Mudgalapurana 4.19: malamāsaśuklacaturthīcaritavarṇanaṃ nāma ekonaviṃśo'dhyāyaḥ

Homage to the glorious Gaṇeśa.

Daśaratha said: / Speak, O Brahman, of the boon-granting fourth that arrives in the intercalary month, / whose narrative bestows all perfections.

Vasiṣṭha said: / Here I shall tell you an ancient history / endowed with the greatness of the fourth [day], which, by hearing it, bestows everything supreme.

In Andhra, King Suṣeṇa ruled an excellent kingdom / in the city of Campaka, O king, considered a master of weapons and missiles.

Through policy, dharma, fame, and generosity he acquired renown; / desirous of [pleasing] gods, brāhmaṇas, and guests, he was a sacrificer devoted to vows.

Having conquered the whole circle of the earth, he ruled according to dharma; / all kings paid tribute and rendered service to the lord of the earth.

In his kingdom great serpents constantly devoured his people; / agitated, exceedingly dreadful serpents roamed here and there.

The people were not able to go anywhere, O protector of the earth, / and so, afflicted, they remained in forests and houses.

The king likewise was tormented by grief and overwhelmed with great fear.

For the appeasement of the serpents, the fifth [lunar day] was observed by all.

Even so, the exceedingly terrible serpents did not attain pacification; / the people performed various meritorious deeds and visited holy places especially.

Even so, the cruel serpents increased everywhere across the lands; / then the foremost of kings went for refuge to his own guru, Jaimini.

Having bowed to him, he stood before him with joined palms; / the sage honored him especially by offering a seat and the like.

He asked [the king], who was endowed with humility, 'For what purpose have you come?' / Sighing, Suṣeṇa spoke thus to the eminent sage:

Suṣeṇa said: / 'O master, boundless serpents are constantly overpowering the people; / it is not possible to remain there, O sage, filled as we are with fear.

Various remedies were undertaken there, yet they attained no peace therefrom; / for that purpose, O fortunate one, I have come here to ask you.

Tell me, what shall I do for the pacification of the hosts of serpents, / O brāhmaṇa? If not, I shall abandon my body in your presence.'

Vasiṣṭha said: / Having been asked thus, Jaimini of great splendour spoke / censuring his disciple, O king; listen to that with a collected mind.

Jaimini said: / 'O great sinner, the observance born of the fourth [day] has been neglected in your kingdom; / because of that, along with all the dead, you will fall into hell.

Because it grants the four aims of human life, it is considered the boon-giver (Varadā); / and because it destroys distress, it is proclaimed as Saṅkaṣṭī.

If this observance is not performed first of all, it is useless, / bereft of the rites of the four [aims]; therefore, O lord, it must be performed constantly.'

Having spoken thus, the best of sages related the greatness / of the fourth [day]. Having heard that, Suṣeṇa said to him:

Suṣeṇa said:
What is this Lord Gaṇeśa like, whose observance is exceedingly wondrous? / Tell me his true nature; I shall worship the great lord.

Jaimini said:
O King, no one is able to describe this true nature. / I shall tell you of Ḍhuṇḍhi as endowed with limiting conditions; hear it in truth.

Formerly, for the sake of true peace, I sought refuge with Vyāsa. / It was related to me by him, who was directly Nārāyaṇa himself.

That very thing I shall tell you, my own disciple, lowest of kings, / if today you worship him, the bestower of all perfections.

Everything consisting of body and embodied soul is expressed by the syllable 'ga'. / Brahman, having the nature of union and disjunction, is expressed by the syllable 'ṇa'.

Behold in the Veda, O noble-minded one, that Gaṇeśa is the master of the two. / Because he resides in the mind, he is indeed called Cintāmaṇi.

The intellect itself, O protector of the earth, has the form of mind, whose nature is delusion. / Perfection is found therein, in their union; the master of the two may be obtained.

Having spoken thus, according to rule and especially joined with ritual injunction, / he imparted to Suṣeṇa the six-syllabled mantra of Gaṇeśa.

Then, permitted by him, he went to his own city. / There, first of all, an intercalary month arrived, O ruler of the earth.

In the intercalary month, the [observance] of Gaṇeśa named Varada arrived. / He too performed the observance arising on the fourth lunar day of the bright fortnight with excellent devotion.

By the citizens, by various folk residing in neighboring villages, / it was performed according to rule, O King, bestowing all perfections.

Then it was made renowned across the circle of the earth by that Suṣeṇa; / then all the people, filled with joy, performed it.

By the merit of the observance, the serpents vanished; / all the people, freed from diseases and other afflictions, were filled with joy.

Endowed with sons, grandsons, and others, possessing wealth and grain, / attached to manifold pleasures, they flourished there from that time on.

The king constantly worshiped Gaṇapati with undivided mind, / revering him with the six-syllabled mantra accompanied by ritual injunction.

Having placed the kingdom upon his son, he went to the forest with his wife; / there, intent on silent recitation, he worshiped Vighneśa in this manner.

In the end, having gone to Svānanda, he became one with Brahman. / All the people, established in the observance in the supreme bright and dark fortnights,

in the end, they all gradually became one with Brahman. / By the very power of the observance, nothing at all can be difficult to attain.

Hear another deeds, O ruler of the earth, occurring in the intercalary month, / meritorious, arising on the fourth lunar day of the bright fortnight, which grants everything merely from hearing.

There was a certain very fierce kṣatriya, a dweller of Hastināpura, / who, from childhood onward, was indeed of sinful conduct.

For the sake of greed for wealth, he killed his own father; / utterly covetous of other men's wives, he became devoted to acts of theft.

Thus that evil-minded one constantly committed sins of various kinds. / Once, living in the forest, that exceedingly wicked man killed people.

Meanwhile, O protector of the earth, he was bitten by a serpent there; / agitated with fear, he set his mind on going home.

Then, overwhelmed with poison, his body fell. / By the stroke of fate, he was there without water and food.

At that time, in the bright fortnight of the intercalary month, that fourth lunar day / was reached by him there, O king; through ignorance, the observance was performed.

On the fifth lunar day, that exceedingly wicked man died there in the terrible forest; / having beheld the Lord of the Gaṇas in Svānanda, he became one with Brahman.

Various people, by this very observance, became one with Brahman. / Having enjoyed all pleasures here, at the end—it cannot be described!

If one hears this greatness of the fourth lunar day in an intercalary month / in the bright fortnight, or recites it, he also easily obtains everything.

Om tat sat. Thus ends the nineteenth chapter, entitled 'The Description of the Deeds on the Fourth Lunar Day of the Bright Fortnight in the Intercalary Month', in the deeds of Gajānana, in the fourth section of the glorious and venerable Maudgala Mahāpurāṇa, the ultimate Upanisad of the Purāṇas.