Revākhaṇḍa ascribed to the Vāyupurāṇa (RKV) 136
English (machine translation) 136
- Language
- English
Contents
- 136.24 — 2 parts
136.1
The venerable Mārkaṇḍeya said:
Then one should proceed, O protector of the earth, to the excellent Ahalyeśvara, / where formerly the illustrious female ascetic Ahalyā attained perfection.
136.2
There was a brāhmaṇa named Gautama, like another Brahmā in visible form, / endowed with truth and virtue, devoted to the stage of life of a forest-dweller.
136.3
His illustrious wife was known by the name Ahalyā, / endowed with beauty and youth, celebrated in the three worlds.
136.4
Beguiled by her extraordinary beauty, the king of the gods, Śatakratu, / the slayer of Bala, seduced Ahalyā.
136.5
‘Resort to me, O woman of shapely hips, blameless one, the king of the gods; / sport with me, being revered throughout the three worlds.
136.6
What will you do with a brāhmaṇa emaciated by rituals of purification and proper conduct, / devoted to ascetic toil and Vedic recitation, as though suffering, O fair-eyed lady?’
136.7
Addressed thus, the woman of shapely hips, exceedingly fickle by the inherent nature of women, / contaminated by desire, meditating in her mind on Śakra,
136.8
Knowing that intention of hers, the god, the chastiser of Pāka, / influenced by wicked intent, deceived Gautama.
136.9
Recognizing an opportunity and assuming an excellent disguise, / he took pleasure with Ahalyā near the hermitage while she was off her guard.
136.10
Within just a moment, O descendant of Bharata, while the king of the gods was there, / the best of sages arrived at the hermitage in haste.
136.11
Seeing Gautama arrive, Puraṃdara was terrified; / seeing him, he fled from there, thinking, ‘This is Śakra!’
136.12
Then Gautama, faint with fury, cursed the king of the gods: / ‘Because your senses are uncontrolled, therefore be covered with vulvas!’
136.13
Thus addressed, the king of the gods was at that very moment, O descendant of Bharata, / enveloped at that very moment by a thousand vulvas.
136.14
Abandoning his sovereignty along with the gods, stripped of his glory, he departed; / he performed extensive austerities on the surface of the earth on Gautama’s account.
136.15
Ahalyā also was then cursed: ‘Because you are of wicked conduct / and take delight in Śakra while seeing me, therefore turn into stone!
136.16
When a thousand years have passed, having seen the renowned Rāma / on the occasion of a pilgrimage to sacred places, you will be cleansed of your sin.’
136.17
When time had thus elapsed, she was seen by the wise Rāma, / accompanied by Viśvāmitra; discarding that petrified body,
136.18
Having worshipped him properly, freed from sin and devoid of malice, / she came to the bank of the Narmadā, and having bathed at the pilgrimage place according to the prescribed rules,
136.19
She performed the cāndrāyaṇa vow for a month, and another severe penance after that. / Then Mahādeva, being pleased, granted her an incomparable boon,
136.20
And disappeared from sight again, while the lord of Umā sported for a long time. / When the god had departed, Ahalyā, having installed the teacher of the world,
136.21
Under the name Ahalyeśvara, returned once more to her home. / A person who, having bathed at that pilgrimage place, worships the supreme lord,
136.22
Upon death reaches heaven, where the god Maheśvara resides; / having sported according to desire in that realm, that person of great austerities,
136.23
When a thousand years have passed, attains human birth once more, / endowed with an abundance of wealth and grain, accompanied by sons and grandsons,
136.24
Wise, an abode of Vedic knowledge, he is born in an immaculate family, / endowed with beauty and good fortune, free from all diseases, / and will live for fully a hundred years, through the service of Ahalyātīrtha.
136.24.p1
|| Thus ends the one hundred and thirty-sixth chapter, named The Description of the Glorification of Ahalyātīrtha, in the Revākhaṇḍa, in the fifth Avantyakhaṇḍa, in the glorious Skandapurāṇa consisting of eighty-one thousand verses
136.24.p2
RKV Chapter 137
Linked texts (1)
- Revākhaṇḍa (Vāyupurāṇa) — Sanskrit