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Revākhaṇḍa ascribed to the Vāyupurāṇa (RKV) 232

English (machine translation) 232

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Contents

232.1

Sūta said: / Thus has been narrated to you, O brāhmaṇas, the supreme glorification of the Revā, / just as it was taught of old to the son of Pṛthā by Mārkaṇḍeya.

232.2

So also the hosts of pilgrimage places, and especially among those pilgrimage places, / have been proclaimed by me prominently, according to their number and sequence.

232.3

This is peerlessly pure, this removes supreme sin— / the meritorious deeds of the Narmadā, the glorification spoken by the sage.

232.4

The brāhmaṇa who lived through seven kalpas at the Narmadā, O lords of sages— / the wise son of Mṛkaṇḍu, best among knowers of the ultimate truth—

232.5

having resorted of old to all the pilgrimage places and all the rivers, / perceiving the Revā, born from Śiva's body, which remembers many kalpas,

232.6

declared by Śarva to be “my portion”, he took refuge in her born from Śarva, / the ageless, immortal goddess who destroys demons, the supreme one,

232.7

endowed with great majesty, the destroyer of worldly existence, the Gaṅgā born of Śiva; / binding true love to her, he too became ageless and immortal.

232.8

Sixty thousand and six hundred million pilgrimage places, O best of men, / are stationed at every step on both banks of the Revā.

232.9

Streams with pilgrimage places exist all around in their thousands, / but, I consider, O lords of sages, they do not equal the Revā.

232.10

All this that was asked has been told to you in full, O twice-born, / which, having heard from the mouth of Maheśa, Vāyu spoke to the ṛṣis.

232.11

Likewise, the son of Mṛkaṇḍu too, having experienced the entire purifying river / with its pilgrimage places, step by step, proclaimed it to the son of Pāṇḍu.

232.12

And all this has been recounted in brief, O best of the twice-born— / the meritorious deeds of the Narmadā, difficult to attain in the three worlds.

232.13

What is the use of the waters of other rivers, though resorted to thousands of times, / if the sin-destroying water of the Revā is resorted to?

232.14

One who resorts to the waters of the Mekalā attains eternal liberation.

232.15

Whatever a mortal who goes to the pilgrimage place desires, in whatever manner he worships, / that indeed he inevitably obtains, whether with faith or even without faith.

232.16

This is Brahmā, this is Hari, this is visibly the supreme Hara; / this formless Brahman is the absolute liberation, the water of the Narmadā.

232.17

Pilgrimage places and rivers granting the heart's desired fruit roar only so long / as men in the Kali age do not remember the Revā, eagerly devoted to her service.

232.18

Surely, for the welfare of the world, a certain power in the form of a river / has been brought down by Śiva from his own body as this Revā.

232.19

Sacrifices, forests, sacred fields, and the like roar loudly only so long / as the chanting of the name of the Narmadā is not performed in the Kali age.

232.20

Dignity is counted in austerities, gifts, vows, and the like only so long / as men on earth do not attain the river born from Bharga.

232.21

Those who dwell on the northern bank are indeed followers of Rudra; / those who dwell on the southern bank go to the world of Viṣṇu.

232.22

Blessed are those, best among countries are those in which the Narmadā flows, / ever putting an end to hell, resorted to, created by Śarva.

232.23

Those people have acquired religious merit; they are not destined for sorrow / who drink the holy water of the river born from Pārvatī's husband.

232.24

Whoever listens to or glorifies this incomparable, pure deeds of the Revā, / O twice-born, is freed from all sins.

232.25

Whatever fruit is attained through all the Vedas heard and recited / along with the six auxiliary disciplines, word-divisions, and recited sequences, eight times that fruit would be obtained.

232.26

And whatever fruit a sacrificer of a twelve-year sacrificial session obtains, / having heard the deeds of the Revā even once, he would obtain that fruit.

232.27

And whatever fruit comes from bathing in all pilgrimage places, such as oceans and the like, / having heard the glorification of the Revā even once, one would obtain that fruit.

232.28

This righteous narrative is supreme among all scriptures, / whether in a province, in a district, or in a town, in the midst of a village,

232.29

or in a house where it is kept written down, accessible to all four social classes. / That person is Brahmā, he is Śiva in visible form, and he is the divine Janārdana.

232.30

This path of righteousness, wealth, pleasure, and liberation is frequented by the gods; / a teacher of teachers, this scripture is the ultimate cause of perfection.

232.31

And whoever constantly listens to this purāṇa spoken by the gods— / if a Brahmin, he becomes learned in the Vedas; if a kṣatriya, he becomes victorious;

232.32

a vaiśya becomes wealthy, and a śūdra indeed attains righteousness.

232.33

Hearing this, a woman attains good fortune, progeny, / prosperity, happiness, residence in heaven, and birth in an exalted family.

232.34

An adulterer, an ungrateful person, a traitor to his master, a betrayer of friends, / a cow-killer, a poisoner, one who sells a maiden,

232.35

a Brahmin-killer, a drinker of liquor, a thief, and a violator of the guru's bed— / one who, listening to the narrative of the Narmadā, attends upon her for a year,

232.36

becomes entirely freed from all sins, of this there is no doubt. / One who creates dissension over food, one who cooks vainly, a slanderer of gods and Brahmins,

232.37

a reviler of his guru, parents, good people, and the king— / even they, having heard [it], are freed from sins, of this there is no doubt.

232.38

Those, on the other hand, whose souls are cultivated, who constantly listen to the scripture / and worship that scripture of the Narmadā with clothes and ornaments,

232.39

with flowers, fruits, sandal paste and the like, and also with diverse foods— / when this scripture is worshipped, the gods and gurus are worshipped [as well],

232.40

both in this world and the next; no doubt need be entertained here. / Therefore, with all effort, with perfumes, clothes, and other ornaments,

232.41

one should worship with supreme devotion the reciter as well as the scripture itself. / And whatever religious merit [is gained] by Vedic recitations and by maintaining sacrificial fires,

232.42

one obtains that fruit in the auspicious narrative of the Narmadā. / And whatever religious merit [is gained] at Kurukṣetra, at Prabhāsa, as well as at Puṣkara,

232.43

at Rudrāvarta and at Gayā, especially at Vārāṇasī, / at Gaṅgādvāra, at Prayāga, and at Gaṅgāsāgarasaṅgama—

232.44

whatever religious merit arises for human beings at these and other pilgrimage places, / having heard the narrative of the Narmadā, one obtains all of that religious merit.

232.45

The auspicious narrative of the Narmadā in its beginning, middle, and end: / the man who hears it with devotion, listen to his great fruit!

232.46

Having reached the abode of Śiva, surrounded by celestial nymphs, / becoming an attendant of Rudra, he rejoices with Śiva.

232.47

This sacred righteous narrative is supreme among all narratives; / in whose house it is read, O best of the four social classes,

232.48

blessed do I consider his house, his householder status, and his family. / But whoever worships the manuscript of the narrative of the Narmadā,

232.49

by him the Narmadā is worshipped, and the blessed Maheśvara; / likewise, when the reciter is worshipped, the gods and sages are honored.

232.50

Having caused the entire supreme narrative of the Revā— / the ornament of all scriptures—to be copied, whoever gives it to a Brahmin,

232.51

whatever fruit [is obtained] by a sacred bath and gift at all pilgrimage places of the Narmadā, / that man obtains that fruit, of this there is no doubt.

232.52

This purāṇa spoken by Rudra grants the fruit of great religious merit, / gives heaven, gives sons, is blessed, brings fame, and increases renown;

232.53

it is righteous, grants unmatched longevity, destroys sorrow and bad dreams, / and for those reading and listening, it grants the attainment of all desires and aims of life.

232.54

When this sacred purāṇa that was given is recited by Brahmins, / his stay in the world of Śiva lasts for as many years as there are syllables in the purāṇa.

232.55

Thus this foremost account of the Narmadā, spoken by the Wind having received it from the mouth of Śarva / and revered by the people of the three worlds, was properly related in the beginning before the head of the hermitage of sages by the foremost of the Sūtas.

232.55.p1

|| Thus ends the two hundred and thirty-second chapter, entitled 'Conclusion of the Revākhaṇḍa and Description of the Glorification of the Gift of the Revākhaṇḍa Manuscript and other Rites', in the Revākhaṇḍa of the fifth Avantyakhaṇḍa in the glorious Skandapurāṇa, a collection of eighty-one thousand verses.

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