Skandapurana 5.98

English (machine translation) 5.98

Language: English

5.98.1

Sūta said: / Then King Daśaratha, dismissed by those ministers, / arrived filled with joy at the field born of Hāṭakeśvara.

5.98.2

Having arrived there, having bathed in the pool of auspicious waters, / and having then worshipped with true devotion the Goddess formerly established by his father,

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he then saw other principal shrines; / having bathed at many sacred fords and given gifts in many ways,

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he had a temple built for the disc-bearing God of gods, / and there installed an auspicious Vaiṣṇava image.

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In front of it he caused a stepped pond to be made, endowed with clear water, / furnished with rows of steps and praised by virtuous men.

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Then, intent upon worshipping the deity with its water, / he performed fierce and very great austerity in many ways.

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Then, when a hundred years had passed, Janārdana was pleased with him, / having observed the fierce austerity performed by that king.

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Mounted on the king of birds [Garuḍa], surrounded by numerous hosts of gods, / appearing [before him], he spoke in a voice deep as a thundercloud.

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Glorious Viṣṇu said: / "I am well pleased with you, child; choose a boon, O man of virtuous vows! / Even if your desire is difficult to attain, I will grant it in full."

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The king said: / "This entire undertaking of austerity, O Lord, was made by me for the sake of a son; / therefore grant me sons who will cause the increase of my lineage.

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Everything else, ruler of the gods, is certainly present in my home; / whatever majesty exists for me is due to your grace."

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Viṣṇu said: / "O king, I myself, having assumed four forms, / shall descend into your house; of this there is no doubt.

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Therefore, for the business of the gods, go home, O ruler of the earth, / and rule the great kingdom of your fathers and grandfathers according to law.

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Likewise, this stepped pond of pure waters constructed by you / shall become famous in the world as the 'Rājavāpī'."

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The man who, bathed in this [well] with devotion, shall worship it / endowed with supreme faith when the fifth day arrives,

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and then shall perform a śrāddha for a full year, O king— / childless though he be, he will indeed obtain sons who increase his lineage.

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Having spoken thus, the Lord vanished from sight; / and the king, his face delighted, went home.

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Then, in a short time, four sons / famous in the world were born to him by his three wives.

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The eldest, his very beautiful wife, was known by the name Kauśalyā; / upon her was born his first son, named Rāma.

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Likewise another wife of his was the youngest, named Kaikeyī; / and her son was the famous one named Bharata.

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And another wife, who was the middle one, was named Sumitrā; / upon her were born two sons of great strength, Śatrughna and Lakṣmaṇa.

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Likewise, another [child was born], a single maiden of excellent complexion, / whom he gave to the childless king Lomapāda.

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Thus, having cleared his debt to his ancestors, King Daśaratha / departed for the heaven of the ancestors, his duty accomplished, O twice-born.

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Then Rāma became the sovereign king after that, / by whom the unassailable Rāvaṇa, a thorn to the gods, was slain;

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by whom Rāmeśvara was erected here, and Lakṣmaṇeśvara, / and likewise the goddess Sītā was installed here in an image.

Thus ends the ninety-eighth chapter, entitled 'The Description of the Māhātmya of Rājasvāmin and Rājavāpī', in the Māhātmya of the Sacred Field of Hāṭakeśvara in the Nāgarakhaṇḍa, the sixth [section], in the Mahāpurāṇa of Śrī Skanda, in the collection of eighty-one thousand [verses].

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Skandapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit