Skandapurana 6.2.2
English (machine translation) 6.2.2
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6.2.2.1
The venerable Rudra said:
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Hear about the second liṅga, Guheśvara, which destroys sin,
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by the mere darśana of which the highest siddhi is attained. // 1
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Formerly, in the Rāthantara Kalpa, in the auspicious Devadāru forest,
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there lived a seer named Maṅkaṇaka, master of the Vedas and Vedāṅgas,
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constantly devoted to the practice of yoga, firmly established in calmness and self-restraint. // 2
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Desiring siddhi, he performed tapas, [thinking,] 'How may I become perfected?
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How will this transformation consisting of blood come to an end?' // 3
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Having reflected thus in his heart, he undertook supreme tapas;
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many thousands of years passed for him, O Pārvatī. // 4
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Then, at a certain time, O daughter of the mountain, as he was pricked
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by the tip of a kuśa grass, vegetable sap flowed at that very moment from his hand. // 5
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And seeing that wonder, he was filled with supreme astonishment;
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he thought that he had attained the supreme siddhi, and spoke proudly: // 6
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'Ah, this is the power of tapas! Indeed, today siddhi has been attained by me.
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Truly there is no brahmin equal to me, by whom siddhi has been attained! // 7
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And this body is contemptible, filled with feces and urine,
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entangled with intestines, sinews, and fat, and filled with flesh and blood.'
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Filled with great joy, the twice-born then began to dance. // 8
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While this brahmin was dancing, the world, both stationary and moving,
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began to dance, filled with passion, by the power of that sage indeed. // 9
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Nowhere was there any study of the Veda, the utterance of 'vaṣaṭ', or the performance of rituals. // 10
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In the meantime, the gods, led by Brahmā and Viṣṇu,
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all filled with wonder, said to me: 'O Lord, then do dance!
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When the seer Maṅkaṇaka dances, O Lord, everything dances on all sides—
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the entire threefold world, O All-pervading One, including gods, asuras, and humans. // 12
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The mountains have moved from their places; the banks of clouds are agitated;
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the mountain peaks are crumbling; the earth is deeply afflicted; // 13
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the great rivers are reduced to mere streams; the planets have gone astray from their courses. // 14
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The threefold world is agitated; before it meets destruction,
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restrain him! None other than you is capable.' // 15
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Hearing those words of the gods, O renowned lady,
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I promised [to do so], and having gone near him, // 16
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assuming the form of a brahmin, I questioned that best of brahmins:
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'Why do you dance, O brahmin? Whence has this joy come to you? // 17
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Dancing out of passion and desire is contrary to the duties of seers;
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singing and dancing are beloved only by young women. // 18
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It is the destruction of tapas and right conduct for a brahmin, O best of men.
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Reflecting thus, O best of brahmins, why do you dance so vehemently?' // 19
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The seer said:
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'Do you not see, O brahmin, the vegetable sap flowing from my hand?
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For this very reason is my dancing; I have attained siddhi, of this there is no doubt.' // 20
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Hearing his words, I laughed heartily,
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and struck my own thumb with the tip of my finger, O Pārvatī. // 21
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Then, instantly, ashes as white as snow came forth [from it].
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With a laugh, O large-eyed lady, that proud brahmin was addressed by me: // 22
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'See, O brahmin, abundant ashes have come forth from my thumb!
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Even so, I do not dance, nor do I have joy, O equal among sages.' // 23
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Seeing that great wonder, the best of brahmins was ashamed,
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and seeing such fortitude, he attained supreme astonishment. // 24
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With folded hands, his heart filled with wonder, he said:
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'I consider you no other deity than the bull-bannered [Śiva]! // 25
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No one else in the three worlds possesses such power.
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Therefore, forgive me, O Lord of the gods, what was done by me through ignorance! // 26
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Dancing is an act that destroys tapas, contrary [to the conduct] of the virtuous.
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The merit acquired over a long time through difficult tapas,
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that merit of mine has suddenly perished, O Lord, through dancing. // 27 //'
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Hearing his words, that best of brahmins was addressed by me:
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'Choose a boon, may good betide you; I am pleased, O best of brahmins.' // 28
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With this knowledge, O leader of brahmins, what desire of yours shall I fulfill?”
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The seer said:
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“If you are pleased, O Lord, compassionate to those who seek refuge,
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let such a path be decreed that there may be no loss of my austerity.”
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I said to that brahmin, O Pārvatī, being pleased [with him]:
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“May your austerity increase, O brahmin! Go to the forest of Mahākāla.
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There lies eternally a holy cave, arisen through seven cosmic cycles,
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situated to the north of Lord Piśāceśvara.
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There you will see an auspicious liṅga arisen through seven cosmic cycles;
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by merely beholding it, your austerity will increase.
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Sin born of lust and anger, accompanied by greed and delusion,
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as well as the taint born of envy and jealousy, is destroyed.”
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Having heard my word, that brahmin, a master of the Vedas,
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and having heard the rule spoken by me, O goddess, that twice-born
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set forth, having disciplined himself, bowing again and again.
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He came to where the cave was in the excellent forest of Mahākāla.
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There he saw that liṅga, supreme increaser of austerity;
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resembling the twelve suns, he indeed became so through the darśana of the liṅga.
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In the meantime, O goddess, the gods said in the firmament:
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“The secret liṅga arisen in the cave has been seen by Maṅkaṇaka!
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Siddhi exceedingly difficult to attain has been obtained by the brahmin through darśana alone.
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Therefore, O goddess, it will be known as Guheśvara on the earth.
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Those who, endowed with supreme devotion, shall see Guheśvara,
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for them no obstacle to righteousness or austerity shall arise.
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Whoever performs darśana on the eighth or the fourteenth day,
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the ancestors of that embodied soul will go to the world of Brahmā.
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Whoever comes here and performs darśana with effort
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will deliver himself and twenty-one generations of ancestors.
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Even having committed thousands of sins, whoever performs darśana
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goes to the supreme abode where Lord Maheśvara resides.
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Killing a brahmin, drinking liquor, theft, intercourse with the teacher's wife—
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all will be utterly destroyed through the darśana of that liṅga.
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Whatever inauspicious deed was acquired across hundreds of crores of births,
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all that will come to destruction merely through touch, not otherwise.
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Indeed, embodied beings on earth who are tainted with heinous crimes,
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even they, having approached the liṅga, are liberated from all sins.”
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Having spoken thus, O goddess, that divine brahmin, the sage Maṅkaṇaka,
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established a holy hermitage and remained there in austerity.
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This glory which destroys sin has indeed been told to you, O goddess;
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by hearing it or recounting it, one is completely freed from all sins.
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Thus ends the second chapter, entitled ‘Description of the Glory of Guheśvara’ in the ‘Glory of the Eighty-Four Liṅgas’ of the fifth section, the Āvantyakhaṇḍa, in the glorious Skanda Mahāpurāṇa, a collection of eighty-one thousand [verses].
Linked texts (1)
- Skandapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit