Mudgalapurana 4.20: māghakṛṣṇacaturthīmāhātmyavarṇanaṃ nāma viṃśo'dhyāyaḥ

Homage to the glorious Gaṇeśa.

Daśaratha said:
Having heard the supreme greatness of Varadā, which grants everything, / I have become completely having accomplished my purpose; there is no doubt about this.

There is no observance equal to this, supreme, granting all goals. / Blessed are those men, O brāhmaṇa, who perform the observance of the fourth lunar day.

Now tell in detail the greatness of Saṅkaṭā; / I am not satiated having heard this nectar-like narrative in brief.

Mudgala said:
Having been questioned thus, the great yogin Vasiṣṭha said to him: / hear that, O lord of subjects, which gives joy to the hearing.

Vasiṣṭha said:
Knowing your disposition, I am pleased, O best of kings; / you are meritorious, because you possess devotion to Gaṇeśa.

Not through a small measure of merit is love born / for the story of the great-souled Gaṇeśa; you are blessed in this, there is no doubt.

Hear the supreme story, O fortunate one, connected to the fourth lunar day, / in the dark fortnight, exceedingly meritorious, granting all perfections.

Here I shall narrate to you an ancient account, / which bestows great merit and is complete from hearing and reciting.

In the city named Sahasra, O King, King Śūrasena / was in his assembly accompanied by music, served by kings.

Suddenly an aerial car, shining like fire, fell there; / seeing that supreme wonder, he urged his messengers to find out.

Informed by the messengers, the king, eager to see the aerial car, / went to the outskirts of the city, surrounded by the townspeople.

Having seen Indra there accompanied by gods, his mind astonished, / he went on foot and bowed down like a rod upon the surface of the earth.

Rising again, slowly making folded hands, / filled with joy and endowed with devotion, that king spoke this word:

Śūrasena said:
Blessed are my birth, life, charity, parents, city, and so forth; / I have accomplished my purpose, O lord of gods, along with my followers, from the sight of you.

Tell me, where are you going, O lord, or from what place do you come? / What is your desire, and how did your aerial car fall to the ground?

I do not know by what merit the sight of you all, / with the host of gods, has happened; speak your command, what shall I do?

Make an effort to move your celestial chariot, O leader of the gods! / Tell me by what sin your vehicle has fallen down."

Questioned thus, Mahendra of great splendor spoke to him, / humble and filled with devotion, O best of kings, full of joy:

Indra said: / "A fisherman named Nāmā, a great sinner, worshipped Vighneśa; / instructed by Mudgala, he was devoted to the mantra of his name.

After a thousand years, by his boon, he became an exalted brāhmaṇa, / a trunk emerged from between his eyebrows, and he became the sage Bhṛśuṇḍi.

By merely beholding him, rebirth is no more. / I had gone to see him, and having worshipped him, I came here.

Yet here, by the sight of a leprous merchant who is the embodiment of sin, / your messenger, O giver of honor, the celestial chariot fell to the earth.

If the Saṅkaṣṭikā Caturthī of the dark fortnight / has been accomplished [by you] with devotion to the observance, let its merit be given.

Then indeed this celestial chariot will move, of this there is no doubt; / in no other way can the human goal of moving the chariot be achieved."

In the meantime, a second celestial chariot / arrived there, belonging to Gaṇeśa, accompanied by his attendants, wondrous to behold.

In that very city, O king, an outcaste woman, an evil-doer, / blind, afflicted with severe leprosy, and swarming with a mass of worms,

her limbs smeared with pus and blood, enveloped in a foul stench, / lived by begging, engaged only in nourishing her belly.

On the third day of the dark fortnight of the month of Pauṣa, when a little of the night remained, / she drank wine and fell asleep there, free from fear.

Only through the force of wine did that outcaste woman fall into sleep; / on the fourth day, when the moon had risen, she awoke.

Then, overwhelmed by hunger, in the night she wandered / solely for the sake of alms, and she ate the food given by someone there.

On the fifth day she died there, O king; taking hold of her, / the attendants of Gaṇeśa went by celestial chariot to Svānanda, for she had performed the observance.

As she went, the outcaste woman was touched by the wind in the celestial chariot, O king; / with swift speed, that wind touched Indra's celestial chariot.

Touched by the body of the one who had kept the observance, that most meritorious wind / caused the wondrous chariot of the king of the gods to move.

Beholding that, all the gods, hosts of sages, and others were astonished; / perceiving it with the eye of knowledge, they praised the best of kings.

When Indra had gone to heaven with the gods, the king went to his own city; / astonished, he bowed down and brought me, Vasiṣṭha, to himself.

I instructed him properly in this primary observance; / in former times, he duly performed it when it coincided with a Tuesday.

Having observed that supreme rite on the fourth day of the dark fortnight of the month of Māgha, / he worshipped Gaṇeśa again on the fifth day and remained there.

In the meantime, a great celestial chariot arrived there suddenly, / accompanied by the attendants of Gaṇeśa, in the city of Śūrasena.

Stepping down from the chariot of the lord of the hosts, the attendants / said to the king: "By the power of the observance, go to the lord of Gaṇas, O king!"

Hearing the words of the attendants, the king was astonished in mind; / bowing down and worshipping them, he spoke with great joy:

Śūrasena said: / "From my birth until today, O gods, by force of circumstance, / whatever good or bad deeds have been enjoyed by me alongside the citizens—

now, having abandoned them, how can I go to Gajānana?" / Then the attendants of the king of the Gaṇas said to him, hear that:

The Gāṇapatyas said: / "Together with the citizens, O best of kings, go to the leader of obstacles, / by the power of the observance performed according to rule, O intelligent one!

Who can fathom the greatness of this observance according to the scriptures? / Therefore, by its great merit, it is capable of redeeming the entire universe."

Then, exceedingly delighted, the king, together with the people of the four classes / residing in the city, mounted the celestial chariot and sat there.

Then the attendants of Gaṇeśa tried to move the celestial chariot, O king; / it did not move, being immobilized, and they became absorbed in contemplation.

Knowing that, the attendants of Gaṇeśa arrived to cast out that leper; / bowing down to them, that best of kings spoke, overcome with weeping:

"This merchant is indeed a great sinner, by whose sight / the celestial chariot of the lord of the gods fell; nevertheless, listen, O dear ones!

Tell me what sin was committed by him; / I will perform the expiation, and I will go accompanied by him."

Then the attendants of the lord of the Gaṇas, greatly delighted, spoke to him: / "Listen, O king, this merchant was a brāhmaṇa in a previous birth.

Named Budha, he was a great sinner continually from his childhood; / his mother was a devoted wife, known by the name of Śākinī.

His father, named Dūrva, was an ascetic who had mastered the Vedas; / his wife, born of a good family, was called Sāvitrī, a devoted wife.

Attaining youth, he abandoned his wife and became lustful after other women; / once a certain beautiful courtesan came to the city of Gauḍa.

Beholding her, exceedingly amazed, he sported with her constantly; / stealing wealth residing in householders' homes, he gave it especially to her.

Stealing vessels, ornaments, and goods residing in others' houses, / addicted to theft, wine, and other vices, that evil-minded one dallied with her.

Once he did not return to his home at night, O king; / on his account, that foremost sage Dūrva wandered in that city.

None of the people told the brāhmaṇa in detail / about the conduct of his undisciplined son, out of fear of his anger.

He did not find his son from house to house, and then he went away; / when he reached his home at midnight, the twice-born asked his wife.

She said: 'Master, my son has not come home, O lord'; / overcome by attachment to his only son, he searched for him again.

While the world slept at midnight, he asked people on the road: / 'Where was Budha seen? Tell me of my only son!'

Though various people were thus questioned by him, none spoke of his son; / then an old outcaste named Bhīma met him and spoke to him.

By him it was said plainly: 'Your son is staying in the house of a courtesan; / he is a drinker of wine! Why do you ask, O ascetic, about that defiler of his caste?'

Hearing his words, that bull among sages was astonished; / seeing his son in the courtesan's house, intoxicated, he spoke [to him].

"Why do you, a drunkard, a defiler, stay in a prostitute's house? / Now abandon your body and go to Yama's abode!

A son is celebrated as a savior from the hell named Put; / for what purpose has a son come to me who only brings hell?"

Hearing his father's words thus, Budha, filled with rage, / struck his father again and again with kicks.

The old man, distressed by hunger, died from the blows to his vital spots; / taking him up, Budha threw him outside.

When the son Budha returned to his home at dawn, / his mother, filled with affection, asked, "Where were you staying?

And your father went to seek you, my son; / bring him, fortunate one, and then perform your bath."

Hearing his mother's words again and again in this way, / Budha, filled with wrath, struck her on the head with his stick.

Her head was smashed and the poor ascetic woman died; / having thrown her outside, he returned delighted to the prostitute's house.

Good people cremated them both, the Brahmin woman and the Brahmin; / out of respect for his father, the king did not punish him.

When he returned home once more, Sāvitrī, overcome with sorrow, / said, "Lord, what have you done, murdering your father and mother?

Why do you abandon me, lord, and go to a prostitute— / me who am complete in all limbs, beautiful, and an observer of dharma?

Among creatures born from the four origins, a human body is very difficult to attain; / endowed with knowledge and action, how much more so Brahminhood within it!

Having attained Brahminhood, the evil-minded one desires sin, / like one casting away a treasure in his hand, craving to eat feces.

You have done such a deed, my lord, and therefore I am deeply distressed; / with you, wise one, to what destiny shall I go?"

Hearing this, the wicked-minded man struck her with his stick; / by the rupture of her vital spots with pieces of wood she died and went to heaven.

Thus, after a short time had passed, Budha went to his guru's house; / the extremely evil-minded man violated the guru's wife who was all alone.

He committed dreadful sins of various kinds in this way; / at the end, he suffered torment in Yama's abode.

Having exhausted his experience [there], this Vaiśya was born afflicted with leprosy; / even here he commits dreadful, great evil.

Going into the forest solely out of greed for wealth, / he constantly slays Brahmins and others, and in the forest he became a violator of virtuous wives.

Therefore, Śūrasena, leave him and go to Gajānana; / O best of kings, by merely touching him, bathing with one's clothes on would be required!"

Hearing the messengers' words, the best of kings trembled; / (

Khaṇḍa 4, Adhyāya 21, page 61) bowing down to them and crying out "Alas, alas!" most sorrowfully, he said:

Śūrasena said: / "There is no counting of his sins, nor is any expiation known; / what can be done now by me in this case, O Gaṇas?

Out of compassion, tell me a wondrous expiation for all sins; / I shall certainly perform it until the fall of my body."

Then those Gāṇapatyas, filled with joy, said to him: / "Wise king, cause this lowest of men to hear 'Gajānana'.

It is the essence arisen from the four Vedas, issued from Brahman's mouth, / sung by the four-faced [Brahmā] through proper yoga: 'Gajānana'."

Hearing their words, Śūrasena was overjoyed; / with reverence, he whispered "Gajānana" into the Vaiśya's ear.

Upon hearing it, the Vaiśya became freed from sin, with a body like gold; / rid of leprosy and endowed with radiant splendor, he was truly delighted.

Then, joined by all, especially the city's inhabitants / born from the four origins, the king respectfully went to Vighneśa.

Beholding the Lord of Gaṇas in Svānanda, the creatures became one with Brahman; / and just as they did, the king became a Gāṇapatya.

Through the power of the vow's merit, that best of kings became one with Brahman / along with the creatures; who, then, can describe the vow?

All the fourfold world is considered distress, O king; / casting that aside by the vow's merit, a person becomes one with Brahman.

Whoever hears this greatness of the Saṅkaṣṭā of the fourth tithi of Māgha / or reads it, attains the highest realization of all goals.

Om Tat Sat. Thus, in the illustrious end of the Purāṇa-Upaniṣad, in the glorious Mudgalapurāṇa, in the fourth section, in the Deeds of Gajānana, the twentieth chapter, entitled 'Description of the Greatness of the Dark Fourth Tithi of Māgha'.