Skandapurana 6.2.6

English (machine translation) 6.2.6

Language: English

6.2.6.39

The venerable Mahādeva said: / Know Svarṇajvāleśvara as the sixth here, O glorious lady, / by the mere darśana of which one becomes wealthy in this world. // Formerly, O goddess, while I was sporting with you in my dwelling, / a hundred divine years passed as I relished sole delight in lovemaking. // Then fire was dispatched by all the gods into my presence; / thereupon Fire arrived for the sake of the three worlds, O glorious lady. // Then my semen was cast into the mouth of Fire by me as I sported; / burning from it then, Fire went to the Gaṅgā. // Having gone there, Fire cast forth the semen, so exceedingly difficult to bear; / nevertheless, Fire was still burned by the remainder of the semen, O Pārvatī. // Then, from that remainder of the semen, lovely and divine gold was born, / blazing with excessive heat, unbearable and hard to retain, O dear one. // Seeing that first offspring of Fire born, O Pārvatī, / overcome by greed, the asuras, the suras, the gandharvas and kinnaras, // the yakṣas, sādhyas, and piśācas, humans, rākṣasas, and birds, / rushed forward in great fury, desiring to seize the gold. // For the sake of the gold, a great roar arose from those clamoring, “This is mine!” / And out of ignorance a battle arose that took many lives. // Then, seizing foremost shields and diverse weapons, / they roared with great sounds along with the gods, O glorious lady: // asuras with asuras, humans with humans, / gandharvas with gandharvas, kinnaras with kinnaras, // spirits with spirits, and rākṣasas with rākṣasas, / vetālas with vetālas fought an exceedingly dreadful battle. // Son hated father, and father likewise hated son; / wife struck down her husband, and husband likewise his dear wife. // Son killed his own mother, and mother harmed her son; / then an unyielding hostility arose on account of the gold, // most horrific and great among gods and asuras all alike. / Broad and sharp javelins fell by the thousands, // along with extremely sharp-pointed iron bars and various weapons. // For the sake of the gold, O great goddess, vomiting much blood, // swords, spears, clubs, and rṛṣṭi-daggers fell upon the surface of the earth; / and heads were severed in the terrible battle by battleaxes. // With their limbs smeared with blood and having slain one another, / they lay like peaks of mountains rich in mineral ores. // A cry of “Alas! Alas!” arose by the thousands, causing terror, / as they cut each other down with weapons for the sake of the gold. // With iron bludgeons, nooses, and fists like vajras, / as they struck one another in battle, the sound seemed to touch the sky. // “Cut! Pierce! Run! Knock down! Attack!”— / such exceedingly horrific cries were heard there on every side. // Thus, while this tumultuous and terrifying battle was taking place, / the earth trembled, O goddess, and the gods, along with Indra, were terrified. // The oceans grew agitated and the mountains moved; / for the sake of it, the entire world, with gods, asuras, and humans, was tormented. // The seers, headed by the Vālakhilyas, the gods, with Śakra at their head, / placing Bṛhaspati at the fore, and the women went to Brahmā's realm. // Panting for breath, with their heads battered and shattered, / they recounted in full the entire event that was destroying the three worlds. // Hearing their speech, Brahmā, the grandfather of the worlds, / having reflected, came into my presence along with them. // They were all questioned by me: “By whom have you been battered? / By whom have you been afflicted with weapons and missiles? Whence has fear come upon you? // And who is this wicked dānava by whom you have been so severely tormented?” / Then all was recounted before me, O goddess, by those overwhelmed with fear. // The gods, headed by Brahmā, then told me the cause of their fear: // “We are all ruined out of greed and on account of gold; / and the entire world, with gods, asuras, and humans, is tormented.” // Hearing their words, O fair-faced lady, I understood / that a horrific strife among one another had indeed arisen for its sake, // by which the destruction of the three worlds was swiftly wrought. / One on whose account life is surrendered is called a slayer of a brahmin; // the son of Fire is indeed a slayer of a brahmin, on whose account people died. / His body will become variegated and deformed; // minerals shall indeed arise in his body, there is no doubt. / Incomparable suffering is foreseen—cutting, burning, rubbing, and the like. // In the meantime, Fire, having seen the behavior of his son / and having realized my anger, was terrified on account of his son. // He came into my presence along with the gold, O goddess; / indeed, I was propitiated by Fire for the sake of his son, O fair-faced lady: // “This son of yours, O Śaṃkara, must be protected by you, O god; / place him in your own treasury, O supreme lord! // When you are pleased, O Mahādeva, he can be obtained—of this there is no doubt; / let him be given at your pleasure to whichever person you will, O goddess!” // Hearing this speech of his, who is the mouth of the ancestors and the gods, / “So be it,” was promised by me out of desire, O glorious lady.

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Skandapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit