Mudgalapurana 3.40: māṇḍavyacaritaṃ nāma catvāriṃśo'dhyāyaḥ

Salutation to Śrī Gaṇeśa.
Mudgala said:
In the lineage of Pūru there were fortunate, righteous kings,
performers of sacrifices, truly intent on their own dharma.

Their deeds cannot be recounted fully
because of their abundance; listen, O Dakṣa, as I tell you the essential cause.

In the lineage of Pūru arose the great king Śantanu,
renowned, of virtuous conduct, intent on protecting his subjects.

He had an excellent son, Bhīṣma, devoted to dharma,
[born] of Gaṅgā, knowing all treatises, dedicated to lifelong celibacy.

And on Satyavatī, two sons were born to Śantanu:
Citrāṅgada of mighty arms, and the other, Vicitravīrya.

Citrāṅgada, of great fiery energy, constantly challenged the kṣatriyas;
in battle he was slain by the Gandharva named Citrāṅgada.

There Vicitravīrya was afflicted with consumption;
(

Section 3, Chapter 40, page 89) he died from that disease, and his friends were afflicted with sorrow.

He had two wives, O lord of subjects, the two daughters of the king of Kāśī,
named Ambikā and Ambālikā; they became grief-stricken.

Then, for the sake of offspring, Satyavatī remembered the great sage,
Vyāsa, especially as her own son, O Dakṣa.

Having arrived, he said to her: "Tell me, why are you grieving?
O mother, I will destroy your grief, there is no doubt."

That noble lady replied to him: "Promote the continuation of the lineage, O lord;
act according to my command on the wives of Vicitravīrya."

Saying 'So be it,' the growth of the lineage was effected by him, O Prajāpati.
Assuming an unpleasing appearance, the great sage dallied [with them] at night.

From the semen of the sage, Dhṛtarāṣṭra was born on Ambikā,
Pāṇḍu on Ambālikā, and Vidura on the maidservant.

This Vidura was Yama directly, born in the womb of a Śūdra woman
to experience the curse of Māṇḍavya; he became one who knows statecraft.

Dakṣa said:
How did the curse of Māṇḍavya fall upon the lord Yama in former times,
though he is devoted to the path of dharma and impartial toward his own and others, O lord?

Mudgala said:
You have asked well, O lord; listen to the story of that.
I shall relate to you in full detail what happened in the past.

Māṇḍavya, that best of sages, was engaged in ascetic practice in the forest;
there thieves, having stolen wealth, came fleeing.

And the king's foremost warriors came in the night to capture
the thieves; all the wealth was placed by the thieves near the sage.

Abandoning the wealth, the thieves fled here and there in the forest;
the wealth was seen and seized by the king's messengers, who were greatly enraged.

Then, having reproached the sage who was observing silence,
they seized him, beating him, and brought him to their city.

Delivering the wealth, they reported everything accurately to the king,
namely the incident with the thieves; the king too became enraged:

"Let this foremost of thieves be impaled upon a stake by you."
Saying 'So be it,' it was done by them there: the great sage was impaled by the hand.

There, filled with suffering, Māṇḍavya, remaining in his ascetic practice,
remembered his guru, the Brahmin Kaśyapa, the maker of creation.

As soon as he was remembered, Kaśyapa quickly came before him;
seeing him thus joined with suffering, he was deeply grieved.

He said to his disciple: "Worship Gaṇanāyaka,
the destroyer of all obstacles, the bestower of peace upon devotees."

Then Māṇḍavya spoke to that tiger among sages:
"By what path shall I worship that Vighneśa? Tell me!"

Hearing that word of his, Kaśyapa said to him:
"The true form of Gaṇeśa indeed bestows the supreme happiness upon devotees."

Kaśyapa said:
This Gajānana is the impeller of the mind's fivefold operations;
he is known as Cintāmaṇi in Vedānta by the exponents of the Veda.

His body has the nature of cognitive absorption, O great sage,
and the head of the lord of Gaṇas is recognized as non-cognitive absorption.

Therefore he became elephant-faced; consider the word "gaja". / Know, O wise one, that perfection is the great illusion whose nature is error.

Know intellect, O best of men, to be the supporter of delusion; / their lord Gaṇādhīśa is seen as having the form of yoga.

Worship him according to the rites, O sage, him who consists of yoga and peace. / (

Sect. 3, Ch. 40, p. 90) By that you will become free from obstacles, there is no doubt.

Having spoken thus, the great sage gave him the armor of Gaṇeśa / according to the rite of the single-syllable [mantra], as approved by scripture.

Receiving the command, the best of Brahmins, Kaśyapa, went to his own abode; / Māṇḍavya there worshipped Vighneśa with devotion.

The best of sages put on the armor of Gaṇarāja; / once the armor was put on, O Dakṣa, he became free from pain indeed.

Suddenly the king came right there for some business; / he saw that great Brahmin and bowed with folded hands.

Filled with fear, he wept; the sage addressed this speech to him: / "Do not weep, O protector of the earth, I will not give a curse at all.

I was impaled on the stake solely because of the fault of my own karma; / it was done by you unwittingly, O king; therefore I bear it."

Then expert blacksmiths were brought by the king for the sake of the Brahmin, / and they made a special effort there.

The tip of the stake, which had entered his hand, shone there as a single joined part; / they were unable to extract it, [and became] agitated and filled with fear.

The tip of the stake that had entered the hand was cut off with weapons by them, O Creator; / whatever portion remained in the sage's hand, it remained shining there.

Worshipped by the king, the Brahmin went to the presence of Yama; / with eyes red with anger, he spoke to Yama, the foremost of the restrained:

Māṇḍavya said: / "What sinful action was done by me? Tell me, / by which I have suffered the misery born of the stake, quickly, O great rogue!"

Hearing his angry speech, filled with fear, / with folded hands, [Yama] answered this speech indicating karma:

Yama said: / "In childhood, O Brahmin, an insect was pierced with a thorn by you; / the fruit of that very karma has been obtained, O best of sages."

Hearing that speech of his, the great sage was filled with anger; / and Māṇḍavya spoke to that king of dharma, O Prajāpati:

"Oh, that act was indeed done by me out of a child's nature, / in ignorance, O great fool! Should this be its fruit?

Therefore, devoid of justice, you shall fall to the surface of the earth; / having experienced a hundred years in the womb of a Śūdra, you shall return again.

Now I make this fixed rule, listen, O son of the Sun: / an action done by those under eight years of age shall be fruitless!

Let it be so by my word, through the grace of Gaṇarāja! / From that time on, action done by children shall be fruitless."

Māṇḍavya went to his own hermitage and performed excellent austerities; / he pleased the lord of obstacles according to the rite of the single-syllable [mantra].

By the grace of the armor, the tip of the stake that was in his hand / turned into flesh, and his hand shone as before.

From that time on he indeed came to be known by the name Aṇimāṇḍavya; / in a short time the lord of yogins became beloved of the Gāṇapatyas.

The Brahmin was constantly devoted to the worship of the image of Gaṇapati; / always knowing the nature of Gaṇeśa, venerable to all, possessing great renown.

The best of men who hears or reads the holy deed of Māṇḍavya, / to him Vighneśa is always pleased.

"Om Tat Sat." Thus ends the fortieth chapter, named "The Deed of Māṇḍavya," in the Mahodaracarita in the third section of the glorious Mudgalapurāṇa, an Upaniṣad of the purāṇa.

(Sect. 3, Ch. 41, p. 91)