Revākhaṇḍa ascribed to the Vāyupurāṇa (RKV) 42
English (machine translation) 42
- Language
- English
Contents
- 42.74 — 2 parts
42.1
Śrī Mārkaṇḍeya said: / Then one should go, O king of kings, to the supreme Pippaleśvara, / where the great yogin of great austerities, Pippalāda, attained perfection.
42.2
Yudhiṣṭhira said: / I wish to hear the life of Pippalāda, O Lord, / [and] the glorification of that pilgrimage place where that one of great austerities attained perfection.
42.3
Whose son was he, O illustrious one, and for what purpose did he perform austerities? / Recount all this in detail to me, O sinless one.
42.4
Mārkaṇḍeya said: / Formerly, dear one, dwelling in Mithilā, the illustrious Yājñavalkya, / who had crossed over the Vedas and Vedāṅgas, performed extensive austerities.
42.5
Wise Yājñavalkya had an ascetic sister; / even in her seventh year, she attained widowhood through fate.
42.6
Through the ripening of past karma, she was bereft of her father and mother; / nor was there anyone on her husband's side, so she remained alone.
42.7
Wandering on the earth, she slowly went to her brother; / he too was performing austerities with a desire for happiness in the other world.
42.8
Dwelling there and serving him, she too performed great austerities. / Then, at a certain time, she was menstruating on the day she had bathed.
42.9
Having seen a scrap of cloth in secret, she wore it as an undergarment; / where Yājñavalkya too had slept that night, well covered.
42.10
Having seen a dream, he released semen upon his loincloth like a drop of blood; / accomplished through his radiant austerities, it shone like fire.
42.11
As soon as the brahmin awoke and saw that garment defiled, / he cast it far away as untouchable, having performed purification according to rule.
42.12
Thinking, 'Bathing at night is forbidden,' that twice-born slept. / In the middle of the night, she made that very garment a covering for her vulva.
42.13
In the morning, the sage searched for the cloth here and there. / Then that brahmin woman said, 'What are you searching for, O lord? / What need do you have, and of what kind? Tell me the truth.'
42.14
Yājñavalkya said: / 'An impure dream was seen by me today in the night, O auspicious one; / my wet cloth was thrown down there, and it cannot be seen.'
42.15
Hearing his word, the brahmin woman, terrified, spoke, O king: / 'Indeed, after bathing, O brahmin, that large cloth was put inside by me.'
42.16
Hearing her word, saying 'Alas, alas!', the great sage / then fell to the ground like a tree cut down at the root.
42.17
Saying 'What is this?', she, spotless as the sky, / consoling that brahmin, then spoke these words:
42.18
'Tell me the cause, dear one, even if it is more secret than secret, / so that a remedy for it may be considered and quickly performed.'
42.19
Then, having meditated for a long time and regained his voice after a moment, / with an anxious mind he spoke what you should hear, O lord of men:
42.20
'There is no fault here on your part, nor on mine, O woman of virtuous vows; / but regarding the embryo in your womb, fate is the sole recourse.
42.21
Indeed, protection of it must always be truly performed by you; / it must not at all be destroyed as long as time runs its course.'
42.22
Saying 'So be it,' the virtuous woman, embarrassed and with an anguished heart, / protected that embryo until a son was born.
42.23
And as soon as he was born, that brahmin woman took that offspring, / resorted to the shade of an aśvattha tree, and abandoning him, spoke these words:
42.24
'Whatever beings there are in the worlds, stationary or moving, / let all of them protect the boy who has indeed been abandoned by me.'
42.25
Having spoken thus, that brahmin woman departed, O best of kings. / Remaining there for a moment, that infant in that state,
42.26
throwing out his hands and feet, closing his bright eyes, / and making a contorted mouth, cried in unnatural tones.
42.27
Frightened by that sound, stationary and moving beings, / along with the mountains, woods, and forests, trembled at great portents.
42.28
Then, knowing the bull among brahmins to be a great being overcome by hunger, / the tree did not withdraw its shade thereafter, and for the sake of drink, / he drank the sap from it, and was sustained, O Bhārata.
42.29
Thus reared there, the boy in his own mind / thought with confidence: 'Why am I within the range of the planets?'
42.30
Then, having looked fiercely, the slow-moving Śanaiścara, / whose conduct in assemblies is fierce, suddenly fell to the earth when seen.
42.31
And terrified with fear, with folded hands, he then said: / 'What wrong was done by me, O brahmin, O Pippalāda, O great sage,
42.32
by which, as I was moving through the sky, I have been cast down to the surface of the earth?' / Addressed thus by Śauri, the great sage Pippalāda,
42.33
assuming a form of wrath, spoke these words; hear them, O ruler of men: / 'Why do you torment me, a child bereft of father and mother, O evil-minded one? / Tell me entirely, O Śauri!'
42.34
Śanaiścara said: / 'Cruelty is my inborn nature, and such is my gaze; / release me, and I shall do what you say; there is no doubt.'
42.35
Pippalāda said: / 'From this day forward, until their sixteenth year, O planet, / children must not be tormented by you; this agreement has been made with you.'
42.36
Saying 'Let it be so,' Śanaiścara, having bowed down to the best of sages, / departed, returning to the path of the gods.
42.37
And when that great planet had disappeared from view, the boy, / reflecting on his father, was fouled with rage.
42.38
Meditating upon the fiery concentration, he generated a fire, / and with kṛtyā-mantras he offered oblations into the fire, saying, 'May a kṛtyā come into being!'
