Skandapurana 6.3.48

English (machine translation) 6.3.48

Language: English

6.3.48.1

Uttānapāda said:
In what place did that bull among Daityas, Andhaka, reside, O god?
Having conquered all the gods, in what place did he take up his abode?

6.3.48.2

The venerable Maheśa said:
I shall tell you, O ruler of men, where the Dānava entered.
Taking refuge in the realm of Pātāla, he violated maiden girls.

6.3.48.3

Knowing him to be stationed there, Keśava took up his bow
and discharged a fiery arrow, thinking: "Let him burn!"

6.3.48.4

Being burnt by the fire, he too aimed a Vāruṇa weapon.
With that great Vāruṇa weapon, the fiery [arrow] was then extinguished.

6.3.48.5

Then he wondered: "By whom was this arrow loosed?
Whose manly power is this? Who will go to the abode of Yama?"

6.3.48.6

Then, enraged in battle, Andhaka came forth along the path of the arrow.
Having seen Janārdana bow-in-hand along the path of the arrow,

6.3.48.7

Andhaka said:
"You will not find happiness today, having been beheld by my gaze!
Just as an elephant cannot escape upon seeing a tiger, so you cannot go away.

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Just as a mouse comes forth to be the food of a cat,
so you, standing before me, cannot get away!

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I shall send you along the dreadful road of Yama;
I shall track down your house and indeed go there!

6.3.48.10

You have been brought by Time to my battle, O Keśava!
Those Dānavas who were conquered by you many times before—

6.3.48.11

they were not real men; they were merely women, O Keśava!
However, I shall not fight with weapons against you!"

6.3.48.12

While the lord of Dānavas was speaking, Keśava did not become angry.
Seeing that he would not fight, the Dānava reflected:

6.3.48.13

"I will fight in single combat"; having resolved thus, O king, he fought.
He was struck down by Kṛṣṇa's foot and fell upon the surface of the earth.

Reviving after a moment, he rose up and thought:
He was incapable of hand-to-hand combat; therefore, he employed conciliation.
Folding his hands in supplication, pure, he bowed down with eight limbs prostrated.

6.3.48.15

Andhaka said:
"Victory! Homage to Kṛṣṇa, to Hari, to Viṣṇu, the victorious one!
To Hṛṣīkeśa, the sustainer of the world, to Acyuta, the Great Soul!

6.3.48.16

Homage to the lotus-navelled one, homage to the one adorned with a lotus garland,
to Janārdana, the Lord of Śrī, O consort of Śrī, clad in yellow garments!

6.3.48.17

Homage always to Govinda, homage to the one lying upon the ocean;
homage to the roaring Narasiṃha of terrible face!

6.3.48.18

To the bow-wielder, of white complexion, bearer of the conch, discus, and mace;
homage to the one whose form is Vāmana, homage to you whose form is the sacrifice!

6.3.48.19

Homage to the one whose form is the Boar, who strode across the three worlds,
who pervades all ends of the directions; homage, homage to Keśava!

6.3.48.20

O Vāsudeva, homage to you; homage to the destroyer of Kaiṭabha!
O abode of Lakṣmī, O best among gods, homage to you, O leader of the gods!

6.3.48.21

Even to those who show reverence to Viṣṇu, the god over all gods,
the Lord of Creatures, the sustainer of the world—to them also I bow.

6.3.48.22

To those who offer salutation to wise Vāsudeva,
the god of all living beings—to them also I bow.

6.3.48.23

To those who offer salutation to Viṣṇu of boundless splendour,
that Sacrificial Boar—to them also I bow.

6.3.48.24

Homage be to you again and again, the treasure-house of virtues,
O god who are an ocean of compassion and fond of all devotion!

6.3.48.25

The Blessed Lord said:
I am pleased with you, O lord of Dānavas; choose a boon as you desire.
I shall certainly give you a boon, even one difficult to obtain in the three worlds.

6.3.48.26

Andhaka said:
If you are pleased with me, O god, and will give a desired boon,
then grant me, O god, a supreme and splendid battle,
so that, purified by your weapon, I may go to beautiful realms.

6.3.48.27

The Blessed Lord said:
How can I give you battle when I have been propitiated by you?
Anger cannot prevail against you; how can I fight with you, O Andhaka?

6.3.48.28

If your mind is set on battle without a doubt,
then go to fight against the god Maheśvara.

6.3.48.29

Andhaka said:
My purpose will not be accomplished there, against the god Maheśvara.

6.3.48.30

The Blessed Lord said:
Son, go to the mountain peak and shake it with your strength.

6.3.48.31

When it is shaken, the Lord of Gods will feel fierce wrath;
enraged, Śaṅkara will grant you a dreadful battle, O Dānava.

6.3.48.32

At Viṣṇu's word, that sinful one went to where Maheśvara was;
reaching the peak of Kailāsa, he shook it repeatedly.

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When that peak was shaken, the three worlds trembled;
mountain summits, violently trembling, fell down in great numbers.

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The four oceans quickly merged into one, O king;
meteors fell, and trees tumbled in great numbers.

6.3.48.35

Accompanied by Umā, the god was filled with supreme astonishment.
Clasping the god tightly, the mountain-born goddess spoke [these] words:

6.3.48.36

"Why does the mountain shake? Why does the earth tremble? / Why do the serpent, mortals, and even Pātāla quake? / Or is it the destruction of an age, O Lord? You should tell me that." 48.36

6.3.48.37

Īśvara said: / "Whose wicked idea was this? A hand has been thrust into the serpent's mouth; / armor has been placed on the forehead! He will go to Yama's abode. 48.37

6.3.48.38

He who approached Kailāsa and woke me while I slept, / him shall I kill, there is no doubt, if he stands facing me." 48.38

6.3.48.39

The Lord of the gods thought, "This is Andhaka, without a doubt." / He considered a means by which he might be killed in an instant. 48.39

6.3.48.40

And all the gods, led by Brahmā along with the Vasus, arrived / having made a chariot composed of the gods, endowed with all auspicious marks. 48.40

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Some gods stood upon the wheel, some at the sides of the chariot-front; / some gods stood at the hub, and some stood upon the yokes. 48.41

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Some were motionless on the axle-poles, some stood upon the posts; / some were pillars of the chariot, some were coverings of the chariot. 48.42

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Others stood on the finial, and others on the pot, / terrifying to the enemy, divine, adorned with garlands of banners and the like. 48.43

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Having made the chariot composed of gods, the Guru of the universe mounted it; / filled with wrath, Maheśvara set forth where the Dānava was. 48.44

6.3.48.45

He said, "Halt, halt! Where will you go, wicked-minded one?" / Taking the bow in his hand, he shot arrows at the Dānava. 48.45

6.3.48.46

As the Dānava stood in battle, he cut off the arrows with arrows; / then Andhaka was covered right there by [Śiva's] bow[-shot arrows]. 48.46

6.3.48.47

The sun could not be seen there, nor the sky, nor the moon. / The Dānava also discharged a fiery weapon against Śiva. 48.47

6.3.48.48

Burnt by the arrow-coals, all the deities became terrified: / "Protect, protect us, O Mahādeva, who are being burnt by the Dānava!" 48.48

6.3.48.49

Then that God of gods, wielding the watery weapon, conquered [it]; / by the watery weapon, the fiery [one] was destroyed in an instant. 48.49

6.3.48.50

Then the airy weapon was released by the Dānava on the field of battle, / and the watery [weapon], my dear, was destroyed by the airy weapon. 48.50

6.3.48.51

With his mind seized with anger, the Lord released the serpent weapon; / the wind was destroyed there by the snake-arrows, of this there is no doubt. 48.51

6.3.48.52

Then the Garuḍa weapon was released playfully by the Dānava; / and seeing that Garuḍa weapon, the serpent [weapon] was no longer seen. 48.52

6.3.48.53

Then the Nārasiṃha weapon was discharged by the God of gods; / by the Nārasiṃha weapon's arrow, the Garuḍa weapon was subdued. 48.53

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Weapon was quenched by weapon, neither prevailing over the other. / A great battle took place, my dear, terrifying to gods and asuras, 48.54

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with discs, reeds, iron arrows, javelins, swords, and mallets, / with calf-tooth arrows, spears, and beautiful karṇikāra arrows. 48.55

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Thus the Dānava could not be slain with various weapons. / Then swords, iron arrows, and javelins, formidable with flames, 48.56

6.3.48.57

were hurled in the battle against the Dānava by the bull-bannered [Śiva]; / the weapons did not touch his body, like [a bashful] Gauḍa bride. 48.57

6.3.48.58

Then, having cast aside weapons, they engaged in hand-to-hand combat; / gripping hand with hand, striking with their own fists, / fighting with combat maneuvers, Śiva and Andhaka fought. 48.58

6.3.48.59

Śrī Mārkaṇḍeya said: / The Lord of the gods contemplated the suppression of Andhaka: / "I shall kill the evil-minded one, there is no doubt, without a doubt." 48.59

6.3.48.60

When he was thrown down by Śiva, he fell onto the surface of the earth, / with his arms raised and face downward, O best of kings. 48.60

6.3.48.61

Filled with anger, the enemy of the gods in battle seized the Lord of the gods, / hurled him into the hollow of his armpits, and oppressed him, holding him bound. 48.61

