Skandapurana 2.7.11
English (machine translation) 2.7.11
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The King of Mithilā said:
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The religious duties of Vaiśākha are easy to perform, produce a heap of merit,
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bring immediate delight to Viṣṇu, and are indeed causes of the goals of human life.
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Why are they not renowned in the world, eternal though they are and enjoined by the Vedas?
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Religious duties of the nature of rajas, and even those of the nature of tamas, are widely renowned,
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difficult to accomplish, requiring great effort, and entailing the expenditure of much wealth.
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Some praise the month of Māgha; others proclaim the four months of the rainy season (Cāturmāsya).
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And in this world they describe at length the religious observances on vyatīpāta and other occasions.
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Explain this distinction in detail to me, who am eager to hear.
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Śrutadeva said:
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Listen, O king; I will explain why these are not renowned,
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and how the other religious duties have gained renown on earth.
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On earth, people of the nature of rajas and tamas are numerous, full of desire.
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They desire worldly enjoyments and the wealth of sons, grandsons, and the like.
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Rarely, somehow, somewhere, only one person among men, with utmost difficulty,
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strives for heaven in this world; therefore, sacrifices and other pious rites
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a man performs with intense effort, but does not pursue liberation.
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People of petty hopes, engaged in manifold rituals, pursue desire-driven rites.
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Therefore, indeed, duties of the nature of rajas and even tamas are renowned,
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while these duties of the nature of sattva, pleasing to Hari, are not renowned.
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These desireless duties bestow both this world and the next;
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yet foolish people do not know them, deluded by divine illusion.
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Just as, when sovereignty has been attained, every wish is fulfilled,
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yet a place obtained for delusion's sake falls away through that sovereignty,
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so also I shall declare to you the cause of the concealment on earth,
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in regard to these sattva-natured duties prescribed for Vaiśākha among men here.
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Formerly, in Kāśī, there was a universal monarch, an ornament of the lineage of Ikṣvāku,
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renowned as Kīrtimān, the illustrious son of Nrga, / with senses conquered, anger conquered, devoted to brahmins, the best of kings.
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Once, devoted to hunting, he arrived at the hermitage of Vasiṣṭha.
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Going along the road during the harsh heat of Vaiśākha, he saw
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the disciples of that great soul engaged again and again in various tasks.
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In some places they set up water-sheds and shaded canopies;
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clearing away the crumbling of the bank, they made a step-well clear of impurities.
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To those seated comfortably beneath a tree, they fanned with fans;
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in some places they gave pieces of sugarcane, in some places fragrant unguents, in some places fruit.
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At midday [they made] gifts of umbrellas, and in the evening, of cooling drinks;
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in some places they offered betel, and applied camphor to the eyes.
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In pleasant shade and in the forest, some in well-swept courtyards,
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some indeed spread out beneficial sands.
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They made swings hanging from tree branches, O king.
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“Who are you?” he asked; “We are the disciples of Vasiṣṭha,” they replied.
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“What is this?” he asked. “These are duties enjoined for Vaiśākha,
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causes of the goals of human life, which are being performed by us directly,
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and by the command of Vasiṣṭha,” they told that best of kings.
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“By performing this, what fruit accrues to men, and who is pleased?
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Explain this in detail to me, properly, just as you have heard it.”
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Thus questioned by the king, they replied to the lord of the earth:
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“For us who are performing benevolent deeds on the road solely in obedience to our guru's command,
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there is no leisure here; ask the guru properly.
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He, the highly renowned one, truly knows these duties in essence.”
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Addressed thus by the disciples of Vasiṣṭha, he quickly went
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to Vasiṣṭha's holy hermitage, filled with sacred learning and yoga.
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Seeing the king arriving, Vasiṣṭha, pleased in mind,
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rendered hospitality according to rule to that great soul along with his retinue.
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Comfortably seated, having received hospitality, pleased, he questioned that guru.
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The king said:
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On the way, a great marvel was seen, an auspicious act performed by your disciples.
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Though questioned by me, they did not speak of what was being performed, which brings auspiciousness.
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“We have no opportunity here to praise this dharma;
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and the rite instructed by our guru must be performed by us.”
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Told by them, “Go to the guru,” I have come into your presence.
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With a mind intent on hunting, exhausted, desiring hospitality,
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this holy deed, indeed performed by your disciples, was seen on the way.
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Therefore there arose a desire to know, to hear these dharmas, O lord of sages.
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Since you are the first, practicing the primeval dharmas,
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to a disciple eager to hear those dharmas and bowed down in reverence,
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to me, faithful, speak in detail, O best of sages.
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Thus questioned by the king born in the Ikṣvāku lineage, the illustrious one
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felt satisfaction in his mind: “I have now been properly questioned by him.
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Ah, resolute is your intellect today, O king, well-disciplined,
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since both regarding the discourse on Viṣṇu and in the practice of his dharma
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an ultimate disposition has arisen; your meritorious deed has borne fruit!”
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Addressing the king thus, filled with joy, he said to him:
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“Listen, O king, I shall speak of what I have now been asked by you,
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by the mere hearing of which one is freed from all sins.
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Even if one lives devoted to sensual pleasures, abandoning all dharmas,
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if intent upon the ritual ablution in Vaiśākha, he is dear to the enemy of Madhu.
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By whomsoever the month of Vaiśākha is disregarded, even though he performs dharmas with their limbs,
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through meritorious ritual ablutions, gifts, and worship, Hari is very far from him.
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By whomsoever the month of Vaiśākha is spent without bathing [the deity] and without giving gifts,
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he is indeed a caṇḍāla by action; no deliberation is to be made here.
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And by whomsoever Hari is worshipped with the great dharmas enjoined for Vaiśākha,
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by those [offerings] he attains satisfaction and grants the desired object.
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The husband of Lakṣmī, the Lord of the World, the destroyer of the entire mass of sins,
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is pleased by subtle dharmas, not by great efforts or wealth.
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Worshipped with devotion, Viṣṇu grants what is desired.
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Therefore, O king, devotion to the enemy of Madhu must always be practiced.
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Hari, the Lord of the World who removes afflictions, even when worshipped with water,
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speedily reaches satisfaction, just as a person afflicted by thirst [is satisfied] with water.
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Even a great action may yield little, and likewise a small one may yield much.
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The greatness or smallness of an action are not the cause of whether it yields little or much;
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rather, the nature of the action [matters], and deep is the course of action.
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These dharmas enjoined for Vaiśākha, even when performed with very little effort
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and free from great expense, are pleasing to Viṣṇu and auspicious.
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Therefore, O king, you too must practice those [dharmas] enjoined for Vaiśākha,
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and cause all the people of your realm to perform these auspicious [rites].
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And the vile man who does not perform the dharmas enjoined for Vaiśākha,
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even when instructed in many ways, must be punished by you, O king.”
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Having thus fully demonstrated to him its necessity through the scriptures,
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he then proclaimed in full the dharmas specified for Vaiśākha.
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Having heard all those dharmas and worshipped his guru with devotion,
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that king went home and indeed performed all those dharmas.
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Devoted to Keśava, O king, to the taintless God of gods,
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the ruler of the earth saw none other than the lotus-navelled Lord of gods.
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Mounting a drum upon an elephant, he had his soldiers proclaim throughout his realm:
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“Any mortal older than eight years and not yet eighty,
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whosoever does not bathe at dawn when the sun is in Aries,
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he shall certainly be punished by me, executed, and banished from the realm.
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Be it father, or son, or wife, or a friend,
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if devoid of the Vaiśākha dharma, he shall be seized by me like a bandit.
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Gifts must be given to foremost brahmins after bathing at dawn in auspicious water;
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and perform dharmas such as providing water booths according to your capacity, O sinless ones!”
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And he appointed a brahmin expounder of dharma in every village,
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and he made an officer over every five villages,
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attended by ten horsemen, for the purpose of punishing those who abandoned dharma.
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In this way, [dharma] was set in motion everywhere by the decree of the universal emperor;
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this tree of righteousness grew extensively throughout all lands.
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Whatever men met death in that king's realm,
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even inadvertently, O best of kings, they went to Hari's abode.
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The realm of Viṣṇu is swiftly attained by men without fail:
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one who has bathed even once under any pretext in the morning while the sun is in Aries,
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is freed from all sins and goes to the supreme abode of Viṣṇu.
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One does not reach Yama [or his] law because of a single ablution in Vaiśākha;
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then the king [Yama], the son of the Sun, fell into bewilderment, O king.
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Citragupta then rested from his work of writing,
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and the former records arising from sin were wiped away.
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As the people, steadfast in their duties, went in an instant to Viṣṇu's world,
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all the hells became completely empty, devoid of sinful creatures.
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The path [to Yama's world] became broken of travel through the power of Vaiśākha;
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all people, pure in form, went to the abode of Hari.
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And the worlds of the gods also became completely desolate.
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When heaven had become empty, and the hells had become empty,
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Nārada went to the King of Dharma and spoke these words:
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"No wailing is heard, O king, such as was heard before in hell;
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nor is any record made of the evildoers.
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Citragupta remains silent, standing like a silent sage.
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Tell me the reason, O king of kings, why they do not go to your abode—
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men who are committed to sinful deeds, thriving in illusion and deceit?"
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When these words had been spoken by the great-souled Nārada,
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King Vaivasvata [Yama] replied, filled with a touch of despair:
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"This king who is now reigning on the earth, O Nārada—
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he is exceedingly devoted to Hṛṣīkeśa, the ancient supreme Puruṣa.
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He rouses [the people] to the duties of Vaiśākha with the sounding of kettle-drums:
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'Any mortal older than eight years and not yet eighty
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who fails to observe Vaiśākha is undoubtedly to be punished by me!'
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Out of fear of him, indeed, all people never transgress [this rule].
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They go to the abode of Viṣṇu through that deed, O Nārada;
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through practicing [the duties of] Vaiśākha, all people will go to Hari's mansion.
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By that king, O best of sages, my pathway has now been obliterated;
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the hells have been rendered empty, and the worlds of the gods as well.
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The scribe has rested from writing; what was written has been erased by the people.
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Such indeed is the māhātmya of the duties of the month of Vaiśākha, O sage!
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People are freed from sins such as the killing of a brahmin, O twice-born one;
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performing the rites of Vaiśākha, they go to the supreme abode of Viṣṇu.
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I have become like a piece of wood; no one comes within my range.
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Having fought, I will kill him today by all means, mighty though he is.
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If one remains inactive without doing his master's work,
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[yet] eats his wealth, he surely goes to hell.
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If he cannot be slain by divine decree, then having gone to Brahmā
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and reported everything to him, I shall afterward remain at ease."
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Having said this and taken leave of the twice-born sage, he set out for the earth with his attendants.
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That Death (Kāla), mounted on a buffalo, raised his terrifying staff,
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exceedingly formidable, accompanied by attendants such as Death, Disease, and Old Age,
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and surrounded then by messengers of Yama numbering fifty crores.
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He swiftly besieged the entire city of that royal seer;
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he blew a terrifying conch that struck terror into all worlds.
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Hearing that, that royal seer, knowing [the attacker] to be Yama, the son of Vivasvat,
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equipped all his forces and marched out of the city in wrath.
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A terrifying battle that made the hair stand on end took place there between the two.
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Death, Time, Disease, Yama, and the lord of messengers—
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having conquered [them] in an instant, the royal seer routed them in his fury.
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Then King Yama, enraged, advanced against him in person with anger,
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fought with many arrows, and uttered a lion's roar;
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the king, however, cut down his bow with three arrows.
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Then, taking up a sword and shield, Yama came forward to slay him.
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Seeing him, the enraged king cut down his sword and shield once more,
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and struck into [Yama's] forehead an arrow shining like a deadly serpent.
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Struck by it, the enraged Yama then took up his staff,
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and, consecrating the staff with the Brahmāstra, hurled it at him.
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Then arose a great cry of dismay among the people watching.
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Then Viṣṇu dispatched his discus to protect his devotee.
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Then the discus hurled by Viṣṇu came swiftly to that battle,
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fought with Yama's staff, warded off that Brahmāstra,
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and the wondrous thousand-spoked [discus] began to kill Yama.
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Then the devotee of the gods, terrified, immediately praised the discus:
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“O Thousand-spoked One, homage to you, ornament of Viṣṇu's hand!
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You were borne in ancient times by Hari for the protection of all the worlds.
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Today I beg you to spare Yama, the devotee of Viṣṇu of great strength.
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For you alone, and no other, are Death to mortals who hate the gods.
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Therefore protect this Yama; have mercy, O Lord of the Universe!”
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Praised thus by the king, the discus spared Yama,
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and returned to the presence of the king, O great king, as the gods watched in heaven.
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Then Yama, utterly despondent, went to the abode of Brahmā.
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He saw him seated, surrounded by corporeal and incorporeal beings,
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the steadfast refuge, the seed of the universe, the grandfather of all the worlds,
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attended upon by the gods, world-protectors, and guardians of the directions;
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by deities embodied as histories, Purāṇas, and the like;
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by personified oceans, rivers, and lakes;
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by embodied trees, the sacred fig and all others without exception;
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by stepped wells, wells, ponds, and personified mountains;
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Linked texts (1)
- Skandapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit