Skandapurana 2.9.2
English (machine translation) 2.9.2
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Skanda said:
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You, who understand inquiries, ask a great question here, O sinless one.
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The answer to this cannot be stated in hundreds of years by one's own reasoning
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without the grace of God, O brahmin, even by the best of the wise.
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However, by the grace of Vāsudeva, what is known by me I shall declare to you.
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Nothing is unmentionable to you, devoted to duty, O noble-minded one.
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In this very manner, when the Bhārata war had ceased,
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King Ajātaśatru questioned Bhīṣma, the best of knowers of dharma,
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who was lying upon the bed of arrows, who had attained Acyuta through meditation,
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who had attained undisturbed oneness of soul, and had crossed to the far shore of the Vedas and Āgamas.
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Yudhiṣṭhira said:
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O father, among the four classes and among the four stages of life,
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whoever should desire the attainment of the fourfold aim of life, which deity should he worship?
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And what success would arise without obstacles in a short time?
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And how may one of little virtue attain an exalted state?
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Sever this doubt of mine, for you are omniscient, O grandfather.
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Skanda said:
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When questioned thus by that righteous soul, O sage, the son of Śaṃtanu,
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glanced at the lotus-face of Śrī Kṛṣṇa and smiled slightly.
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Impelled by his gaze, he spoke to him of what was proclaimed by Nara and Nārāyaṇa,
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the māhātmya of Śrī Vāsudeva which he had heard from his father.
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Then, having heard it, Nārada also went back to Kurukṣetra;
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and having arrived at Kailāsa, he told it to my father, and he in turn to me.
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I shall relate that to you who question me without deceit,
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which was determined in the great assembly, free of doubt, O best of sages.
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Vāsudeva is the supreme Brahman; Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Puruṣa.
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He is the God to be worshipped by the desireless and by those with desires, and even by liberated men.
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By the twice-born, by the āśramas, and in every way by women, Śūdras, and others,
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he alone is to be pleased through their respective duties with devotion.
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Therefore, all action—pertaining to the gods and pertaining to the ancestors—at all times,
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and whatever is prescribed in the Veda, must be performed properly only for his pleasure.
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Whatever auspicious action is performed here by men for the sake of attaining happiness,
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even if well performed, if devoid of connection to Kṛṣṇa,
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then it is to be known as perishable, yielding little fruit, and of the nature of the guṇas.
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From the conjunction of an inauspicious place and the like, it produces defect in the fruit;
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and beset with many obstacles, it does not at all grant men the attainment of their desires.
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If this very action is performed for the satisfaction of Śrī Kṛṣṇa,
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then, through connection with him, all of it becomes indeed beyond the guṇas.
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It yields imperishable fruit, even greater than what was desired by oneself;
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and no defect arises in it from association with an improper place or the like.
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Moreover, O brahmin seer, by the majesty of the Discus-bearer, no obstacle
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can ever prevail against it; it grants the attainment of desired ends.
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Even if one’s own meritorious deed is small, nonetheless, O brahmin,
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through direct connection with the Supreme Self, it becomes truly exceedingly great.
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Just as even a mere spark, through conjunction with a heap of forest wood,
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becomes an irresistible conflagration, so does this through connection with Hari.
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Therefore, by men abiding in the path of active engagement or of cessation,
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desiring the full accomplishment thereof, Vāsudeva must be worshipped.
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In this regard also they cite this ancient history:
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the conversation between Nārada and the seer Nārāyaṇa.
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The Blessed One, Vāsudeva, who dwells eternally in the city of Brahman,
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manifested from Dharma through the daughter of Dakṣa for the welfare of the world.
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In the Kṛta Yuga of old, during the Svāyambhuva period, O best of the twice-born,
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he appeared in two forms: Nara and Nārāyaṇa.
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From the hermitage of Dharma, in order to perform austerity solely for the welfare of men on earth,
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those two, Nara and Nārāyaṇa, went to the hermitage of Badarī.
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There, the two primordial lords of the world, emaciated and covered in veins,
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performed austerity with their own splendor, difficult to behold even by the gods.
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Only he upon whom they bestow grace is truly able to see them;
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they cannot be seen otherwise, even by the dwellers of that realm.
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Once the yogin Nārada, being wished to be seen by the two of them,
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was also impelled within his heart by the Inner Self.
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From the peak of the great mountain Meru, swiftly by way of the sky,
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he came, O brahmin, to that place called the hermitage of Badarī.
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Having arrived there quickly at the time of their daily rites,
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he saw from afar the two absorbed in the rituals of the foremost hermitage.
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Having observed that conduct of the two lords, curiosity arose in him:
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“Ah, these two are worshipped by the universe, the lords of all embodied beings;
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they are indeed the supreme Brahman. What is their daily ritual?
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They are the parents of all beings, and the divinity of the deities.
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To what deity or ancestors do these two of great intellect offer sacrifice?”
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Pondering thus in his mind, that devotee of Nārāyaṇa
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approached them, bowed, and stood with folded hands.
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When the rites to the gods and ancestors were finished, he was then noticed by the two,
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and worshipped in accordance with the rule observed in the scriptures, O sinless one.
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Seeing that great wonder, an unprecedented elaboration of the ritual rule,
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Nārada sat down beside them, highly pleased and filled with amazement.
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Looking upon Nārāyaṇa with a concentrated inner self,
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and bowing to that god, he spoke these words: // 36
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Thus ends the second chapter, named 'The Meeting of Nārāyaṇa and Nārada', in the exposition of the means to ultimate welfare, in the Vāsudeva-māhātmya, in the second [section], the Vaiṣṇavakhaṇḍa, in the glorious Skandapurāṇa, the Mahāpurāṇa consisting of eighty-one thousand verses. // 2
Linked texts (1)
- Skandapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit