Revākhaṇḍa ascribed to the Vāyupurāṇa (RKV) 39
English (machine translation) 39
- Language
- English
Contents
- 39.38 — 2 parts
39.1
The venerable Mārkaṇḍeya said: / Then one should go, king of kings, to the excellent Kapilātīrtha; / merely by taking a sacred bath with devotion, a person is freed from all sins.
39.2
Yudhiṣṭhira said: / A wondrous thing in the worlds has been related, best of twice-born; / the glorification of Narmadeśvara [is told]; tell me about that relating to Kapilā.
39.3
At what time, and in what connection, was that excellent pilgrimage place produced? / How did this holy pilgrimage place that removes all sins come to be, O lord?
39.4
Mārkaṇḍeya said: / Listen, O king, today I shall tell you of the excellent Kapilātīrtha, / hearing which, O Bhārata, all your wonder will vanish.
39.5
Formerly, at the beginning of the Kṛta age, Brahmā, the grandfather of the worlds, / having generated the entire fourfold collection of beings,
39.6
devoted to chanting and fire offerings with devotion, remained in meditation for a moment. / Just then, from the flaming pit, the tawny cow (Kapilā) arose,
39.7
with horns blazing like tongues of fire, three-eyed, rich in milk, / full of fire, having a fiery face, fiery nostrils, and fiery eyes,
39.8
having fiery hooves, a fiery back, and all her limbs constituted of fire, / complete with every auspicious mark, with the charming sound of bells.
39.9
Seeing that illustrious tawny cow standing in the center of the pit, / Brahmā, the teacher of the world, dear one, bowed down and spoke this:
39.10
‘Homage to you, holy Kapilā, venerated by all the worlds, / auspicious, source of auspiciousness, O goddess incomparable across the three worlds!
39.11
You are Lakṣmī, you are memory, intellect, and steadfastness, O fair-faced one! / You are renowned as Goddess Umā; you are Satī, of this there is no doubt.
39.12
You are Vaiṣṇavī, you are the Great Goddess, you are Brahmāṇī, O fair-faced one! / You are the Maiden, O highly fortunate one, as well as devotion and faith.
39.13
You are the Night of Doom for living beings, the Maiden, the Supreme Mistress. / You are a lava, you are a truṭi, a muhūrta, and a lakṣa.
39.14
You are the year, you are the month, you are time, and also the moment. / There is nothing devoid of you in the three worlds, with all that moves and is still.’
39.15
Thus praised with respect by the Supreme Lord, Kapilā / rejoiced and spoke to that highly fortunate one, the lotus-born [Brahmā]:
39.16
‘I am pleased by your word, god of gods, teacher of the world! / What pleasing thing shall I do for you today? Tell me everything, grandfather!’
39.17
Brahmā said: / ‘You were generated by me for the welfare of the world, O Supreme Mistress; / go therefore from heaven to the mortal realm, out of a desire for the welfare of the worlds.
39.18
For you consist of all deities and embody all worlds. / For those who give [you] in accordance with the rules, their abode will be in heaven.’
39.19
Having spoken thus to Brahmā, the goddess, the Supreme Mistress, / being venerated by gods and perfected beings, came down to the earth's surface.
39.20
Yudhiṣṭhira said: / When she arrived here, dear one, that auspicious one, by the word of Brahmā, / how were the gods and the worlds established in her limbs then?
39.21
Or how did that Kapilā come and dwell, best of twice-born, / in a pilgrimage place or in an arid field? Tell me this, twice-born one!
39.22
Mārkaṇḍeya said: / Addressed then by Brahmā, the creator of the world, O Bhārata, / she went from the world of Brahmā to the holy Narmadā, the purifier of the world.
39.23
Having performed extensive asceticism and resorting to the bank of the Narmadā, / she traversed the entire earth with its mountains, forests, and groves.
39.24
From that time forward, king of kings, the excellent Kapilātīrtha, / remover of all sins, became renowned and frequented by hosts of sages.
39.25
Having bathed according to rule at that pilgrimage place, [whoever] gives a tawny cow, / by him the earth with its mountains, forests, and groves would be given.
39.26
Whoever looks with devotion upon her being given to the best of twice-born, / his sins of a hundred years are destroyed, of this there is no doubt.
39.27
Bhūḥ, bhuvaḥ, svaḥ, and mahaḥ, and also janaḥ, satya, and tapaḥ— / these worlds reside taking support on her back, O best of kings.
39.28
In her mouth dwells the god Agni, and serpents in her teeth; / Dhātṛ and Vidhātṛ are her two lips, and Sarasvatī is on her tongue.
39.29
The moon and the sun, with their thousand rays, are her two fair eyes; / and the wind-god is situated in the middle of her nose, O best of kings.
39.30
On her forehead is Mahādeva, while the two Aśvins are stationed in her ears; / Nara and Nārāyaṇa are in her horns, and in the middle of her horns is the grandfather [Brahmā].
39.31
Kambala has arrived [there], dear one, as well as Varuṇa who holds the noose; / and the lord, god Yama, has taken support and dwells in her belly.
39.32
Serpents are in her hooves, and the rays of the sun at the tip of her tail. / Truly, regarding such a tawny cow who consists of all gods, O king:
39.33
Those who keep her in their home are fortunate, of this there is no doubt. / Rising early in the morning, whoever performs circumambulation around her,
39.34
by him the circumambulation of the earth with its mountains, forests, and groves has been performed. / Whoever bathes Śaṅkara with the five bovine products of a tawny cow,
39.35
and whoever, devoted to fasting at that pilgrimage place, lord of men, / having bathed in accordance with the prescribed rule, satisfies the ancestors and deities,
39.36
all those born in his family line, ten earlier and ten later, / ascend satisfied to heaven, contemplating his wishes.
39.37
This procedure and the origin of the pilgrimage place have been described to you, / best of kings, and its holy fruit; what else do you ask?
39.38
It is fortunate, conducive to fame, life-prolonging, destroying all grief, and supreme; / hearing which, one is freed from all sins, of this there is no doubt.
39.38.p1
|| Thus ends the thirty-ninth chapter, named 'Description of the Glorification of the Kapilātīrtha', in the glorification of the glorious Narmadā, in the Revākhaṇḍa, in the fifth Avantīkhaṇḍa, in the compendium of eighty-one thousand [verses], in the glorious Skanda Mahāpurāṇa.
39.38.p2
RKV Chapter 40
Linked texts (1)
- Revākhaṇḍa (Vāyupurāṇa) — Sanskrit