Skandapurana 5.73

English (machine translation) 5.73

Language: English

5.73.1

Sūta said: / Thus all those Kauravas and the illustrious sons of Pāṇḍu / went from that place to where the city of Dvāravatī was. 1

5.73.2

Having gone there, with rejoiced minds they celebrated the wedding / of King Duryodhana with Bhānumatī at that time, 2

5.73.3

with the sounding of various musical instruments, accompanied by the sound of the Vedas, / with delightful songs, and recitations by thousands of bards. 3

5.73.4

Thus a great festival took place there for eight days, / with the Yādavas and Kurus assembled together. 4

5.73.5

The bards, heralds, panegyrists, / wandering minstrels, eminent brahmins, and other logicians were made content there. 5

5.73.6

Then, when the ninth day arrived, the Kurus and Pāṇḍavas, / led by Bhīṣma, affectionately said this to the lotus-eyed one: 6

5.73.7

"O lotus-eyed one, bound by the cords of affection, / we do not in any way wish to leave the shelter of you and Rāma. 7

5.73.8

Nevertheless, O Mādhava, we must go forward to our own city; / therefore, joined with Balabhadra, grant us release." 8

5.73.9

Viṣṇu said: / "Not a year, nor a month, nor even a fortnight has passed / since you have been staying here; so why has this eagerness [to leave] come upon you? 9

5.73.10

Therefore, let us stay right here together, Kurus and Pāṇḍavas, / you and we, taking delight in hunting and playing with dice, 10

5.73.11

in weapon-training exercises, in taming elephants, / and in other desired [pursuits], if you have affection for me." 11

5.73.12

Bhīṣma said: / "Appropriate is this word that has been spoken by you, O Viṣṇu; / but hear my statement, on account of which indeed we are eager [to go]. 12

5.73.13

While coming to your presence through the country of Ānarta, / we saw the great, most wonderful sacred field belonging to Hāṭakeśvara; / there were seen the liṅgas of high-souled kings, 13

5.73.14

descended from the solar and lunar dynasties, and of other noble persons, 14

5.73.15

and especially of the gods, dānavas, and sages— / endowed with form, possessing great splendor, and occupying various mansions. 15

5.73.16

And from that, O Mādhava, a firm intention arose among the chiefs of the Kurus / and the Pāṇḍavas to install liṅgas there. 16

5.73.17

Going there quickly according to our ability and desire, / we will install our own respective liṅgas separately. 17

5.73.18

For this reason, O Acyuta, we set out in haste; / we would not be satiated with your company even in hundreds of years. 18

5.73.19

Therefore give permission today, making your mind firm, O Lord; / we shall come here again, eager for your darśana." 19

5.73.20

The Blessed Lord said: / "I know that very holy sacred field that destroys sin; / it has always been praised to me by ascetics and other pilgrims visiting sacred fords. 20"

5.73.21

"Therefore we will go there together with you,
for the sake of installing a liṅga, desiring to see the sacred field."

5.73.22

Sūta said:
Hearing that, all the Kauravas experienced supreme joy,
as well as the sons of Pāṇḍu and the other rulers of the earth who were there.

5.73.23

All of them set forth, the Kurus and Pāṇḍavas assembled together,
making the earth tremble beneath the stampede of elephants and horses.

5.73.24

Then, having reached that sacred field and encamped at a distance,
the Kauravas, the Yādavas, and the leading men went to Camatkārapura.

5.73.25

Calling together all the brahmins there, endowed with humility,
and presenting them with diverse ornaments and garments, they said:

5.73.26

"We all desire to perform here the rite of installing a liṅga,
[and] of principal temples individually, according to our capacity.

5.73.27

Therefore, best of the twice-born, showing us grace and compassion,
give your command swiftly, so that the work may begin.

5.73.28

Likewise, you alone shall be the hotṛ priests in all the rites;
no other brahmin from outside [shall officiate], even if he were Bṛhaspati.

5.73.29

For an ancient report was heard by us, narrated
by Viṣṇu, concerning the royal seer's śrāddha performed for a ghost,

5.73.30

how, although a śrāddha was carefully performed by him for his deceased father,
in the presence of other brahmins who were well-versed [in rites], O twice-born,

5.73.31

according to the prescribed rules at the sacred ford on the fifth day [in honor] of the serpents,
in the month of Śrāvaṇa, his father was still not freed

from the ghost-state caused by the fault of a serpent, O best of the twice-born;
only when that śrāddha was respectfully performed in the presence of Devaśarman,
was the father instantly released from the terrible ghost-state, O twice-born.

5.73.33

Whatever religious act is performed here, O best of the twice-born,
if done by an outsider, becomes useless—this we clearly know.

5.73.34

Therefore, approaching you with humility, we especially make our entreaty:
let your grace be granted, and give your command without delay."

5.73.35

Sūta said:
Hearing their speech, those brahmins held counsel
among themselves regarding the matter: "What would be the proper thing to do?"

5.73.36

Some said: "We shall not give land for a temple,
not even to one among them; therefore let them depart at once.

5.73.37

This sacred field extends to a measure of five krośas;
it is already covered by the temples of earlier deities."

5.73.38

Others said: "Intoxicated by wealth, you are ensconced in comfort;
you do not know the affliction of poverty, and therefore you speak harsh words.

5.73.39

Therefore we shall indeed grant them land,
by which our financial ends may be accomplished, and the place adorned."

5.73.40

Likewise, other moderate ones said: "Where Janārdana in person
himself requests land, why should it not be granted?

5.73.41

Therefore, since the Kurus, Pāṇḍavas, and Yādavas have arrived together,
let them, and others through them, build temples in order of precedence.

5.73.42

Where Gāṅgeya himself begs, and another,
Dhṛtarāṣṭra with his sons, and the mighty Pāṇḍavas,
for the sake of installing a liṅga, a refusal is not fitting."

5.73.43

Hearing their words, consent was given by the best of the twice-born,
both poor and rich, both desiring and free of desire.

5.73.44

Then, having gathered together and made a firm decision in council,
all those brahmins addressed the best of the Kurus, the Yādavas, and the Pāṇḍavas:

5.73.45

The brahmins said:
"This sacred field is rather small for so many kings;
it is covered on all sides by temples; what, then, are we to say now?

5.73.46

Nevertheless, let your honors construct according to precedence, at your will,
very charming temples facing toward this sacred field,
situated individually according to seniority and according to pre-eminence."

5.73.47

Then, filled with joy, Dhṛtarāṣṭra and the others in succession,
according to precedence and according to pre-eminence, laid out the row of temples.

5.73.73

Thus ends the seventy-third chapter, named 'The Description of the Endeavor to Establish Temples by Dhṛtarāṣṭra and Others,' in the Māhātmya of the Hāṭakeśvara Sacred Field, in the Nāgarakhaṇḍa, the sixth [part] of the Skanda Mahāpurāṇa consisting of eighty-one thousand verses.

Linked texts (1)

Skandapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit