Skandapurana 6.3.78

English (machine translation) 6.3.78

Language: English

6.3.78.1

Śrī Mārkaṇḍeya said: / Then, O best of kings, one should go to the excellent Naradeśvara, / the supreme sacred ford among sacred fords, founded by Nārada.

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Yudhiṣṭhira said: / O best of sages, why was this sacred ford founded by Nārada? / Relate all this to me, if you are pleased [with me], O most virtuous one.

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Śrī Mārkaṇḍeya said: / Nārada, the son of the Supreme Lord [Brahmā], is the best of sages, O son of Pṛthā; / formerly, austerity was performed by him on the northern bank of the Revā.

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By restraining the nine channels and remaining motionlessly absorbed like wood, / the Lord of Beings was truly pleased by Nārada, O Yudhiṣṭhira.

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Īśvara said: / I am pleased with you, O best of brahmins, lord among yogins, unborn from a womb! / Ask a boon of me, child, whatever is in your mind.

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Nārada said: / By your grace, O Śambhu, may my yoga be accomplished, / and may I have unswerving devotion to you at all times.

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May I wander at will, O God, well-versed in the Vedas and Vedāṅgas; / may I know the three times, O Lord of the World, and may I always know the art of song.

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Day after day, just as there is conflict among gods, Dānavas, and human beings / in Pātāla, in the mortal world, or even in heaven, O Maheśvara,

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may I behold [it], and by your grace behold you and Pārvatī likewise; / and [grant] a sacred ford renowned throughout the worlds, destroying all sins.

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Īśvara said: / Thus, O Nārada, all shall come to pass, there is no doubt. / Whatever you have thought will be accomplished through my grace; there is no doubt here.

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You will wander at will, my child, in heaven and in the realm of Pātāla; / wander also in the mortal realm, O yogin, and you will not be restrained by anyone.

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The seven musical notes, the three scales, the twenty-one modulations, / and the forty-nine melodic patterns [shall be yours] by my grace, surely.

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Divine song and dance will be pleasing to me; / and you will constantly behold strife among gods, Dānavas, and Kinnaras.

Your sacred ford on the face of the earth will be holy through my grace. / Knowing the essence of the Vedas and Vedāṅgas, skilled in all knowledge, / you are solitary and unattached through my grace, O Nārada.

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Having spoken thus, the God disappeared. Then, O best of kings, Nārada / installed the Bearer of the Trident there, who benefits all beings.

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An excellent sacred ford on earth was founded by Nārada; / whichever self-controlled person goes to that sacred ford, O best of kings,

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on the fourteenth day of the dark fortnight in the month of Bhādrapada, O son of Pṛthā, / fasting with supreme devotion, should keep vigil at night.

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An umbrella should be given there to a brahmin endowed with auspicious marks. / For those who were killed by a weapon, one should offer a śrāddha; / they go to the supreme realm through the power of the gift of rice-balls.

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A brown cow should be given there for the sake of the ancestors, O descendant of Bharata, / uttering thus, it should be given to a twice-born: 'May they attain the supreme state!'

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'Through the intention of this śrāddha, through the grace of the brahmin, / through the nature of the waters of the Narmadā, and through wealth earned righteously, / and through their power, may the spirits of the dead attain the supreme state!'

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Having uttered thus, a sacrificial fee should be given to the twice-born according to one's capacity, / and one should feed the twice-born with sacrificial food, O large-eyed one.

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A lamp should be offered with devotion, and dance and song should be performed; / indeed, everything is obtained by him who performs this in the abode of Īśvara.

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He goes to the presence of Rudra; so Rudra himself proclaimed. / And by the singular gift of knowledge, he attains an imperishable state.

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Draught-oxen should be given there, [and] land bearing crops, O king. / One should please the fire [Citrabhānu] there with devotion, using auspicious mantras,

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with abundant clarified butter and sacrificial materials, O descendant of Bharata. / Those who always worship with devotion at the three times of day and [offer] dance

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at the sacred ford called Nārada on the northern bank of the Revā— / the gods have Citrabhānu as their mouth, and the sage is composed of all the gods.

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All are pleased by the sage; therefore, the consumer of oblations is pleased. / When the bearer of oblations is worshipped, poverty never arises.

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Great satisfaction through wealth arises in every birth; / and they are of noble family and handsomely attired at all times through wealth.

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A raft for rivers, a husband for women, a king devoted to good conduct for his subjects, / wealth for men, and seasons for trees bring back their departed youth again and again.

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The status of the giver of wealth was attained by the Lord of Wealth at that very sacred ford; / and the status of Yama by Yama, and the status of Indra by the wielder of the thunderbolt.

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Sovereignty over the earth was attained by other kings as well; / Dhruva achieved steadfastness through the māhātmya of Nāradeśvara.

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The sacred ford, best among all sacred fords, was founded by Nārada / on the ocean-bounded earth, on the northern bank of the Revā; / it is the best of all sacred fords, destroying the greatest sins.

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Thus ends the seventy-eighth chapter, entitled 'Description of the Māhātmya of Nāradeśvara Tīrtha', in the Revākhaṇḍa of the fifth [section], the Āvantyakhaṇḍa, in the glorious Skanda Mahāpurāṇa, a compendium of eighty-one thousand [verses].

Linked texts (1)

Skandapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit