Mudgalapurana 3.28: budhotpattivarṇanaṃ nāmāṣṭāviṃśatitamo'dhyāyaḥ

Homage to the glorious Gaṇeśa.

Śaunaka said: / "O Sūta, this great narrative which grants all perfections has been told by you; / having heard it, I find no satiety here, just as a man [finds none] after drinking nectar.

Tell me again, O Brahman, what Dakṣa heard / from Mudgala, chief among sages, [that which is] approved by all as supreme.

Sūta said: / Having heard the dialogue between the Sun and the Vālakhilyas, which bestows Brahman, / Dakṣa, filled with humility, asked that Mudgala:

Dakṣa said: / The greatness of Heramba, which grants the state of becoming Brahman, has been heard. / Tell again, O brahmin sage, the deeds of Mahodara.

Though hearing again and again, no satisfaction arises in me, O best of yogins, / [from] the story composed of Brahman, complete, equal to the nectar of immortality, supreme.

Sūta said: / Hearing Dakṣa's words, his hair standing on end, the illustrious one / spoke to that protector of subjects; hear that indeed, O Śaunaka.

Mudgala said: / Mahodara, Lord of the gods and bestower of honor, was worshipped / especially by Yudhiṣṭhira, and that Pāṇḍava became a yogin.

Dakṣa said: / Tell now, O brahmin sage, the life of Yudhiṣṭhira, / beginning from the Lunar dynasty down to its end; it will bestow merit.

Mudgala said: / Long ago, Chandra, composed of nectar, arose from the eye of Atri. / By him, through intense asceticism, the leader of the Gaṇas was worshipped.

By Gaṇeśa's granting of a boon, he became the sovereign of the stars, / of medicinal plants, and of brahmins, endowed with yoga and full of glory.

Then that king, exceedingly deluded by delusion, O lord, / having abandoned the worship of Gaṇeśa, became devoted to sensual pleasures.

Then Chandra, afflicted by obstacles and united with delusion, / did a despicable deed out of delusion; hear about that.

[Section 3, Chapter 28, Page 60] The youthful wife of Bṛhaspati, Tārā, / matchless in beauty—he seized her as she was staying at a sacred bathing-place.

As Tārā cried, "No, no!" and wailed in distress, / that utter fool forcibly kissed his teacher's wife.

In forests, in mountain valleys, and in various states, that son of Atri, / afflicted by the arrows of love, sportively dallied with her, O protector of subjects.

Then, as much time passed, a fetus grew within her; / yet even then, the moon, filled with delusion, did not release her.

And Bṛhaspati, learning of that event, was greatly agitated; / by various efforts he begged the moon [for her], but the rogue did not give [her back].

Then by the guru, O Dakṣa, Śiva was propitiated. / Śambhu, a disciple of the descendant of Aṅgiras, became full of rage.

Accompanied by all the gods led by Indra, Śaṅkara, filled with wrath, / went there to slay Chandra, his eyes red with fury.

Terrified, the Moon then went to Śukra for refuge; / through him too, an enemy to the descendant of Aṅgiras was procured.

Summoned by Śukra, the mighty Daityas headed by Prahlāda / went forth to battle with Śiva along with the asuras.

Then there took place between them a tumultuous battle that made the hair stand on end, / between the Daityas and the gods, causing mutual destruction.

For an entire month that exceedingly fierce [battle lasted], and neither obtained peace at any time, / day and night, [neither] the hosts of gods nor the hosts of Daityas, O lord.

Then Bṛhaspati in grief remembered the leader of the Gaṇas, / and censured himself as well as Chandra, O lord of subjects:

"Alas! Because of strife with a brother my great wisdom has departed; / Gaṇeśa is gone, and therefore I have now become beset with obstacles.

For my sake, destruction has now befallen the gods and the Daityas. / What will happen, O Lord of gods, O Gajānana? Homage unto you!

Make me free of obstacles, O Ḍhuṇḍhi, O god, ocean of compassion, right now; / [otherwise] total annihilation will befall both the gods and the Daityas."

Likewise, Chandra remembered that god in his heart with devotion; / then, O Dakṣa, he became the remover of obstacles for them both.

There arrived the lord of gods, Brahmā, the grandfather of all, / filled with compassion, knowing of the destruction of the gods and the Dānavas.

He, the omniscient creator and maker of all, / restrained the gods headed by Śaṅkara and the Dānavas headed by Prahlāda.

Hearing the words of Brahmā, the gods and Dānavas stood still, / bowing before that Creator with folded hands.

Then the grandfather, rebuking Chandra, gave Tārā / to the guru; and there an argument arose between the two over the child.

Whether the fetus in Tārā's womb belonged to Chandra or to Bṛhaspati / was not known by the hosts of gods; therefore Brahmā said to her:

"Release the fetus, O highly fortunate one! Tell, O daughter-in-law, whose portion is this?" / Thus discharged by her, the fetus fell forth.

Beholding the son endowed with immense splendor, the gods were amazed. / Hanging her head in shame, Tārā did not speak of him at all.

Then the child himself said there to Brahmā with respect: / "I am Chandra's, without a doubt." Tārā too spoke likewise of him.

His name was given by the gods as Budha because of that good deed. / The Creator gave him to Chandra, and all departed to their own abodes.

Thus of old, on account of Tārā, the Tārakāmaya war took place, / most terrible and bringing about the destruction of Daityas and gods.

[Section 3, Chapter 29, Page 61] The complete story of Budha has been told to you, O lord of subjects. / Purūravas was his son, who also became of great renown.

His birth through the implanting of the womb in Ilā was told by me / previously; that royal sage also became one who satisfied his ancestors.

Om Tat Sat. Thus, in the glorious final Upaniṣad of the Purāṇas, in the glorious Maudgala Mahāpurāṇa, in the third section, in the life of Mahodara, the twenty-eighth chapter, named 'Description of the Origin of Budha.'