Skandapurana 3.2.16
English (machine translation) 3.2.16
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3.2.16.1
Yudhiṣṭhira said:
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For the destruction of the fear of rakṣasas, daityas, yakṣas, and birds,
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for the sake of the residents of Dharmāraṇya, by the lords of work,
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Śaktis were indeed established in various forms and in many ways.
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Tell me their places, names, and exact forms.
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Vyāsa said:
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Listen, O mighty-armed son of Pṛthā, embodiment of dharma, O best of kings!
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In that place, a Śakti was established as the protectress of lineages by the lords of work.
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Śrīmātā in Madārikā, Śāntā in the excellent Nandāpura;
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and they were stationed in the four directions for the protection of the chief brahmins,
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appointed by all the gods, each in her own place, O best of kings.
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All stationed within the forest, indeed, for the protection of the twice-born,
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she became renowned as the auspicious Sāvitrī, O great king; / born of knowledge, she was installed by the gods for the slaying of the asuras.
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She was established by the gods for the slaying of the asuras, born of knowledge.
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Gātrāyī, the goddess Pakṣiṇī, Chatrajā, Dvāravāsinī,
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Śīhorī, she named Cūṭā, and likewise Pippalāśāpurī,
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and many others were installed for protection against danger,
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in the west, the north, and the south indeed, installed by the gods.
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Bearing various weapons, adorned with various ornaments,
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mounted upon various vehicles, assuming various forms,
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filled with various furies, destroying various fears—
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the mothers are to be established each in her proper place, in the directions as appropriate.
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Mounted on Garuḍa, bearing the excellent trident,
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mounted upon a lion, pure in form, Vāruṇī proud with drink,
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the fair-faced one shines with hands abundant in sword, shield, and arrows,
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clad in red garments, with full, elevated breasts,
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radiant like the disk of the rising sun, her eyes rolling with intoxication.
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Thus this great divine goddess was then installed by the Kājeśas,
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for the protection of all beings who dwell in Satyamandira.
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That goddess, O tiger among kings, praised and worshipped together [with the others],
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grants all desired wishes, O most noble king.
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To the west of Dharmāraṇya the auspicious Chatrajā was installed;
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stationed there, endowed with some measure of power, she protects the brahmins,
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having assumed a terrifying form for the destruction of the rākṣasas,
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thus bearing weapons for the fearlessness of the brahmins.
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Before her, one made an excellent lake filled with water.
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Having performed ritual ablutions, libations, and the like in this lake, O fortunate one,
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and the offering of rice-balls and the rest, everything becomes inexhaustible.
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Offering always divine hand-oblations on the ground, incense, lamps, and the like,
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disease does not afflict him, and there is the destruction of enemies;
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one should repeatedly offer food-offerings and the like there according to one's ability.
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Enemies meet destruction, wealth and grain increase.
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The charming Ānandā, a portion of the Goddess's power, was installed, O king,
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for the protection of the twice-born. Hear her māhātmya, O lord of the earth:
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Clad in white garments, divine, adorned with golden ornaments,
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mounted upon a lion, four-armed, with the crescent moon as her crest,
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endowed with festoons of pearl necklaces, with plump, elevated breasts,
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holding a rosary and sword in hand, bearing a bowstring and a javelin,
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a vessel of excellent divine fragrances, adorned with divine garlands,
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the sattva-natured Śakti Ānandā dwelt of old in that city.
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One should worship her, O king, with camphor and red sandalwood;
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one should feed her with pure milk-rice together with honey, clarified butter, and white sugar.
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For the pleasure of Bhavānī, O king, one should likewise perform the worship of a maiden.
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Whatever is chanted, offered into the fire, given, or meditated upon there, O best of kings,
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all that becomes inexhaustible there; of this there is no doubt.
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Threefold is the threefold increase in that place, O best of kings;
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for the practitioner there will surely be fortunes of wealth, wife, and the like.
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There is no loss, no illness, no enemy, and no wickedness;
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his cows multiply, filled with wealth, grain, and the like.
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He has no fear of a Śākinī, nor of a king or enemy,
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nor fear of disease; everywhere he becomes victorious.
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The fourteen branches of knowledge shine in him as if studied;
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the person who has taken refuge in Ānandā shines like the sun upon the earth.
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Thus ends the sixteenth chapter, titled 'The Description of the Installation of Ānandā', in the Dharmāraṇyamāhātmya, in the first half of the third Brahmakhaṇḍa, in the glorious Skanda Mahāpurāṇa of eighty-one thousand verses.
Linked texts (1)
- Skandapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit