Skandapurana 2.9.19
English (machine translation) 2.9.19
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Skanda said:
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Then he saw the two ancient deities, the best of seers,
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performing great austerity, firmly rooted in the Self, observant of great vows,
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surpassing even the sun that illuminates all worlds in splendor,
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bearing the mark of Śrīvatsa, venerable, wearing matted hair,
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with hands bearing the lotus sign and feet marked with the discus,
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broad-chested, long-armed, wearing white, fine, dense garments,
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with handsome faces, broad foreheads, beautiful eyebrows, and auspicious noses,
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endowed with auspicious marks, of divine forms, and of intense radiance.
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Approaching them with humility and circumambulating them,
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he prostrated himself with eight limbs in devotion and stood before them with folded hands.
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Then those two seers, the abodes of austerities, of renown, and of splendor,
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abandoned their silence at the conclusion of their morning rite
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and, being composed, worshiped Nārada with affection with foot-water and water offering.
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They sat on two seats of kuśa grass, and Nārada also [sat down].
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When they had sat down there, that place shone forth
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as an enclosure of sacrificial fires does with great flames fed by oblations of ghee.
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Then Nārāyaṇa spoke words there to Nārada,
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who was comfortably seated, rested, and given hospitable and respectful reception.
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The venerable Nārāyaṇa said:
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O brahmin, was that Blessed Lord, the eternal Supreme Self,
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the ultimate cause of us both, seen by you in the supreme realm of Brahman?
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Nārada said:
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O Lord, by your grace, that Supreme Lord,
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Vāsudeva, abiding in the imperishable abode, was seen by me.
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And dismissed by him, I have arrived here to attend upon you both.
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Dedicated to that, I shall abide with you two always.
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The venerable Nārāyaṇa said:
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Blessed are you, favored are you, that the Lord Himself was seen by you!
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For no god or seer whatsoever has seen him, O brahmin.
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Only those devotees who have attained similarity with the Imperishable through exclusive devotion
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behold him, the cause of all.
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That Blessed Lord of divine form is the Supreme Person, difficult to behold.
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O Nārada, this statement spoken by me is indeed the truth.
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No one in the world is dearer to him than a devotee.
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Therefore, O best of brahmins, he revealed himself to you.
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His limbs are enveloped in a mass of radiance; his wondrous form transcends the qualities [of material nature];
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His nature is unbroken bliss; he is ever pure and imperishable.
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Indeed, his form, complexion, and stage of life are not material at all.
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Everything belonging to him is divine, as are all his accoutrements.
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He alone is the supreme goal of single-minded devotees.
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Even by those who have attained the oneness of the Self with Brahman and who have turned away from the gunas,
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devotion is paid to Vāsudeva—such indeed are his qualities.
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Who could declare the majesty of this Supreme Self,
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the master of inconceivable, infinite powers, O great sage?
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He is the Self of the self, and the Self of the imperishable, spotless as space;
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perceivable by divine vision, pure existence, the Person, the son of Vasudeva.
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He possesses all auspicious qualities, yet is free from the gunas, the Lord of lords,
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to be known through supreme knowledge, to be worshipped, the master who knows Brahman.
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That Lord of divine form—whoever pleases him
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through single-minded austerity and righteousness is said to be the most blessed.
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Therefore, O divine seer, worshipping him with single-minded righteousness,
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perform austerity right here, my dear, for some time.
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Purified in self through austerity alone, the majesty of that Lord of the virtuous,
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as it is being declared in full by me, you shall properly comprehend.
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Know austerity to be the means of accomplishing all goals, O sage; it is his heart.
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By one who has not performed abundant austerity, that Lord is not brought under control.
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Skanda said:
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Thus addressed by the blessed Nara-Nārāyaṇa,
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he was delighted, and desiring to perform austerity, the wise one said:
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Thus ends the nineteenth chapter, named 'The Meeting of Nārada and Nara-Nārāyaṇa,' in the Vāsudevamāhātmya of the second [section], the Vaiṣṇavakhaṇḍa, in the glorious Skanda Mahāpurāṇa, a collection of eighty-one thousand [verses].
Linked texts (1)
- Skandapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit