Skandapurana 4.18
English (machine translation) 4.18
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Agasti said:
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Hearing this delightful story, Śivaśarman, a native of Mathurā,
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having bathed well in Muktipurī and breathed his last in Māyāpurī,
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then made the sphere of the Seven Seers a guest to his eyes,
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as he traveled to the world of Viṣṇu, because in the end he had beheld the city of Viṣṇu.
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And he spoke, serene at heart, praised by bards and panegyrists,
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entreated by divine maidens: “Stay, do stay for a moment!”
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[The maidens], standing among the daughters [of the gods], sighed: “Ah, we are unfortunate,
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since he, the most virtuous of men, has departed to the most sacred worlds.”
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Hearing these words from their mouths, he, seated on the aerial chariot, [asked]:
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“O two divine beings, whose is this peerless, auspicious world full of light?”
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Hearing the brahmin's words, the two best of gaṇas replied:
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“O Śivaśarman of Śaiva resolve, the pure Seven Seers always
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dwell here, appointed by the Creator of creatures to generate offspring:
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Marīci, Atri, Pulaha, Pulastya, Kratu, Aṅgiras,
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and the exalted Vasiṣṭha—the mind-born sons of Brahmā.
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These are determined in the Purāṇa as the seven Brahmās.
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Saṃbhūti, Anasūyā, Kṣamā, Prīti, Sannati,
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Smṛti, and Ūrjā are, in order, their wives, the mothers of the world.
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And by their austerity this threefold world is sustained.
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Having brought them forth formerly, Brahmā said to these great seers:
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‘O sons, diligently generate progeny of manifold forms!’
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Then, having bowed to Brahmā, resolved upon austerity,
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they reached Avimukta, the sacred field presided over by the Knower of the Field,
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which was never forsaken by Śiva for the liberation of all creatures.
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And having installed liṅgas marked with their own names,
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they performed intense, fierce austerity with supreme devotion to Śiva.
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Pleased by their austerity, Śambhu granted them the rank of Prajāpatis.
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Having diligently beheld the liṅgas beginning with Atrīśvara in Kāśī,
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they dwell here in the world of the Prajāpatis, blazing with brilliant radiance.
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Installed on the western bank of the lake of Gokarṇeśa,
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beholding the Atrīśvara liṅga, one's brahminical splendor increases.
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To the northeast of the Karkoṭa well is the excellent pool of Marīci;
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bathing there with devotion, a man shines like the sun.
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Moreover, the liṅga named Marīcīśvara is installed there;
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from the sight of that liṅga, O brahmin, one attains the world of Marīci.
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In radiance like the sun, that bull among men shines resplendent.
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Pulaheśa and Pulastyeśa are to the west of Svargadvāra;
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having seen them, a person is glorified in the world of the Prajāpatis.
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Having beheld Āṅgiraseśvara in the delightful Harikeśa forest,
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a man dwells in this world, O brahmin, endowed with blazing splendor.
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Having seen Vāsiṣṭheśvara on the charming bank of the Varaṇā,
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and Kratvīśvara right there, one obtains residence here.
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These liṅgas in Kāśī, honored by those desiring welfare,
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grant what is wished for in the heart, both in this world and the next.”
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The two gaṇas said:
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“O highly fortunate Śivaśarman, here abides that beautiful woman,
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the exceedingly holy Arundhatī, devoted to wifely fidelity,
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by merely remembering whom one obtains the fruit of bathing in the Gaṅgā.
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Accompanied by two or three pure female attendants of the inner chambers, the all-pervading Lord,
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the god Nārāyaṇa, ever joyfully conversed of her
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in front of Kamalā, deeply pleased by her wifely fidelity:
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‘O Kamalā, pure-hearted one! Among devoted wives, such as Arundhatī is,
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none other is anywhere, O lovely woman!
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There is no such beauty, no such character, no such noble pedigree,
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no such skill in the arts, no such attendance upon the husband,
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no sweetness, no profundity, nor pleasing of elders,
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such as Arundhatī possesses, O goddess, in any other woman anywhere, O dear one!
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Blessed are those women in the world, fortunate and pure of intellect,
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who utter even the name of Arundhatī on any occasion.
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Whenever talk of devoted wives takes place in our abode,
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then this chaste woman adorns the first rank.” / As the two attendants of Viṣṇu were thus holding their delightful conversation,
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the realm of Dhruva then presented itself as a guest to the eyes, unmistakably real. // 31
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Thus ends the eighteenth chapter, named “The Description of the Realm of the Seven Seers,” in the first half of the Kāśīkhaṇḍa in the glorious Skandapurāṇa of eighty-one thousand verses. // 18
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- Skandapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit