in the absence of flowers and the like, or with grains, one should worship Madhusūdana. /)
A person who, intending Yama, the ancestors, the teachers, the gods, and Viṣṇu,

2.7.24.20

on the bright twelfth day in the month of Mādhava, gives a water-pot together with a fee,

2.7.24.21

and also gives curd-rice—hear the meritorious fruit of that!

2.7.24.22

Whoever feeds a crore [of people] every day at Prayāga

2.7.24.23

with delightful food of the six flavours for a full year,

2.7.24.24

he obtains that [same] fruit by the command of the chastiser of Madhu.

2.7.24.25

Whoever makes a gift of a śālagrāma stone on the twelfth day,

2.7.24.26

in the bright half of Vaiśākha, is freed from all sins.

2.7.24.27

Whoever bathes Madhusūdana with milk on the twelfth day,

2.7.24.28

whatever fruit arises from the rājasūya and aśvamedha [sacrifices],

2.7.24.29

and on the thirteenth day worships Viṣṇu with substances mixed with milk, curd,

2.7.24.30

sugar, and honey, for the gratification of Madhusūdana,

2.7.24.31

he obtains that fruit in the Gaṅgā; of this there is no doubt.

2.7.24.32

And whoever with devotion completely bathes the all-pervading Viṣṇu with the five nectars,

2.7.24.33

he, having delivered his whole family, is exalted in the world of Viṣṇu.

2.7.24.34

Whoever gives a beverage in the evening on this day for the pleasure of Hari,

2.7.24.35

he quickly casts off his old sin, as a serpent casts off its old skin.

2.7.24.36

And whoever gives an elixir of cucumber in the evening,

2.7.24.37

becomes freed from the bondage of karma by the cucumber elixir.

2.7.24.38

One should give sugar-cane, mango fruit, and grapes;

2.7.24.39

there will be no disruption in his lineage for a hundred generations.

2.7.24.40

Whoever gives an anointment of fragrant paste in the evening on the twelfth day,

2.7.24.41

he is freed from all external afflictions; of this there is no doubt.

2.7.24.42

Whatever merit one performs on the twelfth day, O best of kings,

2.7.24.43

in the bright fortnight of Mādhava, that becomes imperishable in its fruit.

2.7.24.44

I shall tell of its fame, [and] how it came to be, O king,

2.7.24.45

which destroys all sins of all people and bestows all auspiciousness.

2.7.24.46

Formerly, in the country of Kāśmīra, there was a twice-born named Devavrata.

2.7.24.47

He had a daughter of beautiful form named Mālinī.

2.7.24.48

He gave her to Satyaśīla, an eminent and wise brahmin.

2.7.24.49

Having married her, the wise man went to his own country called Yavana.

2.7.24.50

Endowed with beauty and youth, she was nevertheless not dear to him.

2.7.24.51

Harsh, he remained constantly full of malice toward her.

2.7.24.52

Except for her, the husband hated no one else, O king.

2.7.24.53

Filled with anger toward him and eager for subjugation [charms],

2.7.24.54

she questioned women, O king, who had formerly been abandoned by their husbands.

2.7.24.55

She was told by them, O king: 'Your husband will become submissive.

2.7.24.56

Confidence has arisen in us who were insulted by our husbands' abandonment.

2.7.24.57

By administering a subjugating medicine, our husbands were indeed brought under control in the past.

2.7.24.58

Go today to the yoginī; she will give an auspicious medicine.

2.7.24.59

You should have no doubt: your husband will become like a servant.'

2.7.24.60

Having gone to the dwelling of the yoginī on their word, O king,

2.7.24.61

she obtained her incomparable favor, though she was an evil-doing [yet] faithful wife.

2.7.24.62

With haste, she resorted to the hut furnished with a hundred pillars,

2.7.24.63

very spacious, very splendid, and also bustling with visitors.

2.7.24.64

Wrapped in a long garment, the yoginī, in that presence,

2.7.24.65

covered with long matted locks, radiant with splendour,

2.7.24.66

attended by attendants, looking around very slowly,

2.7.24.67

with a rosary in her hand, muttering [mantras], was implored by her.

2.7.24.68

She gave a subjugating mantra that agitates [the mind] and inspires conviction.

2.7.24.69

Then, having bowed, she gave a costly ring,

2.7.24.70

set with diamonds and rubies, endowed with an intensely red lustre,

2.7.24.71

fashioned with soft gold, shining like the rays of the sun.

2.7.24.72

Seeing that ring placed at her feet, she was well pleased.

2.7.24.73

And her feeling, born of disrespect toward her husband, was perceived by her [the yoginī].

2.7.24.74

Then, O king, she was addressed by that female ascetic endowed with harmful intent:

2.7.24.75

“This powder, accompanied by an amulet, subjugates all beings.

2.7.24.76

Administer the powder to your husband and place the amulet upon his neck.

2.7.24.77

Your husband will become obedient; he will not go to any other beautiful woman.

2.7.24.78

He will never speak an unkind word, even to you who act unfaithfully.”

2.7.24.79

Taking the powder and the amulet, she went back to her husband’s house.

2.7.24.80

At dusk, mixed with milk, the powder was administered to her husband.

2.7.24.81

The amulet was indeed placed upon his neck; she gave it no reflection.

2.7.24.82

Then, O best of excellent kings, having drunk the powder, that husband,

2.7.24.83

from that powder contracted consumption; day by day the husband wasted away.

2.7.24.84

Moreover, dreadful worms were born in his private parts, arising from malignant sores.

2.7.24.85

Within a few days, O king, the husband had no stability at all.

2.7.24.86

She too, an unchaste and wicked-acting woman, lived according to her own desire.

2.7.24.87

Then the husband, his energy destroyed, his senses distraught, spoke to her,

2.7.24.88

crying out day and night: “I am your servant, O fair lady!

2.7.24.89

Save me, who have sought your refuge; I do not desire another woman.”

2.7.24.90

Understanding that this was known to him, she became frightened, O lord of the earth.

2.7.24.91

Wishing for her husband’s life only for the sake of ornaments, she was by no means well-disposed.

2.7.24.92

She went quickly to the yoginī and reported everything to her.

2.7.24.93

And by her a second medicine was given to quench the burning sensation.

2.7.24.94

And when that medicine was administered, the husband immediately became sound.

2.7.24.95

A paramour stayed in the house under the pretext of household chores;

2.7.24.96

lovers born of all castes indeed stayed in the house.

2.7.24.97

The husband had no capacity to speak in any way.

2.7.24.98

Then, through that very transgression, there arose in all his limbs

2.7.24.99

worms that cleaved his bones, resembling Death, the End-Maker, and Yama.

2.7.24.100

By them occurred the severance of her nose and tongue, and of both her ears,

2.7.24.101

and of her breasts and fingers; and lameness also came upon her.

2.7.24.102

By that she met her death and went to the torments of hell.

2.7.24.103

And she was roasted in a copper vessel for fifteen thousand [years];

2.7.24.104

she was born again and again in canine wombs a hundred times.

2.7.24.105

With severed nose, severed ears, and a head continuously infested with worms,

2.7.24.106

with severed tail and broken feet, she was beaten from house to house.

2.7.24.107

Afterwards, in the Sauvīra country, in the house of a maidservant

2.7.24.108

of a brahmin named Padmabandhu, she was born as a bitch overwhelmed with many miseries.

2.7.24.109

Her ears severed, her nose severed, her tail and feet mutilated, afflicted,

2.7.24.110

her head constantly full of worms, she lived with worms in her vulva.

2.7.24.111

In this manner thirty years passed in this birth, O ruler of the earth.

2.7.24.112

By fate, through the ripening of deeds, in the month of Vaiśākha, when the sun entered Aries,

2.7.24.113

on the twelfth lunar day of the bright fortnight, the son of Padmabandhu,

2.7.24.114

having bathed in the river and become pure, went home with wet clothes.

2.7.24.115

Reaching the tulasī pedestal, he washed his feet;

2.7.24.116

in the place beneath that pedestal, that bitch had fallen asleep.

2.7.24.117

Just before the time of sunrise, drenched with the water from his feet,

2.7.24.118

her inauspicious [burden] was instantly destroyed, and in a moment she remembered her past lives.

2.7.24.119

Remembering the deed done formerly, that bitch constantly

2.7.24.120

cried out piteously and wretchedly to the ascetic: “O sage, protect me! Save me!” repeatedly.

2.7.24.121

And remembering, agitated with fear, she reported her own deed to the lord of sages:

2.7.24.122

the administration of poison to her husband, and likewise her own wicked conduct.

2.7.24.123

“Any other young woman, O brahmin, who practices subjugation of her husband,

2.7.24.124

is bereft of virtue, wicked in conduct, and is cooked in a copper vessel.

2.7.24.125

A husband is lord, a husband is teacher, a husband is the supreme deity;

2.7.24.126

having committed an offense, how could that virtuous wife attain happiness?

2.7.24.127

She goes to a hundred animal wombs and hundreds of millions of worms.

2.7.24.128

Therefore, O earthly deity, a husband’s word must always be obeyed by women.

2.7.24.129

I foresee again a vile womb filled with torments,

2.7.24.130

if, O brahmin, you do not deliver me today as I stand before your gaze.

2.7.24.131

Therefore deliver me, O brahmin, a sinner who has practiced evil deeds,

2.7.24.132

by granting your merit [performed] during the bright fortnight in Vaiśākha.”

2.7.24.133

The Dvādaśī, which enhances merit, that was observed by you, O brahmin—

2.7.24.134

the merit created by you on that day through ritual ablutions, gifts, and distribution of food, 66

2.7.24.135

by that, even for me of evil conduct, liberation will come to be, O brahmin.

2.7.24.136

Indeed, when a man, a brahmin, has bathed in his own house on that day, 67

2.7.24.137

he obtains the fruit of all sacred fords; there is no doubt about this.

2.7.24.138

Whatever austerity was practiced, gift made, oblation offered, or worship of deities and the like performed there— 68

2.7.24.139

that which is done on the day of Dvādaśī should be known to bear imperishable fruit.

2.7.24.140

Whatever such fruit there may be, give all of that to me! 69

2.7.24.141

By fasting on Dvādaśī and then breaking the fast on Trayodaśī,

2.7.24.142

whatever fruit there may truly be, by that my liberation will come to pass. 70

2.7.24.143

Show mercy, O fortunate one, toward a wretched one, O lover of the wretched!

2.7.24.144

The protector of the wretched, the lord of the universe, and your lord is Janārdana; 71

2.7.24.145

His people are just like Him: as the king is, so are the subjects.

2.7.24.146

O destroyer of Yama's realm, rescue an exceedingly afflicted one! 72

2.7.24.147

I am a wretched bitch living at your door, O lover of the wretched!

2.7.24.148

Whether a thousand murders of a brahmin or a thousand slayings of a cow, 73

2.7.24.149

or tens of millions of illicit approaches, that auspicious lunar day burns away completely.

2.7.24.150

Bestowing upon me the great merit accumulated on that day, O great sage, 74

2.7.24.151

deliver me, agitated and miserable! O protector, rescue me!

2.7.24.152

In the end, I utter an expression of salutation to you, the foremost of the twice-born! 75

2.7.24.153

Hearing her words, the sage’s son said to the bitch:

2.7.24.154

“Creatures experience their own deeds, which consist of happiness and misery, O bitch! 76

2.7.24.155

Therefore, what should be done for you, a vile creature of sinful nature,

2.7.24.156

by whom her husband, a twice-born, was brought under control with magical ash-powders and the like? 77

2.7.24.157

The sin that is committed against the virtuous causes grief to oneself.

2.7.24.158

The merit that is done for the virtuous removes grief from oneself. 78

2.7.24.159

Both perish when directed toward the sinful.

2.7.24.160

Milk mixed with sugar offered to a serpent 79

2.7.24.161

is seen to cause the increase of poison; just so does [merit given to sinners] produce sin.”

2.7.24.162

While the sage's son was speaking thus, the bitch, the very embodiment of sorrow, 80

2.7.24.163

cried out again at the top of her voice, speaking much to his father:

2.7.24.164

“O Padmabandhu, protect the bitch residing at your door! 81

2.7.24.165

I constantly eat your leftover food. Save me!” she cried again and again.

2.7.24.166

“Those dependents who belong to a noble householder— 82

2.7.24.167

their deliverance must be effected: this is the opinion of the knowers of the Veda.

2.7.24.168

Outcastes, crows, and dogs are constantly 83

2.7.24.169

recipients of the compassion of householders, feeding daily on the food offerings.

2.7.24.170

If a householder does not deliver an incapable dependent stricken with disease and the like, 84

2.7.24.171

he falls into the depths; there is no doubt about this: such is the opinion of the knowers of the Veda. 85

2.7.24.172

Having made Himself the sole Creator of the worlds, the Creator Himself protects all living beings;

2.7.24.173

under the pretext of the forms of wives and other dependents, Hari [acts]; therefore, protecting dependents is indeed His command. 86

2.7.24.174

If a creature, forsaking the protection of his own dependents, acts with an estranged mind despite the divine dispensation,

2.7.24.175

he, a betrayer of God and a destroyer of all, departs to the worlds of Yama. 87

2.7.24.176

Because it is your duty and out of compassion, deliver this foolish creature!”

2.7.24.177

Hearing these words of hers who was afflicted with grief in the house, the son [spoke];

2.7.24.178

then Padmabandhu, an ocean of compassion, quickly stepped out of the house. 88

2.7.24.179

“What is this?” he said to her, and the son explained everything.

2.7.24.180

Hearing his son's words, he spoke to him in astonishment: 89

2.7.24.181

Padmabandhu said:

2.7.24.182

“My son, how could such a word be spoken by you?

2.7.24.183

This is not the speech of the virtuous here, O fair-faced one! 90

2.7.24.184

When examined, sins are those that produce only self-gratification.

2.7.24.185

See, my son! All beings truly exist for the benefit of others: 91

2.7.24.186

the moon, the sun, the wind, night, fire, and water,

2.7.24.187

sandalwood, trees, and virtuous persons are intent on benefiting others. 92

2.7.24.188

The gift of his bones was made by Dadhīci out of mercy, O son,

2.7.24.189

for the sake of assisting the gods, knowing the demons to be exceedingly powerful. 93

2.7.24.190

For the sake of a dove, his own flesh was anciently given by King Śibi,

2.7.24.191

O noble one, to a hungry hawk. 94

2.7.24.192

Formerly, there was a king named Jīmūtavāhana on the surface of the earth.

2.7.24.193

By him too his life was given to the high-souled Garuḍa. // 95

2.7.24.194

Therefore a wise terrestrial god (brahmin) ought to be compassionate.

2.7.24.195

Does the cloud-god rain on the pure and not rain on the impure? // 96

2.7.24.196

Does the moon not constantly illumine the house of outcasts?

2.7.24.197

Therefore, this female dog begging again and again, // 97

2.7.24.198

I shall rescue by my own merits, just like a cow stuck in the mud.”

2.7.24.199

Having thus rebuffed his son, the broad-minded one made a vow: // 98

2.7.24.200

“Given, given is the great merit produced on the day of the Dvādaśī!

First 200 of 217 passages. Read on

Linked texts (1)

Skandapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit