Skandapurana 2.5.13
English (machine translation) 2.5.13
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The Blessed Lord said:
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“Listen, O son, I shall explain the characteristics of the night vigil,
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by merely knowing which I am always easily attained in the Kali age:
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Singing, instrumental music, dance, and reading of the Purāṇas;
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incense, lamps, food offerings, flowers, fragrant ointments,
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offering of fruits, faith, charity, restraint of the senses;
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accompanied by truthfulness, remaining sleepless, with joy and accompanied by my devotees;
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accompanied by wonder and enthusiasm, devoid of sin, indolence, and the like;
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joined with circumambulation, preceded by prostrations;
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accompanied by the waving of lights, with an exceedingly delighted mind—
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in every watch [of the night], O highly fortunate one, he should perform my waving of lights.
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The night vigil on Ekādaśī endowed with these twenty-six qualities—
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the man who performs it with devotion is not born again on earth.
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He who thus performs [it] with devotion, free from deceit regarding wealth,
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[keeping] the night vigil with supreme devotion, becomes merged in me.”
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Bitten by the serpent of the Kali age, they sleep on my day;
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deluded by the snare of illusion, they do not keep vigil at all.
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Those for whom Ekādaśī has arrived in the Kali age without a vigil,
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are ruined, there is no doubt, because life is uncertain.
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Both their eyes are torn out, and placing a foot upon their heart,
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those sinners do not see my vigil being performed.
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In the absence of a reciter, one should arrange singing and dancing;
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if a reciter is present, O lord of gods, he should first recite a Purāṇa.
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The merit of a thousand horse sacrifices and a hundred Vājapeya sacrifices,
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is multiplied ten million times, O son, when my vigil is performed.
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On the father’s side, on the mother’s side, and on the wife’s side, O honor-giver,
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he delivers these families when my vigil is performed.
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If, on the day of fasting, an obstacle is initiated during the vigil,
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I depart from that place after uttering a curse.
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Indeed, when they perform my vigil on an unvitiated day,
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rejoicing in their midst, I myself dance.
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As many days as one keeps vigil in my presence,
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for so many tens of thousands of yugas he resides in my abode.
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Not by the offering of rice-balls at Gayā, nor by sacred fords or numerous sacrifices,
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do ancestors attain liberation without the Ekādaśī vigil.
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A person who performs worship with flowers during the vigil on my day / gains the fruit of a horse sacrifice for every single flower.
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And whoever offers a lamp at night during my vigil,
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at every twinkle of an eye, O son, receives the fruit of [gifting] ten thousand cows.
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Whoever gives an offering of sacrificial food during the vigil, O son,
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receives the merit of a food offering high as a mountain of rice.
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And whoever gives cooked foods and various fruits,
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during my vigil, O four-faced one, receives the fruit of [gifting] a hundred cows.
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And whoever gives betel along with camphor during my vigil,
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that devotee of mine, by my grace, becomes the ruler of the seven continents.
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Whoever erects a floral pavilion during my vigil, O lord of gods,
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sports in my abode riding the Puṣpaka aerial chariot.
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Whoever offers incense with camphor and bdellium during my vigil,
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burns away the sin accumulated over a hundred thousand births.
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Whoever bathes me during the vigil with curd, milk, clarified butter, and water,
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attains worldly enjoyments here, and in the end, indeed, the supreme state.
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Whoever gives divine garments and various fruits,
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resides long in heaven for as many years as the threads [in the cloth].
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Whoever gives me an ornament made of gold and gems,
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beloved to me, resides in my lap for seven kalpas.
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Whoever lights a lamp for me with clarified butter, especially from a cow,
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at night during the vigil, gets the fruit of [gifting] ten thousand cows at every twinkle of an eye.
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During my vigil, O four-faced one, whoever lights a lamp with camphor,
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waving it as a light offering, obtains the fruit born of gifting a brown cow.
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Furthermore, one who provides a lamp, song, dance, and worship,
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gains merit equal to [performing] a hundred sacrifices, or by hundreds of observances and gifts.
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If one sings oneself and dances without shame,
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in half a twinkle of an eye he obtains the fruit produced by ten million sacrifices.
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Whoever prevents singing and dancing during my vigil,
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is cooked in Raurava and other hells for sixty thousand yugas.
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Whatever mortals come near to one who is dancing,
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are released by the King of Dharma, and freed, they go to my realm.
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Whoever mocks a mortal who is dancing,
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during the vigil, goes to hell for as long as fourteen Indras [rule].
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Whoever devoutly reads from a sacred book during my vigil,
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resides in my presence for as many yugas as the number of verses.
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The fruit declared by the wise for performing circumambulation,
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that merit cannot be attained by ten million sacrifices over a multitude of yugas.
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Whoever arranges a row of lamps before me during the vigil, O son,
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accompanied by ten million aerial chariots, dwells in heaven until the end of a kalpa.
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Whoever recites the deeds of my childhood during the vigil,
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that man shall dwell in Śvetadvīpa for thousands of crores of yugas.
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Therefore, the vigil should be kept in both the bright and dark fortnights.
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Whoever recites the Gītā at night, or my Thousand Names,
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obtains the merit of the Purāṇas taught in the Vedas from [that] vigil.
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And whoever makes the gift of a cow during my vigil, O son,
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obtains without doubt the fruit of [ruling] the earth endowed with seven continents.
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Of all meritorious deeds on earth, the greatest merit
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is the vigil on the twelfth day, O son, celebrated across the three worlds.
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And those who keep the vigil through action, mind, and speech,
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they never return from my world.
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He who, having encouraged the people, keeps the vigil at night,
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attains universal emperorship; this truth has been spoken by me, O son.
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Those who kept the vigil at night were honored by Kakutstha;
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and by his power and gifts, a sovereignty very hard to attain was won.
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Whatever singers, brāhmaṇas, instrumentalists, and dancers [are there],
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along with female dancers, go to my eternal realm.
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Having been born into wicked wombs, even lustful people,
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by keeping my vigil, obtained sovereignty over the earth, O best of sages.
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Desireless dog-cookers and the like attained liberation through the vigil.
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There is no distinction of caste for those who keep my vigil.
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In the Kali age, meditation is not purifying, nor is the water of the Jāhnavī in the Kali age,
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nor is chanting purifying in the Kali age, except for my vigil alone.
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Those who indeed keep the vigil when the twelfth day arrives,
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they are blessed, they have fulfilled their aim in the Kali age; there is no doubt.
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Let no man in the human world be averse to the twelfth day;
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for he would cast into hell his ancestors and descendants alike.
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Better is one [son] endowed with virtues; what use are many sons born,
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if he does not deliver all his ancestors through the vigil of the twelfth day?
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A son born through [the power of] the twelfth day who recites with devotion
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the māhātmya arising from the vigil spoken by me, shall deliver a hundred families.
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The sin of approaching an unapproachable woman, and of eating what should not be eaten—
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that sin dissolves when the vigil is performed, O son.
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Whatever sin was committed out of ignorance, whatever wickedness committed knowingly,
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the sin accumulated in a previous birth, and what was committed in this birth—
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all undertakings, even those conceived in the mind, are accomplished,
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when the vigil is performed at night on the twelfth day, O Four-faced One.
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Human beings attain liberation by the vigil of the twelfth day alone.
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That merit is not attained by those dwelling in Kurukṣetra, or in Prayāga during the Kali age;
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the greatness of men dwelling [there is not equal to] that fruit on the twelfth days.
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Not by a thousand horse sacrifices, nor by bathing in crores of sacred fords,
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is that fruit obtained, O son, which is obtained when the vigil of the twelfth day is performed.
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Whoever reads or hears the māhātmya connected to the twelfth day,
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his soul purified of all sins, shall attain an eternal state.
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All evil planets and all [other] planets are always benevolent to him;
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there is no separation from offspring for him for whom the twelfth day is the purpose.
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His delight in my renown is continuous, and he will never fall into distress;
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in battle and in the royal court he shall always be victorious.
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His intellect is always set upon righteousness, with immaculate devotion toward me;
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sin does not cling to a man because of his devotion to the twelfth day.
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There is no state of being a ghost for him when my vigil has been performed.
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For one who is devoid of the eleventh day, there is no progress to the other world;
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therefore, by every effort, that day must indeed be observed in the Kali age.
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Thus ends the thirteenth chapter, titled “The Declaration of the Fruits of Keeping the Vigil on the Eleventh-Day Vow” in the Māhātmya of the Month of Mārgaśīrṣa, in the dialogue between Brahmā and Viṣṇu, in the second [section], the Vaiṣṇavakhaṇḍa, of the glorious Skanda Mahāpurāṇa, in the collection of eighty-one thousand [verses].
Linked texts (1)
- Skandapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit