Skandapurana 5.123

English (machine translation) 5.123

Language: English

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Sūta said: / “Now there is another excellent sacred ford there, Mukhāra, / where those excellent sages and brahmins met with a thief, / [and] where, by its power, that thief attained perfection / and became famous as Vālmīki, the composer of the Rāmāyaṇa.”

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Formerly in Camatkārapura there was a twice-born named Lohajaṅgha, / born in the lineage of Māṇḍavya, who was devoted to his father and mother.

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And he had a wife dearer to him even than life, / devoted to her husband, having her husband as her life, intent upon what was pleasing and beneficial to her husband.

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Now, as he dwelt there living by the livelihood of a brahmin, / devoted to his father and mother, a great deal of time passed.

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Once the lord Śakra did not rain upon the surface of the earth, / throughout the whole region of Ānarta, for as long as twelve years.

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Then Lohajaṅgha fell into distress, O best of brahmins; / he obtained no alms anywhere, nor any gift.

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Then, seeing both his parents tormented by hunger / and his wife as well, filled with great sorrow, he thought:

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“What shall I do? Where shall I go? How can I show my face / to both these elderly people, and especially to my wife?”

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Then, stricken with grief, he went into the forest for fruit, / but found nothing at all; all the trees were withered.

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Then he saw an old woman carrying a small amount of grain, / walking along, overcome with great fatigue. / Thereupon, taking that grain and her clothes, that pitiless man / went home delighted and offered it to his parents.

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Having thus found an opportunity, constantly engaged in the work of a bandit, / committing robbery, he maintained his own family.

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And even when plenty returned, he did no other work; / abandoning the way of life of a brahmin, he practiced the deed of robbery.

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Then, after some time, by way of pilgrimage to sacred fords, / the seven seers, brahmins headed by Marīci, arrived there.

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Then, seeing them in an isolated place, filled with malice and rage, / raising his staff with haste, he said, “Halt!”

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Knitting his brows into three points, he rushed forward swiftly, / threatening them with harsh words, as if striking them.

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Then those sages, seeing him resembling a messenger of Yama / yet endowed with the sacred thread, spoke, filled with compassion.

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The seers said: / “Ah, you are a brahmin! Why then do you perform this utterly despicable / deed, which is an action of barbarians, O foolish one?

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And we are peaceful sages who have renounced all possessions; / there is nothing by our side for you to take.”

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Lohajaṅgha said: / “Give me quickly, O brahmins, these clean rags, / bark garments, and deerskins, together with sandals!

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If not, having struck you down with a blow of my staff like a thunderbolt, / I will send you, without doubt, to the abode of the King of Justice!”

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The seers said: / “We will give everything to you, O robber; / first tell us the report about which we ask out of curiosity:

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For what purpose do you commit robbery, being a brahmin utterly without pity? / Have you been overcome by terrible vices, or are you a hunter-brahmin?”

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Lohajaṅgha said: / “This undertaking born of theft is not for the sake of vice; / know that it is for the sake of my family; this is duty, no doubt.

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My parents are both dwelling in old age, / and likewise my devoted wife is discerning in the duties of the household.

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Whatever I earn through this action, / all that is certainly for their sake; I swear upon my own soul!

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Therefore release all your wealth first! What is the use of vain words / being spoken? For this hand of mine twitches to strike!”

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The seers said: / “If so, O thief, then go and ask your family: / ‘Will you be a sharer in the portion of my sin, or not?’

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If by their taking a share even a part of the sin departs, / then do it; otherwise, O sinful one, it will be unbearable for you,

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when you have fallen entirely into the terrible Raurava hell, O evil-minded one! / Thinking you to be a brahmin, we speak this without a doubt.

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We are filled with compassion, since an auspicious darśana has occurred with us; / for through the darśana of sages whose minds are restrained, auspiciousness arises.

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One man commits sins, and a multitude of people enjoys the fruit; / the enjoyers are freed, but the doer is smeared with guilt.”

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Sūta said: / Hearing that speech of theirs, the robber was somewhat afraid: / “This is true, there is no doubt, this word that has been uttered by them.

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Therefore I will go and ask my own family; / if there is a division of my share of sin, indeed I shall do

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this deed; or if they will not take it, I shall abandon it; / a great fear has now arisen in my heart.

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If you, O lords of sages, will not go elsewhere, / having taken to flight, then, having gone to my own home,

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I will ask my dependents, especially concerning your words: / ‘If my family will take that portion of my sin, / then I will take whatever is present beside you.

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Or if they forbid me from this sin, / then without doubt I will let you all go, along with your belongings.’”

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Then, having taken oaths to convince him, / showing compassion toward him, they sent him on toward his home.

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He too went and, having approached his father, asked: / “Listen, Father, to my words, and then make reply:

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Since, having committed thousands of wrong deeds, such as theft and the like, / I nourish you constantly, do you have a share of that or not?

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Tell me truly as I ask here concerning my sin; / a doubt has arisen in me here, therefore declare it quickly!”

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The father said: / “In childhood, my son, you were brought to nourishment by me with an anxious heart, / performing good and bad deeds with an affectionate mind.

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For this reason, however, when old age has arrived, / you again protect the earth, performing good and bad deeds.

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Not even the slightest share of that belongs to you, dear son, / whether good or sin, nor does it belong to me at present.

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An action done by oneself is experienced by oneself alone, / whether good or sinful; other people are considered [merely] enjoyers.

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Whether by honesty, or theft, or farming, or trade, / you bring food, no concern arises in me.

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Therefore, you should not hold this in your heart, that 'You will perform a censurable act / of which you will enjoy a share, while all of us are consumers.'

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Sūta said: / Having heard these words, with an inner soul distressed, / he went and questioned his mother regarding the very same matter with great effort.

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Then she too said to him that which was uttered by his father: / 'There is no sharing in his good or sinful deed, O best of twice-born.'

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Then, filled with sorrow, he went and questioned that wife of his; / she too then spoke similarly regarding sin originating from the elders.

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Then, tormented by grief and accompanied by remorse, / constantly reproaching himself, he went to where those ascetics were.

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Then, bowing down to all of them, he stood with folded hands: / 'Go, go, O brahmins! Pardon, pardon me!

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Since, resorting to foolishness, an insult was committed by me, / a great sinner and utterly deluded, therefore patience must be granted to me today.

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All your words were repeated by my parents / and by my wife, O best of twice-born; because of that, sorrow has come upon me.

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Therefore let all of you grant me favor, O best of sages, / by giving instruction through which I may destroy my sin.

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Blameworthy action was constantly performed by me, O best of twice-born: / women, and chiefs of twice-born, and ascetics in particular.

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Whosoever were wretched people, unable to fight back, / all of them were robbed by me, never those who were powerful.

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Deluded for the sake of family, bereft of company of the virtuous— / just as if one were reading scripture, that has fallen upon my heart today.

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If my darśana with you had not occurred today, O best of beings, / then I would be a committer of yet other sins; there is no doubt.

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And in their midst was a good sage named Pulaha; / fond of jesting, he said to that best of twice-born for the sake of confusion:

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'I will proclaim to you a very auspicious mantra, / meditating on which and reciting it, you will attain eternal perfection.

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This mantra "jāṭaghoṭā" is the granter of all perfections; / mutter this, O brahmin, day and night without wearying.

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Then you will attain complete perfection, difficult to attain even for the thirty [gods].'

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Having spoken thus, those brahmins then departed on their pilgrimage to sacred fords; / he too, the thief, remained right there, devoted to muttering [the mantra].

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With an undistracted mind, that repetition was then begun by him, / in such a way that he became absorbed in samādhi, whereby he attained the supreme state.

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As he, the brahmin, was thus remembering that mantra, / his body attained immobility, and he remained motionless in his undertaking.

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Then, after a great length of time, he was covered all around by an anthill, / O best of brahmins, as that great-souled one remained in meditation.

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Both his parents and that high-minded wife, / having searched for him diligently, all fell under the power of death.

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And he, remaining there, was not noticed; renounced, of great vows, / freed from the feeling of worldly existence because of that meeting with the sages.

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Then, after some time, by that same path again, / the sages arrived in the course of their pilgrimage to sacred fords.

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And the twice-born said: 'This is the place where the encounter with the thief / occurred, with that terrible one wearing the disguise of a brahmin.'

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Then they heard a sound from within the anthill, / of the mantra "jāṭaghoṭā", belonging to that very same great-souled one.

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Then strikes upon the ground resounded in all directions; / then, having seen the anthill and that thief situated in its midst,

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muttering that mantra which had been taught by Pulaha / in the form of a joke, and [seeing] his perfection, O best of twice-born—

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Or rather, this was truthfully spoken by the teachers who see through the scriptures: / a little is sufficient for perfection, since perfection was attained by him.

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Toward a mantra, a sacred ford, a twice-born, a deity, an astrologer, medicine, and a guru— / whatever kind of mental disposition one has, such perfection comes to be.

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Then, seeing that thief accomplished even by means of a bad mantra, / those brahmins were filled with wonder, and especially filled with compassion.

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Then, with substances fit for samādhi, with oils and with remedies,

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the twice-born massaged his body, which had been in samādhi for a long time. / Then, having regained consciousness and looking again and again, / filled with amazement, he spoke to those original sages thus:

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Lohajaṅgha said: / 'Why have you not gone, having been released by me, O best of twice-born? / I will not take anything belonging to you by any means. / Since [I acted] for the sake of family, therefore depart now according to your desire.'

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The sages said: / 'We have arrived after a long time, having wandered in this forest again. / Remaining in samādhi, the passage of much time was not noticed by you.

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Those elderly parents, left behind by you, have gone to destruction; / and you have attained supreme perfection by our grace.

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Because you remained inside an anthill and attained supreme perfection, / you will therefore become renowned in the world by the name Valmīki.

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Because people were robbed by you formerly while staying here, O twice-born, / therefore this sacred ford will attain renown under the name Mukhāra.'

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Those brahmins who will take a ritual ablution here with faith on the full-moon day of Śrāvaṇa / will wash away the sin born of deeds of theft.

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Sūta said: / Having spoken thus, those vipras bid farewell to that sage; / bowed to by him, they then departed to the quarter they desired.

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He also remained engaged in austerity right there, who is remembered as Vālmīki.

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And thereafter he became the foremost, the best among sages. / Even today that lord of sages stands there in bodily form.

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Whoever worships him with devotion on earth becomes a poet, / especially on the eighth day, fully endowed with faith.

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Thus ends the one hundred twenty-fourth chapter, entitled “Description of the Origin of the Mukhāratīrtha,” in the Māhātmya of the Hāṭakeśvarakṣetra, in the Nāgarakhaṇḍa, the sixth [part] of the auspicious Skanda Mahāpurāṇa consisting of eighty-one thousand verses.

Linked texts (1)

Skandapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit