Revākhaṇḍa ascribed to the Vāyupurāṇa (RKV) 182
English (machine translation) 182
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Contents
- 182.65 — 2 parts
182.1
The venerable Mārkaṇḍeya said: / Then Bhṛgu, together with Śrī, went to the tortoise. / Having greeted it appropriately, he spoke auspicious words:
182.2
“By you the entire earth is supported, along with the mobile and immobile worlds; / likewise, because of your virtuous nature, you abide there, O high-minded one.
182.3
Together with Ramā, I am establishing a settlement of the knowers of the four Vedas. / If you approve, O god, then grant me permission, O omnipresent one!”
182.4
The tortoise said: / “Just so, O best of the twice-born! A city marked with my name / will exist for a great time, firmly established upon me.
182.5
It will be immovable and firmly established, dear child; no fear should be entertained, O fair-eyed lady!” / Having heard these auspicious words fallen from the mouth of the tortoise,
182.6
Bhṛgu, the son of the lotus-born [Brahmā], glad and contented together with Śrī, / when the constellation Abhijit had risen, performed the festive auspicious ceremonies.
182.7
In the Nandana year, in the month of Māgha, on the fifth lunar day, O bull of the Bharatas, / in an auspicious configuration with the lunar mansion Uttarā, while the disc of the moon stood in Kumbha,
182.8
on the northern bank of the Revā, deep and facing the western quarter, / in a terrain sloping towards the northeast, endowed with ten million pilgrimage places,
182.9
measuring one krośa in extent, crowded with hundreds of mansions— / in no long time, endowed with the power of asceticism, / having meditated upon Viśvakarmā, Bhṛgu, the best [of sages], constructed it.
182.10
There were brāhmaṇas learned in the Vedas, kṣatriyas who were protectors of the realm, / vaiśyas engaged in their occupations, and śūdras serving the three [other classes].
182.11
Thus the field chosen by Śrī, delighting with supreme bliss, / destroying all sins, was fashioned by Bhṛgu, dear child. / Thus is the origin of Bhṛgukaccha.
182.12
Mārkaṇḍeya said: / Then, after a great length of time, for some reason or other, / Lakṣmī went swiftly to the world of the gods upon an assembly of the sages,
182.13
having entrusted the lock and the upper chamber to Bhṛgu, the teacher of the Veda: / “Protect my settlement according to its true value, O you of virtuous vows!”
182.14
Having accomplished all the duties for the gods, Śrī returned again; / the goddess Ramā arrived at Bhṛgukaccha with haste.
182.15
When the lock, the upper chamber, and her house along with its belongings were claimed, / Bhṛgu then [denied it], O son of Pṛthā; they said it was not a falsehood.
182.16
Thus a very great dispute arose, O lord of men, / of “mine” and “mine indeed,” upon their meeting each other.
182.17
Then, after a great length of time, the supreme sage Bhṛgu, / for the sake of establishing authority for the knowers of the four Vedas, made a great arrangement:
182.18
“Just as this entire city is ours, O deer-eyed lady, / so do all the twice-born knowers of the four Vedas recognize it, O beautiful one!”
182.19
Śrī said:
“The four social classes are my authority, O best of Brahmins; there is no doubt.
Let the best of Brahmins state whether [it is] mine or yours.”
182.20
Then, having deliberated among themselves, all the learned Brahmins,
seeing that the point of dispute was divided, assembled together with the king.
182.21
The eighteen thousand did not give any answer at all.
Among the eighteen thousand, out of fear of Bhṛgu's anger, O king,
it was said: “Whosoever has the palm-leaf [deed] in hand, to him belongs this answer.”
182.22
Hearing this settlement made by those versed in the Vedas,
that goddess, filled with great anger, cursed the foremost Brahmins:
182.23
The Goddess said:
“Because, casting truth aside, with minds afflicted by greed,
my abode has been made to perish, therefore hear my word:
182.24
[Your] learning will last for three generations; [your] wealth will not last for three generations.
Nor, O Brahmins, will a second Veda ever be studied by you.
182.25
[Your] houses shall not be two-storied, nor shall your prosperity be lasting, O Brahmins.
Your righteousness will be tainted by partiality, and will not arise from the pursuit of the highest good.
182.26
Any kinsman who is cherished will have a mind clouded by greed;
and having abandoned duality, truth will not be one.
182.27
From this day forward, there will be arrogance among all twice-born [Brahmins]:
no father [will act] according to his son's word, nor any son in his father's work.
182.28
All will be filled with pride, there is no doubt.”
Having thus cursed them, the goddess Ramā immediately departed for heaven.
182.29
Then, when Lakṣmī had gone, the spotless gods and Brahmin seers,
saying, “This place is filled with anger and greed,” also departed for heaven.
182.30
Seeing the goddess gone, and the sages rich in asceticism departed,
Bhṛgu, that lord, fell into supreme dejection,
and he propitiated again Śaṅkara, the destroyer of Tripura.
182.31
Through his great asceticism, O son of Pṛthā, Maheśvara was pleased,
and spoke a word in due time, gladdening the best of the Bhṛgus:
182.32
“Why are you dejected, O best of Brahmins? What is the cause of your distress?
Even though I am pleased with you, tell this to me, O sinless one.”
182.33
Bhṛgu said:
“Having cursed all the twice-born, Lakṣmī departed in the past;
saying ‘This is impure,’ the gods also departed.”
182.34
The Lord said:
“What was said by me in the past is just so, not otherwise;
[this is] without doubt a place of anger; nevertheless, hear another [truth].
182.35
By my grace, the Brahmins who are born in that place
will be free from great fear, without any doubt.
182.36
They will be bathed in the vow of Vedic learning and skilled in all scriptures,
even those hundreds of thousands who have quickly arrived here.
182.37
To an illiterate or a fool, even one reduced to every dire state,
Indra himself cannot give a superior retort, O best of Bhṛgus.
182.38
This place is Koṭitīrtha, destroying all sins;
from this day forth, O best of Brahmins, so it shall be, without doubt.
182.39
By my grace, it shall be resorted to by hosts of gods.
And those who die in the sacred land of Bhṛgu, even worms, insects, and moths,
182.40
their residence will be in the world of Śiva, by my grace.
A man who bathes in Vṛṣakhāta and worships Maheśvara,
182.41
attains the fruit of an all-sacrifice without doubt.
A man who bathes at Bhṛgutīrtha and offers libations to the ancestors and gods—
182.42
satisfying them, they attain peace for twelve years.
Those who bathe the three-eyed one with curd, milk, water,
182.43
along with clarified butter and honey, their dwelling is in heaven.
By my grace, O best of Brahmins, resorted to by all the gods,
182.44
the sacred land of Bhṛgu will become equal to Kurukṣetra and other [sites].
When an eclipse of the sun occurs, having fashioned a golden barleycorn,
182.45
whoever bathes in the sacred land of Bhṛgu after placing it on his head, O best of Brahmins,
know that he, without any doubt, has bathed in Kurujāṅgala.
182.46
And I too will dwell [there], and my beloved Ambikā,
the goddess who removes all sorrow, named Saubhāgyasundarī.
182.47
Together with that goddess, I will dwell at Bhṛgukaccha.”
Having spoken thus, the god remained at Bhṛgukaccha, and Ambikā likewise.
182.48
Bhṛgu, however, went to his own city, resounding with the chanting of the Veda,
resounding indeed with the sound of the Ṛg, Yajur, Sāma, and Atharva [Vedas].
182.49
The man who bathes in that pilgrimage place and releases a bull
goes to union with Śiva—thus indeed spoke Śaṅkara.
182.50
The man who bathes in that pilgrimage place and performs [rites] in the month of Caitra,
and gives salt to a Brahmin after worshipping Saubhāgyasundarī,
182.51
and [gives] cows, land, and gold to Brahmins, may Lalitā and Śiva be pleased with him.
Neither sorrow, nor misfortune, nor separation from her husband
182.52
does a woman suffer, O king of kings, by bathing at Bhṛgutīrtha.
And he who constantly beholds the divine Bhṛgu, O son of Pāṇḍu,
182.53
up to the abode of Brahmā, together with the deities dwelling there—
hear the fruit that he attains, O best of kings:
182.54
The fruit that one would obtain by giving to a Brahmin endowed with all vows
a brown cow with golden horns, yielding milk, gentle, of good nature, youthful, with her calf—that very fruit is certainly attained right here.
182.55
If a mortal man should die in the water, [he dwells in heaven] for seven thousand years; in the midst of fire, he would obtain twelve [thousand];
abandoning his body with a hero's conduct, O king, he receives the hospitality of Indra.
182.56
This narrative always brings fame, grants heaven, brings prosperity, bestows sons, and increases lifespan;
hearing it with devotion on every auspicious day, O descendant of Ajamīḍha, he always obtains all this.
182.57
Whoever undertakes renunciation at Bhṛgutīrtha according to the prescribed rites,
upon death, goes to that supreme abode which is so difficult to attain.
182.58
Having heard this spoken by the god of gods,
the best of the twice-born, the foremost of the Bhṛgus, became delighted in face and remained right there.
182.59
When the god had disappeared, Bhṛgu, the best and foremost of the twice-born,
leaving his own image there, went to the world of Brahmā.
182.60
The origin of Bhṛgukaccha has thus been told to you, O Pāṇḍava,
in brief, O great king, destroying all sins.
182.61
This sacred, sin-removing field has been glorified by the god.
A thousand periods of four ages is traditionally known as a day of the Grandfather.
182.62
When that day of Brahmā arrives, O Brahmins, the origin of the ages occurs;
“I do not see this field [perish],” so Rudra himself sang.
182.63
'Whoever listens to this with devotion, whether a woman or a man, / goes to the supreme world'—thus Rudra himself proclaimed.
182.64
When a man bathes in the Devakhāta and performs good rites such as the offering of rice-balls, / O best of kings, they know that it has inexhaustible fruit.
182.65
Whoever hears this full account of Bhṛgukaccha with devotion / will obtain the fruit of ten million pilgrimage places; there is no doubt about this.
182.65.p1
|| Thus ends the hundred and eighty-second chapter, named 'Description of the Glorification of the Pilgrimage Place of Bhṛgukaccha', in the Revākhaṇḍa of the Āvantyakhaṇḍa, in the glorious Skanda Mahāpurāṇa, a compendium of eighty-one thousand [verses]
182.65.p2
RKV Chapter 183
Linked texts (1)
- Revākhaṇḍa (Vāyupurāṇa) — Sanskrit