Revākhaṇḍa ascribed to the Vāyupurāṇa (RKV) 35

English (machine translation) 35

Language: English

35.31 — 2 parts

35.1

Yudhiṣṭhira said:
For what reason does Mahādeva stay in the middle of the water,
leaving aside the northern and southern banks, O best of the twice-born?

35.2

Śrī Mārkaṇḍeya said:
This narrative is matchless, meritorious, bringing the pleasure of hearing;
what was heard in the Purāṇa, dear one, I will tell you in full.

35.3

In the Tretā age, O fortunate one, Rāvaṇa was a thorn to the gods,
conquering the three worlds, fierce, terrifying to gods and demons.

35.4

Invulnerable to gods, dānavas, gandharvas, and sages rich in asceticism,
while he wandered the earth in his aerial chariot—

35.5

—just then, in the midst of the Vindhya mountain, there was a dānava proud of his strength,
renowned by the name of Maya, dwelling in a cave, practicing asceticism.

35.6

The rākṣasa approached him, stepped down to the ground out of courtesy,
and having been honored with gifts and courtesies, spoke this word:

35.7

"Whose daughter is this lotus-petal-eyed one with a face like the full moon?
What is her name, [and] why does she practice severe asceticism, O lord?"

35.8

Maya said:
"I am the best lord of the dānavas, Maya by name;
my wife is named Tejovatī, and she has an auspicious daughter,

35.9

renowned as Mandodarī, who performs asceticism for the sake of a husband,
propitiating that auspicious husband beloved of Umā."

35.10

Hearing those words of his, Rāvaṇa, infatuated with arrogance,
stepped forward, bowed down, and spoke this word to Maya:

35.11

"Born in the lineage of Pulastya, the destroyer of the pride of gods and dānavas,
I ask [for her], O fortunate one; you ought to give your daughter [to me]."

35.12

Knowing his descent from the Grandfather, the great-souled Maya also
gave his daughter to Rāvaṇa according to rule, having honored him.

35.13

Then, taking her, the rākṣasa, praised by the night-roamers,
sported with her in celestial gardens and in aerial chariots.

35.14

Then, after some time, Rāvaṇa, the terrorizer of the worlds,
best among fathers of sons, fathered a son, O descendant of Bharata.

35.15

Just as soon as he was born, a roar was uttered by that great-souled one,
like that of a cloud of dissolution, by which the worlds were stunned.

35.16

Hearing that terrifying roar, Brahmā, the grandfather of the worlds,
then gave him a name: "He shall be Meghanāda."

35.17

Thus named, he too undertook a supreme vow,
and gratified the lord of gods, Śaṅkara, along with Umā,

35.18

with vows, restraints, gifts, and according to the rites of homa and japa,
constantly emaciating his body with kṛcchra and cāndrāyaṇa penances.

35.19

Thus on another day, dear one, having gone to Mount Kailāsa,
and taking two liṅgas, he set out facing south.

35.20

Resorting to the bank of the Narmadā, wishing to bathe, the mighty one,
having set [them] down, worshiped the god, having performed his japa, O ruler of men.

35.21

Having bathed with a dwelling in a shrine there, having offered oblations into the sacrificial fire,
the night-roamer, considering himself as one who had achieved his aim,

35.22

desiring to go on the superior road to Laṅkā, O best of kings,
bowed down, lifting up one liṅga with his left hand,

35.23

and the second with the second [hand] in devotion, the son of Pulastya's descendant;
just then the great liṅga fell into the waters of the Narmadā.

35.24

Saying "Go, go," it remained established in the middle of the water;
having bowed to that highest lord, the son of Rāvaṇa

35.25

entered the sky and departed, being worshiped by night-roamers.
From that time forth, that pilgrimage place has been celebrated as Meghanāda;

35.26

formerly, however, it was called Garjana, destroying all sins.
Whoever undertakes a sacred bath at that pilgrimage place, O best of kings,

35.27

having fasted for a day and night, obtains the fruit of a horse sacrifice;
and whoever offers ancestral cakes at that pilgrimage place, O ruler of men:

35.28

the fruit that comes from a sacrificial session, that shall be [his], without doubt;
by him the ancestors are satisfied for twelve years.

35.29

"Whoever feeds a vipra with food of six flavors there, O Bhārata, / attains imperishable religious merit at that pilgrimage place, O best of men.

35.30

And whoever abandons his life [there], purified and with purified soul, / shall dwell in Śiva's world until the dissolution of all beings.

35.31

Thus, O tiger among men, has this excellent origin of Garjana / been related to you out of affection, which destroys all sins."

|| Thus ends the thirty-fifth chapter, named 'Description of the Glorification of Meghanādatīrtha', in the Revākhaṇḍa of the Avantīkhaṇḍa, the fifth part of the glorious Skandapurāṇa consisting of eighty-one thousand verses

35.31.p2

RKV Chapter 36

Linked texts (1)

Revākhaṇḍa (Vāyupurāṇa) — Sanskrit