Skandapurana 6.3.76

English (machine translation) 6.3.76

Language: English

6.3.76.1

The venerable Mārkaṇḍeya said:
Then one should go, O best of kings, to the unsurpassed Pāreśvara.
The great-souled Parāśara, indeed, on the auspicious bank of the Narmadā,

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performed extensive austerity for the sake of a son, O son of Pāṇḍu.
By him the daughter of Himavat, Gaurī, Nārāyaṇī, O king,

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was propitiated with supreme devotion on the northern bank of the Narmadā.
The great goddess, who holds half the body of Śaṅkara, was pleased with him [and said]:

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'Hail, O best, most excellent of seers! I am pleased with your devotion.
Ask a boon of me, O brahmin, O noble-minded Parāśara!'

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Parāśara said:
'If you are well pleased with me, O goddess, if a boon is to be granted to me,
give me a son, O blessed lady, endowed with the virtues of truth and purity,

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devoted to the study of the Vedas, and proficient in all the sacred scriptures.
And may there be, O goddess, your presence in this sacred ford by this excellent boon.

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For the sake of helping the world, remain here, O daughter of the mountain,
under the name of Parāśara, on the southern bank of the Narmadā.'

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The goddess said:
'So be it for you, O brahmin.' Right there she disappeared.
The great-souled Parāśara then established Pārvatī.

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He established Śaṅkara, worshipped by gods and asuras,
indivisible, inconceivable, and difficult of access even to the gods.

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The great-souled Parāśara achieved his purpose, O king.

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At that sacred ford, whoever with devotion, pure and restrained in mind,
whether a woman or a man, free from desire and anger,

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in Māgha, Caitra, or Vaiśākha, in Śrāvaṇa, O prince,
and in the month of Mārgaśīrṣa, during the bright fortnight at all times,

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having gone to that auspicious place on the southern bank of the Narmadā,

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having fasted with supreme devotion, performs this observance,
keeping vigil at night and giving lamps according to one's capacity,

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[with] song, dance, and instrumental music, free from desire and anger;
when clear dawn arrives, the twice-born should be honored according to one's capacity.

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Having honored the brahmins, O son of Pṛthā, with gifts of wealth and gold,
with clothing, the gift of umbrellas, beds, betel, and meals,

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one should gratify on the bank of the Narmadā the brahmins of commendable vows.
A śrāddha should be performed, O best of kings, with raw food, cooked food, and water.

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For women and for śūdras, an āmaśrāddha is praised;
raw food should be given fourfold to the brahmins, O Yudhiṣṭhira.

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According to the rite taught in the Veda, the twice-born are to be honored with care,
with kuśa grass a cubit long, with sesame seeds, and with unbroken rice, O king.

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The brahmins should be seated facing north, and oneself facing south.
One should place the food upon the darbha grass, uttering this before the twice-born:

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'May the departed spirits go to the higher world by the power of this sacred ford!
May my sin be pacified; may auspiciousness always increase!

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May my lineage and kinsmen always flourish, O best of the twice-born!'
Having uttered this, a gift should be given to the brahmin according to one's capacity.

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Cows, land, gold and the like, food and clothing, according to one's capacity,
should be given, O best of Pāṇḍavas, at the excellent hermitage of Pāreśvara.

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Those who listen with supreme devotion are freed from all sins.

Thus ends the seventy-sixth chapter, titled 'Description of the Pāreśvara-tīrtha-māhātmya', in the Revākhaṇḍa of the fifth [part, the] Āvantyakhaṇḍa, in the glorious Skanda Mahāpurāṇa, a collection of eighty-one thousand [verses].

Linked texts (1)

Skandapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit