Revākhaṇḍa ascribed to the Vāyupurāṇa (RKV) 227
English (machine translation) 227
- Language
- English
Contents
- 227.67 — 2 parts
227.1
Mārkaṇḍeya said: / These have been told to you in brief, based on their prominence; / I am not able to speak in full about the number of pilgrimage places, O Pāṇḍava.
227.2
This is the pure, spotless river famed across the three worlds: / the Narmadā, foremost among rivers, beloved of Mahādeva.
227.3
Whoever constantly remembers the Narmadā with his mind, O king, / quickly obtains the excellent fruit of a hundred cāndrāyaṇa penances.
227.4
Faithless men and atheists who dwell here
fall into a dreadful hell; thus has the Supreme Lord declared.
227.5
The Lord Maheśvara himself continually attends upon the Narmadā;
therefore it is to be known as a holy river that removes [the sin of] killing a brahmin.
227.6
This is the Māheśvarī Gaṅgā, born from the body of Maheśvara;
it is called the southern Gaṅgā of the Bhārata [land], O Yudhiṣṭhira.
227.7
The Jāhnavī is the Vaiṣṇavī Gaṅgā; the Sarasvatī is the Brāhmī Gaṅgā;
this Revā is the Māheśvarī Gaṅgā; there is no doubt about this.
227.8
For just as the Lord, assuming a threefold form in the Supreme Person,
is named Brahmā, Viṣṇu, and Maheśa, and there is indeed no difference among them,
even so, O son of Pṛthā, do not conceive any difference in your mind regarding the three rivers.
227.9
For here there are pilgrimage places by the tens of millions and by the hundreds of thousands, O descendant of Bharata,
and also by the thousands, situated on both banks of the Revā.
227.10
Who is capable of determining those that are in trees, in the sky,
and those situated on water and land—neither the Lord of Speech nor Maheśvara?
227.11
From remembering it, [the sin] generated in one birth [is destroyed]; from seeing it, that born of three births;
and sin committed across seven births is destroyed by bathing in the Revā.
227.12
He has performed the rites for the gods, the fires have been duly offered into,
and the four Vedas have been studied by him who has plunged into the Revā.
227.13
The pilgrimage places have been told to you by me in brief, based on their prominence;
for it is impossible for me to tell, or for you to hear, in full detail, O son of Pṛthā.
227.14
Yudhiṣṭhira said:
Tell me the procedure, the restraints, and the observances;
when one goes for the purpose of expiation, tell me what the rule is.
227.15
The venerable Mārkaṇḍeya said:
You have asked well, O great king, about what is the highest good for the next world;
listen attentively, and I shall tell you according to my knowledge.
227.16
With an impermanent body, one should perform permanent action;
for the life-breaths will surely depart like passing guests.
227.17
Gift from wealth, truth from speech, fame and righteousness from a long life,
and doing good to others from the body—one should extract the essence from what is essenceless.
227.18
In this great pot of delusion, with the fire of the sun, using nights and days as firewood,
and stirring with the ladle of months and seasons, Time cooks living beings: such is the news.
227.19
Having understood the action enjoined by the rules of the scriptures, you ought to perform it here;
there is neither this world nor the next, nor happiness, for the one whose mind is full of doubt.
227.20
In a mantra, a pilgrimage place, a brahmin, a deity, an astrologer, medicine, and a guru,
whatever one's mental attitude is, such is the accomplishment one attains.
227.21
What is offered in fire, given, what austerity is practiced, or whatever is done without faith
is called 'unreal', O son of Pṛthā; it is of no account either after death or here.
227.22
He who, setting aside the scriptural injunctions, acts under the impulse of desire,
does not attain accomplishment, nor happiness, nor the supreme state.
227.23
There are various means here for people to purify the body,
[yet] there is no purification of one's body equal to serving a pilgrimage place.
227.24
Or in comparison with the kṛcchra and cāndrāyaṇa penances, resort to a pilgrimage place is a second [way];
when a man sets out directed toward a pilgrimage place, O king,
then the gods, the ancestors, and the sky-goers follow him.
227.25
Filled with supreme joy, they accompany him as his followers.
Having performed the śrāddha for prosperity, and having taken leave of the deity,
227.26
and of his dear kin, of Viṣṇu, and of Śaṅkara together with the lord of Gaṇas,
he should set out with the permission of brahmins, also having undertaken the observances:
227.27
eating once a day, celibacy, sleeping on the ground, speaking the truth,
avoiding food belonging to others, and abstaining from accepting gifts;
227.28
likewise abandoning malice, deception, and the like, O best of kings,
adopting the attire of a virtuous person, adorned with humility.
227.29
He who is free from hypocrisy and egoism reaps the fruit of the pilgrimage place;
he whose hands, feet, and mind are well controlled,
227.30
who has learning, austerity, and fame—he reaps the fruit of the pilgrimage place;
free from anger, O king of kings, of truthful character, firm in vows,
227.31
and regarding living beings as himself—he reaps the fruit of the pilgrimage place.
Tonsure and fasting: this is the rule at all pilgrimage places,
227.32
excepting Kurukṣetra, Viśālā, Virajā, and Gayā.
Bathing, worshiping the gods, offering piṇḍas in the śrāddha,
227.33
and feeding brahmins according to one's means: this is the rule at all pilgrimage places.
And he who sets out with a controlled mind for the sake of expiation—
227.34
for him too I shall declare the rule; listen, O son of Pṛthā, with concentrated attention:
eating once a day, celibacy, eating without alkali and salt,
227.35
going to the pilgrimage place after bathing, eating only sacrificial food,
one should avoid conversation with fallen persons and excessive speaking,
227.36
censure of others, food of others, and company with the low one should avoid;
one should walk without sandals, wearing two garments, pure.
227.37
Having made a resolve in mind, he should go with the permission of brahmins.
Having gone to the pilgrimage place, and having bathed and worshiped the deities,
227.38
he would be freed from bad karma if he is penitent.
In the Veda, in a pilgrimage place, in a god, in an astrologer, in medicine, and in a guru,
227.39
whatever one's mental attitude is, such is the accomplishment one attains.
And concerning the fruits of the pilgrimage places mentioned in the purāṇas and smṛtis,
227.40
abandoning the doubt that they are mere praise, O bull of the Bharatas,
having engaged in scriptural reflection, determining [the expiation] as appropriate,
227.41
for the purification of those incapable of bodily practicing the kṛcchra penances,
one should indeed perform expiation knowing the special power of the pilgrimage places.
227.42
Listen to that, O great king, as appropriate regarding the Narmadā:
if a man walks from a distance of twenty-four yojanas,
227.43
he obtains the auspicious fruit of twenty-four kṛcchras;
beyond this, for each yojana a quarter-kṛcchra is declared.
227.44
And between these, O great king, if one walks desiring purification,
the wise understand an expiation for each and every yojana.
227.45
At the [place] called Praṇava, O great king, and likewise at the confluence of the Revā and the Uri,
and having gone to Bhṛgukṣetra, that fruit is remembered to be doubled.
227.46
At the confluence of the celestial river, and at Śūlabheda, O best of kings,
and at the confluence with the Karajā, it is double minus one quarter.
227.47
Likewise at the confluence with the Eraṇḍī and at the confluence with the Kapilā;
some say it is threefold at the confluence arising from the Kubjā and Revā.
227.48
And at Oṃkāra, O great king, that too would be appropriate;
likewise at the confluences of other rivers with the Revā,
227.49
they declare a fruit of one and a half kṛcchras of the former, O Yudhiṣṭhira;
one obtains three times the kṛcchra at the confluence of the Revā and the ocean.
227.50
A kṛcchra penance is declared to yield fourfold [fruit] at Śuklatīrtha, O Yudhiṣṭhira. / Going yojana by yojana up to twenty-four yojanas, / whoever dwells here and there for a very long time, O best of rulers,
227.51
engaged in the practice of serving the Revā, endowed with pure intellect, / free from hypocrisy and egoism, is liberated for the sake of purification.
227.52
Thus has been told to you, O Pārtha, the definition meant for expiation, / and the procedure of pilgrimage to the Revā; this is a secret, O Yudhiṣṭhira.
227.53
Yudhiṣṭhira said: / Tell me the measure of a yojana, O best of sages, / knowing which the cause of purity of mind will become certain for me.
227.54
Mārkaṇḍeya said: / Listen, O Pāṇḍava, I will tell that which is the measure of a yojana, / as well as the special [fruit] arising from kṛcchra by virtue of pilgrimage.
227.55
Eight middles of barley grains placed sideways, or three rice grains upright, / they call the measure of an aṅgula; a span is twelve fingers.
227.56
Two spans are a cubit, and four cubits are traditionally known as a bow; / that indeed is called a staff by those who know the distinctions, O Yudhiṣṭhira.
227.57
Two thousand bows are a krośa, and four krośas are a yojana; / this measure of a yojana has been declared to you, O bull of the Bharatas,
227.58
by which one who undertakes a pilgrimage knows the measure of the fruit earned by oneself. / The fruit of a kṛcchra has been stated at a pilgrimage place consisting of water, O best of kings.
227.59
I tell you the specifics regarding those places previously mentioned; / listen to that from me, O protector of the earth, as it is told to one who has faith.
227.60
Indeed, whatever fruit, such as a kṛcchra, is proclaimed at a given pilgrimage place, O king, / by fasting there as well one obtains even more than the fruit of a kṛcchra.
227.61
And from daily recitation of prayers according to one's capacity, one obtains the fruit of a kṛcchra. / Having bathed there, seen and worshipped the famous Lord of gods,
227.62
and bowed down, the wise person obtains the fruit born of a kṛcchra, O Pārtha. / At a pilgrimage place, the primary fruit comes from the sacred bath, and the second from fasting,
227.63
the third from seeing and worshipping the famous god, / and the fourth from engagement in recitation of prayers, day and night, according to bodily capacity.
227.64
The fifth is indeed to be conceived from afar at all pilgrimage places: / one standing on the bank, within a yojana, obtains a tenth part of the fruit.
227.65
From the stated fruit of a pilgrimage place, O Pārtha, no doubt should be entertained here.
227.66
Indeed, immersion accompanied by fasting in a great river, / even within a yojana, O Pārtha, grants the fruit of a kṛcchra to mortals.
227.67
A rivulet flows for six yojanas, and small rivers flow for twelve; / rivers flow for twenty-four, and great rivers are longer than that.
227.67.p1
|| Thus ends the two hundred twenty-seventh chapter, named 'Description of the Specific Rules for Pilgrimage and Other Rites', in the Revākhaṇḍa of the Avantīkhaṇḍa, in the glorious Skanda Mahāpurāṇa, a compendium of eighty-one thousand [verses]
227.67.p2
RKV Chapter 228
Linked texts (1)
- Revākhaṇḍa (Vāyupurāṇa) — Sanskrit