An Eulogy of Ganga, Yamuna, Prayaga

Mahadeva said:

1-5. О best sage, I shall narrate the importance of Ganga, as it has been told, by just listening to which sin perishes at that moment only. He who would utter (the name) ‘Ganga’ even from (a distance of) hundreds of yojanas, is freed from all sins and goes to Visflu’s heaven. О Narada, the river has risen from the lotus-like feet (of Vishriu), is well-known by the name Ganga, and she destroys large heaps of sins. (There are other rivers like) Narmada, Sarayu, so also the river Vetravatl, Tapi, Payoshni, Candra, Vipasa, Karmanasini, Pushya, Рйгца, DIpa, Vidipa and Suryatejasa.

6-10. A man obtains that fruit which he certainly gets by giving a thousand bulls in a moment by seeing Ganga. This Ganga is especially very meritorious for those who have killed brahmajias. Ganga smites the sins of those who are connected with (i.e. who have fallen into) a hell. О sinless one, a man obtains that fruit just by seeing Ganga which is (obtained) at the time of the lunar eclipse or the solar eclipse. О dear one, as the darkness goes away at the time of sunrise, similarly the sin (of a man) perishes due to the prowess of Ganga. This (Ganga) is always honoured in the world. She is pure. She destroys sins. She is always of the nature of auspiciousness. She was formerly produced by Vishnu. She is of a divine form. She is the mother. She is said to be the purifier of the helpless.

11-14. As Vishnu is (the best) of the gods, so is Ganga the best river (among the rivers). For those men who regularly bathe in (the month of) Magha, there is no grief for three hundred kalpas. There is no doubt that having bathed and drunk (water at the holy place by which) Ganga, Yamuna and Sarasvati flow, a man enjoys salvation.

Mahadcva said:

О lord, the talk which I affectionately do about you is your praise. What I eat is an offering to you. That I go is (due to) my being sent by you. That I sleep quickly at the pair of your lotus-like feet may be (treated as) my prostration (before you) in the manner of a staff. О lord, may you, the lord of the universe be pleased with whatever I do. This is that water of Yamuna, by seeing which, by saluting which, or by holding which on the head, men are freed.

15-18. О you daughter of the Sun, О you great river, men are overpowered by the dangers like poverty, diseases, death, due to the mundane existence, till they do not see your very blue water and hold it on their heads. Today that Ganga, the recollection of which even from (the distance of) a lakh of yojanas instantly cuts off the streams of sins, overcomes the row of sins, the utterance of whose name purifies the world, will luckily come within (our) sight. The path of the divine river is reached with a delighted mind eager to see her. (Even) the first creator went to this divine river. It is not a great wonder that a bath, offering of sandhya, a libation of water as the sraddha ceremony, worship of gods, a sraddha-ceremony, feeding the brahmaflas — all this becomes perfect (in this river) and gives delight to the lord. О Ganga, you are Brahman turned into goddess (Ganga); you give great delight. Accept my materials of worship. Remove my sin. My salutation to you.

19-21. О Bhagirathl, О glorious goddess, I salute you who carry the water which is righteousness in a liquid form, which is the essence of the nectar (flowing) from the lotus-like feet of the enemy of Mura, which is a boat of (i.e. helping to cross) the ocean of grief, which is a flight of steps leading to heaven and lauded by men and gods, which removes all sins, which has excellent merits, (and) which is lustrous. О Ganga, О you heavenly river, О you who emancipate the people plunged in the ocean of sins, О you who have destroyed the mass of dark­ness (of sins) by means of the spotless lustre of your rising waves, О you, who purify the world, О goddess, purify (me) who am overcome with the fear of sins, who am a recipient of your favour; О mother, О you who give shelter to him who has sought it, protect me who am frightened. О (my) heart, О my friend, why do you trouble? I am alarmed due to the fear of (falling into) hell. ‘Why do you fear? ’ Thus are the words heard of (i.e. uttered by) a sinner in the hell. Do not be afraid. If I have secured her who competes with the mountain (i.e. mass) of sins, then listen to my course (i.e. the course I shall have). How then will I have hell? What else do I have (as) righteousness or wealth?

22-23. In it (i.e. in the water of Ganga) bathing is said to be the experience of joy due to the praise of the lord of all and others; seeing it the divine women are delighted due to the possibility of meeting gods and their lord. О daughter of Jahnu, those who engaged in curbs and restraints bathe in your water, clearly obtain godhead. Even those who do bad deeds (also secure godhead). In this (matter), the Vedas are the authority. О (my) intellect, may you have good thoughts like this. О (my) mind, well-being to you. О (my) feet, may you two be always remaining at the place (of the lord). May the eyes see well. О (my) speech, О you dear to me like my own life, may you, with the body of your virtues manifested, obtain the nourishment of beings, so that through all of you I obtained (i.e. would obtain) the agreeable, incomparable merit due to the holy place.

24-32. О best sacred place Prayaga, the ornament of the three rivers, viz. Shri Ganga, Yamuna and Sarasvati, О lord of all, favour me. Take me up (to heaven). With your lustre destroy the darkness of ten kinds. О you lord of speech, О lord of pious men, that lord of the holy places, viz. Prayaga, whose white and blue bank the gods like Indra, the best among the learned resort to for the destruction of their sins is victorious. That lord of holy places, viz. Prayaga, where the divine river (i.c. Ganga) having had confluence with Yamuna, shakes off the three torments of the people like the one relating to the self, is victorious. That lord of the holy places, viz. Prayaga, where the sacred fig tree, of a dark colour1, covers (the place) with its darkish shadow, and cuts off (i.e. removes) the dark (i.e. great) fatigue of the people when it is seen, is victorious. That lord of holy places, viz. Prayaga, the portion of religious merit, which Brahma and others resort to after abandoning their act, and where Yama will cast his staff, is victorious. That lord of holy places, viz. Prayaga, resorting to which gods and divine sages — deities among men — do not care for heaven and the best kingdom on the earth, is victorious. It is well-known that (the holy place, Prayaga) destroys sins and that discerning takes place by the splendour of its name. That is the lord of holy places, viz. Prayaga, which holds all around the charming beauty of the chowries, where the white and black excellent rivers (i.e. Ganga and Yamuna) meet, where the primitive fig tree exceedingly shines like an umbrella, is victorious. That lord of the holy places, viz. Prayaga, where at the confluence of Ganga, Yamuna and Sarasvati (that is underground) they take those who bathe there to the position of Brahma merely by means of their offer­ing sacrifice with sacred rice grains is victorious.

1. Syama: Name of a sacred fig-tree at Allahabad on the bank of YamunS.

2. Trivepi: The place near Prayaga where Gafigft joins Yamuna and receives unerground Sarasvati.

33-35. (That is the holy place Prayaga to go) where many persons of good words pass a crore of lives saying, T (shall) go, 1 (shall) go’. Excellent years of those who long for the fixed one may pass there. He who cannot be described by words, and who is reached through lakhs of fortunate (occurrences), becomes ours (i.e. favours us) at Prayaga. Prayaga where sacrifices move (i.e. take place constantly) and which is marked by confluence (of the three rivers) becomes the guest of our sight (only) through good luck. Brahma and others, after having properly and fully thought about the fruit of (sacrifices like) the horse-sacrifice, have prescribed this dear Prayaga for those men who long for heaven, who are worried as to how to reach the position of gods by means of hymns of the eulogy of the glory and hymns of praise (of gods), and who are unable to perform sacrifices in the Kali age. I have not performed the sandhya (prayer) due to faults like carelessness and impatience. Let the sandhya of me who am performing it here be accomplished for my entire life. Elsewhere also he, meditated upon in a penance where his great­ness is loudly proclaimed by the distant people with love con­tinuously gives the desired position without any expectation.

36-37. I salute in my heart that Prayaga which is surroun­ded by the confluence of the three rivers, the rich dust of which is incomparable, which is the lord of holy places, which shines with the presence of several (rivers), which itself is an excellent deity. Have we practised good penance, have we performed sacrifices, have we given various kinds of gifts to worthy reci­pients, have we worshipped gods, have we resorted to a good holy place, have we honoured a group of good brahmanas, due to which we have reached that capital of Shiva which gives happiness?

38-41. Due to my good fortune of many existences I have had (i.e. reached) the city of Shiva, which destroys all sins, which is full of all wonders, and which is a boat to cross the ocean of the mundane existence. I have received the fruit of a good birth. (My) family is made pure. My soul is purified. (Thus) everything for me has been done. What else is there that stands above all? Since what is said, viz. ‘A living man sees a lakh of good things’ is not false, I have physically reached Kasi with my transitory sight. The counting and worship of the sacred places and phalluses of the lord (found) in Kashi, the divine land, cannot be done even by gods. With my ha^ds joined, I salute the ancient pious (places), which are secret or open here (i.e. in Kasi). О men, what is the use of the fear from the multitude of sins, what is the use of the joy due to innumerable meritorious deeds done (by you), what is the use of the pride due to the study of the lores, what is the use of dejection due to the fault of dullness, what is the use of the pride due to prosperity, what is the use of being tormented due to poverty, if the lord of the universe is seen after bathing in the water of! Shri Manikarnika?

42-49. Since that city of Gadadhara, which though it has little (worldly) affluence, (though) it is small, is not reached even by desires, is not the object of even a dream, but which is reached by means of the power rich with enthusiasm, which is accompanied by the attachment of the mind and the practic­ability of which is possibly manifest, instantly gives salvation. I think that it is not my act, itis not the strength of theacquisition of an ancestor, it is not the unmoving authority of my kinsmen; how then can it be numbness or torment (which has brought me here)? Reaching Ganga, Prayaga, Yamuna, Kasi difficult to reach, on the coming of a good occasion — for that the favour of Sarada, giving a great fruit, is triumphant. I salute that Gadadhara who is actually present in Gaya, and who even though remembered from a distance at the time of a sraddha, gives salvation to the manes. A man with a potsherd and pitiable words, after having come from a remote place and after having trodden the path that is difficult to cross, and that is crowded with hostile (factors like) mean tigers, hyenas, thorns and snakes, should first solicit the immutable one; (for) О you rich Gadadhara living in water, he longs to see you every day. How do you, pleasing the deities and the universe by showing yourself as a result of the sraddha at Gaya, resort, like an indifferent (person) to this apathy? О Gadadhara, I have performed the sraddha through your favour. О god, (now) allow me to go home. The eulogy of the four deities gives the wealth of heaven. A man should recite it at the time of sraddha. A man should recite it at the time of bathing every day. Due to the listening to it, reciting it and muttering it the bath is equal to the bath at all holy places. О ЬгаЬтаца. the sins due to (one’s) deeds perish by listening to the praise of Prayaga, Ganga and Yamuna.

 

CHAPTER TWENTYTHREE

The Importance of Tulasi

Mahadeva said:

l-5a. О Narada, listen. I shall tell you the importance of Tulasi, having heard which a man is free from sin from his birth to his death. Everything of Tulasi including leaves, flowers, fruits, roots, branches, skin, and stem is purifying, so also the clay (where) Tulasi-plant grows. Those whose bodies are burnt with the Tulasi-wood (are free from sins), so also he on whose dead body the Tulasi-wood is placed and who (i.e. whose dead body) is cremated after doing so, is freed from sins. He who at the time has (heard) the narration (of the virtues) or the recollection of Vishnu, and who is cremated with the Tulasi-wood is not reborn.

5b-lla. If among hundred (pieces of any other kind of) wood, there is (just) one (piece) of Tulasi-wood (in the funeral pyre), the man would have salvation just at the time of crema­tion — even if he has committed a crore of sins. By being sprink­led with the water of Ganga, religious merit becomes meri­torious. (Pieces of) wood become meritorious (when) mixed with Tulasi-wood. As long as the funeral pyre mixed with Tulasi-wood is burning, all his sins committed during crores of kalpas are burnt. Seeing (the dead body of) a man being burnt with the Tulasi-wood, Vi^u’s messengers take him (to Vishnu’s world) and not Yama’s servants. Freed from thousands of crores of existences, he goes to Vishflu. On those men seated in aeroplanes, who (i.e. whose dead bodies) are burnt with Tulasi-wood, gods drop handfuls of flowers. All the celestial damsels sing and singers sing songs.

1 lb-21. Seeing him, Vishnu, along with Shiva, is pleased. Taking him by his hand and physically taking him to his house Vishiju would clean all his sins in the presence of gods after having celebrated a great festival along with cries of victory. The sin of men is burnt in the fire-chamber or crematory when the fire of Tulasi-wood is burning with clarified butter. Those men who perform a sacrifice with the fire of Tulasi-wood, would obtain the fruit of an Agnishtoma sacrifice for every Sheshamum seed that is offered (into the fire). A man who offers the incense of a (piece of) Tulasl-wood to Vishnu, obtains the fruit similar to that of a hundred sacrifices (or that of the gift) of a hundred cows. That food which a man cooks as an offering of eatables tc the deity with the fire made from Tulasi-wood, is indeed offered to Vishnu. О lord, he who offers one lamp (lighted from) the Tulasi-wood to Vishnu, obtains the fruit of the religious merit earned by (the offering of) thousands of lakhs of lamps. There is no devotee seen on the earth like him who offers the sandal (-like paste) of Tulasi-wood to Krishna. О best brahmana, he becomes fit for the favour of Vishnu. Having devoutly smeared Vishnu with the sandal(-like paste) obtained from Tulasi-wood in the Kali-age, he always enjoys in the vicinity of Vishnu. He who with his body smeared with the paste from Tulasi-wood, wor­ships Visiju, obtains the fruit of having given a hundred cows in one day — (a fruit) of the worship offered for a hundred days.

22-27. Listen (i.e. note that), the fruit of the religious merit remains as long as the sandal(-like paste) from the Tulasiwood, used for smearing the image of Vishriu, remains in the temple. The same fruit as the religious merit a man would obtain by giving eight prasthas of Sheshamum-seeds, is obtained by the favour of Vishnu. If a man gives (i.e. puts) a Tulasi-leaf on the pijrida offered to the manes, then for every leaf (that is thus offered) the manes are contented for a hundred years. A man should especially bathe with (i.e. after applying to his body) the clay at the root of Tulasi. As long as the clay is on the body, he has bathed at a holy place. When a man worships with the shoot of it (i.e. Tulasi), he has performed the worship with many flowers (and it lasts) as long as the moon and the sun (shine in the sky). All that sin like (that due to) the murder of a brahmana perishes by touching or seeing (the plant) when there is a garden of Tulasi (-plants) in one’s house. Even by seeing it, О Narada, all that (sin) perishes.

Mahadeva said:

28-33. Now I shall tell you something else. Listen (to it) with a concentrated mind (i.e. attentively). О best of the divine sages, I have not told it to anyone (else). In whichever house, village or grove there would be the Tulasi(-plant), Vishflu, the lord of the world, being pleased, would stay there. In that house where there is a Tulasl(-plant) there is no poverty, no (hostile) action due to (i.e. from) the kinsmen, no grief, no fear, and no disease. Everywhere Tulasl(-plant) is auspicious, and especially so in a sacred place. Due to its being planted on the earth, it is always in the vicinity of that god (i.e. Vishnu). When Tulasi is planted (by men) they eternally get Vishiju’s position. When Tulasi is devoutly worshipped, Vishnu pacifies portents, fearful diseases and many ill-omens. Wherever the wind goes (i.e. the breezes blow) after taking the fragrance of Tulasi, (all) the ten quarters are (thereby) purified, so also the aggregate of beings of four kinds.

34-46. О best sage, the deities, Shiva, Vishnu always reside in that house in which there is the clay (taken from) the root of the Tulasi(-plant). At its root is Brahma. In the middle is god Vishnu. Rudra stays in the sprout. Therefore, Tulasi is purifying. All that sprinkling himself with water which a man does at the time of the sandhya (prayer) is snatched by demons, and gives (i.e. takes) him (to) hell. He who carries on his head the water dropping from the Tulasl-leaf obtains the fruit of (having bathed in) Ganga and would get the fruit of a gift of a hundred cows. If he especially plants a Tulasi(-plant) in the temple of Shiva, he would stay in heaven for as many yugas as is the number of the seeds (of Tulasi). Formerly goddess Parvati had planted a hundred Tulasi-trees (i.e. plants) on the Himalaya for Shankara.

I bow down to Tulasi. A man should plant (a Tulasi-plant) on a parvan day (i.e. the day of the four changes of the moon), on (any other) occasion or in Sravana, or on a Samkranti-day. Tulasi gives great religious merit. A poor man who worships Tulasi daily would be rich. The image of Vish*iu, bringing about every kind of success, gives fame also. Visiju is present there where there is a Salagrama stone. Bath and (giving) gifts there is hundred times superior to (doing so) at Varanasi. The religious merit is a crore of times superior to (a visit to) Kurukshetra, Prayaga, and Naimisaraijya. All that religious merit which can be had at Varanasi, would be (secured) there where the mark of the form of Salagrama is present. By means of the worship of a Salagrama stone, a man would quickly destroy all that sin due to the killing of a brahmana etc.

 

CHAPTER TWENTYFOUR

⇐ Предыдущая264265266267268269270271272273Следующая ⇒

Поделиться: