Skandapurana 5.38

English (machine translation) 5.38

Language: English

5.38.1

Sūta said: / Right there a liṅga was installed by King Dhundhumāra, / after he made a very charming temple made of all kinds of gems.

5.38.2

Establishing an excellent hermitage there, he performed terrible tapas, / by whose power this god took up his abode in that liṅga.

5.38.3

Close to it a stepwell was constructed by that great soul, / filled with very pure water, auspicious and equal to all sacred fords.

5.38.4

Having bathed there, the best of men should behold Dhundhumāreśvara; / he will not behold the impassable hells in Yama's abode.

5.38.5

The ṛṣis said: / In which lineage was King Dhundhumāra born? / At what time was tapas performed here by that very great soul?

5.38.6

Sūta said: / Born in the Solar dynasty was the mighty son of Bṛhadaśva, / known as Kuvalayāśva and likewise as Dhundhumāra.

5.38.7

By him the great Daitya Dhundhu was slain in the desert waste; / therefore he is remembered as Dhundhumāra, renowned across the three worlds.

5.38.8

Having gone to the great and purifying kṣetra of Camatkārapura, / he performed tapas at the end of his life, meditating upon Maheśvara.

5.38.9

Having installed a very great liṅga in a gem-adorned temple, / [he worshipped] with offerings, oblations, presents, flowers, incense, and unguents.

5.38.10

Then Mahādeva himself, Maheśvara, / mounted on the bull, became visible to him along with Gaurī and his gaṇas.

5.38.11

He said: "I am a granter of boons; ask whatever you desire; / I will give you everything, even though it be very difficult to attain."

5.38.12

Dhundhumāra said: / "If a boon is to be given to me by you, O Lord of all gods, / your presence should be established in this liṅga, O bull-bannered Lord!"

5.38.13

The Blessed Lord said: / "On the fourteenth day of the bright fortnight of Caitra, O best of kings, / I will always abide here in presence together with Gaurī, without a doubt.

5.38.14

A man who, having bathed in that stepwell, worships me / residing in this liṅga, O king, will go to my realm."

5.38.15

Sūta said: / Having spoken thus, the Blessed Lord then vanished from sight. / That king too, his soul delighted, remained right there, attaining liberation.

Thus ends the thirty-eighth chapter, named 'Description of the Māhātmya of Dhundhumāreśvara', in the Māhātmya of the Hāṭakeśvara Kṣetra in the Nāgarakhaṇḍa, the sixth [section], in the glorious Skanda Mahāpurāṇa consisting of eighty-one thousand verses.

Linked texts (1)

Skandapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit