Skanda Purana
by G. V. Tagare | 1950 | 2,545,880 words
This page describes The Greatness of Shripati Tirtha which is chapter 193 of the English translation of the Skanda Purana, the largest of the eighteen Mahapuranas, preserving the ancient Indian society and Hindu traditions in an encyclopedic format, detailling on topics such as dharma (virtous lifestyle), cosmogony (creation of the universe), mythology (itihasa), genealogy (vamsha) etc. This is the one hundred ninety-third chapter of the Reva-khanda of the Avantya-khanda of the Skanda Purana.
Chapter 193 - The Greatness of Śrīpati Tīrtha
[Sanskrit text for this chapter is available]
Śrī Mārkaṇḍeya said:
1-6. When this was spoken (by ⲹṇa), all the bowed down to ⲹṇa repeatedly with a desire to have his vision and said:
Vasanta, Kāma and said:
O holy Sir, this advice tendered by Your Holiness with a desire for our welfare has been understood and your greatness is comprehended.
You were kind enough to say with a delighted mind, “This wide-eyed beauty has been shown; I shall show you the universe too.� Now, O Lord of the universe, we have surrendered to you in all respects. Hence reveal yourself in the same manner as Ūśī has been shown.
If you have no anger towards us despite our guilt, do reveal your own self directly. O Lord of the worlds, we offer obeisance to you!
ⲹṇa said:
O ladies of Suras, see here in my person all the worlds, Vasanta, Madana and yourselves, as also whatever besides you wish to see.
Śrī Mārkaṇḍeya said:
7-15. After saying this, the holy Lord ⲹṇa laughed loudly and the entire universe came into being there, viz. , the lord of the subjects (the patriarch), Ś, all Rudras, the Pīnaka-bearing Lord, Ā徱ٲⲹ, Vasus, , վś𱹲, the great sages, ٲⲹ, Dasra, Wind-god, the Fire-gods everywhere, ۲ṣa, Gandharvas, Siddhas, ʾś峦, Serpents, Kinnaras, all the celestial damsels, the lores, the Vedas with their ancillaries, expressions (utterances) (of scriptural texts), human beings, beasts, worms, birds, trees, reptiles, subtle beings, all other beings called ī (living organism), all the oceans, mountains, rivers, forests, all the islands and continents, all the lakes, the entire earth full of cities and villages. All these were seen by the celestial ladies in the body of the great Soul.
Within the Cosmic-formed Lord those ladies of beautiful limbs saw the entire firmament filled with stars, planets and constellations.
No limit or end was seen above, below, or at the sides of that being. Hence they eulogized the Lord, the infinite and beginningless Being.
All the excellent ladies became terrified along with Madana and Madhu became dismayed and praised the lord devoutly.
Vasanta, Kāma and the said:
16-25. O Lord, we do not perceive your beginning, end or middle. Your enormous physical form is Avyakta (unexpounded, not comprehended). We bow down to you, O ⲹṇa, O ultimate resort of the worlds, O infinite one, O immanent Soul.
O supreme Soul, not inferior to anyone else! You are identical with Ś岹 (sound) and other sense objects.
The Ѳūٲ (great elements): earth, firmament, wind, water and fire constitute your form.
All these originate from you, O imperishable one. O Lord, O (great) Soul, difference too constitutes your form.
O Hari, you alone are the seer of colour or form, the knower of the greatest; (you alone are) the hearer of sound. You are omnipresent and the creator of all, the enjoyer of fragrance, and a separate individual soul.
There is no one among all the Suras, there is no one in the human world, there is no one among beasts and other classes of beings who does not form a part of yours, O Lord of Devas.
O gentle one, , ocean, the Moon, Ś and others are your excellent forms. Among those possessing courage your form is the sea. Among the refulgent forms, you are the Sun as well as Fire.
Among those with forbearance as their asset (i.e. virtue) the most excellent form is ṣiپ (Earth). Among the quickest and the most powerful ones (your form) is the rapid-moving wind. The human form is the royal guise. O Lord of all, among the deluded ones you are the tree.
O imperishable one, you are Բ among all those who are unjust. Among those with great discrimination you are Բٲٲ. You abide in water in the form of taste. Fragrance is your form. You are ܳśԲ (fire) in the form of the visible.
You are of the form of touch in the wind. Sound etc. of thine is the form in the firmament. O Lord, in mind you are of the form of thought.
In intellect, you are of the form of knowledge and understanding. You are the only one everywhere, O Lord of all, immanent in all.
In the middle of the lotus in your navel I see Lord and in your eyebrows I see Hara. The śԲ are in your ears. All the Guardians of the world are stationed in your arms. Your nose is Anila (wind or breath) and the Sun and the Moon are in your eyes. Your tongue is ī, O Lord.
26-35. O ṛṣīś, we see the earth as your feet and all the worlds in your belly. We constitute your calves and the multitudes of ʾś峦, ۲ṣa, Uragas and Siddhas are in the toes of your feet.
The Lord of all subjects (Patriarchs) is established in your manliness. All the Kratus are established in the pair of your lips. O Lord, all of us are in your teeth and curved fangs. The Devas have become your teeth.
All the groups of the Devas are your hair. O Lord, վ are the lines in the soles of your feet. All the Vedas along with the ṅg (ancillaries), O Lord, are stationed in the joints of your arms.
The form of the Boar holds up the Earth; the form of the Man-lion is always highly terrible. Your lofty equestrian head we find in Trivikrama. It is incomprehensible.
These oceans are in your body. These mountains constitute the place of your girdle (waist). So also these rivers with Ҳṅg as the chief one, and also all the continents and the regions of forests etc.
O Lord, these sages stationed in your body eulogize your exalted greatness. These performers of ۲ñ worship you, the Lord of all the worlds, the infinite one.
Whatever is gentle here in the world originates from you alone. O ٲūپ (one whose form is constituted of everything), there is nothing more hideous than you. O ś, there is nothing colder or hotter than you. You alone surpass all the other forms.
Be pleased, O Lord of all. O Lord identical with all beings, O eternal Āٳ, O great Īś, O Īśa, pardon our offence because our minds are deluded by your .
Or, what offence has been committed by us, O Lord of Devas, because our hearts (as well as yours) have originated from your ? O destroyer of the distress of those who bow down, our mind, suspicious of your , has become confused.
We have not committed any offence against you. If at all, any offence has been committed by us traversing the wrong path, let that be pardoned. O Lord, the offence is thine because as a creator you created our indiscretion too.
36-47. Obeisance, obeisance to you, O Govinda, O ⲹṇa, O 岹Բ! May all our sins perish by the recitation of your names.
Obeisance, O infinite one, obeisance to you, O Soul of the universe, O conceiver of the universe! May all our sins perish by the recitation of your names.
O most excellent one, O ۲ñܰṣa, O protector of the subjects, O 峾Բ! May all our sins perish by the recitation of your names.
Obeisance to you, to the Lotus-navelled one, to the patriarch! O Hara, may all our sins perish by the recitation of your names.
O ǰṣaᲹ (վṣṇ), we offer obeisance to you, the boat for crossing the ocean of worldly existence. May all our sins perish by the recitation of your names. Obeisance to the supreme Lord of Śrī, to ܻ𱹲 the creator, who voluntarily combines himself with the ҳṇa, to the cause of creation, sustenance and dissolution (of the world)!
O immanent Soul of the universe, withdraw this eternal form of yours. O Īś, our eyes are incapable of looking at this ever increasing form (of yours). O imperishable one, this dazzling lustre of yours is on a par with that of thousands of fires at the time of ultimate annihilation. With its enormous extent, the quarters, the earth and the firmament have been enveloped.
We do not know where we are stationed. O Lord, you alone are seen. We see the entire world dumped here, heaped into a lump.
Can we extol adequately your form? O Hari, what is the extent of this form? What is your greatness, O Lord? How can we describe it when it does not fall within the ken of the tongue?
A clear description of your exquisite features and your extent, cannot be effectively carried out, O Lord, even by ten thousand propounders and ten thousand times ten thousand intellects. Well, the form has been displayed. Great favour has been shown. O Lord of the worlds, withdraw this at your will (when it pleases you).
Śrī Mārkaṇḍeya said:
48-56. On being eulogized thus by those celestial damsels, Lord 岹Բ, the conceiver of all living beings entered all those beings through his own partial aspects in the full view of those ladies now endowed with divine knowledge.
On seeing Lord ǰṣaᲹ getting merged into those beings, all those celestial damsels were surprised much.
The Lord of all entered the mountains, trees, oceans, earth, water, fire, wind and firmament. The Āٳ of all entered the and Diks (quarters) by himself as well as otherwise.
He revealed the universe stationed in the form of himself by his own greatness. With regard to the Devas, Բs, ṣa, ۲ṣa, վ, Uragas, human beings, animals, insects etc., beasts, the beings in the space above, on the earth, in heaven and those having water as their abode or the Āٳ of the universe entered all these by assuming their forms. He merged thus along with Nara.
O suppressor of enemies, all those ladies of the Devas became surprised much with what had been seen by them before. On account of awe and fright, their faces became pallid, O excellent king, and they bowed down.
Lord ⲹṇa spoke to those celestial ladies:
ⲹṇa said:
57-63. May the fair lady Ūśī be taken to the place where the Lord of Devas lives. For the sake of the welfare of ye all, the knowledge that this being is within all living beings has been imparted by me who have merged myself again into all those living beings. Hence do go now, you all. The entire group of ūٲ (living entities) is a part of mine. I am a part of ܻ𱹲, the Yogin, whose existence is within the Āٳ. There is nothing other than this which is cited as Ananta (Infinite). Know ye all that he is unborn, Lord of all living beings and the greatest region, I myself, you the ladies, Devas, human beings, beasts—all these are the creations of ܻ𱹲, the infinite one. After realizing this, O ladies of Devas, Asuras and human beings along with the flocks and herds of cattle should be seen impartially as equals.
Śrī Mārkaṇḍeya said:
On being told thus by that Lord, all those Sura-damsels bowed down to them both. O king, accompanied by Madana and Vasanta, they took Ūśī with them and went back to the king of Devas. To the king of Devas they recounted everything in the manner it had happened.
Śrī Mārkaṇḍeya said:
64-71. Similarly, O great king, you too, comprehending ś within all the ūٲ achieve equanimity and impartiality which alone is conducive to salvation.
Realizing this in particular, i.e. that ܻ𱹲 the great Īś is immanent in all the ūٲ, how can you not eschew covetousness and other defects?
When all the ūٲ have come out from Govinda, O king, and when they are not different, the emotions of enmity etc. too are likewise, O dear son. They should not be entertained.
Thus, O king, see the entire universe as having ܻ𱹲 for its Āٳ. This form alone has been exhibited by ṛṣṇa. The form that is ʲś has been recounted to you. It is the greatest form of վṣṇ devoid of all states such as birth etc.
O king, what I mention succinctly may be listened to. By knowing this, a person attains the greatest salvation. Everything is on a par with վṣṇ. 屹 (existence) and 屹 (non-existence) are identical with him.
This Īśa is both Sat (manifest) and Asat (unmanifest); Ѳ𱹲 is the highest state.
վṣṇ alone is the refuge and raft unto men immersed in the ocean of worldly existence, who are assailed by the squall of Dvandvas (like pleasure- pain), who are burdened with the succour of sons, daughters and wives, who get drowned in the dangerous waters of sensual pleasures without a boat.