Skandapurana 2.4.32

English (machine translation) 2.4.32

Language: English

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Having bathed properly in the bright fortnight of Kārtika, restrained in observance,

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one should undertake on the eleventh day the vow lasting five days.

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By the great-souled Bhīṣma, who was lying on the bed of arrows,

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the duties of kings, the duties leading to liberation, and after that the duties of giving

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were spoken of to the sons of Pāṇḍu, and were also heard then by Kṛṣṇa.

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Then, with a pleased mind, Vāsudeva spoke:

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"Blessed, blessed are you, O Bhīṣma! The dharmas have been recited by you.

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And on the eleventh day of Kārtika, water was requested by you;

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the water of the Gaṅgā was brought by Arjuna through the swift force of his arrow.

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Your limbs were satisfied; therefore, from this day onward

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until the full moon, let all people propitiate you through the offering of arghya.

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Therefore, with every effort, causing my satisfaction,

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let them observe this vow designated as the Bhīṣmapañcaka.

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If, having performed the Kārtika vow, one does not perform the Bhīṣmapañcaka,

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his entire Kārtika observance will be in vain.

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If a man is powerless and incapable throughout Kārtika,

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by performing Bhīṣma's five-day rite, he shall obtain the fruit of Kārtika.

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'To the one of true vows, to the pure one, to the son of Gaṅgā, the great-souled,

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to Bhīṣma, celibate from birth, I offer this arghya.'

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With the sacred thread over the left shoulder, using this mantra, the libation is meant for all classes.

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As an auxiliary to the vow, an effigy of the 'sinful person' should be given away on the full moon day.

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The Bhīṣmapañcaka should by all means be performed by a childless man.

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Whoever, along with his wife, performs the Bhīṣmapañcaka vow for the sake of a son,

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having given away the effigy of the sinful person, obtains a son within a year.

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Therefore, Bhīṣma's five-day rite must certainly be performed.

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Bhīṣma's five-day rite has been declared by me to be pleasing to Viṣṇu."

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"Let all the seers hear the special instruction concerning the Bhīṣmapañcaka,

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as it was declared formerly in detail by Rudra to Kārtikeya."

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"I shall declare the highly meritorious vow, O best of vow-observers!

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Since this five-day vow was obtained by Bhīṣma

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from the presence of Vāsudeva, it is called the Bhīṣmapañcaka.

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Who is capable of describing the virtues of this vow, except Keśava?

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Hear the ancient dharma in the bright fortnight of Kārtika,

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practised in the Kṛtayuga and other ages by Vasiṣṭha, Bhṛgu, Garga, and others,

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practised in the Tretāyuga and other ages by Ambarīṣa with pleasures and other means,

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by brahmins through celibacy, recitation of mantras, fire-offerings, and other rituals,

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and likewise by kṣatriyas and vaiśyas dedicated to truth and purification."

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It is difficult to perform for those lacking truth, impossible for the childish-minded. (19)

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They say it is hard to perform, [named] Bhīṣma; it cannot be done by ordinary men.

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Because he does it, O best of brahmins, by that everything has been accomplished. (20)

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And this observance is of great religious merit, destroying great sins.

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Therefore, the Bhīṣmapañcaka should be performed by men with diligence. (21)

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In the bright fortnight of Kārttika, having bathed properly according to the rule,

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one should undertake the five-day observance on the eleventh lunar day. (22)

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Having bathed particularly in the morning and likewise at noon, the observer of vows,

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in a river or in the water of a mountain stream, having smeared [himself] with cow dung,

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should properly satisfy the ancestors in order with barley, rice grains, and sesame. (23)

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Having bathed, keeping silence, wearing washed garments, firm in his vow,

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a man should diligently offer water and arghya to Bhīṣma.

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Worship of Bhīṣma must be performed, and he should diligently give a gift. (25)

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Having especially given the five jewels with effort to a brahmin,

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Vāsudeva also, the Lord, ever accompanied by Lakṣmī, is to be worshipped. (26)

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Having worshipped [him] during the five-day period, he rejoices for ten million births. (27)

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Whatever a mortal gives made of the five metals,

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he obtains the entire fruit of the observances of a year. (28)

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Having given the water-offering and likewise presented the arghya,

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the man who does so with this mantra becomes a participant in liberation: (29)

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"To him of the Vaiyāghrapāda lineage, having the Sāṅkṛtya ancestry,

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to the childless Bhīṣma, Bhīṣmavarman, [I offer] water. (30)

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To the incarnation of the Vasus, and the son of Śaṃtanu,

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I give this arghya to Bhīṣma, a lifelong celibate." (31)

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One who completes the five-day period according to this rule,

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attains religious merit equal to a horse sacrifice; there is no doubt in this. (32)

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A restriction must also be observed with diligence for the five days;

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one endowed with fine qualities must not be without a restrictive rule during this [observance]. (33)

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Hari granted to Bhīṣma, who was lacking the northern solstice—

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well-pleased, [he granted] an auspicious planetary conjunction even in the absence of the northern solstice. (34)

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Then one should worship the god Hari, the remover of all sins.

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Immediately after, the Bhīṣmapañcaka should be performed with diligence. (35)

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He should bathe [him] with devotion using waters, and honey, milk, and clarified butter,

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and likewise with the five products of the cow, and with water scented with sandalwood. (36)

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Then Keśava, with fragrant sandalwood and with saffron,

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mixed with camphor and uśīra, he should anoint the Garuḍa-bannered [god]. (37)

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He should worship him with lovely flowers accompanied by perfume and incense;

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the devout one should offer bdellium combined with clarified butter to Kṛṣṇa. (38)

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He should provide a lamp day and night for the five days;

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he should present sweet milk-rice as a food offering to the god of gods. (39)

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Thus he should worship the god, remembering and bowing [to him],

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and he should recite one hundred and eight times: "Oṃ namo Vāsudevāya." (40)

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And he should offer oblations with sesame, rice grains, barley, and the like smeared with clarified butter,

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with the six-syllable mantra accompanied by the exclamation 'svāhā'. (41)

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Having attended to the evening twilight, having bowed to the Garuḍa-bannered [god],

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and having recited the mantra as before, he should always sleep on the ground. (42)

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All this procedure should be performed for five days.

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Listen to the special feature that is not deficient in this observance: (43)

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On the first day, the observer of the vow should worship the feet of Hari with lotuses;

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on the second, he should worship the knee region with a bilva leaf. (44)

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Then afterwards he should worship the head of the discus-wielder

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with mālatī jasmine on the full moon of Kārttika, with devotion, his mind fixed on that god of gods. (45)

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Having worshipped that Hṛṣīkeśa on the eleventh [day] briefly,

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having fully consumed cow dung, he should fast on the eleventh [day]. (46)

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On the twelfth, the observer of the vow should sip cow urine on the ground with a mantra;

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and milk on the thirteenth, and likewise curd on the fourteenth. (47)

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Having consumed [these] for purification of the body, having fasted for four days,

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having bathed on the fifth day and worshipped Keśava according to the rule,

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he should feed brahmins with devotion and give them a priestly gift. (48)

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Abandoning sinful thoughts, an intelligent man, observing celibacy,

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must abandon liquor, meat, and sexual intercourse, which cause sin.

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Subsisting on vegetables and the food of sages, a man devoted to the worship of Kṛṣṇa,

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should then eat at night, preceded by [drinking] the five products of the cow.

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In this way it should be properly completed, and he will obtain the stated reward.

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Even a drunkard who drinks wine from birth until his death,

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by observing this Bhīṣma vow, attains the supreme state.

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It should also be observed by women with the consent of their husbands, to increase virtue,

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and by widows, for the great enhancement of the bliss of liberation.

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Formerly, in Ayodhyā, a king named Atithi,

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having observed this very rare vow on the instruction of Vasiṣṭha,

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enjoyed all pleasures here [on earth] and in the end went to the city of Viṣṇu.

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Thus one should regularly perform the five-day observance called the Bhīṣmapañcaka,

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with restriction, by fasting, or else with the five products of the cow,

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subsisting on milk, roots, fruits, or sacrificial food, wholly intent upon the vow.

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When the day of the full moon arrives, having performed worship as before,

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he should feed brahmins with devotion and give a cow together with its calf.

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This celebrated Bhīṣmapañcaka on earth, commencing on the eleventh day and terminating on the fifteenth—

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it is said that for one who eats, there is no prohibition then; in that vow Viṣṇu bestows auspicious reward.

Thus ends the thirty-second chapter, named 'Description of the Greatness of the Bhīṣmapañcaka Vow', in the Māhātmya of the Month of Kārtika, in the second section, the Vaiṣṇavakhaṇḍa, in the glorious Skandapurāṇa, a Mahāpurāṇa of eighty-one thousand verses.

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Other passages concerning the Prabodhinī Ekādaśī:

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Garuḍa 1.123 (Kārtika bright ekādaśī: instruction on the Bhīṣmapañcaka vow; the conjunction of ekādaśī, dvādaśī, and trayodaśī is auspicious, and the conjunction of ekādaśī and daśamī is stated to be demonic);
Nārada 1.19 (Kārtika bright ekādaśī: flag-raising vow); Padma 6.30.91 (Kārtika bright ekādaśī: year-lamp vow, remembrance of past birth by a king and queen in a temple at Puṣkara), 6.61 (Kārtika bright ekādaśī: māhātmya of the ekādaśī named Prabodhinī), 6.90.19 (Kārtika bright ekādaśī: awakening of the sleeping Vedas and Viṣṇu in the ocean), 6.124 (Kārtika bright ekādaśī: the name Prabodhinī, māhātmya, commencement of the Bhīṣmapañcaka vow); Skanda 6.190 (Kārtika bright ekādaśī: commencement of the Pañcarātra, concluding with the ritual post-sacrifice ablution, etc.), 6.231 (Kārtika bright ekādaśī: Viṣṇu rising from atop a wolf and proceeding to the milk ocean, the Aśūnyaśayana vow), 7.3.13 (Kārtika bright ekādaśī: worship of Hṛṣīkeśa by Ambarīṣa, reception of teachings on jñānayoga and kriyāyoga); Lakṣmīnārāyaṇa 1.261 (Māhātmya of the Kārtika bright Prabodhinī Ekādaśī vow: liberation of an outcaste-acting brahmin and a rākṣasa).

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Note on Ekādaśī:

Linked texts (1)

Skandapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit