Skandapurana 6.3.53

English (machine translation) 6.3.53

Language: English

6.3.53.1

Uttānapāda said: / While he dwelt in the hermitage, O God, how did that younger son / of the sage Dīrghatapas meet his death?

6.3.53.2

Īśvara said: / Listen with single-minded attention, O king, to the divine tale, / by the mere hearing of which one is freed from all sins.

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There was a king of Kāśī of great valor and of mighty strength and prowess, / renowned on earth, O lord of men, as Citrasena.

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In his realm there was always righteousness; unrighteousness was nowhere to be found. / He was constantly devoted to Vedic dharma, protecting the subjects righteously.

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Devoted to his own duty, always fond of war and hospitality, / adhering to the duty of a kṣatriya, he enjoyed pleasures at will.

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There was no end to his treasury; he possessed elephants, horses, chariots, and foot-soldiers. / Conversing with learned men conversant with the Itihāsas and Purāṇas,

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the king shone like Śaṅkara on Mount Kailāsa. / Protecting the kingdom in this manner, the king said to his minister:

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“I shall go on a hunt; remain here protecting the kingdom.” / When the ministers said, “Go,” that lord of the earth set out.

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Riding on horses and galloping along, kings and rulers of provinces, / their parasols rubbing against one another, followed toward the forest.

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The earthly dust raised there, struck by the feet of elephants and horses, / covered everything, together with the quarters of space and the disc of the sun.

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Neither the sun, nor the cardinal directions, nor the moon could be seen there; / nor could the trees and mountain peaks be seen anywhere.

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They could not see one another, just as in the middle of a night in the rainy season. / Then he sighted an immense herd of deer there.

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The king ran accompanied by all the princes; / their gathering broke apart, and they quickly scattered in the ten directions.

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King Citrasena, the lord of the earth, took a single path; / he went alone wherever those deer went.

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Then he entered an impassable forest and mountain cavern, / thick with creepers and bushes, where one could not be seen standing.

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Considering the deer to have become invisible, the king looked around at the quarters of space: / “To which direction shall I go? Where is the reunion with my army?”

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Having thus fallen into distress, King Citrasena, the lord of men, / took shelter under the shade of a tree and rested.

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Afflicted with hunger and thirst, wandering in the impassable forest and mountain cave, / he then saw a divine lake adorned with clusters of lotuses.

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Filled with swans and kāraṇḍava ducks, adorned with cakravāka birds, / upon seeing it, that king of kings had the hair of his body stand on end with joy.

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Taking lotuses, he then performed ritual ablution, / having offered libations to the ancestors, gods, and men according to the injunctions.

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Covering [it] with lotuses, he worshipped Śaṃkara; / attentive, he drank pure water in the prescribed manner.

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Coming out of the water onto the bank, seeing a tree nearby, / placing his upper garment below, he sat down on the surface of the ground.

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Sitting there, he reflected: 'What shall I do today?' / Seated there, he then saw many deer in that part of the forest.

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Some were facing east, others facing south, / some facing west, and some facing the quarter of Kubera [north].

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Some were devoted to sleep; others stood with their ears pricked up. / In the midst of the deer was the yogin Ṛkṣaśṛṅga of great austerity.

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Seeing the deer, the king then thought of food: / 'Having killed one of these deer, I shall eat at will;

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I will regain my strength from eating deer meat, / [and then] I shall go toward Kāśī, searching for the way with effort.'

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Having thought thus, the king, leaning against the foot of the tree, / took his bow in hand and then fitted an arrow.

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He shot an arrow there, where those many deer were; / in their midst, that Ṛkṣaśṛṅga of great austerity was struck.

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Frightened, all those forest-dwellers ran away, crying out; / that seer fell there and cried, 'Kṛṣṇa! Kṛṣṇa!'

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'Alas, a terrible deed has been done by the one who has now struck me down! / Whose evil intent, wicked of mind, has arisen against me?

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I stood among the deer, harming no one.' / Hearing that human voice, the king was filled with astonishment.

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Going quickly, he then saw a brahmin blazing with brahmanic splendor: / 'Alas, a terrible thing I have done today, by which this twice-born has been struck down!'

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Citrasena said: / 'Unintentionally, mistaking you for a deer, you have been struck down by me, O sinless one! / Gathering much wood, I will burn my own body.

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Whatever [sin] exists, seen or unseen, none equals the murder of a brahmin. / Otherwise, my purification from the murder of a brahmin will not come to pass.'

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Ṛkṣaśṛṅga said: / 'No attainment whatsoever will be yours if I meet my death. / Many deaths will follow upon my destruction now.

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My mother, my aged father, my ascetic brothers, / and my brothers' wives will die if I meet my death.

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These killings will happen; how will your purification come to pass? / I will tell you a remedy, if you think to do it.'

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Citrasena said: / 'Tell me today the remedy that is in your mind; / I will do all of it with every effort, O great sage.'

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Ṛkṣaśṛṅga said: / 'I ask you: who are you, and whence have you come here? / Among brahmins, kṣatriyas, and vaiśyas, which are you—or born of a śūdra?'

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Citrasena said: / 'I am not a śūdra, sir, nor a vaiśya, nor a brahmin; / nor am I an outcaste, O foremost of the twice-born: I am a kṣatriya, O great sage,

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knowing righteousness, grateful, and devoted to the welfare of all beings. / The sin has occurred unintentionally; how will purification come to pass?'

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Ṛkṣaśṛṅga said: / 'Take me and go to the hermitage where my parents are, / and announce yourself as the afflicted killer of their son.

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Seeing me, they will have compassion on you; / they will tell you the remedy by which peace will be attained.'

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Hearing his words, Citrasena, best of kings, / took the twice-born on his shoulder and went toward the hermitage.

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When he was unable to carry him, resting again and again, / he then saw that twice-born fainted, his faculties failing.

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Citrasena set him down in the shade of a banyan tree; / folding a cloth fourfold, he fanned him repeatedly.

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As he watched, O king of kings, Ṛkṣaśṛṅga of great austerity, / skilled in yoga, swiftly met his death through the yoga of meditation.

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He cremated that twice-born according to the prescribed rite; / having performed ritual ablution, stricken with grief, he lamented repeatedly.

Thus ends the fifty-third chapter, entitled 'Description of Ṛkṣaśṛṅga's Departure to Heaven' in the Śūlabhedamāhātmya of the Revākhaṇḍa in the fifth Āvantyakhaṇḍa of the glorious Skanda Mahāpurāṇa, a compendium of eighty-one thousand verses.

Linked texts (1)

Skandapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit