Skandapurana 6.2.8
English (machine translation) 6.2.8
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The glorious Rudra said:
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Know the eighth [liṅga], O Pārvatī, as named Kapāleśvara,
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by the mere sight of which the sin of killing a brahmin is destroyed.
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Formerly, in the Vaivasvata kalpa, when the Tretā age had arrived,
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at the sacrifice of Brahmā in the divine forest of Mahākāla, O dear one,
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when the brahmins were seated and the sacrificial fire was being offered into,
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I went there to that assembly, having assumed the guise of a Kāpālika.
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Covered in ragged cloth, O goddess, shaven-headed, bearing a skull-topped staff,
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with limbs smeared with funeral ashes, grotesque and of distorted countenance,
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holding a skull in hand, and adorned with skull-ornaments.
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Then the brahmins, seeing me in the form of a rogue, became enraged;
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seeing the bearer of a skull, they all reviled me with shouts of "Fie!"
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Repeatedly saying, "Sinner, sinner! Go away, go away, base deceiver!
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How can an oblation be made when a Kāpālika has arrived in front?
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It is sung in the Vedas: 'Skull-bearers are impure.' [or: 'Ritual purities are free of skulls.']
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The sacrificial altar is indeed not for you, a bearer of human bones!"
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Those brahmins were then addressed by me: "Listen, O best of the twice-born!
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You are all compassionate, pained by the suffering of others.
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Compassion should always be shown by the good toward all embodied beings.
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A brahmin is said to be the friend of all living beings.
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I am a Kāpālika brahmin, my body adorned with ashes.
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Having undertaken the skull-vow, I wander upon the surface of the earth.
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I constantly worship Mahādeva, the Lord of the universe.
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For the destruction of [the sin of] killing a brahmin, this twelve-year vow,
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renowned in the world as destroying sin, has indeed been commenced by me, O twice-born ones.
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For the purpose of expiation, once purified, I shall attain the good destination."
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Having heard my speech, it was spoken by those best of the twice-born:
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"You are exceedingly sinful, O vile one, who speaks in this manner!
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Adorned with skulls, you are contemptible, especially as a killer of a brahmin.
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Mahādeva was not invited to the great festival of Dakṣa's sacrifice,
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to which sacrifice arrived the Ādityas as well as the Vasus,
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and the Viśvedevas, the Maruts, the Gandharvas, and the Kinnaras,
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Brahmā, Viṣṇu, the thousand-eyed [Indra], Varuṇa, and Vāyu,
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the Bestower of Wealth [Kubera], the oceans, rivers, and all lakes,
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the eagles, mountains, and serpent deities—all were invited to the rite,
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along with their followers and wives, as well as brahmins who had mastered the Vedas,
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great-souled brahmin-seers, and spotless celestial seers.
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Having thus regarded Mahādeva as adorned with human bones
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and impure—how do you dare to say:
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'Let entrance be granted to me'? Especially since you are a slayer of a brahmin!"
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When I was thus addressed by the brahmins, these words were spoken by me then:
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"Let me wait for just a moment; having eaten, I shall go away again."
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When these words were spoken, O goddess, I was violently struck then
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with clods of earth, with sticks, with feet, and repeatedly with fists.
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Then, laughing, having thrown that [skull] upon the altar strewn with darbha grass,
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I disappeared like the lamp of a skull [being snuffed out], unnoticed by the best of the twice-born.
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When I had vanished, that skull was thrown outside the sacrificial pavilion.
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Then another of the same form arose there, O glorious one!
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Thus hundreds of thousands, millions, and tens of millions
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were thrown away and yet appeared there; thereupon they were filled with amazement.
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Then all the wise ones said: "This is not the doing of anyone else,
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except the god Mahādeva, who bears the Gaṅgā and the crescent moon upon his crest!"
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Then I was praised by the brahmins individually with various hymns of praise,
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and they made oblations into the fire with the mantras of the Śatarudrīya.
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I was pleased then, O goddess, out of compassion for the twice-born [and said]:
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"Choose, O all brahmins, whatever boon is desired in your heart!"
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Then those brahmins said: "Because of our ignorance, violence was done
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against you; thereby the sin of killing a brahmin was incurred by us, O Lord of the universe!
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For the destruction of that sin of killing a brahmin, grant us your favor, O Lord!"
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We choose indeed this boon, no other desired boon." // 29
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And then he spoke this before those twice-born:
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"Where the heap of skulls was placed on earth by you, // 30
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there was a beginningless liṅga hidden by the turning of time.
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Let the brahmins behold that liṅga, which brings deliverance from the killing of a brahmin! // 31
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Even by me, O best of brahmins, the killing of a brahmin was committed myself formerly,
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severing the fifth head of Brahmā, which was fierce with radiance. // 32
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Thereupon the sin of killing a brahmin arose, extremely unbearable to me,
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and the skull adhered to my hand, likewise most unbearable. // 33
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Then, burning and enveloped indeed by the killing of a brahmin,
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I went quickly on a journey for my own purpose to destroy it. // 34
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I went to all the sacred fords, yet was not freed from the murder;
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then, sorrowful and sorely tormented, I found no happiness anywhere. // 35
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In the meantime, a divine bodiless voice said:
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'Go to Avantī yourself, O Lord; why grieve in vain? // 36
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The holy Mahākālavana was created by you, O Lord,
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the station of the skull-handed one, Rudra, wondrous to behold;
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how do you not know the sacred field that destroys great sins? // 37
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In that sacred field there is a great liṅga near Gajarūpa;
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behold it, O Lord of the gods, [and] the killing of a brahmin will vanish.' // 38
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Then I came swiftly, having heard that excellent speech;
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the great liṅga was beheld by me, situated with a skull in hand. // 39
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Then, O brahmins, the skull fell to the ground from my hand;
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'This is the god Kapāleśvara'—thus was the name given by me. // 40
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Let the brahmins behold that god named Kapāleśvara,
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by the mere sight of whom you will become free from stain." // 41
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Then the liṅga was beheld by them, surrounded by many skulls;
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they became fulfilled in their purpose from the sight of that liṅga. // 42
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Therefore it became famous on earth by the name Kapāleśvara.
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Those who worship the one named Kapāleśvara, O great goddess, // 43
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those men having acquired merit, O goddess, go to the supreme abode.
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Even having committed a terrible sin, the killing of a brahmin and the like, a man— // 44
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that sin dissolves through the sight of this liṅga.
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Whatever sin has been amassed by deed, mind, or speech,
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this god destroys it when worshipped on the fourteenth [tithi]. // 45
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Those who perform worship even incidentally, O fair-faced lady,
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they too will attain whatever desires, even those very hard to obtain:
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incomparable lordship and virtue, long life, freedom from disease, // 46
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unmatched freedom from rivals, and whatever else [they wish], one will obtain.
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And men who are exceedingly sinful and engaged in cruel acts // 47
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will become free from sin and leaders of my gaṇas, O dear one.
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Those who regularly behold the god for a year, O dear one,
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leaving their body, behold my beloved abode. // 48
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This power of the god Kapāleśvara that destroys sin has been declared to you, O goddess;
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now hear of Svargadvāreśvara. // 49
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Thus ends the eighth chapter, titled 'Description of the Glory of Kapāleśvara' in the Eighty-Four Liṅgas Praise in the fifth section, Avantīkhaṇḍa, of the glorious Skandapurāṇa consisting of eighty-one thousand verses. // 8
Linked texts (1)
- Skandapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit