Mudgalapurana 6.35: kāmāsuraśāntivarṇanaṃ nāma pañcatriṃśattamo'dhyāyaḥ

Salutation to the glorious Gaṇeśa!

The Primordial Power said: / Then Kāmāsura went with the Daityas to the elephant-faced one; / filled with fear, he spoke beneficial words.

Kāmāsura said: / "O wise Vikaṭa, you are Brahman; how do you act as a helper to the gods? / That [Brahman] indeed consists of both gods and asuras; how can it resort to a single quality?

How are you Vikaṭa in the Veda? What kind of Brahman belongs to him? / If it has a nature free from birth and the like, how does it take on a body?

Tell everything in detail, so that I may know you as you truly are; / then, O Lord, I will go to your refuge, without doubt."

Vikaṭa said: / "Māyā is manifold, O Daitya; held by me, she plays. / Creating divisions based upon it, they call me Mayūreśa.

Seers of reality call the word 'māyā' by the name 'mayūra' [peacock]; / see me thus as her master, Mayūreśa.

Brahman endowed with various distinctions is called unreal by the wise, / because it is displayed as a witness in the form of creation, maintenance, and destruction.

Therein, the immortal Brahman is always free of distinctions; / that very one is Vikaṭa; therefore know me truly as supreme.

In the ever-undivided Brahman, O Daitya, where does / the state of creation, maintenance, and dissolution reside as a witness? Tell me that!

Brahman is devoid of the four [states of waking, dream, deep sleep, and the fourth], yet endowed with the four, O highly intelligent one; / know that they are not at all present in Vikaṭa, who is designated as immortal.

The life of all is Brahman; that very one is considered Vikaṭa. / Worship him according to the ordinance; you will become free from death.

Perfection is said to produce delusion; intellect is held to hold delusion; / consider that their master, Gaṇeśa, resides in the heart.

The mind is fivefold, O Daitya; therein delusion is also fivefold. / Abandoning the great mind possessed of delusion, worship Cintāmaṇi.

I dwell in the minds of all; in order to attain me, O highly intelligent one, / I myself assume a body and grant peace to devotees.

Cognitive trance has human form; ultra-cognitive trance consists of the head. / In the union of the two, I assumed a body; reflect upon the elephant!

Therefore I am elephant-faced, and my vision for great yogins / is certainly self-experienceable; thereby I dwell in Svānanda.

Long ago, out of joy, for the play of māyā, this universe / endowed with its respective dharmas was fashioned; I always dwell in the mind.

I consist of both gods and asuras; no distinction exists for me. / Nevertheless, to protect dharma, I slay all, without doubt.

The gods were placed in heavens, and men on earth by me likewise, / and the asuras in subterranean realms: thus the threefold resides in the three.

When the gods, headed by Viṣṇu, became filled with greed, / and through anger were eagerly prepared to forcefully slay the great asuras residing in the netherworld,

then I, filled with wrath, residing in the heart of the Daityas, / make the supreme Dānavas endowed with the power of austerity.

I become the creator of obstacles for the immortals and the remover of obstacles for the Daityas; / thereby the lords of Daityas always became victorious.

Being slain by the asuras, the lords of the gods became forest-dwellers; / know, O Kāma, that there is no doubt this happened by my will.

When the Daityas became exceedingly wicked and filled with arrogance, / uprooting the gods through the power of destroying rituals,

then the gods became powerful and struck down the leaders of the Daityas; / residing in their heart, I reveal every weakness of the Daityas.

And when the Daityas become unslayable by Brahmā and others, / then I, having assumed a body, slay them particularly.

When both gods and Daityas are endowed with their own dharma, / then, residing in their hearts, I remain ever-present, O asura.

All the hosts of gods were oppressed by you, O destroyer of dharma! / Therefore, taking the side of the gods, I have come to slay you.

I will slay you, O most wicked one, if you disregard me. / If you wish to live happily, O lord, abandon hostility!"

Having spoken thus to the great Daitya, Vikaṭa paused. / Kāmāsura's mind became pleased at the prospect of future glory.

He reflected in his mind: "This is Vikaṭa, no doubt; / he is full, consisting of both gods and asuras. Therefore I go for refuge."

Having cupped his hands and laid down his weapons and the like before him, / Kāma then bowed to Vikaṭa, his nature filled with joy.

Having bowed, the asura Kāma again worshiped the lord of obstacles with care, / and, filled with devotion, praised Gajānana.

Kāmāsura said: / "Salutation to you, Vikaṭa, to Gaṇeśa, the Supreme Self, / worthy of worship by all, lord of all, and consisting of both gods and asuras!

To the one endowed with endless māyā, whose nature has become Brahman, / to Gajānana, Heramba, lord of gods, repeated salutations!

Salutations again and again to the winnowing-basket-eared one, the mover of obstacles, / the remover of obstacles for devotees, and the destroyer of non-devotees!

To you, the dweller in Svānanda, whose true nature has the form of yoga,

to you, the giver of peace to yogins, the lord of yoga, repeated salutations!

To the flawless one, the first among all to be worshipped, whose form is the eldest, / the giver of status to the elders, to Jyeṣṭharāja indeed, salutations!

To the bestower of perfection and intellect, who delights in perfection and intellect, / whose true nature is perfection and intellect, the lord of hosts, salutations!

Salutations to you, three-eyed one, bearer of four arms, / Lambodara, lord of Brahman, lord of prayers, salutations!

To the protector of the gods, the giver of boons to the Daityas, / whose attitude is equal toward all, to you, Ḍhuṇḍhirāja, salutations!"

O son of Viṣṇu, and of Śambhu, and of Śakti, O son of Kaśyapa, / to the son of Vareṇya, to the mother and father of all, reverence, reverence!

How can I praise you, O Gaṇādhīśa, before whom the foremost leaders of yogins, / the Vedas, and others have naturally attained peace?

The pleasure born of māyā causes delusion especially to every living being; / abandoning that, you are attained, O Lord, through formidable devotion, O Master.

The mind, restless, joined with māyā, and always full of delusion, / has attained peace in Vikaṭa; therefore you are considered to be Vikaṭa.

While he was thus offering praise, the hairs of his body stood on end with devotion; / the illustrious Kāmāsura danced, his throat choked [with emotion].

Seeing his mind endowed with devotion, Vikaṭa said to him: / 'Choose a boon, O Kāma; I will grant whatever your mind desires.

I came filled with wrath to slay you, there is no doubt; / now I will not kill one who has sought refuge with respect.

This hymn of praise composed by you will bestow all desires; / and to the one who hears or recites it, it will grant Svānanda at the end.'

Hearing this speech of Gaṇapati, Kāmāsura, / bowing to him with great joy, spoke to the elephant-faced one.

Kāmāsura said: / 'Since you are pleased, O Lord, grant me your supreme devotion; / give me a dwelling place and other things, O God, that I may worship you abiding there.

Grant me perpetual love for the Gāṇapatyas, O Gajānana; / I ask for nothing else beyond this, for all else is truly perishable.

Oh, your abode is difficult to reach even for the foremost leaders of yogins, O Lord; / you have been seen face to face, O Vighneśa, and by this I have now realized it.'

Hearing his speech, Vikaṭa, who is affectionate to his devotees, / spoke to that great devotee, Kāma, who longed for Gaṇeśa.

Vikaṭa said: / 'Fierce devotion to me will be yours, O great Asura; / and affection for the Gāṇapatyas, always devoted to yoga.

Remain in your own abode, O Daitya; be just as you were before. / In whatever rite there is no remembrance or worship of me,

there first, as an Asura, enjoy the fruit born of good deeds; / and make those who are devoted to me filled with desire for me.'

Saying 'So be it,' and bowing to Gaṇapa, the illustrious god Kāma, / desirous of devotion to Gaṇeśa, went to his own abode.

Seeing him pacified, the chiefs of the Daityas, Mahiṣaka and the rest, / having indeed abandoned Kāmāsura, all went to their respective abodes.

Oṃ tat sat. Thus ends the thirty-fifth chapter, titled 'The Description of the Pacification of Kāmāsura,' in the deed of Vikaṭa, in the sixth section of the glorious and venerable Mudgala Mahāpurāṇa, an Upaniṣad of the Purāṇa.

Section 6, Chapter 36, Page 102)