Skandapurana 6.3.49

English (machine translation) 6.3.49

Language: English

6.3.49.1

Mārkaṇḍeya said:
Then, having slain Andhaka, Maheśvara, the god of gods,
Rudra together with Umā, went to Mount Kailāsa.

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And then the gods arrived, Brahmā and others together with Indra;
delighted and pleased, they all bowed to the husband of Pārvatī.

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Īśvara said:
Let all those sit down, whoever has arrived.
This Dānava was indeed slain for the sake of the gods, O Grandfather;

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by his blood my trident does not become clean at all.
Devoted to auspicious vows, austerity, and prayers, O Brahmā, he was slain by me.

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I desire to undertake a pilgrimage to sacred fords properly, O Four-faced One;
let all of you who have assembled here come along with me.

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Having spoken thus, the Lord of the gods of gods set forth towards Prabhāsa.
Sacred fords beginning with Prabhāsa, as far as the midst of Gaṅgāsāgara—

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even having bathed in all of them, O king, purity did not occur.
Then, having gone to the Narmadā, the god, accompanied by the gods,

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fond of vows, bathed on both the northern and the southern bank.
And having gone to the southern bank, onto the mountain named after Bhṛgu,

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dwelling there, O lord of earth, Mahādeva together with the gods,
having wandered long, tired and despondent, sat down.

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Since the place was enchanting to all the celestials,
considering that sacred ford distinguished, the god Maheśvara stayed there.

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He pierced the mountain with his trident, and Rasātala was split open by it;
and the trident became clean; no stain was visible anywhere.

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The most meritorious Bhāratī was summoned there by the gods;
and the most meritorious Sarasvatī flowed out from the mountain there.

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A second confluence is there, like the dark and white [waters] at the Veṇī;
there, the god Brahmā himself [consecrated] the excellent liṅga Brahmeśa.

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He established the meritorious, supreme [liṅga], destroyer of all sorrow.
In the southern quarter thereof, the god Janārdana himself

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remains always there, standing before the foot of Viṣṇu.
There would be no path for the water resting in the middle of the pool;

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a furrow was drawn with the tip of the trident, and from it the water flowed, O king;
and that water went to where the great river Revā is.

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The most meritorious water-liṅga, a radiant sacred ford, O best of kings—
at Śūlabheda, if the lord of gods should perform his ritual ablution according to rule,

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he considers himself pure, with no blemish remaining.
On its northern side, the god of gods, the teacher of the world,

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the trident-handed Lord of the gods of gods, established himself.
Among all sacred fords, that sacred ford is supreme, embodying all the gods,

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destroying all sins, meritorious, the best destroyer of all sorrows.
Having installed the god of gods at that sacred ford, the teacher of the world,

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having stationed guardian deities there, one hundred and eight Vināyakas,
one hundred and eight guardians of the field protect it with effort.

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Obstacles arise for anyone who wishes to stay there:
some are preoccupied with family and children, some in agricultural works;

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some hold assemblies, some are devoted to accumulating wealth;
some speak ill behind backs, and some are always intent on harm;

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some are attached to others' wives, some destroy livelihoods;
others say thus: 'How can one go to sacred fords?

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A wife, sons, servants, and others are afflicted by hunger then.'
Thus men are entangled in webs of delusion by the hosts of the gods.

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And mortals of sinful conduct—their ritual ablution does not take place;
and the attendant hosts of the gods guard that sacred ford always.

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Mortals who are fortunate and meritorious—their ritual ablution takes place,
especially in the celestial river Sarasvatī, the Bhogavatī.

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This is a meritorious confluence, like the dark and white [waters] at the Veṇī.
Having seen that sacred ford, all those gods, glad at heart,

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came into the presence of the god and described it as supreme:
'This sacred ford, O Lord of gods, is equal to the sacred ford of Gayā for you.'

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A sacred ford more secret than the secret, there never was nor will there be. / Having worshipped the Trident-bearer, along with Indra and the other hosts of apsarases,

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along with yakṣas, kinnaras, gandharvas, guardians of the directions, and world-protectors, / with dances, songs, and praises, by all the gods and asuras,

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Maheśvara was worshipped by all the hosts, siddhas, and serpents. / O king, [the ground] was pierced there by the god with the tip of his trident,

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where even today a whirlpool filled by the gods is seen divided threefold, / a triad of pools, O tiger among men, accompanied by a great murmuring sound,

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destroying all sins, supreme, dispelling all sorrow. / Whoever bathes in that sacred ford, dedicated to fasting,

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even if devoid of initiation and mantra, is freed from the sin of a whole year. / Those, however, who bathe according to rule with the five mantras,

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with the five mantras proclaimed in the Veda, with auspicious jars containing gold, / or with ten syllables, or six, or three,

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distinctly for the twice-born, it must be performed at the sacred ford, O king; / or for brahmins, kṣatriyas, and vaiśyas, and likewise for women and śūdras.

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Having meditated upon the triad of persons, one should perform the ritual ablution according to rule. / The men who drink the water with the ten-syllabled mantra,

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they go to the supreme realm where the god Maheśvara is, / just as if drunk at Kedāra, and likewise at the Rudrakuṇḍa.

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Equipped with five rephas, the letter kṣa is worshipped by the gods; / joined with the oṃkāra, this is proclaimed to be the object of knowledge.

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He who performs ritual ablution there, endowed with the rites, with senses controlled, / should offer libations to the ancestral gods with water mixed with sesame.

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He delivers twenty generations: ten preceding and ten succeeding. / The person who performs a śrāddha in the five places beginning with Gayā,

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he obtains that same fruit at Śūlabheda, without a doubt. / He who, observing proper rites, bestows gifts there with devotion,

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imperishable is the fruit thereof, whether good deeds or bad deeds. / Just as Gayāśiras is ever meritorious in ancestral rites,

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so Śūlabheda is meritorious through ritual ablutions, gifts, and libations. / Whoever gives there with devotion gold, a cow, land, sesame seeds,

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a seat, sandals, a bed, and likewise a kṣatriya [who gives] excellent horses, / a pair of garments, grain, and carefully [gives] a fully furnished house,

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and gives a plow with its yoke and cultivated earth— / who gives these gifts to a brahmin who has mastered the Vedas,

a Vedic scholar of noble family, pure, with senses subdued, / endowed with learning and study of scripture, devoid of hypocrisy, engaged in rituals— / each gift shall become thirteenfold on the thirteenth day.

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Thus ends the forty-ninth chapter, entitled "Description of the Glorification of the Origin of Śūlabheda," in the Revākhaṇḍa of the Āvantyakhaṇḍa in the glorious Skanda Mahāpurāṇa of eighty-one thousand verses.

Linked texts (1)

Skandapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit