Skandapurana 4.45
English (machine translation) 4.45
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Skanda said:
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Then that host of Yoginīs, casting its gaze from afar,
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praised the creation of the long reach of their eyes as fruitful.
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The flags of the celestial rows of palaces, with fluttering banner-cloths,
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seemed to respectfully summon travelers standing afar on the road.
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By the flashing rubies of the palaces, their rays expanding,
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the sky, though deep blue, was seen as exceedingly bright.
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Concealing their divine nature through illusion and assuming the attire suited to pilgrims,
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the circle of Yoginīs entered Kāśī without distinct order.
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One became a female ascetic; another became a woman performing austerities;
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one became a maidservant; another, a woman fasting for a month;
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one, the wife of a garland-maker; another, the beautiful wife of a barber;
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another, skilled in midwifery; another, proficient in medicine;
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and one became a Vaiśya woman, clever at buying and selling;
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one became a snake-catcher; and another, a female servant and nurse.
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And one was skilled in dancing, while another was adept in singing;
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Another knew how to play the flute, and another became a bearer of the lute. // 8
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Another knew how to play the mṛdaṅga drum; one was versed in the art of rhythm;
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One knew the reality of magical arts; one strung pearls; // 9
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Another knew the preparation of perfumes; one was an abode of the art of dice;
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One was skilled in conversational wit, walking through the public squares; // 10
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Expert in climbing poles, and another [skilled] in walking the tightrope;
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One acted like a madwoman on the road, wrapped in rags; // 11
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Another lived there in the city, bestowing offspring upon the childless;
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And one interpreted the signs of the lines on the hands and feet; // 12
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One captivated people's hearts through her skill in painting pictures;
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Knowing mantras of subjugation, one wandered about there; // 13
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One granted the perfection of magic pills, another granted the perfection of magical collyrium;
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Another was expert in alchemy, another granted the perfection of flying sandals; // 14
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She also taught the immobilisation of fire, the immobilisation of water, and the arresting of speech;
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One granted the power of moving through space; another gave invisibility; // 15
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One granted the perfection of attraction; another [the power of] eradication;
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One bewildered the minds of youths through the beauty of her own limbs; // 16
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One granted whatever was desired; one was skilled in the art of astrology.
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Having assumed disguises and dialects of these and other kinds on all sides, // 17
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The host of yoginīs entered every courtyard and every house.
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Roaming about day and night in the city in this manner for a year, // 18
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Those [yoginīs], wishing to cause obstacles for the king, found no vulnerability anywhere.
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Then, having assembled together, all those yoginīs, their desires thwarted, // 19
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Conferred and stayed right there; they did not return to Mandara.
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Not having accomplished their master’s work, elevated by the honor of his assembly, // 20
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Who, with an uninjured body, could dare to stand before their master?
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Moreover, O sage, this was reflected upon by those yoginīs: // 21
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‘We can live even without our master, but never without Kāśī.
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A master, even when angered at a good servant, takes away only the livelihood; // 22
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Kāśī, slipping from one’s grasp, takes away the four aims of human life.
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Even today, beginning from that time, O great sage, // 23
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The yoginīs do not stay elsewhere having abandoned Kāśī, though they roam the three worlds.
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The evil-minded person who, having attained glorious Kāśī, endures [leaving it]— // 24
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He indeed, in turn, is abandoned by dharma, pleasure, wealth, and liberation.
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What fool, having reached Kāśī, would wish to go elsewhere, // 25
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His mind turned to petty prosperity, [away from] the treasure-jar of liberation?
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Even if Īśvara is turned away from us, through the merit of serving Kāśī, // 26
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He will become favorably disposed; both [aims are accomplished] and we have fulfilled our purpose.
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In only a few days, even the Omniscient One will arrive; // 27
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For without Kāśī, the Three-eyed Lord finds delight nowhere else.
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This Kāśī is a certain power of Śambhu, beyond the grasp of all; // 28
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Only Śambhu himself could truly know its supreme joy.’
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Having thus resolved in their minds, in the Bliss Forest of Śambhu, // 29
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The host of yoginīs remained, concealed by a certain illusion.
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Vyāsa said:
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Having heard this, the sage asked the Six-faced Lord once again:
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“What are their respective names? Speak them, O lord! // 30
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And what fruit is born from worshiping the yoginīs in Kāśī?
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On what sacred occasion are they to be worshiped, and how are they to be worshiped? Speak that!” // 31
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Then, having heard this question regarding the yoginīs, the son of Umā
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Replied: “O sage, I shall tell; listen attentively! // 32
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Skanda said:
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I shall declare the names of the yoginīs, O jar-born one,
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Hearing which, the sins of embodied beings are destroyed in an instant: // 33
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Gajānanā, Siṃhamukhī, Gṛdhrāsyā, Kākatuṇḍikā,
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Uṣṭragrīvā, Hayagrīvā, Vārāhī, Śarabhānanā, // 34
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Ulūkikā, Śivārāvā, Mayūrī, Vikaṭānanā,
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Aṣṭavaktrā, Koṭarākṣī, Kubjā, Vikaṭalocanā, // 35
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Śuṣkodarī, Lalajjihvā, Śvadaṃṣṭrā, Vānarānanā,
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Bear-eyed, Squint-eyed, Large-snouted, Lover of Liquor,
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Skull-in-hand, Red-eyed, Parrot-faced, Falcon-faced, Dove-faced,
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Noose-in-hand, Staff-in-hand, Fierce, of fierce prowess,
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Child-slayer, Destroyer of Sins, Kālī, Blood-drinker,
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Fat-sucker, Fetus-eater, Corpse-in-hand, Garlanded with Intestines,
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Thick-haired, Large-bellied, Snake-mouthed, having a corpse for mount,
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Serpent-in-hand, Curlew-faced, Deer-headed, Bull-faced,
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Gaping-mouthed, with smoke for breath, Upward-looking with one foot in the sky,
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Tormentor, with withered gaze, Hollow-faced, Broad-nosed,
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Lightning-radiant, Crane-mouthed, Cat-faced, Kaṭapūtanā,
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Boisterous-laugher, Kāmākṣī, Doe-eyed, Deer-eyed.
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Whatever mortal chants these sixty-four names day after day,
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at the three junctures of the day, all affliction caused by wicked beings is quelled for him here.
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Neither ḍākinīs, nor śākinīs, nor kūṣmāṇḍas, nor rākṣasas
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cause distress to him who recites these names.
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They bring peace to children, and they bring safety to fetuses;
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they bestow victory in battle, in royal assemblies, and in disputes.
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A devotee of the seat of the yoginīs will attain his desired perfection;
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even when muttering other mantras at that seat, he will become an obtainer of perfection.
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Through offerings, worship, gifts, and dedications of incense and lamps,
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the yoginīs, quickly pleased, will grant his wishes.
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Having performed the great worship there in the autumn season according to rule,
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and having offered oblations, one who knows the mantras will attain great perfection.
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Beginning on the auspicious first lunar day of the bright fortnight of Āśvina,
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a man should worship until the ninth; he will obtain whatever he has contemplated.
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Fasting on the fourteenth day of the dark fortnight, the best of men,
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having kept vigil there, will attain great perfection.
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With the names beginning with Oṃ and ending in the dative case, a devoted man,
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performing a burnt offering one hundred and eight times for each name at night,
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with bdellium mixed with ghee, in portions the size of a small jujube,
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attains whatever perfection he may desire.
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On the first day of the dark fortnight of Caitra, a pilgrimage there should diligently
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be undertaken by meritorious people to pacify obstacles in the sacred field.
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Whoever, through disrespect, does not make the annual pilgrimage—
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the yoginīs dwelling in Kāśī cause obstacle to him.
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Having placed Maṇikarṇikā in front of them, all those [yoginīs] stand in Kāśī;
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by merely saluting them, a man is not afflicted by obstacles.
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Thus ends the forty-fifth chapter, named 'The Arrival of the Sixty Yoginīs', in the first half of the Kāśīkhaṇḍa, in the fourth [section] of the glorious Skandapurāṇa containing eighty-one thousand verses.
Linked texts (1)
- Skandapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit