Skandapurana 3.3.22
English (machine translation) 3.3.22
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Sūta said:
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Thus the most auspicious path has been shown by Śiva himself,
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the supreme path that brings immediate liberation to men bound in transmigratory existence. // 1
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Now, for dull-witted men, for those not eligible for the Vedas,
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for women, for uninitiated kinsmen of the twice-born, and for all embodied beings, // 2
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this common path directly accomplishes absolute liberation;
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it is to be cultivated by great sages and is well worshipped even by the gods: // 3
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namely, hearing the stories of Śambhu, which destroys the fear of rebirth,
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brings immediate liberation, and is praiseworthy and purifying for all embodied beings. // 4
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This is a lamp that grants the attainment of knowledge to those blinded by the darkness of ignorance,
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and the supreme medicine to be properly taken by those afflicted by the disease of worldly existence. // 5
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It is a very fierce thunderbolt strike against the mountains of great sins,
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[it is] the roasting of the seeds of karma, the means of achieving all prosperity. (6)
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Those who always listen to the world-purifying story of Śambhu—
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those men in this world are Rudras indeed, without a doubt. (7)
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For those who hear the praise of the Trident-Bearer, and likewise for the good who recite it,
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the dust of their feet alone has been proclaimed by sages to be sacred fords. (8)
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Therefore, whatever embodied beings desire to attain the highest good,
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let them always listen with devotion to the Purāṇic narrative about Śiva. (9)
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If a man is unable to listen constantly to the Purāṇic story,
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he should listen, self-restrained, even for a muhūrta, day by day. (10)
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Moreover, if a man is unable to listen every day,
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then in holy months, or on an auspicious day, or on holy lunar days, (11)
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he who listens to the charming narrative proclaimed by the Purāṇas,
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crosses over saṃsāra, having burned the great forest of karma. (12)
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Those who always listen with devotion to the purifying story
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for a muhūrta, or half of that, or even a moment, suffer no misfortune. (13)
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Whatever fruit there is in all sacrifices, whatever fruit there is in all gifts,
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a man obtains that fruit from hearing a Purāṇa just once. (14)
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Particularly in the Kali age, apart from hearing the Purāṇas,
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there is no higher duty for men, nor is there any higher path to liberation. (15)
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There is no higher chanting of praise to Śambhu than hearing the Purāṇa;
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for this reason it is for mankind the great fruit of the wishing tree. (16)
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In the Kali age, mortals are short-lived, weak, and tormented by toil,
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foolish, sorrowful, and devoid of virtuous conduct. (17)
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Considering this with compassion, the venerable Bādarāyaṇa
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prepared for their welfare the nectar called the Purāṇa. (18)
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Drinking this nectar with effort, one becomes free from old age and death;
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the nectar-story of Śambhu renders one’s very lineage ageless and immortal. (19)
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Whether young, a youth, poor, old, or even feeble,
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one who knows the Purāṇas should always be saluted and honoured by those seeking merit. (20)
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One should never hold a lowly view of a knower of the Purāṇas,
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from whose lotus-mouth speech flows as a wish-granting cow to embodied beings. (21)
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There are gurus in the worlds by virtue of birth and also by virtue of qualities;
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yet even among all of them, the knower of the Purāṇas is the supreme guru. (22)
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A soul, being born repeatedly throughout thousands of crores of existences, sinks down.
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Who else could be a guru greater than he who bestows non-return? (23)
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Pure, self-controlled, calm, having overcome envy,
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virtuous, compassionate, eloquent, and wise, the knower of Purāṇas should speak the holy tale. (24)
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When the Purāṇic brahmin has mounted the seat of Vyāsa,
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and as long as the discourse is unfinished, he should not bow to anyone. (25)
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Those who are rogue, who are ill-behaved, and those others who are contentious—
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before such crooked persons he must never recite the story. (26)
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Neither in a place crowded with wicked people, nor one surrounded by Śūdras and wild beasts,
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nor in a gambling house should the wise man recite the holy narrative. (27)
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In a good village filled with virtuous people, in a good sacred field, in a temple of the deities,
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or on the holy bank of rivers and streams, the wise man should speak the holy tale. (28)
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Endowed with devotion to Śiva, not eager for other activities,
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restraining their speech, attentive, and composed, the listeners partake of merit. (29)
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Those lowest of men who listen to the holy tale without devotion,
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have no fruit of merit; their lot is misery in birth after birth. (30)
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Those who, without worshipping the Purāṇa with offerings of betel and the like,
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listen to the story even with devotion, become poor, though not sinners. (31)
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Those men who depart elsewhere while the story is being recited,
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their wives and riches perish in the midst of enjoyment. (32)
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And those sinners, the lowest of men, who listen to the purifying story
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with turbans on their heads, are reborn as cranes. (33)
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Those who listen to the purifying story while chewing betel,
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Yama's servants force them to eat their own excrement in hell. (34)
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And those hypocrites who listen to the story while seated on a high seat,
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having suffered in endless hells, indeed become crows. (35)
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And those who sit in the hero's posture, and those who remain on a couch,
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and listen to the true recitation, indeed become crooked trees. 36
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Those who listen without bowing down become poison trees.
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Men who listen to the recitation lying down become pythons. 37
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He who listens to the recitation seated on the same seat as the reciter,
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incurring a sin equal to violating the guru's bed, would go to hell. 38
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Those who revile the knower of the Purāṇa or the sin-destroying recitation,
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those mortals are reborn as dogs for a hundred births. 39
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Those lowest of men who talk while the recitation is going on,
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are born as donkeys, and after that as chameleons. 40
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Men who never listen to the meritorious recitation,
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after suffering terrible hells, become wild boars. 41
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Those best of men who applaud the recitation being recited,
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even without hearing [it all], go to the eternal, supreme abode. 42
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Those wicked people who cause an obstacle while the recitation is being proclaimed,
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after suffering hells for tens of millions of years, become village pigs. 43
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Those who cause men to hear the meritorious purāṇic recitation,
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remain in the abode of Brahmā for full one hundred crores of kalpas. 44
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Those men who give to the knower of the Purāṇa for a seat,
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blankets, antelope skins, cloths, a couch, or a wooden plank, 45
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reach heaven, enjoy desires as they wish,
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and dwelling in the worlds of Brahmā and others, attain the infallible state. 46
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Those who give a new cotton garment to the knower of the Purāṇa,
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become endowed with pleasures and knowledge in birth after birth. 47
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Those who have committed the great sins and those who have committed minor sins,
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attain the supreme abode merely by hearing the Purāṇa. 48
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In this regard I will tell a most sacred legend, O best of the twice-born,
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which destroys all sins for listeners, wondrous and very captivating. 49
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In the middle of the southern region there was indeed a village named Bāṣkala.
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All the people there were foolish and devoid of correct rites. 50
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The conduct of brahmins was not there; they turned their backs on the Veda and the smṛti,
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lacking recitation of mantras and study of scriptures, afflicted with desire for other men's wives. 51
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They were farmers, bearers of weapons, godless, of crooked conduct;
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they did not know the highest dharma characterised by knowledge and dispassion. 52
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The women also indulged in sin, unchaste, lustful for pleasure,
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evil-minded, wandering crookedly, devoid of good conduct. 53
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There was a vile brahmin named Vidura, an evil-minded man;
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he was the husband of a courtesan and, though married, went astray. 54
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Leaving his own wife named Bandulā every night,
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he would go to a courtesan's house and make love, afflicted by love. 55
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That young woman too, his wife in fresh youth, left alone at night,
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unable to endure the surge of passion, coupled and made love with a paramour. 56
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Seeing that wicked woman once coupled with her paramour,
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her husband in anger quickly rushed at her. 57
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When the paramour had fled, that evil-minded man seized his wife,
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and striking her with clenched fists, beat her again and again. 58
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That woman, tormented by her husband, grew furious and spoke fearlessly:
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"You make love to a courtesan every night; what is my recourse? 59
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I am a beautiful woman, endowed with fresh youth;
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how can I, tormented by desire, endure being deprived of your company?" 60
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Addressed thus by that slender woman, that vile brahmin said:
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"Indeed you have spoken rightly; therefore I will tell you what is beneficial: 61
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extracting wealth from lovers, grant them highest sexual pleasure.
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Give all that wealth to me; I will give that to the courtesans. 62
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In this way my desire will also be fulfilled, O fair-faced woman!"
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"So be it," that wife accepted the words of her husband. 63
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As the couple engaged in such wicked conduct,
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in time that brahmin, a keeper of an unchaste woman, met his death. 64
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When her husband died, that woman lived in her home with her sons
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for a very long time, her youth slightly past. 65
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One day, through the force of destiny, when an auspicious festival arrived,
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that woman went with her relatives to the sacred field of Gokarṇa.
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Having bathed there in the water of the sacred ford, in a certain temple of the deity,
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she heard the sacred purāṇic story of the foremost among gods:
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"For women attached to lovers, Yama's servants in hell
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thrust a heated iron bar into the abode of Kāma."
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Hearing this code of righteousness spoken by the purāṇic reciter,
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terrified, she spoke in secret to that foremost of brahmins:
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"O brahmin, not knowing, I committed terrible sin,
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acting in youth through willful conduct and deceit.
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Hearing this word of yours revealing the meaning of the Purāṇa,
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a great fear has arisen in me, and my body trembles constantly.
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Curse me, attached to evil senses, sinful, deluded by Kāma!
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For the sake of slight pleasure, I shall go to a dreadful misfortune.
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How will I behold the terrifying messengers of Yama at death?
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How can I find steadfastness when bound by force with nooses around the neck?
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How will I endure the cutting of my body into pieces in hell?
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And how will I fall, tormented, into caustic mire?
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And how will I wander through hundreds of thousands of wombs,
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among worms, insects, birds, and the like, afflicted constantly by a flood of sorrow?
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And how can food appeal to me from this day forth?
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And how will I take rest in sleep at night, overwhelmed by grief?
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Alas, alas! I am ruined, I am burned, and my heart is shattered!
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Alas, O Fate, having given me the intention, you cast me into great sin!
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Whatever terrible pain arises for an embodied soul
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falling from a high mountain peak or impaled on a stake, mine is ten million times greater than that.
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Even after performing ten thousand horse-sacrifices and bathing in the Gaṅgā for a hundred years,
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purification from my very heavy sin would likely not occur.
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What shall I do? Where shall I go? Or whom shall I take as refuge?
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Or who in this world can rescue me as I fall into the ocean of hell?
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You alone are my guru, O brahmin; you are my mother, and you are my father.
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Save me, save me, wretched as I am, who have fled to you alone for refuge!"
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As she had thus attained despair and fallen at his two feet,
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the wise, foremost of twice-born raised her up with compassion and spoke:
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The brahmin said:
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"By good fortune, you have awakened in time after hearing this great narrative.
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Do not fear; I will declare to you the path that brings happiness.
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Just from hearing the noble discourse has such an intellect arisen in you:
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detachment from the objects of the senses, and a great repentance has arisen.
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For repentance is the supreme expiation of all sins;
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by that alone does a wise person immediately accomplish an atonement.
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Even after performing all atonements according to the prescribed rule,
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women without repentance do not attain the highest state.
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From constantly hearing the noble discourse, one attains the supreme state,
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and from residing in a sacred field, purity of mind is born.
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Just as one always attains the supreme state through the noble discourse,
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so the excellent understanding of a creature could not come about through other virtuous vows.
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Just as a mirror becomes free from stain when repeatedly polished,
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so through the noble discourse does the mind attain supreme purity.
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When the mind of men is purified, meditation on Umā's lord is accomplished.
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Through meditation, all impurity accumulated by mind, speech, and body
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is immediately shaken off, and the virtuous go to the supreme abode of Śambhu.
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Therefore, for those who have renounced merit, the noble discourse is the supreme means.
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Through narrative, meditation is accomplished; from meditation comes excellent absolute freedom.
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One who has not attained supreme meditation, yet listens to this narrative,
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attains meditation in another birth and goes to the supreme state.
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By merely uttering the name, having chanted the mantra,
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Ajāmila, endowed with repentance, reached the supreme state.
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Listening to noble discourse is the seed of all blessings for men;
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he who is devoid of it is a beast—how could he be released from bondage?
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Therefore, you too, with mind turned away from all sense-objects,
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Establish supreme devotion and always listen to sacred narratives.
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As you constantly listen to sacred narratives, your mind will attain purity.
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By means of that, you will meditate on the Lord of the Universe; from that, you will attain liberation.
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For one who meditates on the lotus-like feet of Śiva, liberation will occur within a single birth—
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there is no doubt; I speak the absolute truth.”
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Thus addressed by that brahmin, that woman, overwhelmed with tears,
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fell at his feet and said, “I have achieved my purpose.”
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In that very sacred field, from that best of brahmins,
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Linked texts (1)
- Skandapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit