Skandapurana 3.1.15
English (machine translation) 3.1.15
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3.1.15.5
Glorious Sūta said: / Having performed a ritual ablution with a concentrated mind in the highly sacred Brahmakuṇḍa, / a man should then go to the pool of Hanūmat, O best of brahmins. / Formerly, when the demons had been slain, when the task of battle was over, / and Rāma and the others had returned to Mount Gandhamādana, / for the benefit of all the worlds, Hanūmat, the son of the Wind, / created the best of all sacred fords bearing his own name. / Knowing the glory of which it is served by Rudra himself, / equal to that sacred ford there has never been, nor will there ever be. / Bathing in which men go to the eternal world of Śiva; / in which highly sacred ford, which destroys great sins, / created by the son of the Wind for the benefit of all worlds, / all the hells became utterly empty for a long time indeed. / Śaṃkara knows the glory of that sacred ford, or perhaps he does not! / Where formerly a king of the Kekaya lineage named Dharmasakha, / having bathed with devotion, obtained one hundred sons. / The seers said: / O Sūta, you ought to tell today the life-story of Dharmasakha, / who, having bathed in the sacred ford of Hanūmatkuṇḍa, obtained one hundred sons. / Glorious Sūta said: / Listen, O seers, to the deeds of that protector of the earth; / today I will relate in brief [the story] of Dharmasakha. / Formerly there was a king named Dharmasakha who had conquered his enemies, was exceedingly righteous, / virtuous, and devoted to the protection of his subjects. / He had one hundred wives, O brahmins, to whom their husband was a deity. / Ruling the earth along with its mountains, forests, and groves, / the king did not obtain in those wives a son to continue his lineage. / Then, for the sake of a son, that protector of the earth made many efforts;
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and for the sake of a son, that ruler of the earth made great gifts.
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With sacrifices such as the horse sacrifice, he sacrificed to the gods;
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he repeatedly bestowed gifts, foremost of which was the balance-scale gift of a man's weight in gold.
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Until midnight, to everyone without restriction,
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the ruler of the earth gave food with abundant soup and rich in grain.
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He also performed ancestral rites according to rule, directed towards the ancestors;
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with senses restrained, he muttered mantras that bestow offspring.
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The king performed many such righteous acts for the sake of a son.
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Constantly performing unmatched righteous acts with a view toward [getting] a son,
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with the passage of a long time, the king reached old age.
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Once, as that aged king was thus striving,
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a delightful son named Sucandra was born to his eldest wife.
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When the son was born, all the mothers, free from jealousy,
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noble as they were, raised him equally with milk and other foods.
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And to the king, to all the mothers, to the citizens, and to the ministers,
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this son became the cause of joy to their minds and eyes.
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Fondling his son, the king attained the highest joy.
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Once, while that son was lying in a cradle,
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a scorpion stung him on the foot with its tail blazing with poisonous fire.
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From the scorpion's sting, the child cried bitterly.
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Then all his mothers began to weep, overcome with grief.
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Surrounding the boy, O brahmins, a tumultuous uproar arose.
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King Dharmasakha then heard that cry of distress,
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as he sat in the midst of the assembly with his ministers and royal priest.
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Then the king dispatched a chamberlain to find out.
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That chamberlain, going up to the outer gate of the inner apartments,
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summoned the elderly eunuchs and spoke these words:
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“O eunuchs, why are the women of the inner apartments weeping now?
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Go there and find out the cause of their crying.
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For this purpose the king sent me from the royal assembly.”
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Addressed thus, they ascertained the cause of the crying,
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came out of the inner apartments, and reported what had happened to him.
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Having heard the words of the eunuchs, the chamberlain went to the assembly
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and reported to the king that his son had been stung by a scorpion.
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Then King Dharmasakha, having heard such an account,
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rose up in haste together with his ministers and priest.
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Entering the inner apartments along with sorcerers skilled in removing poison,
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he had his son treated repeatedly with medicines and the like.
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Then, having fondled his son once he regained health,
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and having honored the knowers of mantras with gems, gold, and pearls,
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the king came out of the inner apartments, deeply agitated by anxiety,
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and sat down in that assembly together with his officiating priests, royal priest, and ministers.
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There King Dharmasakha, seated upon an excellent throne,
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addressed these fitting words to the officiating priests and the royal priest:
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Dharmasakha said:
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“Having only one son leads only to grief, O best of brahmins!
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Childlessness is surely better for men than having an only son.
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Because of constantly being subject to danger, childlessness is indeed better.
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Having reflected on this, O brahmins, I married a hundred wives.
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And old age has overtaken me along with my wives, O twice-born.
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My life-breaths and those of my wives are anchored in this one son.
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Upon his death, the death of all my wives is certain.
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My own life would also end upon the death of this only son.
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Therefore, by what means can I have many sons?
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Tell me that means, O brahmins, foremost among knowers of the Veda!
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So that I may have a virtuous son with each of my hundred wives,
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tell me that rite, looking into the sacred texts according to dharma.
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Whether by a great rite or a small one, or even by one difficult to perform,
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if that fruit is achievable, I will perform it without doubt.
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I will perform the rite prescribed by you, there is no doubt.
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Know it as already done; I swear by my merits!
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If there is such a rite by which a hundred sons may be obtained,
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tell me now where that rite must be performed by me.”
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Questioned thus at that time by the king, the officiating priests with the royal priest,
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having assembled together, spoke this to the king with complete certainty:
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The officiating priests said:
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“There is [such a means], O king; we will tell you how a hundred sons
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may be born to you from your hundred wives through a great dharma, O king of the Kaikayas.
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There is a most holy mountain named Gandhamādana,
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which exists in the form of a bridge in the midst of the southern ocean.
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crowded with hosts of Siddhas, Cāraṇas, Gandharvas, and celestial seers,
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destroying great sins of men merely by being seen or touched.
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There is a pool there known in the worlds as Hanumatkuṇḍa,
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which relieves great sorrow and grants the fruits of heaven and liberation,
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which calms the torments of hell, relieves poverty likewise,
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gives sons to the sonless, and gives wives to wifeless men.
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There, having bathed with self-restraint, that which grants all desired things,
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perform with a concentrated mind the sacrifice for getting sons on its bank.
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By that, O king, each among your one hundred wives
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will swiftly bear one son; do not have any doubt in this matter."
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Thus addressed by the brahmins, the officiating priests, together with the family priest,
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the king that very moment, [accompanied] by the officiating priests, his wives, and the family priest,
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surrounded by ministers and attendants, equipped with the provisions for the sacrifice,
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set out for Mount Gandhamādana in the southern ocean.
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Having reached Hanumatkuṇḍa, he bathed there together with his army;
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he dwelt on its bank for just a month, regularly performing ritual ablutions.
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Then, when spring arrived in the month of Caitra, that best of kings,
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accompanied by his family priest, began the sacrifice for sons there.
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Those officiating priests along with the family priest properly performed the rites
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for the royal seer Dharmasakha together with his wives.
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When his sacrifice was completed on the bank of Hanūmatkuṇḍa,
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the family priest made the king’s wives consume the remnants of the oblation.
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Then King Dharmasakha, in the waters of Hanūmatkuṇḍa,
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properly performed the concluding ceremonial bath accompanied by his hundred wives.
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He gave innumerable and abundant gifts to the officiating priests,
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and the king granted villages to the brahmins, O best of the twice-born.
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Accompanied by his ministers, his retinue, and his wives, that righteous
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king returned, rejoiced, back to his own city.
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Then, after some time had passed, indeed in the tenth month,
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the hundred wives gave birth to one hundred most virtuous sons.
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Then with a delighted heart, the heroic and great king Dharmasakha,
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bathed and purified, having made the resolve, performed the birth-rite at that time.
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He gave many cows, lands, sesame seeds, gold, and other gifts to the brahmins.
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The senior wife had two sons: an elder and a younger at that time.
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All the sons grew up—one hundred and one, O twice-born.
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When they had reached maturity, that king, having divided the kingdom among them
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and given it [to them], went with his wives to the bridge at Gandhamādana.
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Having reached Hanumatkuṇḍa, he practiced austerity on its bank.
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A long time passed for that king while he was practicing austerity,
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for King Dharmasakha meditating upon the Bearer of the Trident.
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Then, when a great amount of time had passed, King Dharmasakha,
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righteous and tranquil in mind, went to the law of time there.
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The wives of that royal seer also followed their husband at that time.
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The eldest son Sucandra too, having performed the funeral rites for his father,
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performed the ceremonies up to the ancestral rite with faith.
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Because of death here, the king along with his wives went to Vaikuṇṭha.
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All those immensely glorious princes, headed by Sucandra,
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brothers devoid of envy, enjoyed each their own kingdom.
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Thus has the glory of Hanūmatkuṇḍa been told to you, O brahmins,
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as well as the most wonderful deeds of King Dharmasakha.
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Therefore, for the attainment of all desires, one should bathe in the pool of Hanumat.
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The human being who recites this chapter or hears it with a concentrated mind, O twice-born,
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attains unending happiness in the next world and shall sport with the hosts of gods in heaven.
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Thus ends the fifteenth chapter, entitled 'Description of Dharmasakha’s Attainment of a Hundred Sons' in the Praise of Hanumatkuṇḍa, in the Setumātmyā, in the third Brahmakhaṇḍa of the glorious Skanda Mahāpurāṇa consisting of eighty-one thousand verses.
Linked texts (1)
- Skandapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit