Mudgalapurana 2.2: nāradaśāpanivartanaṃ nāma dvitīyo'dhyāyaḥ

Salutations to the venerable Gaṇeśa.

Mudgala said: / Having meditated on Gaṇeśa in his mind, he set his mind to creation; / at first, from the body of that Vidhi, Ignorance emerged.

She then divided into five forms, arising spontaneously, O Prajāpati; / seeing her, Brahmā was astonished and became sorrowful in mind.

Ignorance here has the nature of delusion, possessing infinite power; / red, black, and white, she shone, full of various wonders.

She is the mother of the threefold [qualities], deluding the three worlds; / deluded by her, the universe became possessed of confusion.

Darkness, delusion, great delusion—listen, O Dakṣa, to this great marvel— / gloom, and blinding gloom: she exists in five ways in the world.

Darkness has the nature of non-knowledge; by it the world is covered over; / bound to bodily self-interest, it became confused in mind.

Delusion produced diverse actions joined with desire; / by it the universe performs bodily actions that yield experiences [of karma].

Through great delusion diverse prohibited acts were created, O lord; / by it man commits sins for the sake of bodily pleasure.

By gloom, the fruit consisting of disease, poverty, and so forth was created; / by it the world became tormented, afflicted by mental and physical illnesses.

From blinding gloom, O Dakṣa, arose hell consisting of torment; / through that, the world endured torment on account of the fault of its own actions.

Remembering the Lord Gaṇeśa, this Ignorance became bent on her own purpose; / then Brahmā, censuring her, set his mind once more to creation.

Then from his body four sons were born: / Sanaka, the great yogin, and another, Sanandana,

And Sanātana as well, and Sanatkumāra was the fourth. / In the form of their mother, knowledge consisting of consciousness shone forth,

consisting of awareness, formless, identical with the Supreme Self directly. / Seeing her, Brahmā, the grandfather of all, was filled with joy.

The son Sanaka was born there holding the natural state; / and that Sanandana was skilled, radiant, and holding the state of equanimity.

The yogi composed of the yoga of knowledge was known as Sanātana; / he, Sanatkumāra, shone forth embodying the yoga of action.

Seeing them, the Lord of the universe, filled with joy, spoke: / (

Section 2, Chapter 3, page 4) Having remembered, he created creation; and so it was done by them through Gaṇeśa.

Those [sons] of great splendor created the path of yoga of many kinds. / Seeing that, Brahmā did not rejoice, and spoke to them again:

"Enough! Do not make a creation composed of yoga, O you of great splendor!" / "So be it," those fortunate ones said to him, and remained still.

Then Brahmā, seeing the creation composed of knowledge, indeed became angry. / Truly from the wrath of his forehead a son, Śambhu, was born.

He praised the Lord blazing with splendor, possessing five faces, / three-eyed, ten-armed, adorned with the crescent moon,

half woman and half man, wise, marked clearly with a trident and other [symbols], / wearing matted locks, having a mighty body, wearing tiger and elephant skins.

Immediately upon being born, a weeping was made by Śaṅkara. / Brahmā comforted him: "Why do you weep, O bull-bannered one?

The child said to Brahmā: "Give me an abode, O father, O lord! / Give me names, O Lord of all, and explain my task in detail."

That Creator replied to him: "Because of weeping, you are named Rudra. / You are born as Śiva, the foundation of all happiness, Maheśvara.

Now, by the power of granting a boon, O lord, Lord of all, / you have attained sonship to me directly in the form of Śaṅkara.

Earth, water, fire, wind, and ether, / moon, sun, and the initiated priest—these eight are your abodes, O Śaṅkara.

Bearing eight forms, Śarva grants fruit to all. / May your names, O Lord of gods, indeed be eleven.

Make creation, O Mahādeva, meditating on the god Gajānana." / Saying "So be it," Śiva, meditating on Gaṇapati, began creation.

Śambhu created various Rudras endowed with great splendor, / endless, of diverse forms, possessing an immortal nature.

Seeing them, Lord Brahmā also [said]: "Do not do [this], O Lord of the world! / O Śambhu, create various [beings] endowed with birth and death!"

Then Śiva said to the Creator: "I will not create / [beings] endowed with birth and death, O god!" Having spoken, he fell silent.

Therefore, the name Sthāṇu was given to that great-souled one. / Remaining chaste, Śambhu himself stood worshiping Gaṇapati.

Then, truly from his mouths Brahmā created the Vedas along with the scriptures, / and the Purāṇas; and he spoke to them as they stood with folded hands:

"Create varied creation!" Saying "So be it," they then pleased the Lord of Gaṇas / with austerity and created offspring through his boons.

They created varied rituals here with supreme reverence. / Seeing them, that Creator became filled with joy.

Then Brahmā began a sacrifice, and thought upon Viṣṇu / for the sake of a son; and that highly fortunate one attained sonship to him.

From the sacrifice, the four-armed god Janārdana, in the form of the sacrifice, / Viṣṇu himself, arose and said to him with folded hands:

"Give me an order, O father!" Then the Creator said to him: / "Perform creation!" Remembering Gaṇeśa, he did so.

The Lord, Hari, created various sacrifices born of ritual actions, / bestowing diverse fruits, complete, like wish-fulfilling trees.

Seeing them, Brahmā was delighted. Then he created again: / (

Section 2, Chapter 2, page 5) from his body ten sons of great splendor were born:

Marīci, Bhṛgu, Atri, Pulastya, Pulaha, Kratu, / Dakṣa, yourself, and Aṅgiras, Vasiṣṭha, and Nārada, O lord.

Brahmā himself said to them: "Create diverse offspring!" / Saying "Om," they all went to an excellent forest for austerity.

Then the sage Nārada spoke to his father from the very beginning: / "I will not create, O Lord of gods; I worship the leader of the Gaṇas.

All this is made of māyā, false, consisting of delusion. / A knower who toils for its sake is like a fool; of this there is no doubt."

Then [Brahmā] said to him once more: "Create diverse offspring! / Worship Gaṇeśa, the Lord of gods, in your final age, my son."

He said: "Why do you instruct me [thus], O Lord of creatures? / Who that is deluded creates for the sake of what is false in the first place?"

Then Brahmā cursed him: "Fall from a Śūdra womb! / And you will become a Gandharva enjoying various women."

Then Nārada, filled with anger, cursed his father: / "You shall become unworthy of worship, since you curse me in vain!"

Then that very Nārada, having gone, remained in austerity / and pleased Gaṇeśa with the single-syllable mantra.

When a hundred celestial years were completed, the Lord of Gaṇas himself went to him: / "Choose a boon, O fortunate one! I shall give what is desired in your mind."

Then he praised that god Gaṇeśa, the giver of all perfections, / and chose a boon, saying: "Turn away my curse!"

Then the king of Gaṇas, who is affectionate to devotees, spoke to him: / "Tell me, how can I make a father's curse false at present?

A boon was also given by me to Brahmā, by which he speaks the truth. / Therefore hear, O fortunate one, my word which is always beneficial:

You will become a Gandharva; there I shall impart knowledge to you. / Though constantly united with women, māyā will not afflict you.

Again you will be born in a Śūdra womb, there is no doubt. / There association with renunciants will happen, O sinless one.

Having obtained knowledge from them, you will go into the forests, / and there you will become devoted to the Vaiṣṇava paths.

From the fall of that body, you will again become Brahmā's son / Nārada, without doubt here; and there you will worship Śambhu.

Knowing me there from the mouth of Nārāyaṇa, beloved of me, O sage, / you will also become a lord of yogis, a Gāṇapatya, without a doubt."

Having spoken thus, the lord of the gaṇas vanished right there; / having bowed to him and endured his curse, Nārada went to heaven.

Nārada was born again, wholly devoted to devotion to Śiva; / instructed by Nārāyaṇa, he became a Gāṇapatya indeed.

Om tat sat. Thus ends the second chapter, named 'The Cessation of Nārada's Curse', in the story of Ekadanta, in the second section of the glorious Maudgala Mahāpurāṇa, the ultimate Purāṇa-Upaniṣad.