Skandapurana 5.133

English (machine translation) 5.133

Language: English

5.133.1

The seers said:
"When the Moon (the cold-rayed one) was formerly cursed by angry Dakṣa,
all of that story of Somanātha was recounted by you.

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Now tell how leprosy formerly came upon Kāma,
through what fault, and by whom the curse was placed upon him.

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And how the goddess Śilākhaṇḍā and the Saubhāgyakūpikā
came to be there—proclaim that to us."

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Sūta said:
Formerly there was a brahmin renowned by the name of Hārīta;
he performed austerity there, dwelling in the stage of a forest-dweller.

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His virtuous wife was endowed with beauty and nobility,
a beauty of the three worlds, like Lakṣmī the consort of Madhudviṣ (Viṣṇu) in visible form,

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known by the name of Puṇyakalā, endowed with all virtues.
Seeing her, even the lotus-born [Brahmā] quickly came under the power of desire (Kāma).

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Once that mind-born [Kāma] arrived in that sacred field
along with Rati and Prīti, wishing to see Kāmeśvara.

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In the meantime, she too came there to bathe; / having cast off her clothes, she entered the pool of water.

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Then, upon seeing that fair-faced lady, even the god of love / was pierced in his own heart by his floral arrows.

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Then, tormented by his arrows, abandoning Rati / and Prīti, he approached a solitary place and fell asleep beneath a tree.

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With all his limbs bristling, repeatedly drawing deep sighs / of a fiery hue, his eyes full of tears,

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Standing in her sight, he gazed with an unwavering gaze, / like a yogi seated in deep absorption meditating upon that immanent Brahman.

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She too, seeing Kāma standing before her filled with longing, / his mouth gaping in yawns and his body trembling,

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She too, pierced by his arrows, was filled with desire; / infatuated especially with Kāma on account of his beauty,

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Then, having emerged with difficulty from that water, the fair-smiling woman, / having approached the edge of the bank, stood within the range of his vision.

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Then Kāma arose and went slowly to her presence; / having joined his hands in reverence, he spoke respectfully:

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"Who are you, large-eyed lady, who have come to bathe in this pool of water / for my destruction, fair-limbed one? Therefore, listen to my words.

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I am renowned in the world as the flower-arrowed god, sweet-smiling lady; / even the gods have been brought to humiliation by my own arrows.

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Struck by my arrow, Rudra held the broad-hipped woman / on one half of his body, casting shame far away.

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Brahmā, pierced by my arrow, then lusted after his own daughter; / and he fathered those renowned brahmins, the Vālakhilyas.

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Śakra, exceedingly tormented by my arrows, came from heaven to the surface of the earth / and lusted after Ahilyā, the beloved and virtuous wife of Gautama.

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Thus even the gods, who are exalted, were shattered by my arrows; / what then of human beings, fair-browed one, who are akin to worms and utterly fickle?

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The entire world, from insects up to Brahmā, / has been brought to supreme humiliation by my arrows, sweet-smiling one.

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Yet, timid one, auspicious woman, I have been brought to this state by you.

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Therefore, fortunate lady, give me today the gift of amorous union, / before my life-breaths depart from my body!"

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Sūta said: / Hearing his words, she, devoted to her husband, / was stricken vehemently in her heart, especially by his arrows.

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And that virtuous woman was completely unacquainted with the nature of passion; / having grown up among ascetics, she knew nothing else.

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[Unable] to speak regarding that which is uttered by those tormented by passion, / she stood for a long time with her face turned downward, scratching the ground with her big toe.

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In the meantime, the sun reached the setting mountain; / and Hārīta, who maintained the sacred fires, returned home at the time of daily recreation.

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Watching the path for her for a long time without taking his meal, / he then reflected: "Why has she not come here,

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having bathed at that excellent sacred ford and visited that Candrakūpikā / and Kāmeśvara, the lord of gods, who grants desires and happiness to men?"

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Then, accompanied by his disciples, looking here and there, / he arrived at that place where both of them were standing.

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Kāma was speaking at length, struck by his own arrows, / and she too stood with her face turned down in extreme shame.

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Concealed behind a bush, hearing all of Kāma's prattle / and [seeing] her disposition directed toward him, he then spoke in anger:

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"Since my wife, innocent, virtuous, and devoted to her wifely duties, / has been thus tormented with arrows by you, wicked one, / therefore, afflicted with leprosy, unpleasant to behold,

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you shall become, sinful soul, abandoned even by your own wives!" / And she too stood with her face turned down in extreme shame.

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"And this woman, having seen you and felt passion, forsaking her own duty, / shall become like a stone, insensate!"

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Then Kāma, bowing down, propitiated him: / "Brahmin, it was not known by me that this beautiful woman was your wife.

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By that [ignorance] improper words of various kinds were spoken [by me]. / There is no fault of hers here; she was severely tormented by my arrows.

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She only became impassioned, sage; no word was spoken [by her]. / Therefore, you ought not to pronounce a curse upon her in any way.

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This offence is mine alone; therefore, inflict punishment on me! / Furthermore, best of brahmins, concerning the origin of her curse:

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Since even gods such as Rudra, supreme twice-born, / are unable to withstand my arrows, how could she become a stone?

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Moreover, the wise declare sin in this world to be threefold: / mental, verbal, and the third born of bodily action. / That [sin] occurred twofold in us, and only single in her, lord of sages,

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your beautiful wife. Therefore, if you inflict full punishment [upon her], / have you no fear whatsoever born of the next world?

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Mental sin is dispelled through remorse; and that which is verbal / is dispelled only through the appeasement of the person against whom it was spoken;

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and sin born of action is dispelled through expiations as prescribed, / because this has been declared by all the treatises on dharma, great sage."

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Hārīta said: / "In another matter her sin might be [minor], god of love; / but in this domain of yours, the mind is traditionally held to be primary.

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Therefore, vile one, she shall remain in such a condition forever. / What more? Do what you will; I shall not say anything further.

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First everything is conceived by the mind; thereafter / it is uttered in speech, and then performed in bodily action.

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For the mind is the authority in all actions at all times; / for this reason, full punishment has been inflicted on her by me."

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Sūta said:
Having spoken thus, Hārīta, the best of sages, went to his own hermitage.
And she, Pūrṇakalā, instantly turned into stone. (51)

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Kāmadeva also, seized by dreadful leprosy, O twice-born ones,
having his nose, feet, and hands decayed, became offensive to the eyes. (52)

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Then, when Kāma became dispirited and seized by disease,
O best of the twice-born, the obstruction of procreation arose in this world. (53)

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The world was only decreasing; it did not advance in growth at all.
Even whatever living beings were sweat-born went to ruin. (54)

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Meanwhile, all the gods were bewildered with anxiety:
“Why is this world dwindling away, along with the creatures living in water and on land? (55)

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Nowhere is any child seen in any way,
nor is any woman pregnant. Is Smara well?” (56)

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Then, having learned that he was seized by disease, taking refuge here in the sacred field,
they all arrived swiftly with agitated minds. (57)

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And seeing him, the flower-arrowed [god], staying in the city of Kāmeśvara,
extremely deformed in shape, meditating upon Maheśvara, (58)

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they, afflicted with great distress, then said: “What is this, O flower-arrowed one?
You have become dispirited, afflicted with the disease of leprosy!” (59)

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Then he bowed his head down, filled with supreme shame,
and related the whole deed born of Hārīta's curse. (60)

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Then those gods said: “The sin that was committed by speech, (61ab)

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all that goes to destruction through worship of her, without doubt. (61cd)

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Therefore, worship this one who has the form of stone, O mind-born one,
by which your leprosy will perish, and then your luster will increase. (62)

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Great procreation will take place in the world, and the duty of the gods will be accomplished.
For you have no bodily sin, having been freed [from it], except for that of speech. (63)

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Any other human being who, having bathed with faith in this pool of yours,
touches this stone that is freed from sin, (64)

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even if afflicted with the disease of leprosy by action arising from the body,
he too will be freed from the disease, rid of fever. (65)

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And this reservoir will be known in the world as the Saubhāgyakūpa,
bringing the destruction of all diseases, of this there is no doubt. (66)

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Severe ringworms and other eczemas
of one who has bathed here will instantly vanish upon merely seeing this [stone].” (67)

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Having spoken thus, those gods then went to the abode of the thirty [gods].
Kāmadeva also, remaining there, performed her worship. (68)

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And then, when just a month had passed, O best of the twice-born,
he became endowed with such a form as Smara had possessed formerly. (69)

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Then, having built a shrine for her with faith,
he went to the desired region, undertaking effort for procreation. (70)

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She too, having a lowered face, cursed by him in that very manner,
became fractured in appearance; therefore she is remembered as Khaṇḍaśilā. (71)

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Whoever worships her with devotion, and likewise on the thirteenth [lunar day],
to him no slander arising from another's wife will occur. (72)

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Especially in the case of a desirable woman—so spoke the son of Śaṃkara,
Kārtikeya, O best of the twice-born; this spoken by me is true. (73)

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Likewise, having worshipped the god Kāmeśvara, installed by Kāmadeva,
on the thirteenth [lunar day], one obtains all desires. (74)

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Smara, endowed with Rati and Prīti, remains there,
embodied, O tigers among brahmins, dwelling in an excellent temple. (75)

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Whatever person is ugly or unfortunate, who with concentrated mind on the thirteenth [lunar day]
worships him with saffron-born flowers, (76)

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he becomes handsome and endowed with good fortune.
Any woman abandoned by her husband, surrounded by co-wives, (77)

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should likewise thoroughly worship that god endowed with good wives,
on the thirteenth [lunar day], O best of the twice-born, with filaments produced from saffron. (78)

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She becomes fortunate, O brahmins, and blessed with offspring,
rich in wealth and grain, free from misery and grief,
freed from all faults, and praised on the surface of the earth. (79)

Thus ends the one hundred thirty-fourth chapter, entitled “Description of the Māhātmya of the Origin of Khaṇḍaśilā and the Saubhāgyakūpikā,” in the glorious Skanda Purāṇa, in the compendium of eighty-one thousand [verses], in the sixth Nāgarakhaṇḍa, in the glorification of the sacred field of Śrī Hāṭakeśvara. (134)

Linked texts (1)

Skandapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit