The Greatness of Soma Tirtha and Chandrahasa

Verse 1 (skanda.5.276.1)

मार्कण्डेय उवाच। ततो गच्छेन्महीपाल चन्द्रहासमतः परम् । यत्र सिद्धिं परां प्राप्तः सोमराजः सुरोत्तमः ।

mārkaṇḍeya uvāca| tato gacchenmahīpāla candrahāsam ataḥ param| yatra siddhiṁ parāṁ prāptaḥ somarājaḥ surottamaḥ||

Markandeya said: Thereafter, O lord of the earth, one should go on to Chandrahasa, where Somaraja, best of gods, attained supreme accomplishment.

Verse 2 (skanda.5.276.2)

युधिष्ठिर उवाच। कथं सिद्धिं परां प्राप्तः सोमनाथो जगत्पतिः । तत्सर्वं श्रोतुमिच्छामि कथयस्व ममानघ ।

yudhiṣṭhira uvāca| kathaṁ siddhiṁ parāṁ prāptaḥ somanātho jagatpatiḥ| tat sarvaṁ śrotum icchāmi kathayasva mamānagha||

Yudhishthira said: How did Somanatha, lord of the world, attain supreme accomplishment? I wish to hear all of it - tell me, O sinless one.

Verse 3 (skanda.5.276.3)

श्रीमार्कण्डेय उवाच। पुरा शप्तो मुनीन्द्रेण दक्षेण किल भारत । असेवनाद्धि दाराणां क्षयरोगी भविष्यसि ।

śrīmārkaṇḍeya uvāca| purā śapto munīndreṇa dakṣeṇa kila bhārata| asevanād dhi dārāṇāṁ kṣayarogī bhaviṣyasi||

Shri Markandeya said: Long ago, O Bharata, he was cursed by the lord of sages, Daksha: 'Because you neglect your wives, you shall become afflicted with a wasting disease.'

Verse 4 (skanda.5.276.4)

उद्वाहितानां पत्नीनां ये न कुर्वन्ति सेवनम् । या निष्ठा जायते नृणां तां शृणुष्व नराधिप ।

udvāhitānāṁ patnīnāṁ ye na kurvanti sevanam| yā niṣṭhā jāyate nṛṇāṁ tāṁ śṛṇuṣva narādhipa||

Hear, O lord of men, what fate befalls men who fail to attend properly to their wedded wives.

Verse 5 (skanda.5.276.5)

ऋतावृतौ हि नारीणां सेवनाज्जायते सुतः । सुतात्स्वर्गश्च मोक्षश्च इत्येवं श्रुतिभाषितम् ।

ṛtāvṛtau hi nārīṇāṁ sevanāj jāyate sutaḥ| sutāt svargaś ca mokṣaś ca ity evaṁ śrutibhāṣitam||

By attending to women in their proper season a son is born; from a son come heaven and liberation - so the scriptures declare.

Verse 6 (skanda.5.276.6)

तत्कालोचितधर्मेण वेष्टितो रौरवे पतेत् । तस्यास्तद्रुधिरं पापः पिबते कालमीप्सितम् ।

tatkālocitadharmeṇa veṣṭito raurave patet| tasyās tad rudhiraṁ pāpaḥ pibate kālam īpsitam||

Bound by the neglect of that seasonally-appropriate duty, he falls into the hell called Raurava; the sinner drinks that woman's blood for as long as is appointed.

Verse 7 (skanda.5.276.7)

ततोऽवतीर्णः कालेन यां यां योनिं प्रयास्यति । तस्यां तस्यां स दुष्टात्मा दुर्भगो जायते सदा ।

tato 'vatīrṇaḥ kālena yāṁ yāṁ yoniṁ prayāsyati| tasyāṁ tasyāṁ sa duṣṭātmā durbhago jāyate sadā||

Then, descending in time, into whatever womb that wicked soul goes, in each of them he is always born ill-fated.

Verse 8 (skanda.5.276.8)

नारीणां तु सदा कामोऽभ्यधिकाः परिवर्तते । विशेषेण ऋतौ काले पीड्यते कामसायकैः ।

nārīṇāṁ tu sadā kāmo 'bhyadhikāḥ parivartate| viśeṣeṇa ṛtau kāle pīḍyate kāmasāyakaiḥ||

In women, desire always runs stronger and shifts; especially at the fertile season, they are pierced by the arrows of passion.

Verse 9 (skanda.5.276.9)

परिभूता हिता भर्त्रा ध्यायन्तेऽन्यं पतिं स्त्रियः । ततः पुत्रः समुत्पन्नो ह्यटते कुलमुत्तमम् ।

paribhūtā hitā bhartrā dhyāyante 'nyaṁ patiṁ striyaḥ| tataḥ putraḥ samutpanno hy aṭate kulam uttamam||

Neglected though they be dear to the husband, such wives think of another man; then a son so born ruins the noble family.

Verse 10 (skanda.5.276.10)

स्वर्गस्थास्तेन पितरः पूर्वजास्ते पितामहाः । पतन्ति जातमात्रेण कुलटस्तेन चोच्यते ।

svargasthās tena pitaraḥ pūrvajās te pitāmahāḥ| patanti jātamātreṇa kulaṭas tena cocyate||

Because of him, the ancestral fathers and forefathers who dwell in heaven fall the moment he is born; and he is thereby called a family-corrupter.

Verse 11 (skanda.5.276.11)

तेन कर्मविपाकेन क्षयरोग्यभवच्छशी । त्यक्त्वा लोकं सुरेन्द्राणां मर्त्यलोकमुपागतः ।

tena karmavipākena kṣayarogy abhavac chaśī| tyaktvā lokaṁ surendrāṇāṁ martyalokam upāgataḥ||

By the ripening of that deed, the Moon became afflicted with a wasting disease; abandoning the realm of the lords of gods, he came down to the mortal world.

Verse 12 (skanda.5.276.12)

ततस्तीर्थान्यनेकानि पुण्यान्यायतनानि च । भ्रमन्वै नर्मदां प्राप्तः सर्वपापप्रणाशनीम् ।

tatas tīrthāny anekāni puṇyāny āyatanāni ca| bhraman vai narmadāṁ prāptaḥ sarvapāpapraṇāśanīm||

Then, wandering through many holy tirthas and sacred shrines, he reached the Narmada, destroyer of all sins.

Verse 13 (skanda.5.276.13)

उपवासं च दानानि व्रतानि नियमांस्तथा । चचार द्वादशाब्दानि ततो मुक्तः स किल्बिषैः ।

upavāsaṁ ca dānāni vratāni niyamāṁs tathā| cacāra dvādaśābdāni tato muktaḥ sa kilbiṣaiḥ||

He practised fasting, charity, vows, and disciplines for twelve years, and was thereby freed from his sins.

Verse 14 (skanda.5.276.14)

स्नापयित्वा महादेवं सर्वपातकनाशनम् । जगाम प्रभया पूर्णः स च लोकमनुत्तमम् ।

snāpayitvā mahādevaṁ sarvapātakanāśanam| jagāma prabhayā pūrṇaḥ sa ca lokam anuttamam||

Having bathed the sin-destroying Mahadeva in abhisheka, he, now filled with radiance, went to the highest world.

Verse 15 (skanda.5.276.15)

येनैव स्थापितो देवः पूज्यते वर्षसंख्यया । तावद्वर्षसहस्राणि रुद्रलोके स पूज्यते ।

yenaiva sthāpito devaḥ pūjyate varṣasaṅkhyayā| tāvad varṣasahasrāṇi rudraloke sa pūjyate||

By whomever the god is installed and worshipped, for as many years as that god is worshipped there, for that many thousand years he is honoured in the world of Rudra.

Verse 16 (skanda.5.276.16)

तेन देवान्विधानोक्तान्स्थापयन्ति नरा भुवि । अक्षयं चाव्ययं यस्मात्कालं भुञ्जन्ति मानवाः ।

tena devān vidhānoktān sthāpayanti narā bhuvi| akṣayaṁ cāvyayaṁ yasmāt kālaṁ bhuñjanti mānavāḥ||

Therefore men install gods on earth as prescribed by scripture, since by this humans enjoy imperishable, undecaying time in the celestial world.

Verse 17 (skanda.5.276.17)

सोमतीर्थे नरः स्नात्वा पूजयेद्देवमीश्वरम् । स भ्राजते नरो लोके सोमवत्प्रियदर्शनः ।

somatīrthe naraḥ snātvā pūjayed devam īśvaram| sa bhrājate naro loke somavat priyadarśanaḥ||

A man who bathes at Soma Tirtha and worships lord Ishvara shines in the world like the moon, pleasant to behold.

Verse 18 (skanda.5.276.18)

चन्द्रहासे तु यो गत्वा ग्रहणे चन्द्रसूर्ययोः । स्नानं समाचरेद्भक्त्या मुच्यते सर्वकिल्बिषैः ।

candrahāse tu yo gatvā grahaṇe candrasūryayoḥ| snānaṁ samācared bhaktyā mucyate sarvakilbiṣaiḥ||

One who goes to Chandrahasa and, during an eclipse of the moon or sun, bathes there with devotion, is freed from all sins.

Verse 19 (skanda.5.276.19)

तत्र स्नानं च दानं च चन्द्रहासे शुभाशुभम् । कृतं नृपवरश्रेष्ठ सर्वं भवति चाक्षयम् ।

tatra snānaṁ ca dānaṁ ca candrahāse śubhāśubham| kṛtaṁ nṛpavaraśreṣṭha sarvaṁ bhavati cākṣayam||

O best and foremost of kings, whatever bathing and giving, whether auspicious or otherwise, is done at Chandrahasa, all of it becomes imperishable.

Verse 20 (skanda.5.276.20)

ते धन्यास्ते महात्मानस्तेषां जन्म सुजीवितम् । चन्द्रहासे तु ये स्नात्वा पश्यन्ति ग्रहणं नराः ।

te dhanyās te mahātmānas teṣāṁ janma sujīvitam| candrahāse tu ye snātvā paśyanti grahaṇaṁ narāḥ||

Blessed are they, great souls, their birth well-lived - those men who, bathing at Chandrahasa, witness an eclipse.

Verse 21 (skanda.5.276.21)

वाचिकं मानसं पापं कर्मजं यत्पुराकृतम् । स्नानमात्रेण राजेन्द्र तत्र तीर्थे प्रणश्यति ।

vācikaṁ mānasaṁ pāpaṁ karmajaṁ yat purākṛtam| snānamātreṇa rājendra tatra tīrthe praṇaśyati||

O king of kings, sin arising from speech, mind, or past deeds is destroyed there at that tirtha by mere bathing.

Verse 22 (skanda.5.276.22)

बहवस्तं न जानन्ति महामोहसमन्विताः । देहस्थमिव सर्वेषां परमानन्दरूपिणम् ।

bahavas taṁ na jānanti mahāmohasamanvitāḥ| dehastham iva sarveṣāṁ paramānandarūpiṇam||

Many, overcome with great delusion, do not recognize him, though he dwells as if within the body of all, in the form of supreme bliss.

Verse 23 (skanda.5.276.23)

पश्चिमे सागरे गत्वा सोमतीर्थे तु यत्फलम् । तत्समग्रमवाप्नोति चन्द्रहासे न संशयः ।

paścime sāgare gatvā somatīrthe tu yat phalam| tat samagram avāpnoti candrahāse na saṁśayaḥ||

Without doubt, whatever fruit is gained by going to Soma Tirtha on the western ocean, all of it is obtained at Chandrahasa.

Verse 24 (skanda.5.276.24)

संक्रान्तौ च व्यतीपाते अयने विषुवे तथा । चन्द्रहासे नरः स्नात्वा सर्वपापैः प्रमुच्यते ।

saṅkrāntau ca vyatīpāte ayane viṣuve tathā| candrahāse naraḥ snātvā sarvapāpaiḥ pramucyate||

At the solstice, at vyatipata, at the change of ayana, and at the equinox, a man who bathes at Chandrahasa is freed from all sins.

Verse 25 (skanda.5.276.25)

ते मूढास्ते दुराचारास्तेषां जन्म निरर्थकम् । चन्द्रहासं न जानन्ति ये रेवायां व्यवस्थितम् ।

te mūḍhās te durācārās teṣāṁ janma nirarthakam| candrahāsaṁ na jānanti ye revāyāṁ vyavasthitam||

Fools are they, ill-conducted, their birth is in vain - those who do not know Chandrahasa, situated on the Reva.

Verse 26 (skanda.5.276.26)

चन्द्रहासे तु यः कश्चित्संन्यासं कुरुते द्विजः । अनिवर्तिका गतिस्तस्य सोमलोकान्न संशयः ।

candrahāse tu yaḥ kaścit sannyāsaṁ kurute dvijaḥ| anivartikā gatis tasya somalokān na saṁśayaḥ||

Whatever brahmin renounces the body at Chandrahasa, his destination is, without doubt, non-returning - to the world of Soma.