Revākhaṇḍa ascribed to the Vāyupurāṇa (RKV) 8
English (machine translation) 8
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Contents
- 8.55 — 2 parts
8.1
Mārkaṇḍeya said: / When the world was once again destroyed and submerged in water, / standing in the midst of the vast ocean, I crossed the water with my arms.
8.2
When a divine hundred years had elapsed, I was weary, O best of kings; / I began to meditate upon God, the rescuer from the great ocean.
8.3
While thus meditating in that time, I saw an extraordinary bird: / a crane resembling a string of pearls, the kunda flower, and the moon, white as cow's milk.
8.4
Then, filled with astonishment upon beholding that crane, [I thought:] / "In this terrible vast ocean, whence has this bird come into being?"
8.5
Tirelessly swimming with my arms, I addressed that crane: / "Assuming the form of a bird, who are you in this world turned into a single ocean?
8.6
You wander about, O divine master of yoga, as if bewitching me, O Lord! / Tell me all of this; whoever you may be, salutations to you!"
8.7
He said to me: "I am Mahādeva, I am Brahmā, and Viṣṇu as well. / The entire world, my child, has been withdrawn by me; do you not realize it?
8.8
I am indeed your mother and father, and [the parent] of the universe, O great sage. / Compassion arose in me upon seeing you submerged in the great ocean.
8.9
Assuming the form of a bird, I have therefore arrived here. / Why do you wander thus distressed in the great ocean?
8.10
Quickly enter beneath my wings so that you may rest, O twice-born!" / Having been spoken to in this way by that god, O ruler of men,
8.11
I sheltered under his wing-tips while wandering on the water / at the end of a thousand yugas, untired in the midst of the ocean.
8.12
Then, O you of noble vows, I suddenly heard in all directions / an extraordinary, wondrous sound mingled with the jingling of anklets.
8.13
Then all the water of the ocean suddenly contracted. / Thinking, "What is this?" I looked around in all directions.
8.14
Then ten maidens came from all quarters into the vast ocean, / adorned with garments and ornaments, embellished with anklets.
8.15
One had a luster like the moon, another had the brilliance of the sun; / one had the splendor of a mass of collyrium, another had the glow of a red lotus.
8.16
Bearing various forms, gentle, adorned with various ornaments, / those women of good vows, having worshipped the crane with arghya, pādya, and other offerings and garlands,
8.17
Then the sovereign mountain entered that terrible ocean, / [reaching] that unperishing, secret bird who had the form of a mountain.
8.18
Thousands of yojanas and just as many hundreds— / up to thirty thousand yojanas, such is the orb of the earth.
8.19
Then [appeared] the celestial terrestrial orb, filled with the five jewels, / with divine crystal steps and charming golden pillars,
8.20
A thousand yojanas wide and twice as much in length, / covered with step-wells and wells, surrounded by palaces and watchtowers,
8.21
Crowded with wishing trees and decorated with sixty flagstaffs. / In that delightful, excellent city, adorned with various jewels,
8.22
Likewise, another lovely city with altars shining with banners, / a hundred yojanas broad and twice as much in length.
8.23
Then, in the midst of that city, there was an exceedingly beautiful river, / immense, with holy waters, and stones of various jewels.
8.24
On its bank I saw [a liṅga] shining like lightning and the sun, / inlaid all around with sapphires and great sapphires,
8.25
In some places having the form of fire, in others gleaming like Indra's bow [a rainbow], / smoky in some places, yellow in others, red in some, and white in others,
8.26
Endowed with various colors, a liṅga of wonderful appearance, / surrounded on all sides by Brahmā, Viṣṇu, Indra, and the Sādhyas.
8.27
It was surrounded by Nandīśvara, the leaders of the gaṇas, the Indras and the Ādityas; / I beheld that Lord, the great liṅga.
8.28
Surrounding it, I saw gods and Dānavas / fast asleep, their eyes closed, adorned with celestial ornaments.
8.29
Then those women with lotus-petal eyes, highly esteemed, / bathed in the water of that river with lovely divine flowers,
8.30
Having duly offered arghya and pādya to the liṅga together with the bird, / those ten excellent women of shapely hips worshiped it.
8.31
Then, having worshipped that liṅga in that very best of cities, / all of them vanished, like lightning bolts amidst masses of clouds.
8.32
Neither that king of birds was there, nor the women, nor the deities; / filled with wonder, I worshipped that single liṅga standing there.
8.33
Then, bewildered with sorrow, thinking, 'This is the māyā of Rudra,' / I saw the maidens emerge, adorned with celestial garments and ornaments,
8.34
Illuminating the entire world like lightning bolts [lighting up] clouds, / those fair-faced women, having worshipped with divine golden lotuses,
8.35
Quickly entered its waters all around, adorned with excellent ornaments. / And in that excellent city, I repeatedly [saw] another woman—
8.36
I beheld an immortal maiden worshipping Maheśvara. / Then I questioned that lotus-eyed woman of shapely hips:
8.37
'Who are you, O goddess, dwelling in this city and worshipping Śiva? / And all those women who arrived—where have they gone, and where are the lords of the gaṇas?
8.38
Homage to you, O highly fortunate one! Speak, O holy Maheśvarī! / By your grace I desire to know this, O lady of good vows; / showing compassion, O great goddess, tell me, O sinless one!'
8.39
The auspicious lady said: / 'How have I been forgotten, O twice-born, having seen [me] in an ancient kalpa? / Let there be no loss of memory for you; I am that river that flows through kalpas,
8.40
Known by the name Narmadā, who came forth from the body of Rudra. / Those maidens whom you saw worshipping Maheśvara,
8.41
Accompanied by the king of birds, by whom he was brought here— / know that all of them, O best of sages, are the directions, the mistresses of all.
8.42
In the form of a bird, an animal, is the great yogin Maheśvara; / that Maheśvara was brought from Śivapura by them, O twice-born.
8.43
This very god is Mahādeva, established in the form of a liṅga, / the guru of the world of gods and asuras, worshipped by Brahmā, Viṣṇu, and Indra.
8.44
Because the entire world, moving and unmoving, attains dissolution (laya) in him, / it is therefore called liṅga by the great sages who know the Purāṇas.
8.45
By him all the hosts of gods were withdrawn through his māyā in former times; / dissolved, O lord of the world, they are not seen at present.
8.46
They will become visible again when created by the Self-born. / I, devoted to the worship of the liṅga, am named Narmadā by name,
8.47
An attendant of Rudra for the duration of a thousand yugas. / By his grace, you likewise have become immortal, O bull among the twice-born.
8.48
Endowed with truth, straightforwardness, and compassion, you are accomplished (siddha) through the worship of Śiva.' / Having spoken thus, that goddess vanished right there,
8.49
Along with those women and that lord of gods, Maheśvara in the form of a crane. / Having heard her word, descending into the great river,
8.50
'Having bathed, worship [him] properly with mantras.' / Then, having quickly emerged from that body of water,
8.51
I did not see that liṅga, nor that river, O king. / At that very moment the worlds appeared, and the earth along with its forests,
8.52
And that very vault of the sky spread out with stars, the moon, and the sun. / That which was unseen before was made just as it had been; / bowing down with my mind, I worshipped the god Maheśvara.
8.53
Thus, in the former Crane Kalpa, this imperishable Narmadā / was seen by me, destroying the great sins of the mortal world.
8.54
Therefore, by brahmins devoted to dharma, by kṣatriyas, śūdras, vaiśyas, and others / seeking to increase their dharma, this highly fortunate [river] is always to be resorted to.
8.55
Those who, having bathed with devotion in the water of the Narmadā, / [worship] Maheśvara, destroy all sin without doubt.
8.55.p1
Thus ends the eighth chapter, named 'The Origin in the Crane Kalpa,' in the glorification of the Narmadā, in the Revākhaṇḍa, in the fifth Avantīkhaṇḍa, in the Skanda Mahāpurāṇa consisting of eighty-one thousand verses.
8.55.p2
Revākhaṇḍa, chapter 9
Linked texts (1)
- Revākhaṇḍa (Vāyupurāṇa) — Sanskrit