Skandapurana 7.19

English (machine translation) 7.19

Language: English

Sanatkumāra said:
The subtle self, the mind, intellect, ego, and the guṇas,
the elements, the aggregate of senses, the subtle elements, and the ten vital airs, // 1
are distributed in sequence within the body according to their division and locus,
residing in the three states of dream, waking, and deep sleep, O you of noble vows. // 2
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1 stanmātraṇyanilātmakaḥ - kha. 2 jāgratsvapnasuṣupteṣu (?) . suṣupteṣu ()
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As for the lotus facing in all directions in the pericarp of the heart,
wrapped with subtle fibers, it extends upwards in all embodied beings. // 3

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The self, accompanied by the individual soul and with the mind, is established there;
the accomplished Śiva-yogins call that deep sleep. // 4
Jvālinī, Stimitā, Dhūmrā, Vidyunmeghā, Viśālinī,
Mālinī, Śaṅkarī, and Sumaitrī, as well as Bodhanī: // 5

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these ten great channels are established in that living soul,
which support the embodied being whether sleeping or awake. // 6
Moreover, the all-pervading self that is beyond sensory objects such as sound,
joined with fire and wind, is termed the living soul. // 7

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Ego, thought, intellect, and the mental states and mind born of the body
abide together with the living soul, sustaining the embodied one. // 8
All of them together, with the living soul as the fifth,
[form] the pericarp with fibers, situated in space, facing all directions. // 9

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Situated in the mind, subtle indeed, is the fiber named Śītāṃśu;
that alone is declared to be consciousness; that is considered the Puruṣa. // 8.181.10
The ego and the living soul are the fiber originating from the sun.
Mind is Soma, happiness is Brahmā, knowledge, righteousness, and pleasure; // 11

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taste, the self, the great healing herbs, are the manifestation of states born of sattva.
Ego and fire, death, grief, and disease; // 12
desire, anger, old age, craving, and unrighteousness are of the nature of tamas.
Viṣṇu, intellect, as well as effect, cause, and the earth; // 13
knowledge, detachment, and space are the manifestation of states born of rajas.
Situated in the center of the living soul is a subtle, smokeless flame of fire, // 14

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3 daśabhiḥ - ka. kha. 4 sumanaskaḥ - ka. 5 taṃ - kha. 6 jvalinī - ka. 7 snuṣā - kha. 8 ekādaśa - kha. 9 - ssarvatomukhā - kha., - mukhāḥ (?), .. mukhī (?) . 10 saṃjñakaḥ (?) . 11 brahmajñānaṃ - ka. 12 ..jñānaiśvaryo (rye?) - ka. 13 mṛtyurduḥkhamanāmayam - ka. kha. 14 kāryakāraṇe - ka. 15 rājasaṃ - ka. kha. 16 vistaram - ka. kha.
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969
the nectar of all living beings, and indeed the supreme destination.
In the center of it is situated the gentle, ambrosial lunar orb. // 15

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In the center of it, the Lord, the living soul resembling fire, is seen.
Sarasā, Lohitā, Mukhyā, Prītā, and Rasavatī, // 16

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as well as Vidhūmā, Amṛtā, Nikuṇṭhā, and Bahuvistarā:
these most subtle channels, having pierced the ten fires,
always nourish Soma, the support of all creatures, the milky nectar. // 17
Soma, nourished by them by means of the essence and potency of all foods,
increased, covers that flame situated within the living soul. // 18

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That indeed is declared to be the nectar, the supreme abode of Īśvara.
Indeed, when the fluid of Soma is drawn intensely by the flame, // 19

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then this creature, born from every womb, awakens.
That other channel known as Amṛtā is established in dream. // 8.181.20

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When it drinks the soma, one is then said to be asleep. / Having conquered both of these, which are the seats of dreaming and waking,
neither waking nor sleeping, a sage should meditate through the yoga of meditation. / Whatever dispositions there are, such as the sense of 'mine', and whatever disgust [arises] of the mind,
and whatever non-attachment does not belong to the intellect—by that yogins perceive. / Whatever the mind thinks, and whatever the intellect doubts,

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or whatever the ego may do—he should abandon all of that through knowledge. / When one is actionless, whence action? Without that, whence bondage?
Being freed from the bondage of action and thoroughly purified, how can he be bound? / Those who do not know some of these objects arisen from soma,
fire is remembered as their enjoyer; by what is one who knows that bound? / Knowing thus, he should renounce anxiety and be ever devoted to yoga.

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The heat of the fire is called sin, a property of fiery energy. / That which is Prakṛti is the living soul, but that which is the flame is Maheśvara.

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He who burns the fire with fiery energy and is not burned by it— / by him Prakṛti is transcended; through him Maheśvara is known.

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For this world is bound by karma; how can one without karma be bound? / Free from the sense of 'mine', skilled in yoga, established in the observance of Śaṃkara,

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they go to the supreme state, abandoning their own body and leaving behind māyā. / Now, another supreme knowledge, subtler than this,

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I shall declare to you, Vyāsa, since you are devoted to Śaṅkara, / which other yogins do not know, which is secret and most wonderful,
which, apart from the perfected Pāśupatas, does not exist among beings. / The mind, intellect, ego, sense organs, and the triad of guṇas
do not touch that self; his transformations are external. / Then he is seen everywhere, yet he is not seen by everyone;
he is seen thus only through meditation, by no other means whatsoever. / Beyond all states of existence and guṇas, well-meditated upon, the Supreme Lord—
those yogins who perceive him through knowledge are remembered as supreme. / But this shadow which is seen, dwelling in the domain of the eye,
that is declared as the living soul, O Vyāsa, the cause of embodied beings' stability. / In that resides that supreme Self, subtle, situated in the middle, imperishable. / The wind that moves in the space [of the heart] is known by the name Mahānāga.

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It is stationed in the space, in the pericarp, in the channel, and in the living soul. / The [channels named] Gāndhārī, Vijayā, and the one residing below by designation—
in these channels the wind Nāga moves about. / That Jayā and the one which is Vijayā, those two are remembered as carriers of vital breath.

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In the downward breath are the channels Talā and Gāndhārī, joined with the Nāga [wind]. / Through the yoga of the downward breath and the mind, they are impelled by the Nāga [wind].

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That vital breath, satisfying the sacrificial fire outside and inside, / sustains the mature body with lifespan and with strength.

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Another channel is called Suṣumṇā, situated in soma, fire, and the mind. / In this body endowed with elements, it is situated in the Kūrmāra wind,
attached to the ankle and the palm of the hand, contracting and extending. / Joined with the Samāna and Vyāna [winds], it satisfies blood and flesh.
The other wind which is Udāna and that which is called Kūrmāra, / both of those are established in balance in the channel tied to the navel.

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One wind moves downward through the channel, and the other moves upward from it. / The one staying below is connected to the feet; the one going upward is situated in the head.

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The wind named Devadatta and the other wind Kṛtaka, / both are tied to fire and soma, the very strong causes of the vital breath.

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One increases the fire, and the other satisfies the soma. / Devadatta, Mahānāga, Kṛta, Kūrma, and Dhanañjaya—

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these are well-known as the five vital breaths, the fires of the sacrificer. / Whatever is offered or sacrificed into these approaches the soma.

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Sacrificers enter the soma; theirs is not the mark of liberation. / But what is remembered as the brilliance of fire, and the essence that comes from medicinal herbs,

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and the satisfaction of soma—that is established in the pericarp. / This light which is seen in the eyes, illuminating shadow,

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that is the living soul of all beings; the self is established there. / Interior to light, subtle—that is remembered as the supreme state.

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[Apparatus]

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And that is proclaimed as the immortal nectar; it is declared to be attainable through knowledge.
There is no higher goal of knowledge and discernment than that. (51)
Having understood this thus, one should abandon delusion born from the transformation of the three qualities.
Of that indivisible Self, the twenty-sixth [principle], the Lord, (52)
who else adept in yoga would make a division from the Blessed Lord?
One should not imagine diversity in that spotless, indeterminate master. (53)
Free from delusion, with associations abandoned, devoid of actions and duties,
those who observe the vow of the Lord enter into that great Lord. (54)
Thus this Māheśvara yoga has been declared to you, Vyāsa,
which is the correct union with the Lord, such as is found nowhere else. (55)
Whatever doubt you have, O brahmin, and whatever you consider should be asked,
ask that at once, O holy one; I have nothing that cannot be told to you. (56)
Thus ends the one hundred and eighty-first chapter in the Skandapurāṇa, in the description of Pāśupata yoga, on the rules of yoga.

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Vyāsa said:
O blessed Lord, ruler of all yogins, bowed to by all immortals,
oh, the knowledge dispelling ignorance has been spoken by you! (1)
Today my doubts regarding Mahādeva, the Supreme, are gone.
Prakṛti was born from Śaṅkara; Brahmā and Viṣṇu have that nature. (2)
Having known the twenty-sixth [principle], the Lord, one is freed from bondage, thus [it is].
Having first spoken the entire saṃhitā concerning every path of yoga, (3)
who else speaks in this manner of knowledge, both partless and with parts?
From hearing this, O chief of brahmins, I have understood the body to be released. (4)

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By your grace, dear father, I have attained knowledge and my misfortunes are gone.
Free from doubt, tranquil in existence, there is something I must ask. (5)

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Therefore I ask this of you; you ought to declare the final state.
Having thus become endowed with discernment, the sage who has attained yoga, O sage, (6)
how does the yogin, endowed with the power of yoga, leaving behind the body without affliction,
attain that partless Brahman, the supreme Lord? (7)
Tell me, O best of sages, the means to achieve fixation on the Lord, which yields liberation;
I have nothing else to ask. (8)
Addressed thus by his disciple, the very noble Vyāsa,
the chief of brahmins declared the certainty of the Śiva doctrine. (9)
Sanatkumāra said:
Listen, Vyāsa, to the supreme knowledge, the cause of fixation on the Lord,
by which yogins intent on knowledge are liberated at their own will. (10)
Having understood this three-fold departure and practicing it repeatedly indeed,
abandoning one's own body like an enemy, one should attain absorption in the twenty-sixth [principle]. (11)

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The channels that, held by wind, encompass the embodied soul—
a hundred hundreds of them have taken resort in the center of the pericarp. (12)

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Resorting to it, channels stand going downward from the navel to the feet;
they are remembered as tied to the head, and again, those very ones abide in the hand. (13)

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Having resorted to the hand, they again resort to the pericarp.
There are another seventy-two thousand channels, O sage. (14)

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Their individual divisions are remembered as subtle and subtler still;
through them circulates the vital breath, born from the space of the pericarp. (15)

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974
There stands the Self, to be perceived subtly, as mentioned before, O twice-born.
Whatever light of it is difficult to see, the sage knowing yoga should worship that. (16)
That splendor is distributed in all channels of all embodied beings;
by that, through external touches, the channels expand the mind. (17)

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Having withdrawn that splendor situated in all channels by means of the eye,
one should make the mind focused on one [point] and employ it in the Self. (18)

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The wind named Dhanañjaya, which always throbs in the heart—
they say it has three apertures: the head, the navel, and the heart. (19)
Whichever other nine vital winds are proclaimed and recounted by me,
they are all under the control of Dhanañjaya, bound to it. (20)

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Under its control they depart; in it they remain situated.
Reaching the knot of the navel, situated at the mouth of the channels, (21)
the second is in the pericarp, and the third is situated in the palate.
The knife, the axe, and the trident: thus the three-fold departure is described. (22)

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The trident is in the heart, the razor in the navel, and the axe is placed in the palate;
bound in the palate or in the heart, the triad is established in the navel. (23)

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Detached in the palate, it releases the vital breath itself completely;
drawn back into the navel, the triad is detached in the pericarp. (24)

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Uniting the mind situated in the Self, one should cast it upward;
by this practice, O chief of brahmins, the sage is instantly liberated. (25)
This voluntary abandonment of the body has been described to you.
However, through previously performed actions bound to merit and demerit, (26)

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listen now to how the yogin's soul may not be bound:
death is said to be of two kinds: external and born within the body. (27)

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25 nāmā(sā) - ms. ka. 26 nāḍībandhanamāsādya - ms. kha. 17 tālusaṃsthitā - ms. kha. 28 vā hṛdi - ms. ka. 29 bandhatrayaṃ - ms. kha. 30 viyojayet - ms. ka. 31 tathā - ms. kha. 32 buddhyeta - ms. kha. 33 ...stadimaṃ - ms. ka, stamimaṃ - ms. kha.
----

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[Death occurring] through contact with poison, weapons, or fire, or through snakes, fanged beasts, diseases, or water, / is renowned as external death; now learn from me concerning bodily [death]. // 28

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Internal death may be born of disease or born of time. / Born of time is said to be through old age, while born of disease is from the destruction [of the body] by ailment. // 29
This other death, O sage, is difficult to attain: that which arises from uniting in yoga; / that which is brought about by the means of yoga, and that which comes from the expiration of time. // 30
Listen in brief, O Vyāsa, to the difference and change between the two: / one occurs from the expiration of time, whereas the second is desired by the mind. // 31
This sound born of ringing which is heard joined in the ear, / that merges first into Kūrma; by that, fire abandons its luster. // 32

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Then, bereft of luster, that fire is separated from conjunction with sound; / surpassing the qualities of sound and touch, it abandons its connection to form. // 33

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When fire has thus perished, all the vital winds then, / desiring union in one place, tear through the vital points. // 34

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Kūrmāra, Devadatta, Kṛkara, and Nāga indeed, / quickly joining with Udāna, enter into the pericarp [of the heart]. // 35
Then the breath ascends upward, [bringing] the departure of mind and individual self; / then whatever light was in the two eyes quickly enters the moon. // 36

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The senses go into the mind, and the mind into the departure of prāṇa; / when all of them have dissolved, the wind oppresses the vital breaths. // 37

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Then, being oppressed, all those winds become unified, / each having abandoned its own location, activity, and essential nature. // 38

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All the winds situated together fill Dhanañjaya; / remaining there indeed, Kūrmāra stays, having abandoned the individual self. // 39

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34 mṛtyurabhyantaro - ms. kha. 35 rabhyāsād - ms. ka. 36 sandhite (taiḥ) - ms. kha. 37 lokamicchanto - ms. kha. 38 kurmāro - mss. ka, kha. 39 ...māviśanti - ms. kha. 40 ataḥ - ms. kha. 41 jyotiryadakṣibhyāṃ - ms. ka. 42 drute - ms. kha. 43 bhavantyekagato - ms. ka, bhavantyantagato - ms. kha. 44 tā - ms. kha. 45 dharma - ms. kha.
----

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Mind, intellect, ego, consciousness, and likewise the individual self, / driven by the wind, then quickly depart from the body. // 40
Another, subtle body, acquired previously, then comes into being for it; / joined there, that individual self once again remains deluded. // 41
Such indeed is this condition of the host of all living beings brought about by time; / without yoga, the subtle state belonging to Maheśvara cannot be won. // 42
Seated or asleep, having practiced restraint regarding departure, / knowing the thread [to be] Maheśvara, he is liberated at will, O Vyāsa. // 43

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The sage should then hold a razor, an axe, or a trident; / then all his modifications dissolve along with the sense-faculties. // 44
And he perceives Īśvara, the twenty-sixth principle, Brahman residing in his own body; / [whereas] to a dying creature, the dull mind brings fierce [pain]. // 45
Overwhelmed by delusion due to pain, he does not find the real entity of knowledge. / Through this rite, O brahmin, free from all sickness, // 46
one easily ascends to Brahman as if onto the roof of a mansion from the ground. / Having understood the five categories, firmly grounded in the end of suffering, // 47
purified by the five Brahmans, initiated with ash, the twice-born / yogin whose mind is solely on Śaṅkara attains this knowledge. // 48
Without undertaking the Śāṅkara observance, they do not attain even with effort / this Maheśvara yoga, which is partless and the cause of liberation. // 49
Therefore, practicing the Pāśupata observance, O Vyāsa of great intellect, / being devoted to Mahādeva, attain this knowledge! // 50
Other yogins do not thus attain this supreme Brahman, / except those Śiva-yogins who have sought refuge in Mahādeva. // 51
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46 tatrāpasthito (?). 47 mūḍhasmṛti? - ms. ka. 48 gaṇāsthiti - ms. kha. 49 utkrāntābhyastasaṃyamaḥ - ms. kha. 50 tattvaṃ - ms. kha. 51 līyanti - ms. kha. 52 vipadyate - ms. kha. 53 harmyamṛṣṭhe - mss. ka, kha. 54 bhasmanā (?). 55 mūrtikāraṇaṃ - ms. ka, mūrttakāraṇam - ms. kha. 56 śaṃkaram - mss. ka, kha. 57 mahāprajña - ms. kha. 58 cara - ms. kha. 59 daivametat - ms. kha. 60 mahādeva prapannā - ms. ka.
----

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This entire rule of liberation, devoid of all conventional cognition / [and] partless, has been spoken, O Vyāsa, beyond which nothing higher exists. // 52
Thus Pāśupata brahmins, having entered that partless Maheśvara / through yoga, are liberated, freed from rebirth. // 53
I shall describe the divine abode of the manifest [Lord], situated beyond the world of Brahmā, / where those devoted to Mahādeva go. // 54
Thus ends the one hundred and eighty-second chapter in the Skandapurāṇa, in the exposition of Pāśupata yoga, on the rule of yoga.

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Sanatkumāra said:
Situated above the seven [worlds]—Satya, Mahas, / Jana, and Tapas, as well as those of the future, past, and present— // 1
is the world of the blessed Śambhu, where the manifest Śiva abides. / It cannot be indicated by reasoning; the worlds are established within it. // 2
Above, horizontally, and below, the worlds are bound to it. / The entire cosmic egg is established in that Śivaloka. // 3
It does not perish at the dissolution, constant, immovable, the abode of the gods, / where I, Sanaka and others, Brahmā the Grandsire, // 4
led by the Bālakhilyas, and the perfected ones like Kapila, / having attained Śivayoga, free from qualities such as sattva, // 5
remain blissful, O Vyāsa, serving that Lord. / The Lord is an ultimate subtle particle, accessible through devotion to the wise. // 6
Endowed with supreme sovereignty, the Lord of forms abides there. / Forbearance, truth, firmness, austerity, and detachment, // 7

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[Critical apparatus / variant readings]

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creatorship from knowledge and detachment, self-knowledge, and supreme mastery— / these eternally abide in that god Maheśvara. // 8
He is the fire of yoga, the self, the supreme Lord who creates Brahmā; / assuming a form in its entirety, he maintains the world. // 9
The eighth, firm, unalterable, imperishable, the cause of liberation, / that realm of Māyā of the Lord is the cause of the dissolution of the universe. // 10

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Above the world of Brahmā, at a distance of twenty crores / of yojanas, the city of the great-souled Sthāṇu is situated. // 11

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Such is the upward movement, and beyond that is known the end of motion. / In that city there are countless, eternal, subtle, and imperishable // 12

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Śaiva powers characterized by the authority of knowledge, / from which he produced the two supreme lords, the progenitors Brahmā and Viṣṇu. // 13
To those two, who had become [his] material instruments, he gave supreme creatorship. / Imperishable, stainless, subtle, partless, and yet with parts, // 14

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standing in a stable, formed, transcendent, divine, atomic state; / prior to the mind, at the beginning of darkness, that manifestation of his splendor arose. // 15

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The golden egg which existed, both worldly and leading to emancipation, / that great, everywhere eternal principle then arose from Īśvara. // 16

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From that splitting of the seed, he is considered the all-pervading knower of the field. / The nature called Vaiṣṇavī also came forth from him. // 17

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For the sake of creating gods, asuras, and the rest, she assumed the state of Brahmā. / From the splitting of the egg of the lotus-born Brahmā, who is of the nature of Śaṃkara, / and in front of the world of Brahmā, is that great city made of light, // 18
which is the abode of the Lord of forms, Īśvara, the supreme Self, / named Śivapura, O Vyāsa, the goal of the yogins devoted to the Lord. // 19

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[Critical apparatus / variant readings]

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It is said to be a hundred hundred-thousand yojanas [in extent]; / the configuration of the earthly circle is known to be spread out in its middle. // 20

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Surrounded by a great rampart made of gold, / having the form of the shining sun, with splendor greater than fire, // 21
with four golden gates adorned with gems and pearls, / that charming city shone, frequented by the perfected ones. // 22
Old age, death, fatigue, illness, anger, delusion, arrogance, and the like— / such inauspicious states, O sage, do not prevail in that Śivapura. // 23

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One hundred hundred-thousand yojanas in each direction, / that city of the bull-bannered [god] is all-pervading and prosperous. // 24

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The divine ground is of emerald, bringing pleasure merely by touch. / Resembling lapis lazuli gems, and like the morning sun, // 25
in some places red lotuses and in other places white ones shone, / measuring the size of great lakes, with stems resembling lapis lazuli. // 26

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Fragrant, of great value, spread upon the surface of the ground, / appearing like sapphires and resembling great jewels. // 27

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In some places half-black and half-red, bearing divine fragrance, / […] there were blue lotuses on all sides. // 28

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The great rivers that flow there with waters of nectar / in the city of the blessed Śambhu, learn of them, O son of Parāśara: // 29
Varadā, Vareṇyā, Vareśā, Varavarṇinī, / Vārāhī, Vāribhadrā, and Varā are the great rivers. // 30

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They carry water-nectar mingled with various flowers. / Neither the gods, nor the lords of sages, nor the asuras, nor the ancestors // 31

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[Critical apparatus / variant readings]

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980 / Nor would others be able to know that wondrous city. / Those men who are awakened in their inner minds, filled with devotion in every way, / their thoughts solely on Śiva, rejoice in it, O Vyāsa. / In the middle of that supreme city, which has the brilliance of the sun and fire, / resembling a peak of Meru, facing every quarter, having the splendour of the sun, / [there is] a palace of a hundred thousand pillars, moving at will, made of gold, / adorned all around with great, unassailable jewels,

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with lapis lazuli resembling the sky, crystals possessing the lustre of the moon, / corals resembling the sun, and other [gems] made of sapphire.

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Adorned with banners shining like rays of the moon and elsewhere having the form of sunbeams, / it shone resplendent, offering pleasant breezes. / That city, strewn with trees resembling mountains, / shone with varied flowers of all seasons and desire-yielding gem-fruits. / Just as Meru among mountains is the supreme and great, / even so that city shone, situated above all the worlds. / There Hara, the Lord of All, directly the master of the great elements, / the twenty-sixth Parameśvara, always dwells together with his wife.

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Lakṣmī, Medhā, Dhṛti, Hrī, Śrī, Kīrti, and Sarasvatī, / the mothers of the worlds, rejoice there together with Umā.

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Those men whose souls are offered in Śiva-consciousness, who are devoted to Rudra, / wherever they die, my child, their abode is said to be there. / And those Māheśvaras, O Vyāsa, who dwell in the abode of Śaṅkara, / the sages devoted to Śaṅkara—hear about them with a focused mind:

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Myself, Sanandana, Sanaka, Sanātana, / Ṛbhu, Brahmā the eldest of the gods, and Nara and Nārāyaṇa,

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981 / […] the disciple, the perfected Pañcaśikha, / and the sage Hayaśiras, and Yajñavalka and others,

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three-eyed, having the bodily forms of Śaṅkara, endowed with supreme power, / beyond the guṇas, desiring liberation, they abide at the base of Īśvara. / When the destruction of the world known as the great dissolution occurs, / they enter into Īśvara and attain the state of liberation.

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And by those who have seen those Śivaliṅgas, O best of brahmins: / Kedāra, Madhyama, and Girīśa at Mahālaya; / Lord Catuḥśṛṅgeśvara, and Maheśvara at Śrīgiri; / the Lord of Gods at Kārohaṇa, and Śaṅkara at Gaṅgādvāra; / Bhadreśa Mahādeva, and Śaṅkukarṇeśvara;

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and Mahākāleśvara, and likewise both at Gokarṇa; / and Avimukteśvara, and whichever others exist on the earth—

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they too, having died, go to that city of the Lord of the Mountain's Daughter, O Vyāsa. / And the Pāśupata yoga which was proclaimed by me to you,

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having undertaken the Pāśupata observance, that too proceeds there. / Those who have perpetual devotion to Bhava—those best of men have accomplished their goal. / Having died [and gone] to Śivapura, O Vyāsa, three-eyed, with spears in hand, / resembling Nandīśa and Skanda, endowed with the power of yoga and might,

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they become Rudras, O Vyāsa, always accompanying Śaṅkara. / This entire supreme Māheśvara yoga has been related to you. / Knowing thus the Supreme Lord, both with form and without form, / freed from all bonds, you will attain supreme liberation.

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[Variant readings]

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982 / And by the power of this knowledge you will become endowed with yoga, / a yogin maintaining the world, the initiator of smārta-dharma. / Through the power of knowledge, remember […] in the cause of the universe's origin, / you will compose the Purāṇas in order to teach the laws of maintenance.

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In order to propagate the rites of sacrifice, you, having recollected from special wisdom / the Veda taught by Svayambhū, will divide it into four.

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Throughout this entire blameless Manvantara of Vaivasvata, / the duties maintaining the world, preceded by the Veda and the Smṛti, / composed by you, will be promulgated; you will become an author of scriptures. / And having obtained the rite of sacred ashes which frees the bound soul from ties,

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endowed with the knowledge of Śaṃkara, you will attain dissolution in Īśvara.” / Addressed thus, that best of brahmins, all the hair on his body bristling with joy, / approached that chief of sages and received the rite of ashes. / And at that moment this yoga manifested for that great sage. / Having paid homage to his guru, the mighty son of Brahmā, Vyāsa / wandered upon the earth to view the abodes of Śarva. / Vāyu said: / Thus asked by the wise Vyāsa, Sanatkumāra, / the chief of sages, related the Purāṇa originating from Skanda, / endowed with all Āgamas, treating the Manvantara and the maintenance of the world, / arising from Śiva-yoga, [concerning] meditation, a great ocean of all knowledge. / Therefore you too, O twice-born, having known the Pāśupata observance / and practiced Śaiva yoga, attain dissolution in Īśvara!

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983 / Having investigated this Āgama, that Vyāsa, foremost of sages, / that great sage composed the sciences connected with the meaning of the Veda and the Smṛti.

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From this emerged duties and likewise the sciences of yoga. / O brahmins, Nandīśvara declared this the foremost, primordial Purāṇa. / […] renowned, who knows this in truth: / he attains the three aims of life, and liberation comes through it. / Life is prolonged through it, and everything is obtained through it. / Just as Hara is the primordial creator of the entire world, O brahmins,

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so this Purāṇa is considered supreme among all Purāṇas. / Brahmins by whom this has been studied […] / […] might hear the communion with the Lord.

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Through veneration, one may obtain the highest attainment of yoga and supreme liberation. / O bulls among brahmins, [hearing] this primordial, holy and supreme hymn of praise to the lord of Umā, / and the narration of the great majesty of the Goddess, combined with all the sacred scriptures, / along with the birth and exploits of Skanda […] / […] they would attain […]. / By whichever lords of serpents, kings of asuras, yakṣas, gods, siddhas, and lords of brahmins / this has been revered, with hearts yielding all existence to Śambhu, / they all, possessing bodies bright as the blazing sun and fire, three-eyed, shining like the moon, / shone as followers of the god and excellent attendants […].

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[…] 56. vedārthasmṛtisambandhā – variant ms. kha; 57. nandīśvaraṃ (?); 58. purāṇamidamuttamam (?); 59. … riyaṃ – variant ms. kha, . .ridaṃ (?); 60. purāṇaḥ.. – variant ms. kha; 61. … vikrame – variant ms. kha; 62. . . ridaṃ (?); 63. sevitaṃ (?). […]

Linked texts (1)

Skandapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit