Mudgalapurana 4.30: mārgaśīrṣakṛṣṇacaturthīmāhātmyavarṇanaṃ nāma triṃśo'dhyāyaḥ

Homage to glorious Gaṇeśa.

Daśaratha said: / And on the dark fourth of Mārgaśīrṣa, tell me, O giver of honor, / the all-bestowing greatness, O master, by which I may be satisfied.

Vasiṣṭha said: / I shall relate an ancient narrative in full detail. / There was a radiant and glorious king named Hariścandra.

Residing in Ayodhyā, he was devoted to various duties, / always endowed with virtuous qualities, a performer of sacrifices, and dedicated to right action.

Whatever a Brahmin asked for, he gave with joy. / There was none equal to him in merit on the face of the earth.

Then the ascetic Viśvāmitra came to deceive him; / he took the king's entire kingdom by means of charity.

Having deprived the king of his kingdom, who then went to another region, / the best of sages deceived him there again under various pretexts.

Even then, that king remained exceedingly steadfast in righteousness; / joined with immense sorrow, knowing the supreme reality, he did not falter.

Once, that dark fourth in Mārgaśīrṣa arrived there; / the king was seized by hunger and overcome with thirst.

Thoroughly tested by the sage, the moon then rose. / There, by the workings of fate, the lord of kings ate food.

On the fifth lunar day, Viśvāmitra experienced a change of mind. / Realizing that, the astonished ascetic reflected in his own mind.

Section 4, chapter 30, page 84) Then he understood the great religious observance that had been performed there by the king. / Appearing visibly as a giver of boons, he said to Hariścandra:

"Rule your kingdom, O wise one! Hear my supreme word: / In your kingdom, the observance born of the fourth lunar day had perished.

Because of that, O worst of kings, you have become afflicted with suffering. / And I too became agitated for that reason; there is no doubt of this.

Before everything else, that observance which bestows the four aims of life must be performed, O king, / as a regular duty, there is no doubt, granting all perfections.

You accumulated various kinds of great merit in accordance with the rules; / yet all of it became fruitless through the influence of being devoid of this observance.

Along with all your people, O great king, you would have fallen into hell. / Now you have unwittingly performed this great, preeminent observance.

Therefore, I have indeed been pleased, O best of kings! / Perform it, O protector of the earth; you will attain happiness together with your people."

Having spoken thus, the sage gave him the eight-syllabled mantra / along with the ritual procedure for the lord of the Gaṇas; he then spoke again to him.

Hariścandra said: / "Tell me the true nature of Gaṇeśa, O omniscient one, homage to you! / And tell me, O great sage, the power of this observance according to the rules."

Viśvāmitra said: / "Hear in brief the greatness of Gaṇeśvara, O king: / this Gaṇeśa alone is one, and all are remembered as his gaṇas.

The universe consisting of mind and speech—that alone is the signifier of the gaṇa. / Endowed with various states of being, it cannot be described by me.

That which is devoid of mind and speech, which signifies the manifold Brahman, / is to be known as the form of the gaṇa; behold it in the Veda, O protector of the earth!

Siddhi is called the maker of delusion, and Buddhi is the bearer of delusion, O king; / with both of them Vighneśa plays, abiding in the mind as Cintāmaṇi.

Worship him according to the injunctions, and then you will attain peace. / Even as the ruler of a kingdom, you will become venerable to yogins.

The mind is declared to be fivefold, and delusion within it is fivefold. / Casting aside the mind of 'I am equal,' you will become Cintāmaṇi."

Having spoken thus, the best of sages made him hear / the greatness of the observance itself, and then he vanished from sight.

Knowing that Viśvāmitra had departed, the king, filled with joy, / went swiftly to Ayodhyā, acclaimed by his ministers.

Together with the citizens, the king also performed the supreme observance / born of the bright and dark fourth lunar days, devoted to the worship of Gaṇeśa.

Everywhere he joyfully performed that celebrated observance; / all the people dwelling on the earth performed the observance especially.

There is nothing equal to this supreme observance which grants everything. / Thereafter, freed from diseases and the like, he became filled with joy.

The king constantly worshipped Gaṇapati with an undistracted mind. / Entrusting the kingdom to his son, he went to the forest with his wife.

Right there, endowed with great austerity, he worshipped the king of the Gaṇas; / having attained supreme peace, that king especially became a yogin.

In the end, having gone to Svānanda, he merged into Gaṇeśa. / Thus the greatness of the observance has been told to you, O son of Aja!

All the people in due course became one with Brahman / solely by the supreme merit born of the fourth-day observance.

Listen to another [tale], O protector of the earth: in the Mālava country there was a great city, / and there lived a courtesan named Karṇā who enchanted men.

She instantly captivated men with her flirtatious gestures and emotions; / abandoning their own duties, various people became devoted entirely to her.

Section 4, chapter 31, page 85) Abandoning their respective wives, they became devoted to her; / they were all made by her to indulge in wine and meat, O lord of men.

In this way, Brahmins and the rest became especially fallen, / engaged in acts of theft and the like; what more can I say, O wise one?

A person incurs sin by mentioning the faults of others; / yet such was that prostitute, exceedingly dreadful and the very embodiment of evil.

Surrounded by all kinds of people, O king, and destined for hell, / she never ceased deluding men.

Once, during the month of Mārgaśīrṣa, she was seized by a fever, / and on the fourth day of the dark fortnight she was afflicted with burning heat.

She died there on the fifth day and became Brahman; / by the power of that very vow, she came to aid the fallen.

In this way, O king, numerous people have become Brahman; / how many could I mention to you? Even ten thousand years would not suffice!

The supreme majesty of the fourth day of Mārgaśīrṣa that has been told / bestows all perfections through reading and hearing, indeed, ah!

Oṃ tat sat. Thus ends the thirtieth chapter, entitled 'The Description of the Majesty of the Fourth Day of the Dark Fortnight of Mārgaśīrṣa,' in the life of Gajānana in the fourth section of the glorious and supreme Maudgala Mahāpurāṇa, an Upaniṣad of the purāṇas.