The Greatness of Tapeshvara Tirtha

Verse 1 (skanda.5.296.1)

श्रीमार्कण्डेय उवाच। ततो गच्छेन्महीपाल तापेश्वरमनुत्तमम् । यत्र सा हरिणी सिद्धा व्याधभीता नरेश्वर ॥

śrīmārkaṇḍeya uvāca| tato gacchenmahīpāla tāpeśvaramanuttamam | yatra sā hariṇī siddhā vyādhabhītā nareśvara ||

Shri Markandeya said: O lord of the earth, from there one should go to the supreme Tapeshvara. O lord of men, there that doe, terrified by a hunter, attained perfection.

Verse 2 (skanda.5.296.2)

जले प्रक्षिप्य गात्राणि ह्यन्तरिक्षं गता तु सा । व्याधो विस्मितचित्तस्तु तां मृगीमवलोक्य च ॥

jale prakṣipya gātrāṇi hyantarikṣaṁ gatā tu sā | vyādho vismitacittastu tāṁ mṛgīmavalokya ca ||

Plunging her limbs into the water, she rose into the sky; and the hunter, beholding that doe, was filled with astonishment.

Verse 3 (skanda.5.296.3)

विमुच्य सशरं चापं प्रारेभे तप उत्तमम् । दिव्यं वर्षसहस्रं तु व्याधेनाचरितं तपः ॥

vimucya saśaraṁ cāpaṁ prārebhe tapa uttamam | divyaṁ varṣasahasraṁ tu vyādhenācaritaṁ tapaḥ ||

Casting aside his bow and arrow, he began a supreme austerity; for a thousand divine years the hunter practiced that penance.

Verse 4 (skanda.5.296.4)

अतीते तु ततः काले परितुष्टो महेश्वरः । वरं ब्रूहि महाव्याध यत्ते मनसि रोचते ॥

atīte tu tataḥ kāle parituṣṭo maheśvaraḥ | varaṁ brūhi mahāvyādha yatte manasi rocate ||

When that time had passed, Maheshvara, fully pleased, said: "O great hunter, ask for the boon that pleases your heart."

Verse 5 (skanda.5.296.5)

व्याध उवाच। यदि तुष्टोऽसि देवेश यदि देयो वरो मम । तव पार्श्वे महादेव वासो मे प्रतिदीयताम् ॥

vyādha uvāca| yadi tuṣṭo'si deveśa yadi deyo varo mama | tava pārśve mahādeva vāso me pratidīyatām ||

The hunter said: O lord of gods, if you are pleased, and if a boon is indeed to be given to me, then, O great god, grant me a dwelling place at your side.

Verse 6 (skanda.5.296.6)

ईश्वर उवाच। एवं भवतु ते व्याध यस्त्वया काङ्क्षितो वरः । दैवदेवो महादेव इत्युक्त्वान्तरधीयत । गते चादर्शनं देवे स्थापयित्वा महेश्वरम् ॥

īśvara uvāca| evaṁ bhavatu te vyādha yastvayā kāṅkṣito varaḥ | daivadevo mahādeva ityuktvāntaradhīyata | gate cādarśanaṁ deve sthāpayitvā maheśvaram ||

Ishvara said: "O hunter, so be it — let the boon you desire come to pass." So saying, the god of gods, Mahadeva, vanished from sight. When the god had disappeared, the hunter installed an image of Maheshvara there.

Verse 7 (skanda.5.296.7)

पूजयित्वा विधानेन गतो व्याधस्ततो दिवम् । तदाप्रभृति तत्तीर्थं त्रिषु लोकेषु विश्रुतम् ॥

pūjayitvā vidhānena gato vyādhastato divam | tadāprabhṛti tattīrthaṁ triṣu lokeṣu viśrutam ||

Having worshipped it according to rite, the hunter then went to heaven; and from that time on, that tirtha became famed throughout the three worlds.

Verse 8 (skanda.5.296.8)

व्याधानुतापसंजातं तापेश्वरमिति श्रुतम् । तत्र तीर्थे तु यः स्नात्वा सम्पूजयति शङ्करम् ॥

vyādhānutāpasaṁjātaṁ tāpeśvaramiti śrutam | tatra tīrthe tu yaḥ snātvā sampūjayati śaṅkaram ||

Because it arose from the hunter's atonement (tapas), it became known as Tapeshvara. One who bathes at that tirtha and duly worships Shankara,

Verse 9 (skanda.5.296.9)

शिवलोकमवाप्नोति मामुवाच महेश्वरः । ये स्नाता नर्मदातोये तीर्थे तापेश्वरे नराः ॥

śivalokamavāpnoti māmuvāca maheśvaraḥ | ye snātā narmadātoye tīrthe tāpeśvare narāḥ ||

attains the world of Shiva — so Maheshvara himself told me. Those men who bathe in the waters of the Narmada at the Tapeshvara tirtha,

Verse 10 (skanda.5.296.10)

तापत्रयविमुक्तास्ते नात्र कार्या विचारणा । अष्टम्यां च चतुर्दश्यां तृतीयायां विशेषतः ॥

tāpatrayavimuktāste nātra kāryā vicāraṇā | aṣṭamyāṁ ca caturdaśyāṁ tṛtīyāyāṁ viśeṣataḥ ||

are freed from the three kinds of affliction — of this there is no doubt. Especially on the eighth, fourteenth, and third lunar days,

Verse 11 (skanda.5.296.11)

स्नानं समाचरेन्नित्यं सर्वपातकशान्तये ॥

snānaṁ samācarennityaṁ sarvapātakaśāntaye ||

one should regularly bathe there for the pacification of all sins.