Skandapurana 2.5.17
English (machine translation) 2.5.17
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Brahmā said:
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In which sacred field, O Lord of the gods, is Mārgaśīrṣa remembered as most superior?
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And what fruit arises therein? Tell all this, O Lord.
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The Blessed Lord said:
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There is a supreme sacred field of mine, renowned as Madhurā.
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It is delightful, praiseworthy, and my beloved birthplace.
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At every step in Madhurā there is the fruit of a sacred ford, O four-faced one,
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wherever a man has bathed, he is freed from dreadful sin.
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For evil-minded men devoid of all righteousness,
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Madhurā relieves the suffering of hell, O son, and destroys sin.
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An ungrateful person, a liquor-drinker, a thief, and likewise one whose vows are broken—
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having reached Madhurā, a person is freed from terrible wicked deeds.
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Just as darkness is destroyed at the rising of the sun; just as mountains [flee] out of fear of the thunderbolt;
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just as snakes upon seeing Garuḍa; just as clouds struck by the wind;
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just as sorrow [perishes] through knowledge of the truth; just as elephants [scatter] upon seeing a lion;
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so sins perish upon the darśana of Mathurā, O son.
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A man endowed with devotion who beholds Madhupurī with faith,
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even if a killer of a brahmin, would be purified; how much more so any other sinner?
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For one desirous of bathing in Mathurā, as he proceeds at every step,
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sins depart in despair from his body.
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Those who go incidentally, or for trade, or even for service,
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go to heaven, freed from sins, merely by taking a ritual ablution in Mathurā.
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For those who even utter its name, there is always liberation; there is no doubt.
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There it is always the Kṛtayuga, and always the northern solstice.
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O Four-faced One, whoever hears of my abode at Mathurā
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when it is uttered by another, is also immediately freed from sin.
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O son, as for the men who dwell there even for three nights,
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the dust of their feet, touched by joyful people, purifies them.
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Just as sparks ignite a heap of grass,
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so the city of Mathurā burns away great sins.
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Whatever accumulation of merit is gained by ritual ablution at all sacred fords,
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Mathurā is declared to be superior to that across the whole world.
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Whatever merit arises from the study of even the four Vedas,
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that merit is produced there for men who remember Mathurā.
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For a sin committed elsewhere is destroyed upon reaching a sacred ford;
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a sin committed at sacred fords becomes an indelible stain.
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A sin committed in Mathurā is destroyed in Mathurā itself.
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Dwelling there, a man attains that which is named dharma, wealth, pleasure, and liberation.
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For the commenced karma that is experienced in ten years elsewhere,
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as well as sin, O Four-faced One, [is exhausted] in ten days in Mathurā.
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Neither in heaven, nor in Pātāla, nor in the intermediate region, nor among mortals
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is there anything equal to Mathurā, which is indeed always dear to me.
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Mathurā is the greatest and supreme among all sacred fords;
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there childlike sports were performed [by me] together with the cowherd boys.
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Whatever fruit is attained in Bhāratavarṣa in thirty thousand years
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and three hundred years, that same fruit is attained by remembering Mathurā.
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Whatever merit there is at Sannihitī when the sun is eclipsed by Rāhu,
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greater than that, O son, one obtains day after day in Mathurā.
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Whatever fruit is gained at the King of Fords during a full thousand years,
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that fruit one obtains, O son, in the city of Madhu in the month of Sahas.
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Whatever fruit is gained at Vārāṇasī during a full thousand years,
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that fruit one obtains, O son, in Mathurā in a single day of Sahas.
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A man who gives land at the Godāvarī, at Dvārakā, or in the Kurukṣetra,
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or who performs rites at Gayā for six months—none of this equals a single day in Mathurā.
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Neither Dvārakā, Kāśī, Kāñcī, nor Māyā, nor Gadādhara is a sacred ford equal to it.
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If satiated with the water of the Yamunā, the ancestors indeed do not desire the offering of rice-balls.
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Those who regard Mathurā
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as an ordinary city—those men should be known as possessed of heaps of sins.
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By whom Mathurā has not been seen, but in whom the desire to see it arises,
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even if he dies anywhere else, his birth takes place in Mathurā.
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One might in time count the dust particles of the earth, O Four-faced One,
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but there is no counting the sacred fords in Mathurā.
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Make, O make your dwelling in the city named Mathurā!
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I dwell constantly in it, surrounded by the cowherd maidens.
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O you who are submerged in saṃsāra, and you, my disciples, and others, listen!
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If you desire intense happiness, make your dwelling in my city.
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Alas, this utterly blinded world, though endowed with eyes, does not see!
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Even while Mathurā exists, it constantly resorts to mundane existence.
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Having attained an incomparable human birth through the conjunction of good fortune,
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the life of those by whom the city of Mathurā has not been seen has passed entirely in vain.
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Alas, the great weakness of intellect! Alas, the adverse fate of good fortune!
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Alas, the power of delusion, that Mathurā is not served at all!
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He who, having abandoned Mathurā, sets his mind elsewhere,
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wanders foolishly in saṃsāra, deluded by my māyā.
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He who, even having reached Mathurā, directs his longing elsewhere—
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what knowledge can that foolish person have? He is puffed up with ignorance.
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Those who are abandoned by mother and father, who are abandoned by their own kinsmen,
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those who have no refuge anywhere—my city is their refuge.
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Those overcome by heaps of sins, those defeated by poverty,
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those who have no refuge anywhere—my city is their refuge.
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A place more essential than the essential, more secret than the secret, supreme —
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For those seeking a refuge, Mathurā is the ultimate refuge.
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It is not [attained] by merits, nor by gifts, nor by austerities, nor indeed by hymns;
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It cannot be reached through various yogas; it can be reached through my divine power.
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Those who have firm devotion to me, upon whom my great grace rests —
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For those fortunate ones alone is there an arrival in Mathurā.
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The destination attained by a wise man established in yoga who knows Brahman,
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Is the same destination attained by a man who gives up his life-breaths in Mathurā.
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Though there are cities such as Kāśī in the world, among them Mathurā alone is blessed,
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Which grants liberation to men in four ways: through birth, the mauñjī investiture, vows, and death.
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That destination which cannot be attained elsewhere through yogas even in hundreds of manvantaras,
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Is attained here effortlessly through my grace.
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Where there is no fear of sins, where there is indeed no fear of Yama,
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Where there is no fear of dwelling in a womb — who would not take refuge in that sacred field?
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Hear the fruit of that merit which exists in Mathurā:
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Those who have reached Mathurā and died in Mathurā,
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Even worms, insects, and the like, are reborn four-armed.
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Even trees falling from the riverbank attain the supreme state.
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The mute, the dull-witted, the blind, and the deaf, destitute of austerities and observances,
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Who die naturally in the course of time, go to my world.
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Those bitten by snakes, killed by beasts, destroyed by fire or water,
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Who meet an untimely death in the territory of Mathurā, go to my world.
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Truly, truly, O best of sages, I declare with an oath:
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Nowhere is there anything equal to Mathurā in granting all desires.
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It grants the three aims of life to the desirous, liberation to those seeking liberation,
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And devotion to the seeker of devotion. What wise person would not take refuge in that Mathurā?
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Such a city of Madhu should be visited in the month of Mārgaśīrṣa;
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In its absence, Puṣkara should indeed be visited according to rule.
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Know, O wise one, that the senior pool belongs to Brahmā, the middle pool belongs to Viṣṇu,
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And the junior pool has Rudra as its deity.
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In these, ritual ablution, gifting, and śrāddha should be performed according to rule,
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And a great worship pleasing to me should be performed, O son.
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The full-moon day that occurs in the month of Saha is dear to me, O son;
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Whatever merit is performed on it becomes pleasing to me.
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The gift of a cow, the gift of food, and the gift of gold, dear son,
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And the gift of land should be made on the full-moon day according to rule.
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On the full-moon day in the month of Saha, one should also make a gift of a house;
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Whatever is performed on the full-moon day yields inexhaustible fruit.
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The feeding of brahmins should be performed according to the measure of one's wealth;
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A festival should be celebrated on the full-moon day itself to complete the vow.
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Just as Mathurā is dear to me in the month of Saha, O son,
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Not so are the king of sacred fords and the others; and in its absence, Puṣkara.
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Wise men should observe the full-moon day in Puṣkara or in Mathurā;
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Or the full-moon day endowed with rites should be observed wherever one may be.
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He who does not perform ritual ablution, gifting, and worship on the full-moon day,
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Is cooked in Raurava and other hells for sixty thousand years.
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Therefore, the full-moon day should be honoured by wise men with every effort;
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Occurring in Mārgaśīrṣa, it bestows endless fruits.
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Just as has been told to you, dear child, Mārgaśīrṣa is dear to me;
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Hear the fruit of merit of that man who observes it with devotion:
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Whatever merit is obtained in ten thousand sacred fords, whatever merit by tens of millions of vows,
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Whatever merit is obtained in all sacrifices, that merit he completely obtains.
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One without a son gains a son, and one without wealth gains wealth;
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One desiring knowledge gains knowledge, and one desiring beauty gains beauty.
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A brahmin becomes endowed with brahminical splendour, a kṣatriya becomes victorious,
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A vaiśya gains possession of treasures, and a śūdra is cleansed of sin.
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Whatever is rare and hard to attain in the three worlds, O honour-giver,
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All that a mortal obtains in the month of Saha, without a doubt.
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Even if men are attached to these desires, O son,
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They are satisfied in the end, O four-faced one, and no longer crave desires, O mighty-armed one.
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For true devotion to me is exceedingly rare, brings me under control, and is auspicious.
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It is indeed obtained, O son, when the month of Sahas is likewise heard.
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This month brings delight to me and is always dear to me.
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Everything is obtained from it through my grace, O four-faced one [Brahmā].
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Thus ends the seventeenth chapter, titled 'Description of the Māhātmya of Mathurā', in the Māhātmya of the Month of Mārgaśīrṣa, in the dialogue between Brahmā and Viṣṇu, in the second [section], the Vaiṣṇavakhaṇḍa, in the glorious Skanda Mahāpurāṇa, in the compendium of eighty-one thousand [verses].
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Thus ends the fifth [sub-section], the glorious Māhātmya of the Month of Mārgaśīrṣa, in the second [section], the Vaiṣṇavakhaṇḍa, in the glorious Skanda Mahāpurāṇa. (2.5)
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May this be offered to glorious Kṛṣṇa.
Linked texts (1)
- Skandapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit