Skandapurana 6.3.22

English (machine translation) 6.3.22

Language: English

6.3.22.1

Śrī Mārkaṇḍeya said: / Hereafter I shall explain how she became Viśalyā ("dart-remover"), / a marvel to the world, destroying all sins.

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A mind-born son of Brahmā, the foremost Agni, was born; / he is declared the chief fire, an exceedingly righteous seer.

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His wife was Svāhā, known as Dākṣāyaṇī; / by her, O great king, three chief sons were then born:

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the Āhavanīya fire, and likewise the Dakṣiṇāgni, / and thirdly the Gārhapatya, by whom the three worlds are upheld.

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From that Gārhapatya fire were born two auspicious sons, / Padmaka and Śaṅku by name, both the best of fires.

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Living on the bank of the river, undertaking great austerity, / Agni worshiped Rudra, self-controlled and highly concentrated.

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For ten thousand years he practiced vast austerity. / To him Mahādeva, whose banner bears the bull, pleased, said:

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"O fortunate one, speak whatever is in your mind! / I am the giver, without doubt, even if it be very difficult to obtain."

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Agni said: / "May this blessed Narmadā and the sixteen rivers / become my wives by your grace, O Maheśvara!

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In them may I beget the foremost sons as desired. / Let this very boon be granted to me, O god, O Maheśvara!"

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Īśvara said: / "These excellent, large-eyed rivers shall indeed be named Dhiṣṇīs; / they will be your wives, celebrated in the Veda, without doubt.

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Their sons shall be the fires that are remembered in the sacrificial rite, / highly renowned under the name of Dhiṣṇyas until the dissolution of all beings."

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Having spoken thus, Mahādeva disappeared right there, / and the Narmadā, best of rivers, became his wife.

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The Kāverī, Kṛṣṇaveṇī, Revā, and Yamunā, / the Godāvarī, Vitastā, Candrabhāgā, and Irāvatī,

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the Vipāśā, Kauśikī, Sarayū, and Śatarudrikā, / the Śiprā, Sarasvatī, Hrādinī, and Pāvanī—

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these sixteen rivers were appointed to be his wives. / Then, having divided himself at once into the Dhiṣṇīs, that fire of great splendor—

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by the dispersal of the husband into the Dhiṣṇīs, beginning with Narmadā, / pure sons were born; they are all remembered as the guardians of the Dhiṣṇyas.

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And to that Narmadā was born a son renowned by the name Dhiṣṇīndra, / mighty and peerless in beauty, O king.

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Then there occurred a hair-raising battle between the gods and asuras, / known in the three worlds as the conflict with Maya and Tāraka.

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There, battered by the most terrible daityas led by Maya and Tāra, / the frightened gods fled to Viṣṇu for refuge:

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"Protect us, O Hṛṣīkeśa, from this terrible, great danger! / Destroy all the daityas led by Maya and Tāra!"

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Thus addressed, the Lord looked across the ten directions; / then the Lord saw Fire and Wind in battle.

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Summoned by Viṣṇu, the two went to his presence in an instant, / and bowed down, standing before the wise god of gods.

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Then Dhiṣṇi, the chief of fire, was addressed by the great-souled god: / "Burn down these most terrible great asuras, O son of Narmadā!"

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Thus addressed, those two gods, Fire and Wind, in battle / burnt all the daityas led by Maya and Tāra.

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Being scorched, all of them surrounded Fire with weapons— / with celestial weapons resembling fire and the sun, by hundreds and by thousands.

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And Fire burned those great asuras along with their multitudes of weapons; / everything was then filled with garlands of flames created by Wind.

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Being scorched and enveloped by the flames of fire, the daityas / entered the realm of Pātāla and hid in the water by thousands.

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Then all the gods, having worshiped the boy Fire, the imperishable son of Narmadā, / went to the abode of the thirty gods.

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Pierced by darts, that son of Revā of great splendor, surrounded by fires, / quickly went to the Narmadā, eager to see his mother.

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Seeing her son arriving, wounded by a barrage of weapons, / the Narmadā of holy water rose up in utter astonishment

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and embraced him with both arms, her breasts dripping with milk; / taking her dart-pierced son, she entered the pool of the Kapilā.

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The moment he entered that sin-destroying pool of the Kapilā, / she instantly made him who was pierced by darts free of all darts.

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Because he became free from darts (viśalya) upon reaching her auspicious water, / therefore Kapilā is also called Viśalyā by the wise.

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Others too who bathe there, purified and concentrated in mind, / are freed from the darts of sin, and upon death go to the abode of the gods.

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All this has been related to you, which I was asked about by you formerly, / the cause of the origin of Viśalyā, O dear one, O lord of men! .. 22.36 ..

.. Thus ends the twenty-second chapter, titled 'The Origin of Viśalyā', in the Narmadāmāhātmya of the Revākhaṇḍa, in the fifth [section], the Āvantyakhaṇḍa, in the glorious Skanda Mahāpurāṇa consisting of eighty-one thousand verses. ..

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Skandapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit