Revākhaṇḍa ascribed to the Vāyupurāṇa (RKV) 51
English (machine translation) 51
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Contents
- 51.62 — 2 parts
51.1
Uttānapāda said: / At what time is śrāddha performed, and likewise a gift, O Lord? / On what lunar day should a pilgrimage be undertaken there? Tell that quickly.
51.2
Īśvara said: / Just as a pilgrimage place for the ancestors is holy, bestowing all desires, supreme, / so this pilgrimage place is holy through sacred baths, gifts, and water-libations.
51.3
In particular, one should perform a śrāddha on all the beginnings of the yugas; / and hear of the fourteen beginnings of the manvantaras, O child:
51.4
The bright ninth of Aśvayuja and the twelfth of Kārttika, / the third of the month of Caitra, and likewise of Bhādrapada,
51.5
the tenth of Āṣāḍha, and the seventh of Māgha, / the dark eighth of Śrāvaṇa, and the full moon of Āṣāḍha,
51.6
the new moon of Phālguna, and the bright eleventh of Pauṣa, / the fifteenth of Kārttika, Phālguna, Caitra, and Jyaiṣṭha:
51.7
these are the beginnings of the manvantaras, remembered as giving endless fruit. / On the northern solstice, O king, and on the southern, one should perform a śrāddha;
51.8
and on the [full moon of] Kārttika, and likewise of Māgha, the third of Vaiśākha, / and the full moon of Caitra, and especially of Jyeṣṭha;
51.9
and on the aṣṭakā days, at a solstice or equinox, and likewise at a vyatīpāta; / all these are times for śrāddha; what is given on these is remembered as imperishable.
51.10
Having fasted on the eleventh lunar day in the bright fortnight of the month of spring, / one should keep a vigil at night near the foot of Viṣṇu.
51.11
Those who perform worship of Viṣṇu with incense, lamps, food-offerings, / garlands, aloe, and sandalwood, should recite the ancient narrative.
51.12
A twice-born man who recites a hymn uttered in the verses of the Ṛg, Yajur, and Sāma Vedas, / freed from all sins, goes to the world of Viṣṇu.
51.13
In the morning he should perform a śrāddha, having carefully honoured the twice-born; / he should give a gift according to his ability, consisting of cows, gold, garments, and so forth.
51.14
His ancestors are satisfied until the destruction of all beings, / and the giver of the śrāddha goes there where the god Janārdana is.
51.15
Then, on the thirteenth lunar day, he should go to the cave-dwelling liṅga; / having seen the Īśāna of Mārkaṇḍa, he is freed from all sins.
51.16
Uttānapāda said: / In the midst of the cave, O Mahādeva, is an exceedingly splendid liṅga; / by whom it was established, O God, that you should explain to me.
51.17
Īśvara said: / Renowned in the three worlds is Mārkaṇḍeya, lord of sages; / he performed very severe asceticism for a divine thousand years.
51.18
Having entered the midst of the cave, resorting to the practice of yoga, / the liṅga was installed by him, named Mārkaṇḍeśvara.
51.19
Having bathed there with devotion, observing a fast, with senses subdued, / keeping vigil there, one should carefully offer a lamp.
51.20
One should bathe the deity with the five nectars, / and having anointed him according to ability, one should perform worship according to rule.
51.21
And the twice-born should perform recitation with mantras originating from their own Vedic branch, / eight thousand or eight hundred repetitions of the Sāvitrī verse.
51.22
Having done this, O best of kings, he obtains the fruit of his birth; / and having bathed on the fourteenth lunar day and performed worship according to rule,
51.23
a gift should be given having examined the recipient, by one desiring his own welfare; / his ancestors are satisfied for twelve years, without doubt.
51.24
That giver goes there where pleasures are eternal. / Entering inside the cave, he should roll on the ground according to his ability.
51.25
Whatever religious merit [is gained] on the Nīla mountain, they obtain all of that. / Whoever performs a śrāddha at Śūlabheda on every lunar juncture,
51.26
especially at the end of the month of Caitra, listen to the fruit of his religious merit: / Whatever religious merit [is gained] at Kedāra and at Gaṅgāsāgarasaṅgama,
51.27
and whatever religious merit [is gained] at the confluence of the dark and white rivers, and particularly at other pilgrimage places, / what religious merit exists at Arbuda and religious merit at Amaraparvata,
51.28
a person obtains the fruit of all pilgrimage places beginning with Gayā. / Endowed with the ritual rules and mantras, he should make water offerings to the ancestors and gods.
51.29
He delivers twenty generations of his lineages: ten preceding and ten subsequent. / Then, becoming pure and concentrated before the southern image,
51.30
and having performed the previously described ritual placing, he should present the eight-flower offering / with the eight mental flowers prescribed by scripture; hear them as follows:
51.31
water-born, gentle, fiery, airy, and earthy, / belonging to the lord of plants would be the sixth, and belonging to Prajāpati the seventh,
51.32
and the eighth would be the flower of Śiva. Hear their explanation: / Water-born is to be known as water; gentle is honey, clarified butter, and milk;
51.33
fiery is incense, lamps, and the like; airy is sandalwood and so forth; / earthy is bulbous roots and the like; belonging to the lord of plants consists of fruit;
51.34
belonging to Prajāpati is recitation and the like, and the flower of Śiva is inner disposition. / Non-injury is the first flower; restraint of the senses is a flower;
51.35
compassion is the third flower, and patience is the fourth; / meditation is a flower, ascetic toil is a flower, and knowledge is the seventh;
51.36
and truth is the eighth flower; the deities are pleased by these. / Ascetics and men of knowledge are to be worshiped with devotion, O ruler of men.
51.37
One should give an umbrella, clothing, and a pair of shoes. / By merely worshiping with that, the three persons are worshiped.
51.38
He dwells in the heavenly world until the dissolution of all beings. / Those men who indeed perform recitation with devotion to the Trident-bearer,
51.39
and anoint the Lord of Gods with the five nectars, the five products of the cow, yakṣa-ointment, saffron, / sandalwood, agallochum, and paste,
51.40
and who worship the Trident-bearer with various kinds of flowers, / keep a night vigil, carefully give lamps,
51.41
offer incense and food offerings, and recite purāṇic lore; / those men who, remaining in that place with devotion, recite
51.42
the Śrīsūkta, the Pauruṣasūkta, the Pāvamānasūkta, the Vṛṣākapi hymn, / and with mantras declared in the Veda the Raudrī or the Bahurūpiṇī [mantras],
51.43
and worship brāhmaṇas with devotion, having worshiped and bowed down, / are exalted in the world of Śiva with diverse great enjoyments.
51.44
And if an Ṛgvedic recites recitations beginning with "Agnim...", / the Rudras, the Puruṣasūkta, the Ślokādhyāya, and the Śukriya,
51.45
the stream of mantras beginning with "Iṣetvā...", the Jyotirbrāhmaṇa, / the Gāyatrya, the Madhu, and the Maṇḍalabrāhmaṇas—
51.46
if a Yajurvedic recites these recitations with devotion; / or the Devavrata, the Vāmadevya, the Puruṣarṣabha,
51.47
and the Bṛhadrathāntara—whoever, devoted to contemplation, recites them, / that man goes to the place where the god Maheśvara is.
51.48
Whoever performs washing of the feet and anointing here with devotion / obtains the religious merit that is gained in the gift of a cow, there is no doubt.
51.49
One should feed brāhmaṇas there with honey and rice cooked in milk; / when a single vipra is fed, ten million have been fed.
51.50
One should give gold, silver, and cloth with devotion to an excellent dvija; / by that the gods, men, and ancestors are satisfied.
51.51
Those men who take a sacred bath with devotion during an eclipse of the moon or sun, / and who perform worship of the gods, recitation, and especially fire offerings, / should give a gift according to their ability to a brāhmaṇa who has mastered the Vedas:
51.52
a horse, a chariot, an elephant, a carriage, a man-weighing [gift of gold], / or whoever should give a cart filled with the seven grains,
51.53
or should give a plow with yokes and two young draft oxen; / cows, land, sesame seeds, gold, and the like should be given to a worthy recipient after being honored.
51.54
Nothing should be given to an unworthy recipient by a wise man who desires prosperity; / for indeed, this earth supports all living beings.
51.55
Then it should be given to a Brahmin, adorned with an abundance of all crops. / Now hear another [matter], O king of kings: the fruit of the gift of a cow.
51.56
As long as the two feet and the face of the calf are seen in the vulva, / so long should the cow be known as the earth, until she releases the embryo.
51.57
By whatever means, one should present her to a Brahmin; / by him the earth is given, along with mountains, forests, and woods.
51.58
Given [thus], she will surely rescue twenty-one generations. / Having hooves of silver, a bronze milking vessel, [covered] with cloth, and yielding milk—
51.59
those fortunate ones who give [such a cow] when the sun or moon is eclipsed, / I do not know the measure of their religious merit even after hundreds of years.
51.60
For indeed, there is a limit to all gifts in this world, O king; / but during an eclipse of the moon or the sun, there is no limit to [the fruit of] a gift.
51.61
Wherever a cow is seen, O king, there indeed are all pilgrimage places; / one should consider that an auspicious festival day; no doubt should be entertained here.
51.62
Furthermore, a man who, remembering that pilgrimage place, makes a journey [there], / or who dies there, becomes an attendant of Rudra.
51.62.p1
|| Thus ends the fifty-first chapter, entitled 'Praise of the Virtue of Gifts at Śūlabheda', in the Revākhaṇḍa of the Avantyakhaṇḍa, in the glorious Skandapurāṇa consisting of eighty-one thousand verses.
51.62.p2
RKV Chapter 52
Linked texts (1)
- Revākhaṇḍa (Vāyupurāṇa) — Sanskrit