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The Lord became motionless; Maheśvara was overtaken by a swoon. / But knowing him to be fallen into a swoon, the Dānava reflected: 48.62

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"Alas, a terrible misdeed has been done today by me, an evil-doer! / What shall I do? How can this act [be undone]? In what place should I release him?" 48.63

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Taking the Lord upon his lap, he went to Mount Kailāsa; / having laid Śaṅkara upon his bed, the king of Daityas then departed. 48.64

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Fallen upon the bed, the God then felt pain; / then he saw himself situated in his own abode. 48.65

6.3.48.66

"How was defeat inflicted upon me today by that wicked soul?" / Seized by the force of anger, he went out toward the Dānava. 48.66

6.3.48.67

Taking an iron club forged of a thousand bhāras, / the Lord saw the Dānava and hurled it at his head. 48.67

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Laughing in battle, the Dānava struck it with his sword. / Then in that great battle, the God remembered the weapon named Kauccheira. 48.68

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Having hurled the blazing [weapon], he struck him instantly in the chest; / then, struck by that, vomiting a gush of blood, 48.69

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he fell face downward, and then was pierced by the trident; / and again he was cleaved in two with the trident by the God of gods. 48.70

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Impaled on the tip of the trident, that wicked one then spun like a wheel. / Whichever drops of blood fell to the ground from his body, 48.71

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all those arose as Dānavas with weapons in their hands. / Then the Lord was perturbed by that mighty Dānava. 48.72

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Then the God remembered Durgā, Cāmuṇḍā of terrifying face; / she arrived, of formidable form, resplendent with diverse weapons, 48.73

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with huge fangs, a massive body, yellow-red eyes, and pendulous ears: / "Let the command be given, O God! Who shall go to Yama's abode?" 48.74

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Īśvara said: / "Drink the blood of this Dānava as you please, O gentle one; / O Durgā, catch the blood falling to the ground without delay! 48.75

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Give assistance, O beautiful one, while I slay the Dānava." / Thus addressed, Durgā then drank the blood. 48.76

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All the Dānavas were slain by thousands by the Lord of the gods. / And Andhaka, seeing those Dānavas fallen to the earth, / then praised Maheśvara, the God of gods, with words. 48.77

6.3.48.78

Andhaka said:
Be victorious, O Lord of the gods of gods, bearing a body that is half Umā's half!
Salutations to you, O Lord of the gods of gods, to Sarva, the embodiment of the three guṇas!

6.3.48.79

Mounted on the seat of the bull, your crest formed by the moon!
Victory to him with the skull-staff in hand; O Gaṅgādhara, salutations to you!

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Salutations to him with the ḍamaru drum in hand, salutations to him wearing a garland of skulls!
To the destroyer of Smara's body, to the great lord, salutations be to you!

6.3.48.81

Salutations to you, the knock-downer of Pūṣan's teeth, the lord of the gaṇas!
Victory to him whose body is his own true form, who is formless and multiform!

6.3.48.82

To the destroyer of the head even of Viriñci, O Śaṅkara;
to the one who dwells constantly in the cremation ground, whose form is eternally Bhairava!

6.3.48.83

You are omnipresent, you are the maker, you are the destroyer, none other at all.
You are the earth, and you are the directions; you are Bṛhaspati and Bhārgava as well;

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You are Śani, O Lord of the gods of gods, and likewise the son of the earth (Mars);
asterisms, planets, and all else that is visible—that is you alone!

6.3.48.85

Having thus offered praise to the god, that Dānava
bowed down to Maheśvara with clasped hands.

6.3.48.86

Īśvara said:
Well done, well done, O one of great fortitude! Ask a boon, O Dānava.
I am the giver and you are the petitioner; I grant here whatever you desire.

6.3.48.87

Andhaka said:
If you are pleased, O Lord of gods, if a boon is to be given to me,
then I should be made similar to yourself; no other boon [do I ask].

6.3.48.88

Smeared with ashes, having matted hair, three-eyed, holding a trident, four-armed,
with a tiger-skin upper garment, and with a serpent sacred thread—

6.3.48.89

all this I desire, O Maheśvara, if you are pleased.

6.3.48.90

Īśvara said:
I indeed grant you today the boon that has been asked by you, O sinless one.
Abiding among my gaṇas, O son, you shall become Bhṛṅgīśa.

6.3.48.90_2

Thus ends the forty-eighth chapter, named 'Description of the Slaying of Andhaka and Granting Him a Boon', in the Revākhaṇḍa of the fifth, Āvantyakhaṇḍa, in the glorious Skanda Mahāpurāṇa of eighty-one thousand verses.

Linked texts (1)

Skandapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit