Skandapurana 3.3.16
English (machine translation) 3.3.16
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Sūta said:
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Listen, O excellent sages, to the speech of Vāmadeva. // 1
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Vāmadeva said:
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Formerly, on Mandara, the king of mountains, variegated with various minerals,
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thronged with diverse living beings, and filled with various trees and creepers, // 2
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the revered Kālāgnirudra, worshipped by the universe,
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the lord of spirits, the supreme lord, arrived once of his own free will. // 3
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A hundred crores of Rudras attended around him on all sides;
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seated in their midst was the god of gods, the three-eyed one. // 4
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There came Puraṃdara, the foremost of the gods, along with the gods,
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likewise Agni, Varuṇa, Vāyu, and Yama Vaivasvata; // 5
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gandharvas led by Citrasena, sky-farers, serpents, and others,
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vidyādharas, kimpuruṣas, siddhas, sādhyas, and guhyakas; // 6
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brahmin seers led by Vasiṣṭha, celestial seers led by Nārada,
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the noble ancestors, and lords of creatures led by Dakṣa; // 7
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apsarases led by Urvaśī, and mothers led by Caṇḍikā;
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the Ādityas, the Vasus, the two Dasras, and the Viśvedevas of great splendour. // 8
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Then other lords of spirits capable of destroying the worlds:
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Mahākāla and Nandī, and likewise Śaṅkhapālaka; // 9
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Vīrabhadra of great splendour, Śaṅkukarṇa of great strength,
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Ghaṇṭākarṇa the unassailable, Maṇibhadra, Vṛkodara, // 3.3.16.10
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Kuṇḍodara, Vikaṭa, and the mighty Kumbhodara,
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Mandodara, Karṇadhāra, Ketu, and Bhṛṅgīriṭi; // 11
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and other lords of spirits, large of body and of great fiery might:
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black-colored and white, some having the luster of frogs, // 12
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green, grey, smoky, speckled, yellow-red,
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multi-colored, of diverse limbs, of varied playful sport, furious with intoxication; // 13
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with hands raised holding various weapons, adorned with diverse mounts and ornaments;
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some having tiger faces, some boar mouths, deer faces, // 14
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some crocodile-faced, others with dog faces,
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others jackal-faced, and others with camel-like faces; // 15
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some with faces of śarabhas, bheruṇḍas, lions, horses, camels, and cranes;
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single-faced, two-faced, three-faced, and faceless; // 16
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one-armed, three-armed, five-armed, and armless;
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footless, many-footed, many-eared, and single-eared; // 17
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one-eyed, four-eyed, tall, and some dwarfish.
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Surrounding him on every side, they worshipped the Lord, the master of spirits. // 18
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Then there arrived one of great splendour, the foremost of sages, the wise
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The righteous Sanatkumāra [came] to see that Lord of the universe,
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that God of gods, Lord of all, whose radiance is equal to ten million suns,
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whose deep roar is like the seven oceans churned at the great dissolution,
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whose grandeur is equal to the cosmic fire of dissolution, adorned with a mass of matted hair,
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with an unblemished eye upon his forehead, the radiance of his face unfaded by flames,
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adorned with the crescent moon as a blazing crest-jewel,
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wearing Takṣaka on his left ear and Vāsuki on his right,
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bearing them as a pair of earrings, with prominent jaws like blue sapphires,
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blue-throated, mighty-armed, splendid with garlands of serpents,
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with serpent kings shining as bracelets, armlets, and rings,
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whose girdle was adorned with thousands of endlessly manifold jewels,
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clad in a tiger skin, adorned with bells and mirrors,
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whose lotus feet were made radiant and echoed with sounding anklets
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made of Karkoṭaka, Mahāpadma, Dhṛtarāṣṭra, and Dhanañjaya,
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bearing a dart, javelin, skull-staff, trident, chisel, and bow,
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invincible, undefinable, of inconceivable form—the Lord
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mounted upon a jeweled throne—the great sage bowed down to him.
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His inner self breathing freely with the weight of devotion, having praised him with words conforming to the Veda,
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with hands joined in reverence and neck bowed with modesty, he asked about all the duties that bestow auspiciousness.
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Whichever duties the sage asked about, all of them without exception
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the blessed Rudra explained; then the sage asked further:
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Sanatkumāra said:
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"O Blessed One, the duties that lead to liberation have been heard from your mouth,
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by which men, freed from sin, will cross over the ocean of worldly existence.
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Now, O all-pervading Lord, tell me out of compassion another duty
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that requires little effort yet yields great fruit, granting immediate liberation to mortals.
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Duties seen in the scriptures are thousands-fold and demand great practice;
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even when properly observed, over time they may or may not grant perfection.
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Therefore, I wish to know, by your grace, O Maheśvara,
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that secret duty beneficial to the world, which accomplishes both enjoyment and liberation."
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The blessed Rudra said:
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"The highest of all duties, enjoined by the Veda,
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and the secret for all living beings, is the wearing of the tripuṇḍra."
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Sanatkumāra said:
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"Declare the rule for the tripuṇḍra, O Blessed One, Lord of the worlds!
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I wish to know it in truth by your grace, O Maheśvara:
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how many places are there, what is the substance, what is the power, and who is the deity?
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What is the measure, who is the agent, which are the mantras, and what is its fruit?
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Tell me all this without omission, the entire characteristic of the tripuṇḍra,
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O Lord of the worlds, out of a desire to show grace to the world."
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The blessed Rudra said:
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"Ash produced from burnt cow dung is called fiery [ash];
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that alone is declared to be the substance for the tripuṇḍra, O great sage.
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Taking it with the five mantras consisting of Brahman, beginning with Sadyojāta,
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one should consecrate the ash with the mantras beginning with 'agnir iti'.
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Wiping it while reciting 'mā nas toke', one should smear the head with 'tryambakam',
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and on the forehead and the two arms with mantras beginning with 'tryāyuṣam';
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and on the shoulders one should apply the ash mixed with water and consecrated with mantras.
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There are three lines in these places, O best of sages,
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extending from the middle of the eyebrows to the end of the eyebrows.
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A line drawn in reverse between the middle and ring fingers
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by means of the thumb is said to be the tripuṇḍra.
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For each of the three lines there are nine deities:
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the syllable 'A', the Gārhapatya fire, the Ṛgveda, the earth, rajas,
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the individual self, the power of action, and the morning pressing of soma—
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and Mahādeva is the deity of the first line.
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The syllable 'U', the Dakṣiṇa fire, the atmosphere, sattva, the Yajurveda,
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the midday pressing, the power of will, the inner self,
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and Maheśvara is the deity of the second line.
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The syllable 'M', the Āhavanīya fire, the supreme self, tamas, heaven,
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The power of knowledge, the Sāmaveda, and likewise the third pressing,
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and Śiva: these are the presiding deities of the third line.
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Having constantly bowed to these, the wise man should wear the tripuṇḍra.
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This observance of Maheśvara is proclaimed in all the Vedas.
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It should be practiced by men desiring liberation; they are not born again.
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He who makes the tripuṇḍra with ashes according to rule,
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whether a student, a householder, a forest-dweller, or an ascetic,
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is freed from collections of great sins and from minor sins;
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likewise from other sins, such as killing a kṣatriya, a vaiśya, a śūdra, a woman, or a cow,
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and from slaying a warrior or slaying a horse—of this there is no doubt.
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Even he who makes it without a mantra, not knowing its exalted greatness,
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a tripuṇḍra upon the expanse of his forehead, is freed from all sins:
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stealing another's property, violating another's wife,
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slandering another, seizing another's field, tormenting another,
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stealing crops, groves, and the like, and acts such as burning a house,
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false speech, malicious gossip, harshness, selling the Veda,
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perjury, abandoning a vow, deceit, serving the base,
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accepting a cow, land, gold, a female buffalo, sesame, a blanket, or garments,
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food, grain, water, and the like from low-born people,
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consorting with maidservants, courtesans, outcastes, and actresses,
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and with menstruating women, virgins, and widows,
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and selling meat, hides, juices, and salt.
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These and other sins, innumerable and diverse,
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are destroyed immediately through wearing the tripuṇḍra.
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Stealing Śiva's property, slandering Śiva anywhere,
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and slandering devotees of Śiva are not purified by expiations.
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He on whose limbs are rudrākṣa beads and on whose forehead is the tripuṇḍra,
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even if a caṇḍāla, is worthy of worship and becomes the highest of all castes.
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Whatever sacred fords there are in this world, and whatever rivers are like the Gaṅgā,
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he who wears the tripuṇḍra on his forehead has bathed in them all.
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The seven crores of great mantras headed by the five-syllable mantra,
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and other crores of Śaiva mantras that cause absolute liberation—
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all these have been chanted by him who wears the tripuṇḍra.
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A thousand born before and a thousand yet to be born
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among mortal descendants of his own lineage, he who wears the tripuṇḍra delivers.
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Having enjoyed all pleasures here, endowed with long life and free of disease,
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at the end of his life he attains death with ease.
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Having attained an auspicious, celestial body endowed with the eight supernatural powers,
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and mounted an aerial chariot, served by hundreds of celestial women,
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in the realms of the vidyādharas, the siddhas, the gandharvas of great splendor,
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and of the world-protectors headed by Indra, in due succession,
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having enjoyed vast pleasures, and in the cities of the lords of creatures,
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he reaches the abode of Brahmā and takes delight there for a hundred kalpas.
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And he delights in the realm of Viṣṇu for three hundred lifespans of Brahmā.
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Then, having attained the realm of Śiva, he delights there for endless time.
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He attains communion with Śiva and is not born again.
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Having repeatedly examined the essence of all the Upaniṣads,
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this alone has been ascertained as the supreme good: the tripuṇḍra.
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This greatness of the tripuṇḍra has been related briefly by me.
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It is a secret from all beings, to be concealed by you.
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Having spoken thus, the Lord Rudra vanished right there.
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The sage Sanatkumāra also went to the abode of Brahmā.
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Your intellect too has become spotless through contact with the ashes.
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You too, wear the holy tripuṇḍra with faith.
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Sūta said:
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Having spoken thus, Vāmadeva, the Śiva-yogi of great austerity,
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consecrated the ashes with mantras and gave them to the terrible brahmarakṣas.
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With them, he made a horizontal tripuṇḍra upon the expanse of his forehead.
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Instantly he cast off the state of a brahmarākṣasa through its power.
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He shone like the sun, adorned with an aura of fiery brilliance.
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with divine limbs and form, radiant in divine garlands and garments.
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Devoutly circumambulating that guru, the master of Śiva-yoga,
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and ascending a divine aerial chariot, he went to the realms of merit.
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Vāmadeva, the great yogi, having bestowed upon him the highest state,
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wandered the world like a fool, though [he was] Śiva himself incarnate.
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Whatever person hears this glory of holy ash [and] the tripuṇḍra,
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or causes it to be heard, or reads it, attains indeed the highest state.
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He who recites the glory of Śiva, the cause of liberation from worldly existence; who bows to the lotus feet of the Lord, meditated upon by Śiva-yogis;
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and who makes the tripuṇḍra shine on his forehead as a devotee of Śiva—he shall never dwell in a mother's womb again in this world.
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Thus ends the sixteenth chapter, named 'The Narration of the Glory of Holy Ash', in the third [section], the Brahmottarakhaṇḍa, of the eighty-one-thousand-verse collection of the glorious Skandamahāpurāṇa.
Linked texts (1)
- Skandapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit