Skandapurana 3.1.37
English (machine translation) 3.1.37
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3.1.37.21
Śrī Sūta said: / “O, all you whose wealth is austerity, dwellers of Naimiṣāraṇya! / All the twenty-four tīrthas, beginning with Rāmadhanuṣkoṭi and Cakratīrtha, / have now been narrated to you by me. / Beyond this, what further marvel do you wish to hear?” / The sages said: / “We wish to hear the māhātmya of Kṣīrakuṇḍa, O sage, / near which you previously mentioned Cakratīrtha was located. / Where is that Kṣīrakuṇḍa, what is its grandeur, / and how did its renown as ‘Kṣīrakuṇḍa’ come about? / You ought to speak of this in detail to us who are full of faith.” / Śrī Sūta said: / “I shall tell you, O all sages; listen with attentive minds. / Not far to the west of the highly sacred Devīpura, / there is a most great place known as Phullagrāma, / starting from which the bridge was built across the great ocean by Rāma. / That city named Phullagrāma is indeed a most sacred field. / And right there is Kṣīrakuṇḍa, destroyer of the greatest sins, / which bestows liberation even by darśana, touch, meditation, and recitation of its praise. / The renown of that sacred tīrtha as ‘Kṣīrakuṇḍa’ / I shall reverently tell you; listen with faith. / Long ago, indeed, a sage named Mudgala, who followed the path taught in the Veda, / performed an excellent sacrifice on the shore of the southern ocean in most sacred Phullagrāma, / bringing delight to Nārāyaṇa. / With a gracious mind, Viṣṇu was well pleased by his sacrifice, / and appeared before him in the sacrificial enclosure, O best of brahmins! / Seeing that Viṣṇu whose body was adorned by Lakṣmī, / whose bodily luster was like a dark cloud, adorned with yellow garments, / mounted on the son of Vinatā, his chest adorned with the Kaustubha gem, / his four arms shining with conch, discus, mace, and lotus, / overcome by devotion and adorned with bristling hair, / Mudgala praised him with words pleasing to the ear. / Mudgala said: / ‘To the creator of the world first, then next to its protector, / and then thereafter to its destroyer, reverence to you, Nārāyaṇa! / Reverence to him in the form of a fish, to the tortoise, the conscious Self! / Reverence to him whose body is a boar! Reverence to him who has the form of a lion! / Reverence to you, the dwarf; reverence to you, the son of Jamadagni! / Reverence to you, the descendant of Raghu! Reverence to you, Balabhadra! / To Kṛṣṇa, to Kalkin, reverence to you whose form is knowledge! / Protect me, ocean of compassion, Nārāyaṇa, Lord of the world! / Shameless, wretched, cruel, malicious, deceitful, emaciated, / greedy only for the wives, wealth, and fields of others, / with a mind beset by envy—protect me, O Hari, through compassion!’ / Thus praised in person by Mudgala, O best of brahmins, / Hari addressed that sage Mudgala with a voice deep as a cloud.”
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Śrī Hari said:
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“I am pleased with this hymn of praise, Mudgala, and with your sacrifice.
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I have come to your sacrifice in visible form to consume the oblation.”
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Thus addressed by Hari there, Mudgala, with a joyful mind,
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spoke to Adhokṣaja, filled with supreme devotion.
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Mudgala said:
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“I have attained my goal, Hṛṣīkeśa! My wife has achieved blessedness!
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Today my birth has borne fruit; indeed, today my austerity has borne fruit!
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Today my lineage has borne fruit; indeed, today my sons have borne fruit!
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My hermitage has borne fruit this very day; everything of mine has borne fruit today,
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since you have come here to my sacrificial enclosure to consume the oblation!
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Whom the yogins, devoted to yoga, seek in their hearts,
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that very you I see today face-to-face; this sacrifice of mine has borne fruit!”
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Having said this, worshiping that Viṣṇu with a seat and other offerings,
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with sandalpastes and other flowers, and offering arghya to Viṣṇu,
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he gladly presented to Viṣṇu the oblation consisting of puroḍāśa cake and other offerings.
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Taking it with his own hand, the creator of the worlds,
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Viṣṇu, consumed that oblation offered by Mudgala.
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When that oblation was consumed by the all-powerful Viṣṇu,
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all the thirty [gods] along with Agni were satisfied, O brahmins.
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The officiating priests, the patron of the sacrifice, and likewise the brahmins present there,
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and whatever living beings there were in this world, whether moving or stationary—
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the entire world was satisfied when the oblation was consumed by Viṣṇu.
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Then Hari, with a gracious mind, addressed Mudgala:
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“I am pleased. Here I am as a granter of boons; choose a boon, O you of good vows.” / When Keśava had spoken thus, the great seer addressed him.
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When this was said by Keśava, the great seer then spoke to him:
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Mudgala said:
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“Since my oblation in the sacrifice was consumed by you in visible form,
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by that alone I have attained my goal; what boon could be greater than this?
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Even so, Lord Viṣṇu, may my devotion to you be ever steadfast
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and free of deceit; this is my first boon.
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O Mādhava, every day, at evening and morning, here unto the fire
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that is your form, for your pleasure, with the milk of Surabhi, O Hari,
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I wish to offer oblations, O granter of boons; grant me that as another boon.
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For daily offering of milk oblation at both times is enjoined by Vedic scripture,
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and I, an ascetic without wealth, have no cows.”
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When Mudgala had spoken thus, the divine Lord Nārāyaṇa, Hari,
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summoned Viśvakarman, Tvaṣṭṛ, the eater of ambrosia,
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and had a beautiful lake made by that craftsman.
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With various slabs of crystal and other stones, that [lake] was levelled
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by Viśvakarman, and further adorned with surrounding walls and other structures. / Then, summoning Surabhi, the Lord spoke [these] words.
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Śrī Hari said:
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“This Mudgala is my devotee, Surabhi. Every day with joy,
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for my pleasure, he now wishes to make an oblation of milk.
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For my pleasure, O goddess, prompted by me from now on,
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coming here every day at evening and morning, O auspicious Surabhi,
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fill this lake with the milk produced from you.
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With that milk, he will constantly offer oblations at evening and morning.”
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Saying “Om,” Surabhi, thus addressed by Nārāyaṇa, [filled the lake].
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Then Lord Nārāyaṇa said to Mudgala:
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“Constantly with the milk of Surabhi remaining in this lake,
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every day, evening and morning, to the fire here for my pleasure,
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offer oblations, O fortunate one! By that I shall be pleased with you.
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Through my pleasure, all accomplishment shall be yours, O Mudgala!
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This sacred ford shall become famous under the name Kṣīrasaras.
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For those who have bathed in this sacred ford of Kṣīrasaras, the five great sins
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and other sins as well shall perish in an instant.
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And you, Mudgala, free from bondage, come to me at the end of your body.”
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Having spoken thus and embraced that Mudgala, Lord Viṣṇu,
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saluted by him, vanished right there.
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Mudgala too, when Viṣṇu was gone, for many hundreds of years,
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offering oblations to the fire with Surabhi's milk for the satisfaction of Hari,
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lived, constantly self-restrained, in Phullagrāma, which bestows liberation.
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At the end of his body he attained liberation in the form of union with Viṣṇu.
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Śrī Sūta said:
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Thus, O best of brahmins, has this been told to you by me,
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how this sacred ford came to be named Kṣīrasaras in ancient times.
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This holy Kṣīrasaras is renowned in all the worlds,
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where Kadru, the wife of sage Kaśyapa, O best of brahmins,
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having bathed at the word of her husband, endowed with vows,
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was immediately freed from the fault of deceitfully conquering her co-wife.
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Therefore, the people of pure minds who bathe in this sacred ford,
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freed from bondage, liberated, performers of meritorious deeds—
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what need have they of sacrifices, or of the Vedas, or of resorting to sacred fords,
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or of prayers and vows, for those who behold Kṣīrakuṇḍa?
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A man whose body is touched by the breeze of Kṣīrakuṇḍa, O brahmins,
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reaches the world of Brahmā and is fully liberated right there.
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Those plunged in this Kṣīrakuṇḍa, even despising Yama,
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shall stand upon his head, blazing like fire.
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For those plunged in this Kṣīrakuṇḍa, the Vaitaraṇī river becomes cool,
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and all the hells become utterly useless.
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Ah, while that Kṣīrakuṇḍa, equal to the wish-granting cow, exists,
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the man who wanders elsewhere to bathe, O best of brahmins,
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goes after the milk of the calotropis plant even when cow's milk is at hand!
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Indeed, for those who have bathed in this Kṣīrakuṇḍa, nothing is unobtainable.
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Liberation is placed right in their hand; what is the use of other long speeches?
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Raising my arm, I tell you—truly, truly I tell you:
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He who reads this chapter, or hears it with concentrated mind,
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he attains the highest fruit of bathing in Kṣīrakuṇḍa.
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Thus ends the thirty-seventh chapter, named “Description of the Nature of Kṣīrakuṇḍa,” in the praise of Kṣīrakuṇḍa within the Setumāhātmya in the third [section], the Brahmakhaṇḍa, in the glorious Skanda Mahāpurāṇa consisting of eighty-one thousand verses.
Linked texts (1)
- Skandapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit