Skandapurana 4.47
English (machine translation) 4.47
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Skanda said:
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Now, in the northern direction, there is the excellent pool named Arka,
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There, under the name Uttarārka, the sun, garlanded with rays, resides,
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scorching the mass of sorrows and sustaining the virtuous: the sun,
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Uttarārka of mighty splendor, constantly protects Kāśī.
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Listen, O you of noble vows, to the ancient story that took place there.
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There was a certain brahmin named Priyavrata, born in the lineage of Atri,
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who lived in Kāśī, of auspicious conduct, always fond of guests.
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He had a wife named Śubhavratā, exceedingly charming,
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devoted to serving her husband, and very skillful in household duties.
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Upon her he fathered a daughter endowed with auspicious marks,
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under the first quarter of the Mūla asterism, with Jupiter in an angle.
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She grew in her parents' house like the moon in the bright fortnight,
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beautiful, well-mannered, and bringing delight to her parents;
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she became exceedingly skilled in cleaning the household utensils.
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Just as that maiden grew up in her father's home,
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so also did her father's anxiety increase all the more:
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"To whom should this excellent, charming, well-featured girl be given?
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Where shall I find an excellent bridegroom suited to her,
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endowed with noble family, age, good character, sacred learning,
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beauty, and wealth? Given to whom would she find happiness?"
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As he was thus anxious, a very dreadful fever came upon him—
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that fever called anxiety, which is not alleviated in men even by medicines.
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Through the ripening of that Mūla asterism and through that fever called anxiety,
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the brahmin attained death, leaving behind all his home and possessions.
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When her father had passed away, that maiden's mother also,
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Śubhavratā, abandoned the girl and followed her husband in death.
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"This is the duty of a female companion: whether he lives or dies,
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she who is bound by fidelity to her husband must always remain beside him alone.
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Neither child protects, nor mother, nor father, nor relatives;
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only service at the feet of the husband protects a woman."
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Distressed with grief at her parents' demise,
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Sulakṣaṇā performed the funeral rites, completed the ten-day period,
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and fell into great anxiety, helpless and brought to despair:
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"How shall I, alone, bereft of father and mother,
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reach the far shore of the ocean of worldly existence, hard to cross, when womanhood is vulnerable to everything?
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I was not given to any suitor by my parents;
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then, ungiven, how can I freely choose another bridegroom?
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Even if chosen, if he is not of good family, not virtuous, and not of good character,
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or not independent, what good would come from choosing him?"
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Reflecting thus, she who was endowed with beauty, nobility, and virtue,
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though continually wooed again and again by many young men,
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the maiden allowed none of them entry into her heart.
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Having seen the demise of her parents and such parental love [cut short],
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she reproached herself in many ways, and she reproached worldly existence:
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"Those two by whom I was begotten and by whom I was nurtured—
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where have those parents gone? Fie on the impermanence of embodied beings!
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Alas, even the body is impermanent, just as happened to my parents before my eyes!"
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Having resolved thus, that young woman, having conquered her senses and mind,
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firmly adopted celibacy and undertook severe austerity
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near the god Uttarārka, with her mind unwavering.
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While she was practicing austerity, a small she-goat
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came there every day and stood motionless before her.
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Having eaten a little grass, leaves, and the like in the evening,
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and having drunk water from that pool, it would return to its master's house.
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Then, when five or six years had passed in this manner,
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the god, wandering sportively, arrived there together with the goddess.
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In the presence of Uttarārka, Sthāṇu [Śiva] beheld Sulakṣaṇā performing austerity,
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motionless like a pillar, emaciated by austerity.
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Then Śambhu was petitioned by Girijā, whose heart was filled with compassion:
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"Favor with a boon this slender-waisted girl who is bereft of kin!"
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Hearing the words of Śarvāṇī, Śarva, the ocean of compassion,
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To her whose eyes were closed in deep meditation, Hara, the giver of boons, said:
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“O Sulakṣaṇā, I am pleased; choose a boon, O woman of virtuous vows!
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You have long been weary from your tapas; what wish of yours is there here?”
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Hearing Śambhu's words that showered nectar from his mouth
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and assuaged intense torment, she opened her eyes.
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Beholding visibly before her the three-eyed god intent on granting a boon,
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and the goddess standing at his left side, she bowed with folded hands.
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While the slender-waisted maiden was pondering, “What shall I choose?”
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just then she caught sight of the wretched she-goat before her.
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“In this world of living beings, what man does not live for himself?
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He alone lives who lives for the sake of helping others.
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By this [creature], who witnessed the course of my tapas for a long time,
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I was attended; therefore, I will ask the Lord of the Universe for a boon for her.”
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Having reflected on this in her mind, Sulakṣaṇā addressed the three-eyed god:
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“O Mahādeva, storehouse of mercy, if a boon is to be granted to me,
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then let this wretched young female goat first be shown grace.
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Owing to her animal nature she knows not how to speak at all, yet she is tender in her devotion to me.”
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Hearing this speech distinguished by benevolence toward others,
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the Lord who dispels the distress of the bowed was exceedingly pleased with Sulakṣaṇā.
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Then the God of gods said: “Look, O Goddess, O daughter of the Mountain King!
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Such is the intellect of the virtuous, exalted by aiding others.
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They are fortunate throughout all worlds, and they are the refuge of all virtues,
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who strive with their whole being for the sake of helping others.
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Accumulations of all possessions never endure for long anywhere;
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helping others alone endures for a very long time, my beloved.
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Blessed is this Sulakṣaṇā, worthy of an act of grace.
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Tell, O goddess, my beloved, what boon should be given to her, and what to this she-goat?”
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The holy Goddess said:
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“O Maker of the makers of all creation, omniscient one, dispeller of the distress of the bowed!
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Let Sulakṣaṇā of virtuous conduct and auspicious resolve become my companion,
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even as Jayā and Vijayā, and even as Jayantikā,
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Śubhanandā, Sunandā, Kaumudī, and Urmilā,
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as Campakamālā, as Malayavāsinī,
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as Karpūralatikā, and as auspicious Gandhadhārā,
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as Aśokā, Viśokā, and Malayagandhinī,
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as Candananiḥśvāsā, as Mṛgamadottamā,
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as Kokilālāpā, as Madhurabhāṣiṇī,
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as she who is a treasury of prose and verse, as she who understands what is unsaid,
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as she who knows hints from the glance of an eye, as she who fulfills wishes,
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and as she who captivates hearts with song—even so let this Sulakṣaṇā be!
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She will be very dear to me, since as a girl she has remained celibate.
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Adorned with divine limbs in this very body,
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bearing divine garments, divine fragrance, endowed with divine wisdom,
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holding a waving flywhisk, let her abide forever near me.
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And may this she-goat become the daughter of the king of Kāśī here;
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having enjoyed worldly pleasures here, she will attain unsurpassed liberation.
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For she bathed in this Arkakuṇḍa in the month of Puṣya, on a Sunday,
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before the sun had risen, her mind undisturbed by the cold.
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Through that merit, let this bright-eyed creature become a princess,
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by the power of the granting of your boon, O Viśveśvara, O Lord!
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Let the name of Arkakuṇḍa become Barkarīkuṇḍa;
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her image shall be worshipped here by mortals.
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In the month of Puṣya, on a Sunday, for the god Uttarārka,
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that annual pilgrimage must not be omitted by those desiring the fruit of Kāśī.”
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Having brought to pass everything that was spoken by Mṛḍānī, the omnipresent, all-pervading Lord,
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Viśvanātha, unperceived, entered his palace.
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Skanda said:
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The māhātmya of Lolārka and Uttarārka, O twice-born,
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has been related to you, O fortunate one; now hear about Sāmbāditya!
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Having heard this sacred, auspicious narrative of Lolārka and Uttarārka,
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one will not be overcome by diseases, nor is one afflicted by poverty. (60)
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Thus ends the forty-seventh chapter, named 'Description of Uttarārka', in the first half of the Kāśīkhaṇḍa, in the glorious Skanda Mahāpurāṇa consisting of eighty-one thousand verses. (47)
Linked texts (1)
- Skandapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit