Skandapurana 2.7.2
English (machine translation) 2.7.2
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2.7.2.1
Nārada said:
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There is no month equal to Mādhava; there is no yuga equal to Kṛta;
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there is no scripture equal to the Veda; there is no sacred ford equal to the Gaṅgā.
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There is no gift equal to water; there is no happiness equal to a wife;
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there is no wealth equal to agriculture; there is no gain higher than life.
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There is no austerity equal to fasting; there is no supreme happiness other than giving;
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there is no righteousness equal to compassion; there is no light equal to the eye.
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There is no satisfaction equal to food; there is no trade equal to agriculture;
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there is no friend equal to righteousness; there is no fame equal to truth.
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There is no rising equal to good health; there is no protector higher than Keśava;
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the wise know nothing in the world as purifying as the month of Mādhava.
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Mādhava is the supreme month, ever dear to the one who reclines on Śeṣa.
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Whoever passes the month dear to Mādhava without vows
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promptly enters an animal womb, excluded from all righteousness.
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For those mortal beings whose Mādhava passes without vows,
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their sacrificial rites and public works are in vain, O best among upholders of dharma.
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When a restriction is made in Mādhava concerning customary foods,
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one certainly attains intimate union with Viṣṇu; of this there is no doubt.
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In this world there are diverse vows requiring vast wealth,
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which merely cause bodily exertion and grant yet another rebirth;
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by a ritual ablution in Vaiśākha alone, one is not born again on earth.
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Whatever merit is in all gifts, whatever fruit is in all sacred fords,
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that fruit one attains completely from the gift of water in Mādhava.
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One incapable of giving water, if desirous of prosperity,
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should awaken others to do so—a beneficial deed surpassing all gifts.
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All gifts placed on one side, and the gift of water on the other,
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were formerly weighed in the balance: the gift of water proved superior.
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Whatever mortal provides a water-booth on the road for travellers
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delivers ten million members of his lineage and is glorified in the world of Viṣṇu.
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For the gods, the ancestors, and the seers, O best of kings,
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the gift of a water-booth truly brings supreme delight; there is no doubt.
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The one by whom those exhausted from the fatigue of travel are gratified through the gift of a water-booth,
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by him the gods—Brahmā, Viṣṇu, Śiva, and the rest—are pleased.
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Water to those desiring water, an umbrella to those desiring shade,
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a fan to those desiring a fan in the month of Vaiśākha, O king—
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the gift of these: water, an umbrella, and a fan, is superior.
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When the month of Mādhava has arrived, [if one lives] without giving to a householder brahmin
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a water pot, he is reborn on earth as a cātaka bird.
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Whoever gives cool water to an exalted soul tormented by thirst
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attains by that alone, O king of kings, [the fruit of] ten thousand Rājasūya sacrifices.
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Whoever fans with a fan a brahmin afflicted by the fatigue of heat
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becomes free of sin by that alone and becomes king of the birds.
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Without giving a fan to a twice-born in Vaiśākha, O king,
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one is beset with a hundred wind-diseases and finds only hells.
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Whoever fans an eminent twice-born weary on the road, even with a cloth,
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is thereby liberated and attains intimate union with Viṣṇu.
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Whoever, having given a palm-leaf fan with a pure mind...
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shaking off all sins, he goes to the world of Brahmā. // 24
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If a man does not give a fan, which instantly dispels fatigue and brings merit,
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he suffers the torments of hell and is born on earth as a foul creature. // 25
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For the pacification of afflictions, beginning with the personal ones, O lord of men,
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one who makes a home should diligently give an umbrella in the month of Vaiśākha. // 26
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A man who gives no umbrella in Vaiśākha, the month beloved of Mādhava,
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is born on earth as a shadowless, exceedingly cruel piśāca. // 27
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He who gives a pair of divine sandals in [the month of] Mādhava, beloved of Mādhava,
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spurns the two messengers of Yama and goes to the world of Viṣṇu. // 28
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He who gives footwear upon the arrival of Vaiśākha, the month of Mādhava,
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has no hellish world [to face], nor any earthly afflictions. // 29
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He who gives sandals to a begging brahmin
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becomes a king on earth for ten million births; of this there is no doubt. // 2.7.2.30
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He who erects a rest-pavilion on the road that relieves weariness,
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even Brahmā cannot describe the fruit of his merit. // 31
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If he feeds a brahmin guest who has arrived at midday,
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even Brahmā has not fully defined the resting-place of that fruit. // 32
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The gift of food brings immediate satisfaction to mortals, O king;
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therefore, no gift equal to food exists in the worlds. // 33
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He who provides shelter to a brahmin exhausted from the road,
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even Brahmā is unable to declare the fruit of his merit. // 34
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Wife, offspring, house, and the rest; clothing, adornments, and ornaments—
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for a man who does not eat, these are intolerable; for one who has eaten, they are surely enjoyable. // 35
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Therefore, a gift equal to food has never been nor will ever be.
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If someone does not give [it] in Vaiśākha to a brahmin exhausted from the road,
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he becomes a piśāca on earth and eats only his own flesh.
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Therefore, food should be given to a twice-born according to one's means. // 37
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The giver of food makes one forget mother, father, and other kin, O king;
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therefore, the people dwelling in the three worlds praise food. // 38
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Mothers and fathers are merely the causes of birth,
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and the wise call the giver of food the [true] father in this world. // 39
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All sacred fords abide in the giver of food; all deities abide in the giver of food;
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and all dharmas reside in the giver of food, O conqueror of enemy kings! // 2.7.2.40
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Thus ends the second chapter, named 'Description of Gifts', in the praise of the month of Vaiśākha, in the dialogue between Nārada and Ambarīṣa, in the second [book], the Vaiṣṇavakhaṇḍa, in the glorious Skanda Mahāpurāṇa, a compendium of eighty-one thousand verses. // 2
Linked texts (1)
- Skandapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit