Skandapurana 2.2.5.28

2.2.5.28

Jaimini said:
With hearts dispassionate, the two, having abandoned the company of courtesans and the like, / meditating on Viṣṇu with their minds, both observing the vow of pure food, / 1
reached in a short time the abode of Hari on the Blue Mountain. / Having bathed in the waters of the king of sacred fords as prescribed by rule, / 2
standing at the temple gateway and bowing down with all eight limbs, / looking for the Lord, O brahmins, they did not see [him] then. / 3
With pale faces, not seeing the God, distressed with anxiety, / they undertook a fast until they should receive darśana of the Lord. / 4
Praising the sin-destroying name of the Lord, / in the third watch of the night they saw a single light. / 5
Then the two of them, steadfast, fasted for three more days; / in the middle of the seventh night, they saw the Lord. / 6
Hearing the praises of the gods, they acquired divine knowledge; / their slough of sins cast off, they saw the God face to face, / 7
holding conch, discus, and mace in hand, adorned with divine ornaments, / with lotus feet placed on the back of jewel-encrusted sandals, / 8
with eyes like blooming white lotuses, a serene countenance, all-pervading, / embracing with his left arm Lakṣmī who stood at his left side, / 9
taking the prepared betel leaf offered by Śrī. / Some [maidens] held jewelled canes in their hands, others had chowries in hand; / 10
some, rich in youth and well adorned, held with their own hands / lamps of fragrant oil and small lamps with jewelled wicks; / 11
behind [him], a radiant [maiden] held an umbrella made of jewels; / another, holding near his face an incense burner well-perfumed with black aloe, / mocked Pramlocā with the beauty of her form. / Bestowing grace with his playful, curly-haired glance upon the gods before him / 13
who, with hands folded in reverent salutation and necks bowed, praised him individually; / and with a smile upon the divine hosts of perfected ones and sages, Sanaka and the rest; / 14
and upon Nārada and other gandharvas enchanting with divine songs, / lending his ear in listening, compassionate in mere sport; / 15
and upon the foremost Vaiṣṇavas such as Prahlāda meditating upon his true form before him, / absorbing their minds in his own form; / 16
manifesting his universal cosmic form by means of the gods and others / reflected in the Kaustubha jewel gleaming on his chest; / 17
standing beneath a shower of divine flowers raining down from above; / beholding the multitude of apsarases, whose beauty had faded in the presence of Śrī, / 18
[performing] various, ever-alluring movements of the limbs; / having seen him of divine playful sports, the two, the brahmin and the kṣatriya, / 19
became in an instant masters of all branches of learning, O brahmins. / Having circumambulated the Lord of gods three times, both with folded hands, / bowing with prostration of all eight limbs, they praised him, filled with joy. / 20
Puṇḍarīka said:
Salutations to you, support of the universe, cause of creation, maintenance, and destruction! / O Nārāyaṇa, salutations to you, Supreme Self, supreme refuge! / 21
You alone are the ultimate reality, free from arising and passing away; / those endowed with the eye of meditation know you to be the embodiment of eternal bliss. / 22
You are pure consciousness, Lord of the worlds, the foundation, higher than the highest; / how indeed can those of foolish heart know you, the utterly pure? / 23
Their minds bewildered by the craving for desires and wealth, intensely miserable, / weary on the path of coming and going—when do they ever partake of happiness? / 24
Take pity on me, O Lord, who am wretched, who have sought refuge, / foolish, a performer of evil deeds, fallen into the ocean of worldly existence. / 25
What other kinsman like you exists in the cosmic egg, O Lord, / who, regardless of his own obligations, is compassionate toward the wretched and shelterless? / 26
Save [me], O ocean of mercy, who am continually caused / to experience suffering due to wandering through high and low, like a bucket on a waterwheel! / 27
Those fools who worship you with an eye to acquisition and preservation, / though you bestow effortless liberation, are utterly deluded by your māyā. / 28