Revākhaṇḍa ascribed to the Vāyupurāṇa (RKV) 146

English (machine translation) 146

Language: English

146.117 — 2 parts

146.1

Mārkaṇḍeya said: / Then one should go to Asmāhaka, the unexcelled pilgrimage place for ancestors, / where ancestors are freed from the state of hungry ghosts by a single rice-ball.

146.2

Yudhiṣṭhira said: / O sinless one, tell me the glorification of Asmāhaka: / the religious merit [arising] from sacred bath and gift, and likewise from offering of rice-balls and water.

146.3

The venerable Mārkaṇḍeya said: / In a former cosmic age, O best of kings, at an assembly of sages and gods, / this question was asked by me, dear one, just as you are asking.

146.4

The seven oceans, along with Prayāga and Puṣkara, gathered together in one place, / do not attain equality with it; no doubt should be entertained here.

146.5

That which is famous as Somanātha, which was established by Soma— / a man obtains that religious merit which is [earned] there during a lunar eclipse.

146.6

At the end of the month, the ancestors look toward their own offspring: / "Will anyone in our family offer a rice-ball to us here?"

146.7

Paternal great-grandfathers are indeed the Ādityas—this is the eternal revelation. / Thus speak the gods and the sages rich in austerity.

146.8

Hear, O king, the fruit [obtained] merely by a single offering of rice-balls and water: / having enjoyed a most beautiful union for twelve years, O best of kings,

146.9

in age after age, O great king, the ancestors at Asmāhaka / are always watching for one born of their own lineage to arrive:

146.10

"Will there be a new-moon day for us even at Amāhaka?" / Those who perform a sacred bath, a gift, and a libation with sesame seeds for the ancestors,

146.11

are freed from all sins and surely obtain all desires. / Amidst the waters here, O protector of the earth, stands Agnitīrtha.

146.12

By the sight of that pilgrimage place, a heap of sins dissolves; / by mere sacred bath, O best of kings, it wipes away the murder of a brāhmaṇa.

146.13

Constantly wearing white garments, restrained, with senses subdued, / eating only once a day for a month in the vicinity of the pilgrimage place,

146.14

he obtains the complete fruit born from the gift of a hundred maidens adorned with gold, / and is exalted in the world of the ancestors.

146.15

He becomes the master of great enjoyment on earth extending to the ocean; / endowed with wealth and grain, he becomes a generous and righteous man.

146.16

Fasting and becoming pure, he attains the realm of Brahmā; / and whoever gives up his life after reaching Asmāhaka,

146.17

is exalted in the world of Rudra for ten million thousand years. / Then falling from heaven, with karma exhausted and fallen from the celestial realm,

146.18

he is born handsome in a family rich in gold, jewels, and pearls. / Having performed the bath according to the rule, he obtains the fruit of a horse sacrifice.

146.19

He becomes wealthy, handsome, capable, generous, and righteous. / Whatever religious merit is in the four Vedas, whatever fruit is in speakers of truth,

146.20

surely he attains that fruit from bathing at that pilgrimage place. / The supreme pilgrimage place of all pilgrimage places was fashioned long ago by Śambhu.

146.21

Viṣṇu himself, the lord of the heart, mutters [the name of] the god Maheśvara. / And the Gandharvas and Apsarases, the Maruts and the wind-gods,

146.22

the Viśvedevas and the ancestors, along with the moon and the sun, / Marīci, Atri, Aṅgiras, Pulastya, Pulaha, Kratu,

146.23

Pracetas and Vasiṣṭha, Bhṛgu and indeed Nārada, / Cyavana and Gālava, and the great sage Vāmadeva,

146.24

the Vālakhilyas, Gandhāras, Tṛṇabindu, Jājali, / Uddālaka, Ṛṣyaśṛṅga, Vasiṣṭha, and Sanandana,

146.25

Śukra, Bharadvāja, Vātsya, Vātsyāyana as well, / Agasti, Mitra and Varuṇa, and the lord of sages Viśvāmitra,

146.26

Gautama, Pulastya, Paulastya, Pulaha, Kratu, / Sanātana, Kapila, Vahni, and Pañcaśikha,

146.27

and many other sages of praised vows [reside] there. / All the deities and the sages whose wealth is austerity sport there.

146.28

And mortals, lordly yogins, the ancestors along with the grandfathers— / all indeed abide here at Asmāhaka, there is no doubt.

146.29

Fathers, grandfathers, and likewise great-grandfathers, / for whom what is given stands present, whether good deed or misdeed.

146.30

All that is performed at Yodhanīpura is imperishable there. / Leaving behind mother, father, all kin and well-wishing friends,

146.31

wealth, grain, beloved sons, and likewise the body, O best of kings, / one goes having become wind, accompanied by good and evil [deeds].

146.32

Invisible to all beings, the supreme self, greater [than all], / has attained the destination of good and evil through his own action, O ruler of the earth.

146.33

Yudhiṣṭhira said: / For what reason does the good or evil not belong to the kin? / A creature is born alone, and alone it dissolves;

146.34

for alone one experiences a good deed, alone indeed a misdeed.

146.35

Mārkaṇḍeya said: / This great question stated by you, O king, has been remembered by me.

146.36

I shall tell you what was sung forth from the mouth of the Grandfather and heard [by me], / what was learned formerly by me from the Grandfather in the assembly of the ṛṣis.

146.37

Neither mother, nor father, nor kinsman, nor anywhere a friend belongs to anyone; / whose form is not known when the embodied soul has become wind?

146.38

If it were not so for the world, dear one, O lord of men, / it would surely become free from bounds; the moving and unmoving world would perish.

146.39

Knowing this formerly, O king, by all the makers of the worlds / a boundary was established in the world so that dharma would not perish.

146.40

When dharma is lost, adharma would again overpower human beings; / then, from deviating from one's own dharma, going to hell is certain.

146.41

The whole world would be unrestrained, delighting in transgressing the boundary; / therefore, having examined the scriptures, the boundary was established by the great ṛṣis:

146.42

sacred bath, gift, recitation, oblation, self-study, worship of the deities, / offering of rice balls and water, and likewise honoring of guests.

146.43

Fathers, grandfathers, and likewise great-grandfathers / are remembered as the three gods, dear one: Brahmā, Viṣṇu, and Maheśvara.

146.44

When they are worshipped, all are worshipped, as well as the three maternal grandfathers. / Therefore, with every effort, [performing the rites] enjoined by the meaning of revelation and tradition,

146.45

always practicing dharma, one is not tainted by a fraction of sin. / One should not transgress, even in thought, the dharma proclaimed by revelation and tradition.

146.46

If one desires one's own welfare in this world and in the next: / father and son are always one, like an image drawn from an image.

146.47

Whether divided or undivided, according to the meaning of revelation and tradition, / one should raise oneself by oneself; one might bring oneself low

146.48

without the offering of rice balls and water, O son of Pṛthā, there is no doubt. / Knowing this, one should diligently become a giver of rice balls and water.

146.49

Lifespan, dharma, fame, splendor, and lineage increase. / And whatever fields of the ancestors there are on the earth bounded by the ocean,

146.50

those I shall declare to you, wherein what is given bears great fruit: / at Gayā, at ज्येष्ठ (Jyeṣṭha) Puṣkara, at Prayāga, and at Naimiṣa;

146.51

at Saṃnihatyā, at Kurukṣetra, and at Prabhāsa, O joy of the Kurus— / the fruit that is declared by the wise through the offering of rice balls and water,

146.52

one attains that at Asmāhaka on the Narmadā, there is no doubt. / There Brahmā, Murāri, and Rudra along with Umā,

146.53

all deities headed by Indra, the ancestors, and the sages, / the oceans, the rivers, the mountains, and the clouds,

146.54

all the ancestors dwell; therefore it is greater than all pilgrimage places. / There stands the stone of Brahmā, resembling the frontal globe of an elephant, O king.

146.55

In the Kali age it cannot be seen, which is the principal head of Gayā. / When the month of Vaiśākha arrives on the new moon day, O best of kings,

146.56

that rock resembling the frontal globe of an elephant stands pervading the pilgrimage place. / And that pilgrimage place is indeed only one gavyūti [in extent]; from that it is proclaimed.

146.57

Whoever, having gone there on that day, should become a giver of a śrāddha, / for him an imperishable hundred-year satisfaction of the ancestors arises.

146.58

On any other new moon day as well, a person who, having bathed with conquered senses, / performs a śrāddha according to rule, accompanied by mantras,

146.59

hear what the fruit of merit of that is, O lord of men: / the fruit that belongs to the Agniṣṭoma, the horse sacrifice, and the Vājapeya,

146.60

he fully attains that fruit, as Śaṅkara told me. / For those situated in all the hells such as Raurava,

146.61

father, grandfather, and the others, in the paternal and maternal lines, / through a single [offering of] rice balls and water, and especially through a water oblation,

146.62

abiding in the world of the ancestors, they sport until the dissolution of all beings. / Those who are established in actions, in wrong actions, or who have become stained as ghosts—

146.63

even they are liberated there through a single rice ball, there is no doubt. / At Asmāhaka stands a divine stone resembling an elephant,

146.64

fashioned formerly by Brahmā, which causes the destruction of all sins. / Upon this, having designated the ancestors in accordance with rule, O Bhārata,

146.65

the wise person should offer rice balls on darbha grass with its tips pointing south. / And having performed the śrāddha on the ground with prepared food in accordance with the rule,

146.66

pairs of garments, an umbrella, shoes, and a water pot / should be given to the śrāddha recipients, along with various sacrificial fees, designating the ancestors, O Bhārata.

146.67

Listen to the fruit of merit for him who gives [these], O best of the twice-born: / they attain satisfaction for twelve years for him, there is no doubt.

146.68

At Asmāhaka, O great king, the fathers and grandfathers, / having become wind, watch for the arrival of one born of their own clan:

146.69

‘Having arrived at this pilgrimage place and bathed, will a son offer water, / or a śrāddha, or an offering of rice balls, whereby we will attain the good path?’

146.70

When the bath is performed, whatever drops of water come from the clothes / satisfy the ancestors situated in hell; there is no doubt about this.

146.71

The drops of water from his hair, and those others who partake of the wipes, / satisfy those born of his own clan who may have died without the fire consecration.

146.72

And whoever, having performed the śrāddha according to rule at that pilgrimage place, / reciting the Pitṛsaṃhitā, swiftly deliver [them] from hell.

146.73

When Soma enters the Lord of Plants and it is a Monday, / a mortal attains imperishable worlds with a single rice ball.

146.74

Everything indeed becomes imperishable there; there is no doubt about this. / Reciting the Pitṛsaṃhitā, they swiftly deliver [them] from hell.

146.75

On the new moon day at that pilgrimage place, designating the ancestors, O Bhārata, / he who, having consecrated a dark-blue [bull] complete in all its limbs, sets it free—

146.76

Not even Vācaspati is capable of describing its meritorious fruit. / Whatever religious merit is obtained from the release of a bull at Asmāhaka,

146.77

I shall declare all of that to you because of your desire to hear, O Bhārata. / Whatever ancestors of his are being cooked in Raurava and other [hells],

146.78

he delivers all twenty-one of them through the release of a bull. / That which is red in color, but pale white at the face and tail,

146.79

and reddish-brown at the hooves and horns, is called a dark (nīla) bull. / That which is reddish-brown over its entire body and white at the tail and hooves,

146.80

they say that is a piṅga bull, which increases the satisfaction of the ancestors. / That which has the color of a pigeon and has a tilaka-mark on its forehead,

146.81

they call that bull a babhru, complete and beautiful in all its limbs. / That which has a single color in all limbs, but is reddish-brown at the tail and hooves,

146.82

they call that a khurapiṅga, bestowing a good realm upon the ancestors. / That which is dark over its whole body, with very reddish eyes, firm-bodied,

146.83

they call that very one a nīla bull; the nīla is traditionally held to be of five kinds. / But that which is born in the house of a Vaiśya, that nīla is indeed superior.

146.84

One should never yoke a calf born in one's own house. / Only through its release as a bull does one become debt-free toward the ancestors.

146.85

A twice-born person who yokes a calf born in his own house— / his ancestors fall down, even if they have reached the world of Brahmā.

146.86

As it drinks, and having drunk shakes its head, / drinking it satisfies the ancestors, and shaking [its head] it delivers [them] from hell.

146.87

As drops fly up to its shoulder by the striking of its tail, / so they quickly deliver the fallen members of the lineage from hell.

146.88

Roaring in the rainy season and scratching the earth with its horns, / with the dust raised from its hooves it gladdens the sages.

146.89

Drinking, it gladdens the ancestors; grazing and scraping, the gods; / roaring, both sages and humans; for it is the form of Dharma, O son of Dharma.

146.90

Seized by bhūtas, piśācas, or quartan fever, / one should go to Asmāhaka, which destroys the mental distress of all.

146.91

Having bathed in the clear water, one should tie a knot of darbha-grass / on the head, at the root of the arm, at the navel, or at the throat.

146.92

And having gone into the presence of the god, Keśava, circumambulating clockwise, / then uttering the mantra, either through the Gāyatrī or a Vaiṣṇava [formula]:

146.93

‘To Nārāyaṇa, lord of refuge, bowed to by all the gods: / Hail to the one born from the limbs of sacrifice, all-pervading one, hail to you!

146.94

Hail, hail to you, O Lord of gods, lotus-wombed, eternal one! / O Dāmodara, victorious, endless one, protect me who have come for refuge!

146.95

You are the creator and you are the destroyer in this world of the moving and unmoving; / you protect beings, and you uphold the world.

146.96

Be gracious, O Lord of the gods of gods, awaken my slumbering body; / [I am] constantly intent on meditating on you, supreme in devotion to you, O Hari!

146.97

Thus praised by me, O god, grant me grace, O Acyuta; / protect, protect me from sins; save me who have approached for refuge!’

146.98

Having thus praised the Lord of gods, Hari, the destroyer of the Dānavas, / and having bathed again as instructed, he should then feed the Brahmins.

146.99

Having performed the sacred bath according to rule as prescribed in the Veda, / and having offered the funeral rice balls (piṇḍa), he should then have blessings recited.

146.100

Having thus praised the Lord of gods, Hari, the destroyer of the Dānavas, / and having bathed again as instructed, he should then feed the Brahmins.

146.101

Having performed the sacred bath according to rule as prescribed in the Veda, / and having thus had them recite blessings, he should then dismiss the Brahmins.

Whatever [food] has been recited over there, he should offer that to the Brahmins. / A man or a woman intent on devotion, having bathed at that pilgrimage place, / should give a gift according to their ability, having performed the ancestral rite (śrāddha) according to rule.

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Revākhaṇḍa (Vāyupurāṇa) — Sanskrit

Revākhaṇḍa ascribed to the Vāyupurāṇa (RKV) 146

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