Skandapurana 3.2.29
English (machine translation) 3.2.29
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Sūta said:
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"Now hear further about the exploits of Lohāsura;
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I shall narrate the famed [story] of Bali's hundred sons as well.
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As those two grown brothers reached the supreme place,
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from that time on, the Daitya Lohāsura conceived detachment:
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'What shall I do? Where shall I go to a supreme place for austerity,
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whose limit the gods, sages, and men do not know?
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Which god should be propitiated by me?' he pondered deeply in his heart.
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As he was pondering thus, a thought arose in that great-souled one:
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'[The one who] bore the Gaṅgā with his head, the sun and the moon in his eyes,
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the god Nārāyaṇa in his heart, Brahmā in the region of his waist,
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in whose body all the deities headed by Indra are reflected,
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and then behold themselves, like the sun in water—
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him alone, the taintless one, I shall propitiate, being free from sin.'
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Having made this resolve, the Daitya performed exceedingly arduous austerity;
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terrified by the dreadful fear of rebirth, [he performed austerity] hard to be done by great-souled ones.
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Eating only water, consuming wind, and subsisting on fallen leaves,
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when he had performed great austerity for a full hundred divine years,
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then the Lord who holds the excellent trident was pleased.
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Īśvara said:
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"Choose a boon, hail to you, whatever is desired by your mind.
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O Lohāsura, there is nothing that cannot be given by me to you because of the power of your austerity."
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Thus addressed, the Dānava there spoke these words before Śaṃkara:
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Lohāsura said:
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"If you are pleased, O Lord of the gods, I choose one boon:
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the agelessness of my body, and let me have no fear even of death;
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in this birth, O Lord, may you always dwell in my heart."
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"So be it," Śiva said there to that lord of Dānavas.
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Having obtained a boon from Śarva, by destiny he again performed great austerity
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on the charming bank of the Sarasvatī to cross the ocean of worldly existence.
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For thousands of years, millions, and hundreds of millions,
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the blessed Indra became anxious, terrified by the power of his austerity:
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"'May there never be a fall from my position due to the Daitya Lohāsura.'
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Maghavan, approaching the forest of the hermitage in a disguised form,
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caused an interruption in the austerity by shaking the great Asura.
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They struck him on the body with sharp, hard fists.
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Then, releasing his meditation, the Daitya looked,
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[and saw] all that had been done by Indra to destroy the power of his austerity.
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Then a battle took place between him and those fierce ones headed by Indra;
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it was one against many, and those gods in battle with him
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became soaked in blood on their bodies, battered by his blows.
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They sought refuge with Keśava, crying out: 'Protect us, protect us!'"
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Sūta said:
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"Hearing the word of the gods, Vāsudeva Janārdana,
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Keśava, fought with him in battle indeed for a hundred years.
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Then, empowered by the boon, he conquered Nārāyaṇa there.
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Now the god Nārāyaṇa, defeated by Lohāsura,
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deliberated again and again with Rudra and Brahmā.
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Having deliberated, the three gods prepared again for battle,
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having seen that the body of the Daitya Lohāsura was renewed once more.
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Then a great battle took place again between the Daitya and Keśava.
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When the Daitya did not die at the hands of the mighty Viṣṇu,
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Keśava threw him forcefully down upon the ground.
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Seeing him fallen on his back, the Supreme Lord who holds the Pināka,
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devoid of form, placed his own form upon his heart.
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Then Brahmā stood upon the throat of that Lohāsura,
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and Puruṣottama oppressed his feet by his own position.
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Then the Daitya rose up, even though bound tightly to the ground.
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Seeing the Daitya risen and throwing down the foremost gods,
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Virañci, seated upon the lotus, spoke with a divine voice:
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Brahmā said:
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“O Lohāsura, always preserve the duty of your word repeatedly;
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that very thing which was requested by you from Rudra has now arrived!
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I, Viṣṇu, and Rudra—these three foremost of gods—
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will enter into your body until the dissolution of all beings.
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O lord of Dānavas, the attainment of Śiva arises only through devoted bhakti;
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how can you intend to shake Śiva?
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He who would move what is unshakeable—temples, brahmins, or cities—
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is tainted with sin in no time at all.
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He should be abandoned like a cremation ground, cast out from truth and duty.
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You are true to your word; may there be welfare to you! Do not displace the deities!
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The path along which the fathers have gone, along which the grandfathers have gone,
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by that path one should go; the course of the virtuous must not be violated.
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O lord of Dānavas, your father gave the three worlds to Hari;
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bound by the bond of his word, that king of the earth ruled in Pātāla.
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Likewise, you are bound by the bond of your word and endowed with devotion to Śiva.
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Stay upon the surface of the earth, O king of Daityas; do not incur a failure of your word!
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And we shall grant you boons; the deities must not be displaced!”
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Vyāsa said:
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Hearing that speech of Brahmā, the lord of Dānavas was pleased;
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with a gracious voice, he spoke to Brahmā, Keśava, and Hara:
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Lohāsura said:
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“I remain bound by the bond of my word, not indeed through your strength.
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If these three foremost among the gods—Brahmā, Viṣṇu, and Rudra—
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will abide in my body, then what have I not obtained?
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May this body of mine, indeed mounted by the three gods,
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become renowned on earth through my power, O foremost of gods!”
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Gladdened by the words of Lohāsura, the three gods,
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Brahmā, Viṣṇu, and Maheśvara, gave an answer to him:
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“Since the Daitya did not swerve from truth due to the bond of his true word,
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pleased by that truth, we will grant you what is desired in your heart.”
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Brahmā said:
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“Just as ritual ablution, knowledge of Brahman, and abandonment of the body [are fruitful] at Gayā,
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so too, O Daitya, in Dharmāraṇya, before Dharmeśvara.
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The ancestors in heaven praise the libation and the ancestral rite performed at the well,
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just as the ancestors are satisfied by the offering of balls of food at Gayā.
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They desire a libation at the well in Dharmāraṇya for their purification.
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O lord of Dānavas, your body indeed shall become a sacred ford.
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Whatever supreme satisfaction of the ancestors arises
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when libations are offered twenty-one times at Gayā, O ruler of Dānavas,
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tenfold satisfaction shall indeed be had from offering ancestors' libations
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once before Dharmeśvara; it is true indeed, there is no doubt!
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Let there be imperishable satisfaction for the ancestors here through the offering of balls of food,
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in the space of Śiva's form, in Dharmāraṇya on the earth.
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The rites of the ancestral rite, balls of food, and water must be performed with faith alone,
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and especially the ancestral rite and balls of food in the space between us.
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So also [let there be no] worry anywhere on your body; you are true, O you of noble vows!
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Difficult to obtain in the three worlds, your truth is established in heaven.”
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By our truthful word, it shall be so, O best of asuras!
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On the surface of the earth, your [body] has become a sacred ford superior even to Gayā.
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Our residence within your body is undisturbed, there is no doubt.
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O sinless one, we are bound indeed firmly by you with the snare of truth.
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Viṣṇu said:
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The fruit is traditionally held to be even greater than that of Gayā, Prayāga, and Kāśī,
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from offering piṇḍas at the Lohayaṣṭi on the fourteenth day and the new moon.
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By the truthfulness of the son of Bali, great satisfaction indeed [arises] here.
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Have no doubt about this: having situated herself directly in your body,
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the Sarasvatī, of sacred waters, flows forth from the world of Brahmā.
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Closely joined with me, she will bathe the limbs of your body.
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Where Dvārakā is situated, Lord Maheśvara is there,
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and [where] Virañci is—these three sacred fords upon the surface of the earth,
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and in Pātāla, in heaven, and in the abode of Yama,
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shall be renowned, O best of asuras, for the purpose of satisfying the ancestors.
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Now I will declare another supreme verse recited by the ancestors,
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which has the nature of a command for sons. Hear it from me, O sinless one:
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The ancestors said:
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The place in front of Śaṃkara bestows the world of Rudra upon men,
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for the sake of purifying the sinful body of those whose minds are struck down by sin.
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There, having been gratified even with water and sesame seeds by a good, wise son,
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the ancestors go from hell to a good destination.
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They praise the gift of a cow there for the liberation of the ancestors,
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having dedicated it to the father and others, after beholding Rudra and Keśava.
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"With an offering of sesame paste we will attain supreme satisfaction
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on the fourteenth day and the new moon, and likewise through the libation to the ancestors.
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One should offer piṇḍas for those whose lineage and birth are unknown;
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they too all go to heaven—such is the sacred tradition regarding whoever is offered [a piṇḍa]."
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Abandoning all [other] tasks, men desiring merit
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should go to the Lohayaṣṭi when the month of Bhādrapada arrives.
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Hear this mantra for the piṇḍa for those of unknown lineage and name:
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"Those who have died in the paternal line, and likewise in the maternal line,
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and those born of gone lineages—may this piṇḍa be presented to them!"
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Viṣṇu said:
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With this very mantra, O best of gods [or asuras], in front of me,
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on the fourteenth day of the waning moon in the month of Nabhasya, one should offer the piṇḍa.
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Inexhaustible satisfaction will belong to the ancestors; of this there is no doubt.
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Through an offering of sesame paste, the ancestors obtain liberation.
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Freed from the three debts, men upon the surface of the earth
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will become [liberated], without doubt, by offering water and sesame seeds at the Lohayaṣṭi.
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Whoever, having bathed here, performs the rites of piṇḍas and water for the ancestors,
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his ancestors are satisfied for as long as a day and night of Brahmā.
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Having reached the day of the new moon in the month of Bhādrapada at the lake,
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whoever performs the ancestral libation at the Staff of Brahmā,
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his ancestors will be satisfied until the dissolution of all beings.
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The Lord, the primeval deity Maheśvara, is pleased with them.
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Those whose minds are set upon a pilgrimage to this sacred ford,
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having bathed with cow's milk and white sesame seeds in the water of the Sarasvatī,
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should make libations; inexhaustible satisfaction is produced for their ancestors.
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One should also perform a śrāddha with roasted barley meal mixed with milk.
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Having reached the day of the new moon, one who wishes for the joy of the ancestors
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should then give a cow at Rudratīrtha, garments at Yamatīrtha,
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and gold at Viṣṇutīrtha, desiring the liberation of the ancestors.
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Without unbroken grains of rice, without darbha grass, and even without a seat,
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merely with water at the Lohayaṣṭi, one obtains the fruit of a śrāddha at Gayā.
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Sūta said:
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This deed of Lohāsura has been told to you, O brahmins,
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hearing which a slayer of a brahmin or a slayer of a cow is freed from all sins.
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Whatever fruit is obtained by offering piṇḍas twenty-one times at Gayā,
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that fruit one completely obtains upon hearing this just once.
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Forty million, two hundred thousand, / a thousand, and one hundred:
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cows would be given by him / who listens to this māhātmya.
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Thus ends the twenty-ninth chapter, entitled "The Completion of the Māhātmya of Lohāsura," in the Dharmāraṇyamāhātmya of the first part of the third [book], the Brahmakhaṇḍa, in the glorious Skanda Mahāpurāṇa consisting of eighty-one thousand verses.
Linked texts (1)
- Skandapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit