Skandapurana 3.2.8
English (machine translation) 3.2.8
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Yudhiṣṭhira said:
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Hearing the holy story of Dharmāraṇya, there is no satiety in me, O lord.
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Whenever you tell it, then my mind is filled with eagerness.
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What happened after this? Great curiosity indeed is mine.
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Vyāsa said:
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Listen, O son of Pṛthā, to the most holy narrative arising from the Skandapurāṇa,
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spoken by Sthāṇu to Skanda, auspicious, arising from Dharmāraṇya,
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yielding the fruit of every sacred ford, destroying all afflictions.
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To the god of gods, teacher of the universe, seated on the peak of Kailāsa,
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five-faced, ten-armed, three-eyed, holding the trident in hand,
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with a skull and khaṭvāṅga in his hands, having a serpent as his sacred thread,
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surrounded there by his gaṇas, bowed to by gods and asuras,
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sung with diverse melodies and virtues, accompanied by Nārada and others,
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served by gandharvas and apsarases—to that husband of Umā
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dwelling there, the son bowed down to Mahādeva and said:
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Skanda said:
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O Master, Indra and the other gods, Brahmā and the rest, entirely,
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have arrived at your door, desiring only your darśana.
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What do you command, O god? What shall I do before you?
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Vyāsa said:
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Hearing the words of Skanda, Hara rose from his seat;
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not mounting the bull, he was desirous of departing then.
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Seeing Śiva desirous of departing, Skanda then spoke these words:
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Skanda said:
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What business of the gods is it, O god, that you are summoned in haste?
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Leaving aside your bull, O ocean of compassion, tell me if there is compassion for me:
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Is it a battle between gods and dānavas, or what greater task is it?
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Śiva said:
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Listen with one-pointed mind to that on account of which my thoughts are distracted:
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There is a most holy place on the earth, Dharmāraṇya.
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Even there I wish to go together with the gods, O six-faced one.
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Skanda said:
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Having gone there, O Mahādeva, what will you do now?
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Tell me that in its entirety, O Lord of the Universe—the whole task.
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Śiva said:
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Let my words be heard, O son, which cause joy to the mind,
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the great [narrative] from the beginning of all events, bringing about creation and preservation.
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When the dissolution had occurred, enveloped on all sides by darkness,
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there existed then the one Brahman, beyond the qualities, the imperishable seed.
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First created indeed by the qualities is that declared to be the great substance.
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When the great cosmic age had arrived, and the moving and unmoving had gone to destruction,
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the Lord of the Universe, having the form of water, sporting in play,
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after a long time had passed, produced with the true principles beginning with earth
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a tree charming with ten thousand branches,
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laden with vast fruits, adorned with a trunk, stem, and the like:
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rich with an abundance of fruits, possessing hanging aerial roots—a great banyan tree.
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Then, having assumed the state of a child, Vāsudeva Janārdana
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lies upon the leaves of the banyan tree, eager to fashion the universe.
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In the navel-lotus of Viṣṇu, Brahmā, the creator of the worlds, was born,
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seeing everything made of water, formless, without shapes.
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Seeing that, suddenly in agitation, Brahmā, the grandfather of the worlds,
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then said this, O son: 'What shall I do for certain?'
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Then from the god, an incorporeal voice arose in the sky:
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'Perform austerity, O creator, O maker, so that you may have vision of me!'
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Hearing that speech there, Brahmā, the grandfather of the worlds,
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practised terrible, supreme, most arduous, and great austerity.
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Then the lord of Kamalā, smiling in the form of a child,
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the compassionate one, spoke sweet words in childlike play:
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Śrī Viṣṇu said:
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"Son, according to rule, create today within the cosmic egg
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Pātāla, the surface of the earth, the seas, oceans, and forests,
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trees, mountains, two-footed beings, and animals,
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birds, gandharvas, siddhas, yakṣas, and rākṣasas,
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beasts of prey and whatever living beings there are across eighty-four [hundred thousand] wombs:
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plant-born, sweat-born, womb-born, and egg-born,
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twenty-one hundred thousand wombs of each.
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Create all of this swiftly." Having spoken thus, he vanished.
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Everything and the cosmic egg were fashioned by Brahmā just as instructed,
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in which the grandfather, the single sovereign Prajāpati, was born:
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Sthāṇu, the preceptor of the gods, the sun, and the Pracetases of Parameṣṭhin,
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as well as Dakṣa, Dakṣa's sons, and the seven seers.
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From him arose the twenty-one lords of creatures,
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and the immeasurable Puruṣa; thus the seers of the lineages know [it].
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The Viśvedevas, the Ādityas, the Vasus, and the two Aśvins,
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yakṣas, piśācas, sādhyas, ancestors, and guhyakas,
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then were born the eight wise, spotless brahmin-seers,
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and many royal seers, all endowed with virtues;
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sky, waters, earth, wind, the intermediate space, and the cardinal directions;
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the year, seasons, months, fortnights, days and nights in succession;
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kalās, kāṣṭhās, muhūrtas and the like, nimeṣas and the like, and lavas;
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the circle of planets along with lunar mansions, the yugas, manvantaras, and the rest.
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And whatever else there is, all that came into being, witnessed by the world.
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This entire wheel that is seen, whatever is stationary or moving,
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is contracted again, O son, when the destruction of the world arrives.
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Just as in the change of seasons the seasonal signs and names and forms
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are seen as the very same ones, so it is with the yugas and the rest, dear child."
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Śiva said:
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"Hereafter I shall tell an auspicious Purāṇic narrative,
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and likewise, O son, the recital of Brahmā's lineage.
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Known as the mind-born sons of Brahmā are six great seers:
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Marīci, Atri, Aṅgiras, Pulastya, Pulaha, and Kratu.
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Kaśyapa was the son of Marīci; from Kaśyapa the subsequent creatures
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were born: the thirteen fortunate daughters of Dakṣa—
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Aditi, Diti, Danu, Kālā, Danāyu, and Siṃhikā,
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Krodhā, Provā, Vasiṣṭhā, Vinatā, and Kapilā,
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and Kaṇḍū, and Sunetrā—he gave to Kaśyapa then.
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In Aditi the twelve fair-faced Ādityas were born.
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From Sūrya was born the king of dharma; by him this was fashioned of old.
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Seeing that it was fashioned by Dharma, [he made] the unsurpassed Dharmāraṇya.
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It is called Dharmāraṇya, which bestows merit, as told by me, O Skanda."
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Skanda said:
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"The supremely purifying account of Dharmāraṇya,
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all that I wish to hear; tell it, O Maheśvara!"
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Īśvara said:
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"All the gods beginning with Indra followed along with Brahmā.
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I shall indeed go to that sacred field which destroys sin."
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Skanda said:
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"I too shall come to see it, O moon-crested one!"
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Sūta said:
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Then Skanda, Rudra, Sūrya, the wind, and fire,
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siddhas and gandharvas, and likewise the auspicious apsarases,
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piśācas, all the guhyakas, Indra, and Varuṇa,
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all the serpents, Śukra, and Vācaspati arrived,
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all the planets with the lunar mansions, the eight Vasus beginning with Dhruva,
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all those who roam the sky, and whatever others dwell on mountains,
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and all the gods headed by Brahmā [came] to Vaikuṇṭha with great joy.
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Then Brahmā [went] for deliberation to Viṣṇu of immeasurable splendour.
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Having gone to that Vaikuṇṭha, Brahmā, the grandfather of the worlds,
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meditated for a moment and, greatly delighted, spoke to Viṣṇu.
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Brahmā said:
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"Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa, O mighty-armed one, compassionate one, Supreme Lord!
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You are the creator, you are the destroyer, and you alone are the father of the universe.
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Homage to you, O Viṣṇu, gentle one! Homage to you whose emblem is Garuḍa!
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Homage to you, beloved of Kamalā! Homage to you whose form is Brahman!
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Homage to you who took the form of the Fish! Homage indeed to you whose form is the universe!
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Homage to you, destroyer of Daityas, who grants fearlessness to devotees!
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Homage be to you, slayer of Kaṃsa! Homage to the conqueror of the demon Bala!"
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Thus praised by Brahmā, Janārdana became visible [before him]—
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wearing yellow garments, dark as a raincloud, having the enemy of serpents as his vehicle,
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four-armed, of great splendour, holding the conch, discus, and mace,
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being praised by all the gods, that deity of immeasurable valor,
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and praised on every side by Vidyādharas and Nāgas.
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That god then stood up, possessing the boundless radiance of the sun,
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adorned with a crown and other [ornaments] shining with the brilliance of ten million gems.
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Thus ends the eighth chapter, titled 'The Meeting with Viṣṇu', in the Dharmāraṇyamāhātmya of the first part of the third Brahmakhaṇḍa in the glorious Skanda Mahāpurāṇa consisting of eighty-one thousand verses.
Linked texts (1)
- Skandapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit