Skandapurana 4.60.44

English (machine translation) 4.60.44

Language: English

4.60.44.1

Skanda said: / The origin of the Pañcanada has been related, O son of Mitrā-Varuṇa. / Now I shall tell of the supreme manifestation of Mādhava, / by hearing which with faith an intelligent person is freed from sins in an instant, / is never separated from prosperity, and becomes united with righteousness. / Having come from Mount Mandara, taking leave of the moon-crested [Śiva], / Upendra, riding the carriage that is Garuḍa, reached the city of Vārāṇasī in an instant. / Having removed King Divodāsa by his own māyā, / taking his stance at the Pādodaka tīrtha in his own form named Keśava, / contemplating again and again the supreme greatness of Kāśī, / and seeing the Pañcanada tīrtha, he experienced supreme joy. / And the lotus-eyed [god], pleased in spirit, said: / "Though the virtues of Vaikuṇṭha are countless, they have been numbered by me; / where in the Ocean of Milk are there as many immaculate virtues / as excel here in the pool of the Pañcanada in Kāśī? / Even in Śvetadvīpa where is there so great an abundance of virtues, / purifying as it is in the Dhūtapāpā at Kāśī? / Contact with my Kaumodakī club does not bring me such joy / as comes in every way from contact with the waters of the Dhūtapāpā. / I do not find such delight in the daughter of the Ocean of Milk embracing my body / as may be found here by touching the Dhūtapāpā." / Thus at the Pañcanada tīrtha, the husband of the daughter of the Ocean of Milk, / having sent Garuḍa before the three-eyed [Śiva] to report the news / concerning King Divodāsa that occurred in the Forest of Bliss, / while recounting the array of sacred virtues born of the Pañcanada, / comfortably seated, overjoyed, gracious-eyed, Viṣṇu / saw an ascetic whose body was emaciated, endowed with austerity. / That sage, approaching him, the lotus-eyed, unswerving Acyuta, / who was seated on a lotus, adorned with a forest garland, / his four hands glittering with conch, lotus, mace, and discus,

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his chest illuminated by the Kaustubha jewel, dressed in yellow silk garments, / possessing the splendor of a deep blue lotus, of very smooth and charming form, / with an attractive lotus shining in the pool of his navel, and lovely pink lips, / with teeth like pomegranate seeds, the sky illuminated by his diadem, / his feet praised by the king of the gods, extolled by Sanaka and others, / his supreme majesty sung of by celestial seers such as Nārada and others, / his mind rejoiced by devotees like Prahlāda and others, / holding the staff of the Śārṅga bow, punisher of all demons, / slayer of Madhu and Kaiṭabha, portender of Kaṃsa's destruction— / that supreme Brahman which is absolute liberation, formless, beyond perception, / which had transformed into a human form for the sake of the devotion of his devotees, / whose form the Vedas knew not, nor was it declared by the Upaniṣads, / and which Brahmā and the other gods had not perceived—he became a guest of the sage's eyes. / Filled with joy, his head bowed to the ground, / that sage Agnibindu of great austerity bowed down to Hṛṣīkeśa. / With palms joined at his head, he praised with supreme devotion / Acyuta, the destroyer of Bali, who was seated upon a broad stone. / There near the Pañcanada, frequented by Mārkaṇḍeya and others, / that Agnibindu with a satisfied mind praised Govinda. / Agnibindu said: / "Om, salutations, O lotus-eyed one, granter of purity both outer and inner! / O Puruṣa with a thousand heads, a thousand eyes, a thousand feet! / With a mind free of dualities, I bow to your pair of feet which remove all dualities, / O Viṣṇu, praised by Indra and the gods! / Even the words of Bṛhaspati do not succeed in praising him; / who in this world is capable of praising him? Here, devotion is more powerful. / How can the Lord, the Ruler, who is beyond the reach of the mind and senses, / beyond speech, be praised by people of low intellect like me? / The Lord whom words do not penetrate, whom the mind does not conceive here— / who could have the capacity to praise him who transcends mind and speech?

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By whom can the great majesty of that God be comprehended, / whose breath is the Vedas along with their six auxiliary sciences, their words, and their order of recitation?
Though meditating upon him in the space of their hearts, / Sanaka and the others, whose minds, intellects, and senses are unwearied, do not truly find him.
Though his deeds are sung by the best of sages headed by Nārada, / who have lived as celibates from their childhood, he is not fully comprehended.
Subtle in form, unborn, imperishable, one, the primal, beyond the reach of Brahmā and others, invincible, infinite in power, / eternal, free from disease, formless, having an inconceivable form—who knows you, [both] moving and unmoving, and distinct from the moving and unmoving?
Even each single name of yours, O Hari, O Murāri, when chanted—Mukunda, Madhusūdana, Mādhava— / destroys the sins acquired through births of sinners and confers the great fruit of a mighty sacrifice.
O Nārāyaṇa, O deliverer across the ocean of hell, O Dāmodara, O slayer of Madhu, O four-armed one, / O supporter of the universe, O spotless one, O Janārdana! For those who recite [these], where is rebirth here, and where is fear of death?
Those who always contemplate you in their hearts, O Trivikrama, lotus-eyed one having the splendour of a row of clouds, / whose form is clad in garments glittering like lightning—they too touch your splendour of inconceivable form.
O you marked with the Śrīvatsa, O Hari, O Acyuta, O enemy of Kaiṭabha, O Govinda, whose chariot is Garuḍa, O Keśava, holding a discus in your hand, / O lord of Lakṣmī, O slayer of demons, holding the Śārṅga bow in your hand, nowhere is there any fear for a man who is devoted to you.
Those by whom you have been worshipped, O Blessed One, with tulasī flowers whose divine fragrance surpasses the scent of musk— / all the hosts of gods in heaven richly worship those beings of pure nature with garlands of mandāra flowers.
In whose speech is your desire-granting name, O lotus-eyed one, in whose ears are the sweet-syllabled stories of you, / and upon the wall of whose heart your form is painted—by them the state of the formless king is truly not hard to attain.
Those who continually worship you on earth, O you who recline on Śeṣa, O Lord of Śrī—them the principal deities, the lord of the ancestors, Indra, Kubera,

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and the gods in heaven always honour, O you who are adept at bestowing an unbroken succession of the joys of heaven and liberation!
Those who continually praise you—them the hosts of Siddhas, apsarases, and immortals praise in heaven, O you with a shining lotus in your hand! / Who, other than you, the giver of all perfections, bestows the beautiful lotus of liberation, O lotus-eyed one?
In an instant you destroy, protect, and create, assuming a playful body through your own play, O you whose two feet are bowed to by Brahmā! / You alone are the universe, you alone are the supreme Lord of the universe, you are the seed of the universe; therefore I bow to you constantly.
O enemy of the prince of demons, you alone are the praiser, you are the praise, you alone are the one to be praised; for you alone are everything here. / I know nothing whatsoever distinct from you, O Viṣṇu; destroy forever my thirst born of worldly existence, O enemy of worldly existence!
Having thus praised Hṛṣīkeśa, Agnibindu, of great austerity, / stood silent; then Viṣṇu, the grantor of boons, spoke to the sage.

Linked texts (1)

Skandapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit