Skandapurana 6.3.83

English (machine translation) 6.3.83

Language: English

Śrī Mārkaṇḍeya said:
Then one should go, O great king, to the extremely beautiful sacred ford,
said to remove the murder of a brahmin, situated on the bank of the Revā.
For here exists the excellent liṅga named after Hanumat.

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Yudhiṣṭhira said:
Tell me how Hanūmanteśvara came to be,
the sacred ford that removes the murder of a brahmin, situated on the southern bank of the Revā.

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The venerable Mārkaṇḍeya said: / Excellent, excellent, O mighty-armed one, ornament of the lunar dynasty! / I have not told anyone of this sacred ford, which is more secret than the secret.

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Out of affection for you I shall declare it, though I am afflicted by old age. / Long ago, a great battle took place between Rāma and Rāvaṇa.

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Pulastya was the son of Brahmā, and Viśravas was indeed his son. / From him was born Rāvaṇa, the ten-faced brahmarākṣasa.

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And by the grace of the wielder of the trident, he became the conqueror of the three worlds. / All the gods were conquered, and Rāma's wife was abducted.

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The sinner was repeatedly restrained by Kumbhakarṇa, by Vibhīṣaṇa, / and by Mandodarī: 'Release Sītā, release her!'

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'You were defeated by Kārtavīrya, and he too by the son of Reṇukā; / that Rāma [was defeated] by Rāmabhadra; how then could there be your victory in battle?'

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Rāvaṇa said: / 'By monkeys, men, bears, and by unarmed boars, / and by hosts of gods and asuras, I was never defeated.'

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The venerable Mārkaṇḍeya said: / Yet by Rāmacandra, with Sugrīva and Hanumān, / with Kumuda, Aṅgada, and with these and other allies, he was indeed conquered.

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By Rāmacandra, the mighty son of Pulastya was slain in battle. / The forest was broken, and heroes were slain by the son of the Wind.

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Rāvaṇa's son, Prince Akṣa, was slain in combat, / and the dreadful might of the rākṣasas was crushed by the monkey.

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When this event of the Rāmāyaṇa had thus passed and Sītā had been freed, / and Rāma had gone to Ayodhyā, that great monkey Hanumān

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went to the mountain named Kailāsa to bow before the Great Lord. / 'Wait, wait!' that best of monkeys was told by Nandin:

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'You are tainted with the sin of killing brahmins, on account of slaying the rākṣasas. / Truly, O monkey, the assembly hall of Bhairava must not be seen by you.'

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Hanumān said: / 'O Lord Nandin, ask Hara what gives pacification of the sin. / For I am a monkey, a sinner born through another cause.'

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Nandin said: / 'Have you not heard of her who is born from the body of Rudra, who rests upon the earth? / Through hearing [of her], the sin born of a lifetime is removed, and double through chanting [her name].

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The sin accumulated over thirty births is destroyed by plunging into the Revā. / Therefore, go to the bank of the Narmadā and perform great austerity.'

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Having heard what was said by Nandin, the son of the Wind / departed for the bank of the Narmadā, to its confluence on the south of the Aurvā.

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Far to the south, he meditated upon the god, the three-eyed wielder of the trident, / endowed with a diadem of matted locks, wearing a serpent as a sacred thread,

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all his limbs smeared with ashes, resounding with the sound of the ḍamaru, / taking Umā into half his body, peaceful, seated on the bull-lord.

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For many years he worshipped Īśvara, / until Mahādeva, pleased, arrived together with Umā.

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He spoke sweet speech, resounding deep like a rain-cloud. / 'Excellent, excellent!' said the Lord, 'Child, you have endured hardship!

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You committed no sin before in the destruction of Rāvaṇa. / Devoted to the business of your master, you are perfected by the sight of me.'

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And Hanumān, beholding Hara, steadfast, taking Umā into half his body, / bowed with eight limbs and said: 'Victory, O Śambhu! Homage be to you! / Victory to the destroyer of Andhaka! Victory, O bearer of the Gaṅgā upon your head!'

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Thus praised, Mahādeva, granting a boon, spoke these words: / 'Request a boon from me, my child, born of the essence of my vital breath!'

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The venerable Hanumān said: / 'The guilt of killing [a brahmin] arose for me from slaying the brahmarākṣasa, O Maheśvara. / May I be free from sin, O Lord, this instant, by conversing with you!'

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Īśvara said: / 'By the greatness of the sacred ford of the Narmadā, by the power of the practice of dharma, / and by the sight of my form, O son, you are sinless; there is no doubt.

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And I grant you another boon, O bull among monkeys: / your names for the benefit of the worlds, O son of the Wind:

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Hanūmān, son of Añjanā, son of the Wind, exceedingly mighty, / beloved of Rāma, Phālguna's friend, yellow-eyed, of immeasurable prowess,

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best at leaping the ocean, crusher of the pride of the ten-necked one, / giver of life to Lakṣmaṇa, and dispeller of Sītā's sorrow.'

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Having spoken thus, the god Śaṅkara vanished together with Umā. / Hanumān then established a liṅga there with devotion,

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by the power of his own yoga and the strength of his celibacy. / By the grace of Īśvara, that liṅga grants desires; / it cannot be severed, it is incomprehensible, and free from destruction and arising.

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The venerable Mārkaṇḍeya said: / Hear, O son, the visible proof concerning Hanūmanteśvara, / which took place at the beginning of the Dvāpara and end of the Tretā age, O joy of Pāṇḍu.

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There was a king named Suparvan upon the earth. / That king always had happiness, and people were always long-lived.

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Endowed with sons and wealth, he was free from the afflictions of thieves. / He had a son of terrible prowess named Śatabāhu.

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He was always attached to sinful ways, O lord of men. / He wandered over all the earth, the mountains, and the forests.

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For the sake of hunting herds of deer, he went to the Vindhya mountain, / which was crowded with various kinds of trees and filled with herds of elephants,

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rich in the beauty of lions and leopards, swarming with deer and boars. / Having sported in the forest, that king bowed to the Narmadā somewhere,

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and reached the forest of Hanūmat, extending a hundred krośas, / rich in the beauty of tamarind groves and crowded with kadamba trees,

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always adorned with pālāśa, jambīra, karañja, and khadira, / combined with pāṭala and badara, and embellished with śamī and tinduka,

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covered with herds of deer, resounding with the cries of peacocks, / and beautified on all sides by the sounds of flocks of pigeons.

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In autumn, during the dark fortnight of Āśvina, the king delighted there. / Having gone into the middle of the forest, he saw a tawny brahmin wandering about,

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with a manuscript resting in his hand, and he questioned that restless brahmin.

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Śatabāhu said: / Why do you wander alone in the forest with a booklet in your hand, / looking here and there? Tell me, best of brahmins.

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The brahmin said: / I have come from Kānyakubja, sent by a king's daughter, / to cast bones into the waters at Hanūmanteśvara, O king.

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The king said: / Why are bones being cast into the waters at Hanūmanteśvara, O brahmin? / For what purpose is this done? Tell me the wondrous tale.

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Leaving his vehicle and bowing down upon the earth, / folding his hands in reverence to the brahmin, O king, / the son of Suparvan told his entire former account:

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The brahmin said: / There is a valorous king named Śikhaṇḍin in Kānyakubja; / this ruler was childless, but through desires a daughter was born to him.

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She remembered her past births and was very beautiful in body, through the power of the Narmadā. / Once that maiden was addressed by her father for marriage:

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"In this impermanent worldly existence, daughter, I shall give [you] in marriage. / What is to be done tomorrow one should do today, and in the morning what is to be done in the afternoon; / for death does not wait to see whether one's work is done or not done."

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The maiden said: / "At whatever time I wish, at that time I should be given [in marriage] by you, father." / At his daughter's words, that king, astonished, spoke [these] words:

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Śikhaṇḍin said: / "Tell me, blessed one; you have spoken wondrously." / At her father's words, that excellent girl came near,

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and told what had happened at Hanūmanteśvara, O king: / "Father, I was a peahen, and I lived then united with my mate.

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Dwelling near the confluence of the Revā and the Uru, on the southern bank of the Revā, / I disported at will in the sacred forest of Hanūmat.

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Having fallen asleep with my mate at night on an upright tree, / hunters, afflicted with hunger, arrived there in that excellent forest.

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United with my mate, I was seen by those wicked men intent on slaughter. / Taking a snare, I was captured together with my husband.

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They twisted [our] necks, plucked off our plumes; / and into the fire's mouth, together with my beloved, [we were thrown] by those hunters.

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Roasting the flesh of us two, eating as much as they wished, / they slept at night, their senses at ease, until that night came to an end.

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In the morning, the remainder of the meat [was taken] by jackals and scavenging vultures; / and a bone produced from my body, covered with sinew and flesh,

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was seized by a predatory bird, and then dropped from the sky. / Seeing him eating flesh, other birds arrived.

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Seeing that flock of birds, he released the piece of bone, / while all the birds chased and watched.

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It fell into the waters of the Narmadā at Hanūmanteśvara, O king; / that piece of bone of mine fell into the water of the Narmadā.

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By the merit of that sacred ford, I was born as your daughter; / I was born a king's daughter, with a face like the full moon.

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Remembering my past lives, I was born into your royal lineage; / therefore I do not desire marriage. My husband, O best of kings,

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still remains in a wretched condition among the species of birds and beasts. / The remainder of his bones will be at that sacred ford, O king of kings.

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For the sake of casting them [into the river], O father, send an excellent brahmin today. / This entire reason has been told to you, O best of kings.

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My husband is in a wretched place among the species of birds and beasts. / If you send someone, father, to the bank of the Narmadā,

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I will tell him [the place], marked by locations and signs." / And there I was summoned by Śikhaṇḍin, O lord of the earth:

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"I will give twenty villages; go to the bank of the Narmadā." / The mission was agreed to by me, who was afflicted by poverty.

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The maiden said: / "Go to the holy Narmadā, destroyer of all sins. / To the south-east of Somanātha is the supreme Hanūmanteśvara.

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Half a krośa from the Revā is a sprawling banyan tree, / and a karañja and a kaṭaha near that banyan tree.

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Near the root of the banyan you will see small bones; / gathering them and collecting them, go to the Revā, O best of brahmins.

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In the dark fortnight of Āśvina, on the fourteenth day sacred to the foe of Tripura, / bathe the trident-bearing Lord with devotion, and keep a vigil through the night.

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At dawn you should cast them, standing in navel-deep water, / pronouncing: 'O best of brahmins, let liberation arise for him!'

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Having cast the bones, another ritual ablution must be performed that destroys sin. / When this is done, O king of kings, higher state will be his."

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And whatever was told by the maiden, all that was recorded in a booklet. / I have arrived, O best of kings, at this sin-destroying sacred ford.

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Seeing that mark, bringing the bones, O lord of men, / by the method previously stated I cast [them] into the waters of the Narmadā, O Pāṇḍava, [amid] a rain of flowers and cries of "Well done! Well done!"; / and then a celestial aerial chariot arrived for that peacock.

Linked texts (1)

Skandapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit