Skandapurana 2.4.28
English (machine translation) 2.4.28
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Dharmadatta said:
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I have heard of Jaya and Vijaya as the two doorkeepers of Viṣṇu.
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What did those two practice of old, because of which they bear his form?
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The two attendants said:
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Of old, O twice-born, in Devahūti, the daughter of Tṛṇabindu,
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Two sons were born by the mere glance of Kardama.
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The elder was Jaya, and the younger was Vijaya by name;
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In her also was born afterwards Kapila, who knew the duties of yoga.
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Both Jaya and Vijaya were always devoted to devotion to Viṣṇu;
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Having restrained the collection of their senses unto him, the two became upright in virtue.
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Both constantly repeated the eight-syllabled mantra and observed the vows of Viṣṇu;
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Viṣṇu always granted his direct presence to them in their daily worship.
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Once, those two were summoned by Marutta to a sacrificial rite;
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Skilled in sacrifice and honored by the hosts of divine seers, they went.
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There Jaya became the brahmā priest, and Vijaya became the sacrificer;
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Then they carried out the entire ritual of the sacrifice to its completion.
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Having taken the final purificatory bath, Marutta gave them much wealth;
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Taking that wealth, the two went to their own hermitage.
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Then, to sacrifice separately for the satisfaction of Viṣṇu, those two sages,
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While dividing that wealth, vied with one another.
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There Jaya said: 'Let an equal share be made.'
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And Vijaya said: 'Not so; what was obtained by whom belongs to him.'
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Then, in anger, Jaya cursed Vijaya, who had a greedy mind:
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'Having taken it, you do not give this; therefore, become a crocodile!'
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Vijaya, having heard his curse, also cursed him in turn:
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'Deluded by pride, you cursed me; therefore, go to the state of an elephant!'
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Seeing the all-pervading Viṣṇu in their daily worship, they told that to him,
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And the two begged the husband of Ramā for the revocation of their curses.
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Jaya and Vijaya said:
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'We are both your devotees, O God; how can we enter the wombs of a crocodile and an elephant?
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O ocean of compassion, let that curse be revoked!'
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The Blessed Lord said:
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'The word of two devotees of mine will never become false;
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Even by me, it can never be made otherwise.
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Indeed, of old I appeared in a pillar at the word of Prahlāda;
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Likewise, truly, by the speech of Ambarīṣa, I was born in a womb myself.
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Therefore, having experienced these two curses made by yourselves,
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May you attain my eternal abode.' Having spoken thus, Hari disappeared.
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The two attendants said:
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Then those two became a crocodile and an elephant on the bank of the Gaṇḍakī;
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Remembering their past births, they remained steadfast in the vows of Viṣṇu even in those wombs.
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Once, in the month of Kārtika, that elephant went to the Gaṇḍakī to bathe;
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Just then the crocodile seized him, remembering the cause of the curse.
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Seized by the crocodile, that elephant remembered the husband of Śrī;
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Just then Viṣṇu appeared, bearing the discus, conch, and mace.
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Then, having cast his discus, the two—crocodile and elephant—were delivered;
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Granting his own form, the all-pervading Lord took them to Vaikuṇṭha.
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From that time forward, that place has been known as Harikṣetra,
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Where even the stones are marked due to the friction of the discus.
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Those two are renowned in the world as Jaya and Vijaya,
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The two doorkeepers who are forever dear to Viṣṇu, about whom you inquired, O twice-born.
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Therefore, O knower of dharma, remaining ever steadfast in Viṣṇu's vow,
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having abandoned jealousy and deceit as well, become one who views all with equal vision. (24)
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Always bathe in the morning during Tulā, Makara, and Meṣa;
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remain devoted to the Ekādaśī vow, caring for the tulasī grove. (25)
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Always serve brahmins, cows, and Vaiṣṇavas;
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do not eat lentils, fermented rice water, or eggplants. (26)
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Thus, at the end of your body, you too shall attain the supreme abode of Viṣṇu,
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O Dharmadatta, solely through devotion to him, just as we did. (27)
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Until such birth, from this vow that pleases Viṣṇu,
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neither sacrifices, nor gifts, nor sacred fords are indeed superior. (28)
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Blessed are you, foremost of brahmins, since you observed this vow pleasing to the Guru of the universe,
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by a half-share of whose fruit, obtained by her, this woman is brought by us into Murāri's world. (29)
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Nārada said:
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Having thus instructed that Dharmadatta, the two, mounted on their aerial chariot,
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went along with that Kalahā to the abode of Vaikuṇṭha. (30)
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Indeed, this Dharmadatta, having gained faith, remained steadfast in that vow,
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and at the end of his body went to the abode of that all-pervading Lord, accompanied by his two wives. (31)
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Whichever man hears or recites this ancient history,
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he obtains, through the grace of the Guru of the universe, a mind that causes presence near Hari. (32)
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Thus ends the twenty-eighth chapter, entitled 'The narration of Dharmadatta’s attainment of liberation', in the Māhātmya of the Month of Kārtika, in the second section, the Vaiṣṇavakhaṇḍa, in the glorious Skanda Mahāpurāṇa of eighty-one thousand verses. (28)
Linked texts (1)
- Skandapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit