Skandapurana 6.3.35

English (machine translation) 6.3.35

Language: English

6.3.35.1

Yudhiṣṭhira said: / 'For what reason does Mahādeva stay in the midst of the water, / leaving aside the northern and southern banks, O best of twice-born?' / 35.1

6.3.35.2

The glorious Mārkaṇḍeya said: / 'This narrative is peerless, meritorious, and brings joy to the ears; / what was heard in the Purāṇa, my dear one, that I shall declare to you in its entirety.' / 35.2

6.3.35.3

'In the Tretāyuga, O highly fortunate one, Rāvaṇa was a thorn to the gods, / conqueror of the three worlds, fierce, and terrifying to gods and demons.' / 35.3

6.3.35.4

'He was invulnerable to gods, dānavas, gandharvas, and seers rich in austerity; / then, while he wandered the earth in his aerial chariot,' / 35.4

6.3.35.5

'at that time, in the midst of the Vindhya mountain, a dānava proud of his strength, / famed by the name of Maya, was practicing austerity, dwelling in a cave.' / 35.5

6.3.35.6

'Approaching him, the rākṣasa descended to the earth out of modesty; / honored with gifts and respect, he spoke these words:' / 35.6

6.3.35.7

'"Whose is this lotus-petal-eyed maiden, whose face resembles the full moon? / What is her name, and why does she practice severe austerity, O lord?"' / 35.7

6.3.35.8

Maya said: / 'I am the chief lord of the dānavas, Maya by name; / my wife is named Tejovatī, and she has an auspicious daughter,' / 35.8

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'celebrated as Mandodarī, who performs austerity for the sake of a husband, / propitiating Umā’s auspicious beloved as her lord.' / 35.9

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Hearing those words of his, Rāvaṇa, infatuated with passion, / stepped forward and, bowing down, spoke these words to Maya: / 35.10

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'"I was born in the lineage of Pulastya, the destroyer of the pride of gods and dānavas; / I make a request, O highly fortunate one: you ought to give me your daughter."' / 35.11

6.3.35.12

Knowing his paternal grandfather’s lineage, the great-souled Maya also, / having honored Rāvaṇa according to the rules, gave him his daughter. / 35.12

6.3.35.13

Taking her then, that rākṣasa, being praised by the night-stalkers, / disported with her in aerial chariots in the pleasure-garden of the gods. / 35.13

6.3.35.14

After some time, Rāvaṇa, who made the worlds cry out, / the foremost among those possessing sons, fathered a son, O descendant of Bharata. / 35.14

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As soon as he was born, a roar was uttered by that great-souled child, / like that of a Saṃvartaka cloud, by which the worlds were stunned. / 35.15

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Hearing that terrible roar, Brahmā, the grandfather of the worlds, / then named him: 'He shall be Meghanāda.' / 35.16

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Having been given this name, he too, having undertaken a supreme vow, / pleased Śaṃkara, the lord of gods, along with Umā. / 35.17

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Constantly emaciating his body through vows, observances, and gifts, / according to the rules of fire oblations and muttered prayers, and through kṛcchra and cāndrāyaṇa penances,

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in this way on another day, dear one, he went to Mount Kailāsa, / took two liṅgas, and set out facing south.

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Reaching the bank of the Narmadā, wishing to bathe, the mighty one / put them down and worshipped the god, having performed his muttered prayer, O lord of men.

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Having bathed there by dwelling at the shrine and offered into the sacred fire, / the night-roamer [Rāvaṇa], considering himself to have achieved his purpose,

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wished to take the further road toward Laṅkā, O best of kings. / Bowing low, as he lifted one liṅga with his left hand,

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and the second with his second [hand] in devotion, the son of Paulastya, / just then the great liṅga fell into the waters of the Narmadā.

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Saying, “Go! Go!”, it became established in the middle of the water. / The son of Rāvaṇa bowed down to that god, the supreme lord,

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and entered the sky, moving on, worshipped by the night-roamers. / From that time on, that sacred ford became celebrated as Meghanāda.

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Formerly its name was Garjana, destroying all sins. / Whoever performs a ritual ablution at that sacred ford, O king of kings,

6.3.35.27

having fasted for a day and night, obtains the fruit of a horse sacrifice. / And whoever performs the offering of rice-balls at that sacred ford, O king,

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the fruit that comes from a sacrificial session will be his; there is no doubt in this. / By that, the ancestors remain fully satisfied for twelve years.

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And whoever feeds a brahmin with food of the six tastes, O Bhārata, / attains imperishable merit at that sacred ford, O best of men.

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And whoever casts off his life-breaths, concentrated with a purified mind, / dwells in the world of Śaṅkara until the dissolution of all beings.

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This excellent origin of Garjana, destroying all sins, / has thus been related to you out of affection, O tiger among men.

Thus ends the thirty-fifth chapter, entitled “Description of the Māhātmya of the Meghanādatīrtha,” in the Revākhaṇḍa of the Avantī section in the glorious Skandapurāṇa, a compendium of eighty-one thousand verses.

Linked texts (1)

Skandapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit