The Greatness of Kahlodi Tirtha

Verse 1 (skanda.5.274.1)

श्रीमार्कण्डेय उवाच। ततो गच्छेत्तु राजेन्द्र कह्लोडीतीर्थमुत्तमम्। रेवायाश्चोत्तरे कूले सर्वपापविनाशनम्।

śrīmārkaṇḍeya uvāca| tato gacchettu rājendra kahloḍītīrthamuttamam| revāyāścottare kūle sarvapāpavināśanam||

Shri Markandeya said: Thereafter, O lord of kings, one should go to the excellent Kahlodi tirtha, on the northern bank of the Reva, destroyer of all sin.

Verse 2 (skanda.5.274.2)

हितार्थं सर्वभूतानामृषिभिः स्थापितं पुरा। तपसा तु समुद्धृत्य नर्मदायां महाम्भसि।

hitārthaṁ sarvabhūtānāmṛṣibhiḥ sthāpitaṁ purā| tapasā tu samuddhṛtya narmadāyāṁ mahāmbhasi||

Established formerly by the sages for the welfare of all beings, having raised it up through austerity from the great waters of the Narmada.

Verse 3 (skanda.5.274.3)

स्नात्वा तु कपिलातीर्थे कपिलां यः प्रयच्छति। श्रुत्वा चाख्यानकं दिव्यं ब्राह्मणाञ्छृणु यत्फलम्।

snātvā tu kapilātīrthe kapilāṁ yaḥ prayacchati| śrutvā cākhyānakaṁ divyaṁ brāhmaṇāñchṛṇu yatphalam||

Whoever, having bathed at Kapila-tirtha, gives away a Kapila cow - having heard this divine account, O brahmins, hear what fruit it bears.

Verse 4 (skanda.5.274.4)

सर्वेषामेव दानानां कपिलादानमुत्तमम्। ब्राह्मणान्वेषितं पूर्वमृषिदेवसमागमे।

sarveṣāmeva dānānāṁ kapilādānamuttamam| brāhmaṇānveṣitaṁ pūrvamṛṣidevasamāgame||

Among all gifts, the gift of a Kapila cow is supreme; it was sought out by the brahmins formerly, in the assembly of sages and gods.

Verse 5 (skanda.5.274.5)

सद्यः प्रसूतां कपिलां शोभनां यः प्रयच्छति। सोपवासो जितक्रोधस्तस्य पुण्यफलं शृणु।

sadyaḥ prasūtāṁ kapilāṁ śobhanāṁ yaḥ prayacchati| sopavāso jitakrodhastasya puṇyaphalaṁ śṛṇu||

Whoever gives a beautiful, newly-calved Kapila cow, fasting and having conquered anger - hear the meritorious fruit of that.

Verse 6 (skanda.5.274.6)

ससमुद्रगुहा तेन सशैलवनकानना। दत्ता चैव महाबाहो पृथिवी नात्र संशयः।

sasamudraguhā tena saśailavanakānanā| dattā caiva mahābāho pṛthivī nātra saṁśayaḥ||

By him, O mighty-armed one, the earth together with its oceans, caves, mountains, forests and groves, is given - there is no doubt.

Verse 7 (skanda.5.274.7)

वाचिकं मानसं पापं कर्मणा यत्पुरा कृतम्। नश्यते कपिलां दत्त्वा सप्तजन्मार्जितं नृप।

vācikaṁ mānasaṁ pāpaṁ karmaṇā yatpurā kṛtam| naśyate kapilāṁ dattvā saptajanmārjitaṁ nṛpa||

O king, whatever sin, verbal or mental, done by action formerly, accumulated over seven births, is destroyed by giving a Kapila cow.

Verse 8 (skanda.5.274.8)

भूमिदानं धनं धान्यं हस्त्यश्वकनकादिकम्। कपिलादानस्यैकस्य कलां नार्हन्ति षोडशीम्।

bhūmidānaṁ dhanaṁ dhānyaṁ hastyaśvakanakādikam| kapilādānasyaikasya kalāṁ nārhanti ṣoḍaśīm||

The gift of land, wealth, grain, elephants, horses, gold and the like do not deserve even a sixteenth part of the merit of a single gift of a Kapila cow.

Verse 9 (skanda.5.274.9)

तत्र तीर्थे नरः स्नात्वा कपिलां यः प्रयच्छति। मृतो विष्णुपुरं याति गीयमानोऽप्सरोगणैः।

tatra tīrthe naraḥ snātvā kapilāṁ yaḥ prayacchati| mṛto viṣṇupuraṁ yāti gīyamāno'psarogaṇaiḥ||

A man who bathes at that tirtha and gives a Kapila cow, upon death, goes to the city of Vishnu, being sung about by throngs of apsaras.

Verse 10 (skanda.5.274.10)

यावन्ति तस्या रोमाणि सवत्सायास्तु भारत। तावद्वर्षसहस्राणि स स्वर्गे क्रीडते चिरम्।

yāvanti tasyā romāṇi savatsāyāstu bhārata| tāvadvarṣasahasrāṇi sa svarge krīḍate ciram||

O Bharata, as many hairs as are on that cow together with her calf, for that many thousand years he sports long in heaven.

Verse 11 (skanda.5.274.11)

ततोऽवकीर्णकालेन त्विह मानुष्यतां गतः। धनधान्यसमोपेतो जायते विपुले कुले।

tato'vakīrṇakālena tviha mānuṣyatāṁ gataḥ| dhanadhānyasamopeto jāyate vipule kule||

Then, when that allotted time has elapsed, coming here to the state of a human, he is born endowed with wealth and grain, in a great family.

Verse 12 (skanda.5.274.12)

वेदविद्या व्रतस्नातः सर्वशास्त्रविशारदः। व्याधिशोकविनिर्मुक्तो जीवेच्च शरदां शतम्।

vedavidyā vratasnātaḥ sarvaśāstraviśāradaḥ| vyādhiśokavinirmukto jīvecca śaradāṁ śatam||

Bathed in the vow of Vedic learning, skilled in all the shastras, free from disease and sorrow, he lives a hundred autumns.

Verse 13 (skanda.5.274.13)

एतत्ते सर्वमाख्यातं कल्होडीतीर्थमुत्तमम्। यत्कृत्वा सर्वपापेभ्यो मुच्यते नात्र संशयः।

etatte sarvamākhyātaṁ kalhoḍītīrthamuttamam| yatkṛtvā sarvapāpebhyo mucyate nātra saṁśayaḥ||

This, the excellent Kahlodi tirtha, has all been told to you; by doing so, one is freed from all sins, there is no doubt.