals,
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everything has been heard from your presence. Then, what did that ruler of the earth,
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of great intellect, remaining as a devotee of Viṣṇu, do?
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Jaimini said:
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Having obtained boons from Jagannātha, who is the direct embodiment of Brahman,
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that bull among men considered himself fulfilled.
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Having had those festivals that bestow merit and liberation conducted according to command,
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and having worshipped the guru of the universe in many ways with numerous offerings,
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having transmitted the command of the deity to King Gāla in accordance with rule,
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he spoke these sweet words endowed with dharma and justice:
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Indradyumna said:
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O King, you are deeply learned, committed to devotion to dharma;
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your devotion also is directed to the Lord by deed, mind, and speech.
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The Lord does not instruct for the sake of only one [person];
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for he is the teacher of the moving and unmoving, and the universe has become his disciple.
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With the purpose of bestowing grace upon me, the Lord of the universe has descended;
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for the uplifting of those whose minds are distressed, he will remain here for a long time.
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Endowed with devotion and faith, carry out his command;
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do not regard him merely as an image, O king!
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As became manifest before your eyes, the three worlds came down to the earth
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at the entrance into the temple of this Lord of the universe.
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The thirty [gods] beginning with Pitāmaha all arrived simultaneously;
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at his universal form, all of us indeed lost consciousness.
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Consisting of the moving and unmoving, he has directly assumed a wooden form;
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know this [form] to be a wish-fulfilling tree arrived on earth, granting all desires.
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Having worshipped him, one obtains the fruit of one's desire according to [one's intention].
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Indeed, him whom ascetics, striving in many ways, do not know,
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who is established beyond darkness, in the form of supreme light—
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for the ascetics devoted to dharma, pure and chaste,
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for yogins endowed with exclusive devotion, he is the only path.
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Just as by diving into a deep, cool pool of water in summer
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one attains supreme relief, so in this ocean of compassion
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one casts off the misery of the threefold suffering, once Puruṣottama is reached.
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Neither mother, nor father, nor friend, nor wife, nor son
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is such a benefactor to the wretched who take refuge as He is.
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Therefore, worship Him, who bestows the fruits of enjoyment and liberation.
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Together with the citizens and subjects, conduct those festivals in an abundant manner.
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This is the common path of dharma for kings, O best of kings:
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what is instituted by a predecessor is maintained by his successor.
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Worship Nṛsiṃha, O lord of kings, with grand offerings of rich splendor;
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worship Him at the three junctures of the day, and attain supreme nirvāṇa.
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They say that preserving what another has done is superior to one's own doing;
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whoever protects what was given by another, that indeed is superior to what is given by oneself.”
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Jaimini said:
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Then, with folded palms, that Śveta, the best of kings,
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placed those words upon his head, as though a garland possessing virtues.
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The royal seer Indradyumna too, having propitiated Puruṣottama,
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the glorious one went to the world of Brahmā.
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Thus has been related to you this sacred, supreme māhātmya of the sacred field,
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and the māhātmya of the Wooden Brahman who dwells there perpetually.
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Whoever hears this being recited with devotion, O best of brahmins,
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he shall obtain the entire fruit of a thousand horse-sacrifices.
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Whatever astrological conjunction is known as Ardhodaya, described by Skanda,
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a crore times multiplied is the merit from proclaiming the māhātmya of Viṣṇu.
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Whoever hears it morning after morning becomes [equal to] the giver of a hundred tawny cows;
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he obtains the fruit of an ablution with waters from the Gaṅgā and the Puṣkara lake.
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It brings fortune, brings fame, grants long life, is sacred, increases offspring,
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confers a place in heaven, and removes all sins.
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This secret has been declared, well concealed in the Purāṇas;
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it must never be told to anyone except Vaiṣṇavas.
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Those who are corrupted by false logic, whose Vedic learning and scriptures are poorly studied,
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nihilists, hypocrites, who constantly seek faults in others,
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non-Vaiṣṇavas whose lives are in vain—from them it must always be concealed.
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Thus ends the forty-eighth chapter of the Puruṣottamakṣetramāhātmya in the second section, the Vaiṣṇavakhaṇḍa, of the glorious Skandapurāṇa consisting of eighty-one thousand verses.
Linked texts (1)
- Skandapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit