Skandapurana 3.2.14
English (machine translation) 3.2.14
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Yudhiṣṭhira said:
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"O ocean of compassion, highly fortunate one, all-pervading lord of gods!
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When indeed was austerity performed here by Viṣṇu of immeasurable brilliance?
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And it was narrated to Skanda by the great-souled Śarva;
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do you yourself tell everything in proper sequence."
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Vyāsa said:
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"Listen, my child, I will explain, O best of kings: in Dharmāraṇya,
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once austerity was performed here by Viṣṇu of immeasurable brilliance."
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Skanda said:
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"How is it called Devasaras, [and] Pampā, Campā, and Gayā,
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and superior to Vārāṇasī? And how did Hari become horse-faced?"
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Īśvara said:
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"Here Lord Nārāyaṇa practiced austerity very difficult to perform
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for three hundred divine years, and he became one endowed with a beautiful face.
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Mahāviṣṇu practiced austerity for the sake of a handsome form, O son,
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when Hari had the face of a horse there in that abode of perfections of great splendor."
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Skanda said:
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"Tell now the reason why Hari became horse-faced,
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he who is the slayer of the great foe, the god of gods, the lord of the universe!
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By whose name, O highly fortunate one, even numerous sins
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are dissolved swiftly, just like darkness at the rising of the sun;
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whose deeds are heard to be wondrous, truly wondrous;
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the Supreme Lord, the cause of all living beings!
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How could that god, whose nature is the breath of life, have the form of a horse?
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He is proclaimed to have one uniform nature throughout all the treatises,
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attainable through devotion by those possessed of virtue, having the nature of bliss, ever pure,
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though beyond the qualities, yet eternal, all-pervading, and qualityless,
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the creator, the protector, the destroyer, the unmanifest [essence] of all embodied beings,
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benevolent, of great brilliance—why did he become horse-faced?"
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from whose hair-pores arose the gods, trees and other beings, serpents and mountains;
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from whose body the entire universe is born in every aeon;
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he alone is the source of the universe, he alone is the ultimate cause;
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by whom the lores and the sacrifices that had perished in the cosmic dissolution were brought back again;
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that wicked demon was slain, and an effort was made for the sake of the Vedas;
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such was Mahāviṣṇu—how did he become horse-faced?
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By whom the earth bearing gems was effortlessly held upon his back;
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and the entire world, both stationary and moving, was set in proper order;
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how did that god of universal form truly become horse-faced?
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He who, having assumed the form of a boar, became the slayer of Hiraṇyākṣa;
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the exceedingly pure one of great splendor, entering into the waters of the ocean,
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lifted up the entire earth along with its oceans and mountains;
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surely the earth was effortlessly lifted up on the tip of his tusk by him,
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having assumed the tawny form of a boar that destroys sorrow—
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how did that god, the Lord, come to have a horse's neck?
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And that Lord, for the sake of Prahlāda, having assumed a terrifying form,
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the great deity Narasiṃha, who wards off all wicked beings,
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protected that best of devotees who stood amidst mountains, fire, and the sea;
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he slew the wicked Hiraṇyakaśipu at dusk,
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and installing him on the throne of Indra, bestowed happiness upon Prahlāda;
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he who indeed assumed the state of man-lion for the sake of Prahlāda;
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he then became a beggar before the son of Virocana;
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and at the horse sacrifice, he was worshipped by Bali;
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the earth was taken from him, heaven and earth having been covered in three strides;
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by whom, through his universal form, Bali was consigned to Pātāla;
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by whom the kṣatriyas on the face of the earth were slain thrice seven times;
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and by that one of exceedingly great splendor, having slain them, the earth was given to the brahmins;
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the Haihaya king was slain by him, and his own mother was killed;
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by whom, while still a boy on earth, the evil-doer was slain,
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the rākṣasī named Tāḍakā, by the grace of Kauśika;
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and at the sacrifice of Viśvāmitra, by him who playfully assumed a human body,
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fourteen thousand rākṣasas were forcefully slain;
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by whom Śūrpaṇakhā was mutilated and Triśiras was struck down;
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who, having slain Vālin, gained Sugrīva as an ally;
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who, having built a bridge across the ocean and slain the ten-headed one in battle,
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arrived at Dharmāraṇya and worshipped the brahmins;
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having given a royal charter and many villages to the best of the twice-born,
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and having bathed in the Dharmavāpī, he gave generous gifts of cows;
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protecting the virtuous and restraining the wicked—
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thus other deeds on the surface of the earth are heard of.
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How did that god, who performed them playfully, become horse-faced?
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He who was born in the Yādava lineage, [slayer of] Pūtanā, Śakaṭa, and others,
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the demon Ariṣṭa, Keśin, Vṛkāsura, Bakāsura,
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Śakaṭāsura, the great demon Tṛṇāvarta, and Dhenuka,
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the wrestler [Cāṇūra], Kaṃsa, and Jarāsaṃdha likewise;
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and the slayer of Kālayavana—how indeed did he become horse-faced?
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Having conquered Tārakāsura in battle, and likewise the city of sixty thousand,
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and sixteen thousand maidens were married by him;
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having performed such superhuman deeds, how did he become horse-faced?
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He who is the protector of all devotees and the slayer of all wicked beings,
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and who, having established righteousness, is Kalki abiding in Viṣṇu's state;
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this is indeed a great wonder that you have revealed.
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Tell me all this reason, O destroyer of Tripura!
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Śrī Rudra said:
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Well asked, O mighty-armed one! I shall tell the reason for it;
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listen with a one-pointed mind regarding the horse-necked Kṛṣṇa.
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Vyāsa said:
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Formerly, a sacrifice was undertaken on the surface of the earth by the gods.
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In order to summon [him] with Vedic mantras, all the gods led by Rudra
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all went to Vaikuṇṭha, his own abode in the ocean of milk.
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Having gone again even to Pātāla, they did not obtain a sight of Kṛṣṇa.
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Then, overcome by bewilderment, they all ran here and there;
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Janārdana, whose nature is Brahman, was not seen by them at all.
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All those gods, led by Indra, reflected:
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"Where has that Mahāviṣṇu gone? By what means can he be seen?"
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Bowing their heads to the god, the lord of speech, they spoke with respect:
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"O god of gods, kindly tell [us] about Mahāviṣṇu."
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Bṛhaspati said:
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"I do not know for what purpose the great-souled one has mounted yoga;
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Viṣṇu has assumed the form of yoga—Hari, Acyuta, the lord of yogins."
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Meditating for a moment on his own Self, Hari was revealed by Dhiṣaṇa.
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All the gods went there, where the god, the lord of the world, was.
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Then Mahāviṣṇu was seen—that Janārdana absorbed in meditation,
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[…] having meditated on the slayer of the Daityas, arrow in hand.
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Having seen him in complete absorption, he undertook a means to awaken [him].
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And he said to the termites then: "With effort, [eat] the bowstring;
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if they cut it, Hari will wake up of his own accord by that sound."
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The gods said:
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"Do eat the string, so that this Hari may awaken.
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We, seeking the sacrifice, O termites, entreat the Lord."
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The termites said:
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"Disturbing someone's sleep, interrupting a story, breaking the friendship of a married couple,
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or causing separation between an infant and its mother—one who does this goes to hell.
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The lord of the universe has mounted yoga; he is absorbed in deep concentration, endowed with great strength.
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We certainly will not cause an obstacle to that glorious Lord of the Universe."
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Brahmā said:
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"You will become all-devouring, if the work of the gods is done.
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Therefore, O termites, it must be done, so that the sacrifice may be accomplished."
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Then, my child, the queen of the termites spoke thus again:
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The termite said:
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"The lord of the universe is difficult to attain, like the Malaya breeze;
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how can he, worshipped by the gods, be awakened by us, O Brahmā?
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I have no need of a sacrifice, nor indeed of the gods;
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let the gods give me a share in all sacrificial rites."
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The gods said:
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"We shall always give a share in sacrifices to the termite;
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it has been granted by us for the sake of the sacrifice; carry out our word!"
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"So be it," said Brahmā also, and the termite set to work.
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The act of devouring the bowstring and the rest was all performed by her, O king.
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Yudhiṣṭhira said:
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[Why did] the gods [attempt] to awaken him by snapping the string during his deep absorption?
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This is a wonder, O brahmin-seer, truly, O son of Satyavatī!
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Vyāsa said:
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All the gods, their minds agitated, drew Hari's bow—
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I do not know for what reason—deluded by the illusory power of Viṣṇu.
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Rejoicing, they released the anthill before Hari;
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then the anthill, resembling a mountain, was brought to the edge of the bow-tip.
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And when that string was eaten through and severed that very instant,
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along with the recoil of the bow-tip the head was severed and went to heaven.
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When the head was gone, those gods, their minds greatly distressed,
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all ran in every direction to look for the head.
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Thus ends the fourteenth chapter, named 'The Loss of Viṣṇu's Head,' in the Dharmāraṇyamāhātmya, in the first part of the third section, the Brahmakhaṇḍa, in the glorious Skandapurāṇa, a collection of eighty-one thousand [verses].
Linked texts (1)
- Skandapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit