Revākhaṇḍa ascribed to the Vāyupurāṇa (RKV) 200

English (machine translation) 200

Language: English

200.27 — 2 parts

200.1

The venerable Mārkaṇḍeya said: / Immediately following that, O Pārtha, is the excellent Sāvitrī Tīrtha, / where the highly fortunate Sāvitrī, mother of the Vedas, attained perfection.

200.2

Yudhiṣṭhira said: / Who is Sāvitrī, O best of the twice-born? And how is she worshiped by the wise? / Or what boon does she grant when pleased? Tell me.

200.3

The venerable Mārkaṇḍeya said: / Padmā, seated upon a lotus, presides as a mistress of lotus-yoga; / she resembles the brilliance of Savitṛ, and therefore is called Sāvitrī.

200.4

Lotus-faced, lotus-hued, with eyes resembling lotus petals, / she should be meditated upon daily by Brahmins, Kṣatriyas, and Vaiśyas according to the prescribed rules,

200.5

for fear of the sin of slaying a Brahmin—never indeed by Śūdras; / from reciting or retaining her, he certainly falls into hell.

200.6

Merely for uttering the Veda, the tongue of that Śūdra / must be cut off by the Kṣatriyas, protectors of righteousness: such is the decision.

200.7

Young, resembling the crescent moon, wearing red garments and ointments, / the twilight goddess should be meditated upon at dawn during the supreme communion.

200.8

With high and swelling breasts, beautiful-faced and auspicious in appearance, / adorned with all ornaments, wearing white garlands and ointments,

200.9

clothed in white garments, wearing a white sacred thread, / the midday twilight should be meditated upon as a youthful woman who bestows worldly enjoyment and liberation.

200.10

In the evening, however, O Pārtha, she is white, with graying hair; / well remembered in a formidable forest, she protects like a mother.

200.11

Particularly, O king of kings, at the excellent Sāvitrī Tīrtha, / having bathed and sipped water according to the rules, through deeds of mind, speech, and body,

200.12

one should burn away the many faults acquired over seven lifetimes through breath-control exercises, / and sprinkle one's own body with the mantra 'āpo hi ṣṭhā'.

200.13

Nine, six, or three [times] at that pilgrimage place, O best of kings, / repeating 'āpo hi ṣṭhā' thrice, one is not tainted by gifts received.

200.14

With water [and] the three-verse Aghamarṣaṇa hymn, or according to one's Veda, / one is not tainted by secondary sins, just as a lotus leaf is not [wetted] by water.

200.15

A Brahmin who performs three water-offerings should perform three drawings [of water]; / he who performs a fourth removes the sin of killing a Brahmin.

200.16

And the mantra known as Drupada in the Vājasaneyaka Veda, / muttered once while submerged in water, brings about the destruction of all sins.

200.17

Having worshiped the sun with the mantra 'ud u tyaṃ', / one should recite the Gāyatrī, the pure goddess and mother of the Vedas.

200.18

The twice-born who recites the goddess Gāyatrī immediately after the twilight devotion / is freed from all sins and goes to the world of Brahmā.

200.19

Recited ten times, Gāyatrī destroys the sin acquired in ten lifetimes; / recited one hundred times, that done in previous lives; and recited a thousand times, [the sins of] three yugas.

200.20

Better is a Brahmin who possesses only the essence of the Gāyatrī yet is well-controlled, / than an uncontrolled one who knows all four Vedas, eats anything, and sells everything.

200.21

One devoid of twilight devotion is always impure and unfit for all rituals; / whatever other act he performs, he does not partake of its fruit.

200.22

The slow-witted Brahmin who does not perform the twilight devotion / is indeed a Śūdra while alive, and when dead, is born as a dog.

200.23

The twice-born who, upon reaching the Sāvitrī Tīrtha, recites the Sāvitrī, / obtains the fruit of knowing the three Vedas; there is no doubt about this.

200.24

Having bathed and offered rice balls for the sake of the ancestors, O king, / for twelve years his forebears are satisfied.

200.25

Whoever brings about the end of his life upon reaching the Sāvitrī Tīrtha / dwells in the world of Brahmā until the dissolution of all beings.

200.26

And when that time is complete, attaining human birth here, O king, / he is born in a pure family as a twice-born master of the four Vedas,

200.27

endowed with a multitude of wealth and grains, accompanied by sons and grandsons, / freed from disease and sorrow, and will live for a hundred autumns.

Thus ends the two hundredth chapter, called 'The Glorification of the Sāvitrī Tīrtha,' in the Revā Section of the Avantī Section, in the eighty-one-thousand-verse collection of the great and glorious Skandapurāṇa.

200.27.p2

RKV Chapter 201

Linked texts (1)

Revākhaṇḍa (Vāyupurāṇa) — Sanskrit