Skandapurana 5.55

English (machine translation) 5.55

Language: English

5.55.1

Sūta said: / By seeing Naleśvara, the god of gods, situated near her / and installed by King Nala, one is freed from sin. (1)

5.55.2

The man who beholds him with devotion on the sixth [tithi] of the bright [fortnight] of Māgha, O brahmins, / freed from all diseases, attains the supreme abode. (2)

5.55.3

Itching, scabies, ringworm, circular blotches, and eczema / are destroyed for living beings of purified mind by the sight of him. (3)

5.55.4

Before him there is a pool filled with clear water, / teeming with fish and tortoises, and adorned with clusters of lotuses. (4)

5.55.5

Whoever performs ritual ablution there at dawn on a Monday, / even if afflicted with the disease of leprosy, shall become renewed again. (5)

5.55.6

When Śambhu was installed by King Nala, / he was pleased and said to him: "Tell me, what shall I do for you?" (6)

5.55.7

Nala said: / "O God, you should always remain here, close at hand, / for the benefit of all the world and the destruction of disease, O Śaṃkara." (7)

5.55.8

Śaṃkara said: / "At your word, O King, when Monday arrives / and at dawn, I will abide in this temple; of this there is no doubt. (8)

5.55.9

On the eighth [tithi] of Māgha, for the entire day and night, O King, / and especially during the bright fortnight, for the destruction of disease in living beings. (9)

5.55.10

Whoever beholds me staying here on that day, / having bathed in the exceedingly pure pool and endowed with true faith, / the diseases arising in his body will go to destruction. (10)

5.55.11

Whatever man applies even the mud produced from this pool / to his own body on a Monday at the end of the night, / he too, freed from diseases, shall become thriving. (11)

5.55.12

Moreover, he who, free from desire, at that time, O best of kings, / worships me with true devotion using flowers, incense, and ointments, / freed from all sins, shall go to my world." (12)

5.55.13

Sūta said: / Having spoken thus, the Lord Hara, the illuminator of the three worlds, / disappeared instantly, O brahmins, just like a lamp. (13)

5.55.13_1

King Nala too, having worshipped him for a long time, attained satisfaction; / then, summoning all the brahmins born in Camatkārapura, [he said:] (14)

5.55.15

"This Śambhu has been installed by me near your city; / by beholding him, the destruction of all diseases comes to pass. (15)

5.55.16

Now I shall go to my own kingdom, the city of the Niṣadhas, O brahmins; / he should be worshipped by all with a collected mind." (16)

5.55.17

The brahmins said: / "O tiger among kings, we shall, with collected minds, / make effort on behalf of your deity and in the rituals of pilgrimage and the like. (17)

5.55.18

Likewise, endowed with supreme faith, we will perform worship; / our sons, grandsons, and whatever other descendants / are born of our lineage will perform his worship with deep devotion." (18)

5.55.19

Sūta said: / Thus addressed by those brahmins, the king, filled with satisfaction, / bowed deeply to them and set out, applauded by all of them. (19)

5.55.20

Thus the Lord Śambhu remained in that place, / bringing about the destruction of all diseases for the good of all the worlds. (20)

5.55.21

Therefore, by one desiring perpetual welfare, he is certainly to be beheld / with every effort at all times, especially on a Monday. (21)

Thus ends the fifty-fifth chapter, named 'Description of the Māhātmya of Naleśvara,' in the Hāṭakeśvarakṣetramāhātmya of the Nāgarakhaṇḍa, the sixth [part] of the eighty-one-thousand-verse collection in the glorious Skanda Mahāpurāṇa. (55)

Linked texts (1)

Skandapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit