Skandapurana 2.9.18
English (machine translation) 2.9.18
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The Blessed Lord said:
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This vision of me that has occurred for you, O great sage,
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is due to your constant, exclusive devotion, your freedom from deceit, and by my own wish.
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Non-violence and celibacy are ever present in you, both of these,
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along with adherence to one's own duty, tranquility, dispassion, and knowledge of the Self.
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association with the virtuous, the eightfold yoga, control of the senses in every way,
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living on the food of sages, austerity, and freedom from all vices,
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and single-minded devotion to me preceded by knowledge of my majesty—
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exist [in you]; therefore, O you of noble vows, you see me here.
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Whatever other human beings, too, are endowed with such characteristics,
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they too, O brahmin, see me, such as I am, who am dear to the single-minded.
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I, this very one here, O brahmin, in this imperishable abode,
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united with Rādhā and Lakṣmī, dwell eternally together with those who have taken refuge in me.
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Having the nature of Vāsudeva, bestower of the fruits of all actions,
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I exist as the inner controller of all embodied beings, entirely independent.
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In the great abode named Vaikuṇṭha, four-armed, along with Lakṣmī,
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I dwell together with attendants headed by Nanda and Garuḍa.
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In the divine abode full of radiance, on the earth in Śvetadvīpa, daily
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I grant my darśana at the five prescribed times to the liberated souls of Śveta.
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Through my forms named Aniruddha, Pradyumna, and Saṃkarṣaṇa,
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I effect the creation, preservation, and dissolution of many tens of millions of cosmic eggs.
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At the beginning of creation, Brahmā was created by me from the lotus of my navel;
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he propitiated me with austerity and with sacrifices, O Nārada.
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Then, pleased with him, I granted him the boons he desired:
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‘O Brahmā, you shall obtain the capacity for creating living beings.
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By my boon, they shall all abide strictly under your command.
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And the eternal Vedas shall flash forth in your intellect.
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And you shall have knowledge of my true nature just as it is,
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and no one shall transgress the boundary established by you.
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To the hosts of gods and demons, and to the great-souled sages
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who desire boons, O Brahmā, you alone shall be the grantor of boons.
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And in whichever impossible task you fall into perplexity,
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I myself, manifesting as soon as remembered by you, will accomplish it, O Creator.
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When the universe is being created by you, and the earth is lost in the great ocean,
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I will assume the form of a boar and bring it to its proper place,
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having slain the demon Hiraṇyākṣa, who is puffed up with power.
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At the end of your day, having become a fish, I shall uphold the earth like a boat,
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along with the medicinal herbs, Manu, and the others, until nightfall.
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When the descendants of Kaśyapa churn the ocean for nectar, I, having the form of a tortoise,
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shall support on my back Mount Mandara, the churning-rod that lacks a base.
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Assuming the body of a man-lion, O Creator, for the sake of the gods
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I will slay the son of Diti, Hiraṇyakaśipu, the destroyer of sacrifices.
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The mighty Bali, a great demon, will be born as the son of Virocana;
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he will dethrone Śakra from his sovereignty.
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When the three worlds have been seized by him and the lord of Śacī is dejected,
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I will be born as the twelfth son from Kaśyapa in Aditi.
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Then I will give the sovereignty of heaven back to the lord of the gods;
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I will establish the gods in their own places, O Creator,
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and I will make Bali an inhabitant of the realm of Pātāla.
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Then, having been born from Kardama in Devahūti under the name of Kapila,
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endowed with detachment, I will set in motion Sāṃkhya, which had been lost in time.
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Having become Datta born of Atri in Anasūyā, I will then teach logic
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and spiritual knowledge to Prahlāda and Yadu, O Creator.
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Having become Ṛṣabha, the son of Nābhi in Merudevī on earth,
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I will promulgate the eternal dharma known as the state of the supreme swan.
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In the Tretā yuga, I will be Rāma, the upholder of the lineage of Bhṛgu,
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and I will eradicate the warrior class who break moral bounds and tread evil paths.
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When the twilight between the Tretā and Dvāpara [yugas] has arrived,
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I will be born as Rāma from Daśaratha in Kauśalyā.
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Lakṣmī shall be born as the daughter of Janaka named Sītā;
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having broken the great bow of Īśa, I shall take her in marriage.
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Then in battle I will slay the terrifying lord of rākṣasas, who harms the divine seers,
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the abductor of Sītā, along with his younger brother.
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The great seers headed by Vālmīki will then sing in many ways
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the exploits of mine, through the hearing of which sin is destroyed.’
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At the concluding junction of Dvāpara and Kali,
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to destroy the demons who are a burden to the earth, and to protect dharma and the righteous,
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I shall be born from Vasudeva through Devakī in the city of Mathurā. (32)
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I, Kṛṣṇa, named Vāsudeva, as well as Saṃkarṣaṇa Bala,
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and Pradyumna and Aniruddha will appear in the lineage of Yadu. (33)
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The daughter of the cowherd Vṛṣabhānu will be Rādhā;
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in Vṛndāvana I shall sport with her, O lotus-born [Brahmā]! (34)
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And Lakṣmī will be the daughter of Bhīṣmaka, named Rukmiṇī;
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having conquered the kings in battle, I shall marry her. (35)
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Having slain the demons who harm dharma and the kings possessed by them,
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firmly establishing dharma, I shall rid the earth of her burden. (36)
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Whosoever's mind in whatever way
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shall be joined to me, to them all I will grant the supreme state of Brahman. (37)
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Having established dharma on earth and caused the destruction of the Yadu lineage,
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while all the gods look on, I shall then vanish from the earth. (38)
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The heroic deeds of me, Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇadvaipāyana and others
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will sing in many ways, O brahmin, for they instantly remove sin. (39)
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Becoming Kṛṣṇadvaipāyana, the son of the sage Parāśara,
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I shall divide the branches of the Veda like [those of] a tree. (40)
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Relying on Vedic rites, those who torment the three worlds—
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those demons I shall delude through guile, having become Buddha. (41)
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Those who are slain in battles by me, Kṛṣṇa, accompanied by Arjuna,
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when those demons promote adharma on the earth, (42)
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then I, the sage Nārāyaṇa, born from the devotee Dharmadeva,
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shall be born on earth in the Kosala country as a twice-born singer of the Sāmaveda. (43)
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O dear one, to the seers and Uddhava who have attained human form through a sage's curse,
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I, protecting them from demons, shall then establish true dharma, O unborn one! (44)
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At the end of Kali, the people on earth turned to mlecchas of great wickedness
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I shall slay, having become Kalki, roaming upon a divine steed. (45)
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And whenever the dharma spoken of in the Vedas is ruined by demons,
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then and then my manifestation shall take place for its protection. (46)
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Therefore, having cast aside anxiety, create living beings as before.' / Having granted these boons to him, I vanished. (47)
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[…]
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Just as boons were given to him, in that very manner it was done by me;
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I do and shall do [so], O sage, swiftly through my own powers. (48)
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Of me, such as I am, O brahmin, the ruler of all embodied beings,
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a vision, difficult to attain, has arisen on account of your undivided devotion. (49)
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Choose a boon from me as you desire, O best of sages!
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I am exceedingly pleased with you; vision of me is never fruitless. (50)
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Skanda said:
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Having heard these words of the Lord, Nārada, the best of sages,
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considering himself blessed, spoke to that Lord, O sage: (51)
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'From the mere vision of you, O Master, my heart's desire is fulfilled;
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for I consider this difficult to attain even for all embodied beings. (52)
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Therefore, other than the direct beholding of you, of your devotees,
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and of your immortal abode, there is nothing desired to be attained by me. (53)
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There is nothing else more difficult to attain anywhere in the sphere of the universe,
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which I, from you who are pleased, might ask here, O Acyuta! (54)
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Whatever happiness there is in the other world, which may be attained through Vedic deeds alone,
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both divine and ancestral—that too is indeed perishable. (55)
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I do not desire any happiness beyond you, O Lord!
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Yet I ask one desired boon from you, the best of boon-givers: (56)
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may my intellect be ever intensely eager to sing of your virtues
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or those of your devotees, increasing my love for you.' (57)
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Skanda said:
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Having promised 'So be it' to what was thus asked by him, Kṛṣṇa,
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having given [him] the Mahatī vīṇā suitable for singing, spoke again: (58)
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The Holy One said:
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'Go now from here, O divine seer, to the spacious Badarī;
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there, with devotion, worship me, the son of Dharma, O you of noble vows!' (59)
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For you are my exclusive devotee, guileless at heart;
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therefore, I consider you superior even to your father Brahmā.
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Of what nature I am, of what form, and how great is my majesty—
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my exclusive devotees, O sage, know all of that.
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I alone am to be contemplated in the heart of those virtuous ones, and they are mine in my heart.
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They desire nothing other than me, and I desire nothing other than them.
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Just as devoted wives bring a noble husband under their sway
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by their own virtues, so do devotees bring even me under their sway.
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Together with Śrī, I follow them as if under their control;
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and wherever they are, there indeed am I.
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Only through the company of the good can seekers of liberation attain me in this world;
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by no other means, O celestial seer—know this to be true.
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Whenever human beings take refuge in me alone,
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only then are they released from Māyā, the bondage of the soul.
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A person who has surrendered to me through any disposition whatsoever
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attains happiness as desired, and does not go to worldly transmigration like others.
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Skanda said:
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Addressed thus by the Blessed Lord and having attained the desired grace,
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Nārada bowed down with tearful eyes and turned back.
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Singing of Him alone with his lute, he saw a liberated white being [Śveta-mukta];
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as before, he followed him as he walked ahead, O best of brahmins.
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Quickly reaching the great Śvetadvīpa and bowing down to those white beings,
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Nārada turned back, O brahmin, and swiftly went to Meru.
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From Meru he then proceeded to the Gandhamādana mountain,
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and swiftly descended from the sky toward the spacious Badarī.
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Thus ends the eighteenth chapter, entitled 'Narration of the Incarnations of Blessed Vāsudeva,' in the Vāsudeva-māhātmya of the second section, the Vaiṣṇavakhaṇḍa, in the glorious Skanda Mahāpurāṇa of eighty-one thousand verses.
Linked texts (1)
- Skandapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit