Skandapurana 5.131

English (machine translation) 5.131

Language: English

5.131.1

The seers said: / O son of Sūta, you have related the sacred ford situated there belonging to Yājñavalkya, / and there exists that of Vararuci dedicated to Vināyaka.

5.131.2

Nothing of Kātyāyana has been told there, O high-minded one. / Was nothing indeed done by him, or has it slipped your memory?

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Therefore, declare to us quickly if any sacred ford granting all perfections / was made in this sacred field by that great-souled one.

5.131.4

Sūta said: / A sacred ford named Vāstupada was constructed there / by that brahmin Kātyāyana, granting all desires to men,

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where forty-five deities / are worshipped, and being worshipped, they bestow perfection that very moment.

5.131.6

The seers said: / Why, O Sūta, are those deities situated there worshipped? / Tell us according to their names and divisions, one by one.

5.131.7

Sūta said: / Formerly a certain great being emerged from the surface of the earth, / extraordinary, terrible, exceedingly fierce, black-toothed, and terrifying,

with peg-like ears, an emaciated face, hair standing upright, terrifying, / for the destruction of the gods and especially of men, / drawn forth by the lord of Dānavas through mantras demonstrated by Śukra, / immune to being killed by any weapons, and especially missiles.

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Then the gods, seeing that [creature] that was of such a kind and so terrifying, / struck it with various sharp weapons, filled with great wrath.

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They were not able to inflict injury upon its limbs despite their effort; / they were merely devoured by it in their hundreds and thousands.

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Then, making an effort, all the gods along with Indra, / placing Brahmā in front, ran toward that being.

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Then, having seized it with effort on all limbs from all sides, / it was brought down to the surface of the earth by the gods, five times in number.

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Thereupon, all of them having sat upon it from every side, / delivered blows, but they did not take effect on it.

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Born through an Atharvan hymn and a drop of nectar, / that being had been dispatched by the Daityas and by Muṇḍa into their presence.

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In this way, for up to a thousand years, it remained just so; / out of fear they did not release it, nor were they able to kill it.

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Brahmā stood on its belly, and the immortals beginning with Indra / stood in the four quarters, enraged, maintaining their positions with great effort. / Then all those Dānavas took counsel with one another:

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"For this fierce being created by Śukra, / the destruction of the gods has been pointed out as the only remedy here immediately."

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Then those mighty Dānavas, releasing sharp weapons / and emitting various cries, arrived by the thousands.

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In the meantime Viṣṇu arrived there that very moment. / Then Viṣṇu spoke to the being, as if gladdening it with his speech:

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"Whichsoever god is situated upon whichsoever limb of yours, O being, / having received worship there, he will satisfy you with that.

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No worship of any god in this world has ever been established / of such a kind as has been granted to you today by me."

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Then it agreed with an unwavering mind: / "I shall do thus for you, but listen to my condition:

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If anyone does not perform worship to me at any time, / any such human being shall become my food."

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Sūta said: / When "So be it!" was indeed uttered by the discus-bearing deity, / that being became motionless, filled with great joy.

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Then the gods, having arisen and left it, with weapons in hand, / struck with sharp weapons those who were eager to flee, / devoid of shame, devoid of anger, uttering wretched words.

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Then Hari, having become calm once the Daityas were brought down, / said to the lotus-born [Brahmā]: "Sir, give a name to this being."

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Brahmā said: / "Since in response to your word, O Hari, his word was spoken, / and since [he said] 'this should be a settlement' (vāstu), therefore he will be Vāstu."

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Having spoken thus, Hṛṣīkeśa summoned Viśvakarman / and declared in detail the rule for its worship.

5.131.30

In the meantime, the wise son of Yājñavalkya, / having first summoned Viśvakarman, O best of the twice-born, said:

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"In the sacred field arising from Hāṭakeśvara, construct my hermitage / according to this very rule that was spoken, O high-minded one!"

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"Then, understanding it completely, I shall propagate it on the earth / for the instruction of the ignorant; therefore, come quickly."

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Then Brahmā also sent him into his presence, / having summoned Viśvakarman, intent on the welfare of his son.

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Viśvakarman too, having arrived there, performed the site-worship as prescribed, / all of it just as was spoken by Brahmā.

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Kātyāyana also, having seen all of it, then performed it thousands of times / for the welfare of the world, beginning with the construction of halls and the like.

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Thus the sacred site for building came to be in that sacred field, O best of brahmins. / In this sacred field, a man touched by sin is freed by this rite.

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Likewise, he will never incur any fault arising from a house, / whether arising from craftsmanship, from an improper site, or from improper construction.

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On the third lunar day of the bright fortnight of Vaiśākha, under the asterism Rohiṇī, / that sacred site of building was established there by that great-souled one.

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And whatever man properly performs worship there according to that very rite, / he shall attain kingship.

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Having acquired a house beset with faults and troubled by defects of craftsmanship and the like, / he attains prosperity on that very day upon approaching it.

5.131.132

Thus ends the one hundred and thirty-second chapter, entitled 'Description of the Glory of the Origin of the Sacred Site for Building', in the Glory of Hāṭakeśvara Sacred Field, in the Nāgarakhaṇḍa, the sixth [section], in the Skanda Mahāpurāṇa consisting of eighty-one thousand verses.

Linked texts (1)

Skandapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit