Mudgalapurana 4.9: kārtikaśuklacaturthīvarṇanaṃ nāma navamo'dhyāyaḥ

Obeisance to Śrī Gaṇeśa.

Vasiṣṭha said: / "Hear, O fortunate one, of that fourth day in the bright fortnight of the month of Kārtika, which grants all success, / accompanied by an ancient history.

There was a king born of the solar dynasty named Sudhanvan, endowed with good policy, / equipped with the power of weapons and missiles, of supreme splendor,

righteous in conduct, generous, truthful in speech, approved by the virtuous, / devoted to the five great sacrifices for gods, brāhmaṇas, guests, and the wise.

He had a wife, Kalāvatī, endowed with beauty, / devoted to her husband, exceedingly magnanimous, and particularly righteous in conduct.

Having conquered the entire earth, the king, the best among the radiant, / protected the earth, ever devoted to righteousness.

His feudatories were obedient to him, his army was beyond reckoning, / and his wealth, equal indeed to that of Kubera, shone everywhere.

When he had reached half of his lifespan, that best of kings / was suddenly afflicted with leprosy and tormented by worms.

Covered with flows of pus, blood, and sweat, having a foul stench, / he found no comfort at all, like a man impaled upon a stake.

He applied medicines diligently with great effort; / he had men perform various rites of mantras and the like.

He also had twice-born [priests] perform rituals with Vedic mantras that grant comfort, / yet no result ever arose from them.

Then he wandered to sacred bathing places, devoted to bathing and making gifts; / nevertheless, the king became even more severely afflicted with disease.

Then, having arrived at renunciation, the king said to his ministers: / "My kingdom is to be protected [by you] until my return."

Having consoled his friends and all the citizens, along with his wife, / that best of kings went to the forest and wandered here and there.

Then, filled with sorrow, the king remembered Gaṇapati / for the removal of obstacles; and there a wonder occurred.

Suddenly, Pulastya, a tiger among sages, arrived there; / seeing him, filled with joy, [the king] bowed together with his beloved wife.

Folding his hands in reverence, the king spoke to that lord of sages: / "What merit was performed by me in the past, by which you have been seen, O sage?

Blessed is my birth, my knowledge, my father, and my mother; / blessed is all my asceticism and righteousness, from the sight of both your feet!"

To him who was thus speaking, the best of sages said:
"For what reason, O knower of statecraft, have you also come to the forest?"

Having thus questioned the king, Pulastya sat down, taking shelter in the shade of a tree,
and, seating him as well, shone with splendor.

Then his own account was indeed related by the king.
Full of joy, he bowed down once more and said:

Sudhanvan said:
"What the lords of yogins proclaim in the Purāṇas—that they are compassionate—
has indeed come true upon seeing you filled with compassion.

Knowing me to be suffering, you have remained here, O best of sages;
you are declared to be Pulastya, the manifest Prajāpati, the son of Brahmā.

You are omniscient, O great yogin; tell me what is right, O giver of honor!
Endowed with dharma, I constantly ruled the kingdom.

What great sin committed in a previous life has overtaken me,
on account of which I have become afflicted with leprosy? Behold [me], full of compassion!"

Vasiṣṭha said:
Having heard Sudhanvan's words, the great sage spoke to him,
seeing him exceedingly afflicted, with a mind full of compassion.

Pulastya said:
"You do not recognize the sin committed in this present birth, O lowest of men!
On account of that you have become afflicted with leprosy; listen, I shall tell that to you.

In your kingdom, O best of kings, the great observance dedicated to Gaṇeśa,
known as the Caturthī [observance], which grants all perfections, the highest, was lost.

It is the means for [attaining] the four aims of human life, approved by all;
therefore that Caturthī is declared to be boon-bestowing and remover of distress.

If it is not performed before everything else, all indeed becomes completely fruitless;
even an action performed by a man becomes devoid of the four aims of life.

The sin committed by all the castes falls upon the king;
therefore you have now become afflicted with leprosy, O lowest of men!

When you die, O king, then your destination will be in hell;
there is no doubt that there will be deprivation of the four aims of life."

Hearing Pulastya's words, the king, filled with grief,
spoke to that greatly wise one, with his palms joined together.

Sudhanvan said:
"O Lord, knower of all truths, the word that has been spoken by you—
that indeed is truth itself, as I have recognized without a doubt.

[Section 4, chapter 9, page 29] Now tell me of that observance: of what kind is it? Whose worship [is done]?
At what time is it to be performed, granting all perfections?

Tell me such a remedy for the destruction of leprosy, O great lord!
I shall perform the expiation that removes the fault of neglecting the observance."

Thus questioned, the great yogin Pulastya, filled with joy,
said to him, reciting internally: 'Homage to Gaṇeśa.'

Pulastya said:
"A man destroys by means of expiation a fault committed through ignorance;
therefore, you yourself quickly perform the observance together with your people.

Through that you will become free from leprosy and handsome of form;
and by your repentance, O king, your sin is destroyed, there is no doubt."

Having thus spoken to him, the yogin then related the entire story
arising from the observance; having heard it, the king became filled with joy.

Bowing down again and again, he said to that best of sages:
"Blessed is my birth, O master, by which this great observance has been heard!

Nothing equal to this has been known by me, O highly intelligent one;
tell me from yourself, O greatly wise one, the true nature of Gaṇeśa.

Having known that with my whole being, I shall worship, O great sage,
constantly endowed with devotion, the lord of the gods of gods with reverence."

Thus questioned, he, Pulastya, the knower of every inner state,
the Gāṇapatya of great renown, addressed the king with these words.

Pulastya said:
"O Sudhanvan, listen to my words which bring about knowledge of Gaṇeśa,
consisting of becoming Brahman, complete, and especially of the form of yoga.

Long ago, for the sake of the peace of yoga, devoted to various yogas,
I practiced through calmness and restraint, through the conquest of the mind.

Even so, bereft of peace, I went to Śaṅkara for refuge;
bowing down to that great soul, I asked him about supreme yoga.

Then it was declared by him; listen to that, O lord of men,
by which practice you too will become a Gāṇapatya.

The auspicious Śiva said:
'Know Gaṇeśa to be composed of the peace of yoga; worship him with devotional feeling!
He is free from mind and speech, and he is not composed of mind and speech.

Everything composed of mind and speech arises from cognitive absorption [samprajñāta];
know that it resides in the syllable ga; see this in the Veda, O highly intelligent one!

That which is free from mind and speech is considered to reside in non-cognitive absorption [asamprajñāta];
it is born from the syllable ṇa of the name of the lord of hosts (Gaṇapati).

Gaṇeśāna, the master of those two, is attained through peace and through yoga;
worship that Vināyaka by restraining the ground of the mind!'

Having spoken thus, Mahādeva, the knower of distinctions, fell silent;
bowing to him, I went to the forest and practiced that with great effort.

Having meditated upon Gaṇapati with the eight-syllabled mantra, O king,
I pleased him exceedingly through the disposition of restraint of the mind.

Then in a short time I attained peace within myself;
even so, intent upon worship, I repeated that king of mantras.

When twenty-one years had passed, that Vināyaka,
the granter of grace to his devotees, came to grant me a boon.

Seeing him, having bowed down, I worshipped the great lord according to the rules;
I praised him with the eight names taught by Kauthuma.

Having made me a Gāṇapatya, he went to the city of Svānanda;
beginning from that time, I exceedingly worship the leader of the hosts.

Having thus spoken to the king, and so also to Daśaratha himself,
he gave him the eight-syllabled mantra along with the ritual injunctions.

Praised by him, the great yogin, the lord Pulastya, vanished;
the king, having gone to his own city in [the month of] Kārtika, became filled with joy.

Together with all the people, the fortunate one performed the excellent observance
on the fourth day of the bright fortnight of Kārtika, remembering the lord of the hosts.

On the fifth day, that king, accompanied by his people, broke the fast;
he gave gifts to the brāhmaṇas and satisfied all with food.

Then that ruler of people became free from leprosy;
handsome, equal to Kāmadeva, he shone, bearing radiant beauty.

People who were afflicted with the defect of barrenness, diseases, and other evils,
all of them became free from sorrow through the practice of this observance.

Then by that king everywhere upon the earth / the vow belonging to Gaṇeśa was propagated with effort, O king.

Thereupon people observed the fourth lunar day, both bright and dark; / filled with joy through it, they enjoyed diverse happiness.

Then the wise Sudhanvan, having established his son upon the throne / and abiding in solitude, worshipped that Gaṇapa constantly.

In the end, going to Svānanda, he became one with Brahman; / likewise, all those people came to abide in Svānanda.

Thus it has been related to you, O king; now listen, O wise one, / to the greatness of this very vow that grants all perfections.

In Māhiṣmatī there lived a certain sin-performing Cāṇḍāla; / having reached the bright fourth day in Kārtika, he went into the forest.

There he was spotted by a tiger; fleeing, he climbed a tree; / the tiger stationed itself at the foot of the tree, waiting for him.

There the night passed for that Cāṇḍāla, and his vigil / was completed, O king; then a wondrous thing occurred:

A great forest-dwelling serpent arrived and climbed the tree; / terrified with fear upon seeing it, he fell from the force of trembling.

He was seized by the tiger and devoured on the fifth day; / ascending a celestial chariot, he went to the city of Svānanda.

Solely through the merit born of the unconsciously observed vow, he went to Gaṇapa; / having seen him, devoted to yoga, he became one with Brahman.

Thus, O king, countless performers of the vow of the fourth day, / endowed with the fruits of the four aims of life, have become one with Brahman.

The greatness of the fourth day of the bright fortnight in Kārtika has been / related by me in brief, O king. What more do you wish to hear?

Whoever listens to or reads [this] attains the fulfillment of all aims; / endowed with sons, grandsons, and the like, he becomes dear to Gaṇapa.

Om tat sat. Thus ends the ninth chapter, titled 'The Description of the Bright Fourth Day of Kārtika', in the deeds of Gajānana, in the fourth section of the glorious and venerable Maudgala Mahāpurāṇa, the ultimate Purāṇa-Upaniṣad.

Section 4, chapter 10, page 31)