42.39
Instantly a maiden appeared, adorned with garlands of flames, / having a form like fire, and she said, 'What shall I do?
42.40
Shall I dry up the oceans, or crush the mountains? / Shall I envelop the earth, or strike down the vault of heaven?
42.41
Upon whose head shall I fall, and whom shall I slay, O twice-born? / Command my task quickly, lest my time slip away!'
42.42
Hearing her words, Pippalāda, of great austerity, / with eyes reddened by anger, spoke these words:
42.43
'I contemplated you with a great surge of wrath, O auspicious one. / Yājñavalkya is my father; fall upon him without delay!'
42.44
Having said this, she went swiftly, rending the vault of heaven. / Residing in Mithilā, the great-minded and highly wise [sage] was practicing austerities.
42.45
Then Yājñavalkya of great splendor saw the quarters of the sky shining like a blazing sun, / and a great spirit arrived.
42.46
Seeing it suddenly arriving, the great sage, terrified, / pursued by the spirit, went to King Janaka.
42.47
'Know me to have arrived seeking shelter, O best of kings! / Protect me from fear of the great spirit, if you can, O ruler of the earth!'
42.48
'The spirit born of Brahmanic power is unassailable and irresistible; / I am not able to protect you,' the king replied.
42.49
Then, seeking refuge, the great ascetic went to another best of kings; / dismissed by him as well, out of fear he went to the abode of Indra.
42.50
'O king of the gods, homage to you! Protect me from fear of the great spirit, O king!' / the brahmin said trembling, again and again.
42.51
Hearing those words of his, the king of the gods said this: / 'I am not able to protect you from the wrath of a brahmin, O sage.'
42.52
Then that brahmin, the foremost knower of Brahman, went to the abode of Brahmā, / and to the world of Viṣṇu; by him too he was addressed in the same way.
42.53
Then that sage, agitated and hopeless of life, O king, / pursued by the spirit, went to the abode of Śaṅkara.
42.54
Endowed with the power of yoga, he hid within the space between the fingernails and flesh / of that Mahādeva, O Pāṇḍava, so that the god did not see [him].
42.55
Immediately after him, the spirit arrived, blazing like the sun, / [saying] to the god of gods, Maheśvara: 'Release the man, release him!'
42.56
Thus addressed by that spirit, O Bhārata, Mahādeva / then revealed the lord of yogins within the space between his nails and flesh.
42.57
Restraining the spirit, the lord of spirits said to the sage who had fallen into supreme distress: / 'Do not fear, O brahmin; come out, O great sage!'
42.58
Then, seeing the spirit standing with a very subtle body, he spoke this: / 'What will you do to him, O great spirit? Tell me!'
42.59
The kṛtyā said: / 'I was contemplated by Pippalāda when he was overcome by wrath, O lord of gods. / I will destroy his body; know me to have come to kill, O lord!'
42.60
Hearing this fallen from the mouth of the spirit, Mahādeva, / knower of mantras, consecrated Yājñavalkya who was on his hip.
42.61
Having bestowed upon the brahmin the name Yogīśvara, O Yudhiṣṭhira, / and having dismissed [the spirit], the lord of gods vanished right there.
42.62
Having sent away that spirit, Pippalāda too, depressed in mind / and agitated over his father and mother, took refuge on the bank of the Narmadā.
42.63
Standing on one big toe, fasting until the sixteenth year, O king, / he propitiated Śaṅkara, the lord of gods, along with Umā.
42.64
Then, pleased by that austerity, Śaṅkara spoke these words:
42.65
Īśvara said: / 'I am well pleased with you, O brahmin, through this austerity, O one of good vows. / Choose a boon; I will grant you the auspicious desire of your heart.'
42.66
Pippalāda said: / 'If the Lord is pleased with me, if a boon is to be granted to me, / then, O god, O Maheśvara, be present here at this pilgrimage place.'
42.67
Thus addressed, the god said 'So be it' to the great sage Pippalāda, / and vanished together with his host of spirits.
42.68
When the god had departed, Pippalāda bathed there in the great waters, / established [a liṅga of] Mahādeva, and went to the northern mountain.
42.69
A man who bathes with devotion at that pilgrimage place, accompanied by mantras, O king, / offers libations to the ancestors and the gods, and worships Maheśvara,
42.70
obtains the peerless fruit of a horse sacrifice; / and when he dies, he goes to the city of Rudra—there should be no doubt about this.
42.71
Now, whoever feeds brahmins dedicated to the ancestors, O Bhārata, / his ancestors rejoice in heaven for twelve years, satisfied.
42.72
And whoever abandons his body at that pilgrimage place through renunciation, / his state is such that he never returns from the world of Rudra.
42.73
All this has been related to you as you asked, O sinless one: / the glorification of Pippalāda and the very origin of the pilgrimage place.
42.74
This is meritorious, removing sins, auspicious, and destructive of bad dreams; / for those who read and hear it, all sins shall be destroyed.
42.74.p1
|| Thus ends the forty-second chapter, entitled 'Description of the Glorification of the Pilgrimage Place of Pippalāda', in the glorification of the Narmadā, in the Revākhaṇḍa of the Avantyakhaṇḍa, in the Skanda Mahāpurāṇa of eighty-one thousand verses.
42.74.p2
Revākhaṇḍa, Chapter 43
Linked texts (1)
- Revākhaṇḍa (Vāyupurāṇa) — Sanskrit