Skandapurana 5.142

English (machine translation) 5.142

Language: English

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Sūta said: / Likewise, there is also another deity there, Citreśvara, O brahmins, / seated in the middle of Citrapīṭha, granting varied happiness to men;

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whom having seen, worshipped, or bathed, a person / is freed from sins and secondary sins arising from [adultery with] another's wife,

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[such as] having violated the guru's wife, or a maiden born in one's own family, / or a low-caste woman, or one observing a vow, with a mind attached to lust.

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The man who worships it on the fourteenth day of the bright fortnight of Caitra / destroys that sin quickly and then goes to heaven. (4)

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Likewise, King Citrāṅgada stays there together with Jābāli, / accompanied by his naked daughter who was born of him; / indeed, he stands before him, having been cursed by Jābāli in the past. (5)

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Whoever makes offerings for all three of them on that day / obtains the desired woman and the accomplishment set in his mind. (6)

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The seers said: / Why was the youth Citrāṅgada cursed by Jābāli in the past? / And why is that maiden, his daughter, stripped of garments? (7)

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Even today she remains there, having assumed a contradictory form / that constantly provokes laughter among people. Therefore, Sūta, tell us! (8)

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Sūta said: / Formerly, there was a sage known by the name Jābāli, / by whom austerity was constantly performed with lifelong celibacy. (9)

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Having reached the sacred field originating from Hāṭakeśvara, O good brahmins, / he undertook great austerity even when he had reached his childhood age. (10)

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As he gradually performed the kṛcchra, cāndrāyaṇa, and other parāka penances, / the gods were brought into the range of fear by him. (11)

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Then the gods, led by Śakra, terrified on the summit of Meru, / gathered together and took counsel with one another to cause him an obstacle: (12)

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“If the increase of his austerity continues in this way constantly, / he will surely depose Śatakratu from the kingdom of heaven. (13)

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Therefore, let the best of apsarases, named Rambhā, go to his side / for the destruction of the celibacy of that cultivated seer. (14)

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For celibacy is proclaimed by brahmins to be the root of austerity; / in its absence, there is mere distress, without fruit in the vow.” (15)

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Having made this decision, after that / all the gods, along with Mahendra, summoned Rambhā and respectfully said to her: (16)

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“Go quickly, O fortunate one, to where Jābāli stays / in the sacred field originating from Hāṭakeśvara, to cause an obstacle to his austerity! (17)

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Various expressions are to be employed, and various charming stories, / thereby increasing unrestrained passion in his heart.” (18)

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Rambhā said: / “That sage does not know the nature of passion, O lord of the gods. / How, O god, shall I make one who has no taste for pleasure possessed by love?” (19)

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Indra said: / “At my word, this Spring will go into his presence; / merely upon seeing him, he will become possessed of love. (20)

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Therefore, go quickly there along with him, O fair-faced one, / so that success may arise and the task of the gods may be accomplished swiftly.” (21)

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Then, having bowed deeply to him, she departed for the surface of the earth, / accompanied by Spring, to where Jābāli stayed. (22)

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Then suddenly there arose an abundance of flowers on the aśoka tree, / and blossoms appeared on the tilaka and mango trees. (23)

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And even in the cool season lotuses truly bloomed, / and the fragrant southern wind, inspiring desire, blew. (24)

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In the meantime, that excellent apsaras Rambhā arrived there, / where Jābāli was standing on the shore of a reservoir of water, (25)

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holding a rosary in his hand, reciting various mantras, / filled with faith after having performed the desired water offering to the ancestors. (26)

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Then, while he was looking on, having abandoned her clothes, (27a)

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that excellent apsaras then entered that water in order to bathe. (27b)

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Beholding her disrobed and possessing youthfulness, / and touched by the southern wind, he too fell under the sway of desire. (28)

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Then trembling arose in that good sage at that very moment, / and the rosary fell from the tip of his hand to the surface of the earth. (29)

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An intense bristling of hairs arose all over his limbs; / warm tears fell, inundating the ground. (30)

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Then, knowing him to be agitated, that excellent apsaras, skilled in reading the mind, / came out of that water and put on her clothes. (31)

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Then, having approached his presence and bowed with respect, / she spoke sweet words, nurturing his disposition: (32)

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“O brahmin, is all well in your hermitage, O sage? / In your Vedic study, in your austerity, O wise one, among your disciples, deer, and birds?” / The sage said: (33)

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“All is well with me everywhere now, O woman of fair hips, / especially since you, marked with all auspicious marks, have arrived here. (34)

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Tell me, who are you, O fortunate one, who increase my desire? / Are you a goddess, or an asura woman, or a nāga woman, or indeed a human? (35)

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Explain to me: do you not see the trembling in my body, / the unrestrained bristling of hairs, and the flood of tears arising from my eyes?” (36)

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Rambhā said: / “Is this natural to your limbs, or does it arise from some other disease? / Indeed, I do not see health in your body.” (37)

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The sage said: / “It is not natural to my limbs, nor is it due to diseases, O fair-eyed one. / Hear the entire cause on account of which my body has become such: (38)

For as much time as has passed since seeing you, / for that long this state has arisen in my limbs. / Therefore, I am overcome by love from the sight of you, O fair one, / even though I am devoted to celibacy and uphold great vows.” (39–40)

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Rambhā said: / “If it is so, O best of brahmins, enjoy me as you please! / No fault could occur here, since I am a courtesan. (41)

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For we were created common to all by the self-born [Brahmā], O brahmin, / for all the worlds, and especially for the twice-born. (42)

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And I too, beholding you resembling the god of love, O sage, / am struck by the sharp arrows of love and am unable to depart. (43)

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I have previously seen gods, yakṣas, vidyādharas, / siddhas, kinnaras, nāgas, and guhyakas, not to speak of humans. (44)

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A bodily form such as this has not been seen in any one of them / among them, O tiger among brahmins; therefore, enjoy me who am devoted to you!” (45)

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"He who abandons a woman burning with desire who has come to him of her own accord— / that fool burns in a terrible hell for eternal years."

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Having spoken thus, she embraced that great sage, / who, though refusing with his words, was full of longing in his heart.

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Then, leading that lord of sages into a bower of creepers, / she sported with the sage through artificial moods spoken of in the Kāmaśāstra.

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Thus he remained there with her until the close of day, / entirely attached to the duty of passion, having abandoned every single ritual action.

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Then, having lost his desire, surrounded with shame, / he dismissed Rambhā and afterward performed his ritual purification.

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Released by him, having achieved her purpose, that charming woman / departed overjoyed to where the gods were, along with Indra.

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Thus ends the one hundred and forty-third chapter, named 'The Agitation of Jābāli,' in the Māhātmya of the Hāṭakeśvara Sacred Field, in the Nāgarakhaṇḍa, the sixth [part] of the auspicious Skanda Mahāpurāṇa, a collection of eighty-one thousand [verses].

Linked texts (1)

Skandapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit