The Greatness of Tiladeshvara Tirtha

Verse 1 (skanda.5.377.1)

श्रीमार्कण्डेय उवाच। ततः क्रोशान्तरे गच्छेत्तिलादं तीर्थमुत्तमम्। तिलप्राशनकृद्यत्र जाबालिः शुद्धिमाप्तवान्।

śrīmārkaṇḍeya uvāca| tataḥ krośāntare gacchettilādaṁ tīrthamuttamam| tilaprāśanakṛdyatra jābāliḥ śuddhimāptavān||

Shri Markandeya said: Thereafter, O king, one should go a league further to the excellent tirtha named Tilada, where Jabali attained purity by living on sesame seeds.

Verse 2 (skanda.5.377.2)

पितृमातृपरित्यागी भ्रातुर्भार्याभिलाषकृत्। पुत्रविक्रयकृत्पापश्छलकृद्गुरुणा सह।

pitṛmātṛparityāgī bhrāturbhāryābhilāṣakṛt| putravikrayakṛtpāpaśchalakṛdguruṇā saha||

He had abandoned his father and mother, desired his brother's wife, committed the sin of selling his own son, and practised deceit toward his guru.

Verse 3 (skanda.5.377.3)

एवं दोषसमाविष्टो यत्र यत्रापि गच्छति। तत्र तत्रापि धिक्कारं लभते सत्सु भारत। न कोऽपि संगतिं धत्ते तेन सार्द्धं सभास्वपि।

evaṁ doṣasamāviṣṭo yatra yatrāpi gacchati| tatra tatrāpi dhikkāraṁ labhate satsu bhārata| na ko'pi saṁgatiṁ dhatte tena sārddhaṁ sabhāsvapi||

Thus laden with these faults, O Bharata, wherever he went he received nothing but scorn among the virtuous; no one, even in assemblies, would keep company with him.

Verse 4 (skanda.5.377.4)

इति लज्जान्वितो विप्रः काले न महता नृप। चिन्तामवाप महतीमगतिज्ञो हि पावने।

iti lajjānvito vipraḥ kāle na mahatā nṛpa| cintāmavāpa mahatīmagatijño hi pāvane||

Thus overcome with shame, O king, the brahmin before long fell into great anguish, for, O pure one, he could find no way of escape.

Verse 5 (skanda.5.377.5)

चकार सर्वतीर्थानि रेवां चाप्यवगाहयत्।

cakāra sarvatīrthāni revāṁ cāpyavagāhayat||

He visited all the tirthas and also immersed himself in the Reva.

Verse 6 (skanda.5.377.6)

अणिवापान्तमासाद्य दक्षिणे नर्मदातटे। तस्थौ यत्र व्रती पार्थ जाबालिः प्राशयंस्तिलान्।

aṇivāpāntamāsādya dakṣiṇe narmadātaṭe| tasthau yatra vratī pārtha jābāliḥ prāśayaṁstilān||

Having reached Anivapanta on the southern bank of the Narmada, O Partha, Jabali stayed there as a vow-keeper, living on sesame seeds.

Verse 7 (skanda.5.377.7)

तिलैरेकाशनं कुर्वंस्तथैवैकान्तराशनम्। त्र्यहषड्द्वादशाहाशी पक्षमासाशनस्तथा।

tilairekāśanaṁ kurvaṁstathaivaikāntarāśanam| tryahaṣaḍdvādaśāhāśī pakṣamāsāśanastathā||

He would eat sesame once a day, and likewise fast on alternate days; and he would break fasts of three, six, and twelve days, and of a fortnight and a month, with sesame alone.

Verse 8 (skanda.5.377.8)

कृच्छ्रचान्द्रायणादीनि व्रतानि च तिलैरपि। तिलादत्वमनुप्राप्तो ह्यब्दद्वासप्ततिं क्रमात्।

kṛcchracāndrāyaṇādīni vratāni ca tilairapi| tilādatvamanuprāpto hyabdadvāsaptatiṁ kramāt||

He also performed the krichchhra, chandrayana, and other vows on sesame alone; thus, over the course of seventy-two years, he gradually attained the state of a true "Tilada," one who lives on sesame.

Verse 9 (skanda.5.377.9)

कालेन गच्छता तस्य प्रसन्नोऽभवदीश्वरः। प्रादादिहामुत्रिकीं तु शुद्धिं सालोक्यमात्मकम्।

kālena gacchatā tasya prasanno'bhavadīśvaraḥ| prādādihāmutrikīṁ tu śuddhiṁ sālokyamātmakam||

As time passed, Ishvara became pleased with him, and granted him purity both in this world and the next, together with salokya, dwelling in his own realm.

Verse 10 (skanda.5.377.10)

तेन स स्थापितो देवः स्वनाम्ना भरतर्षभ। तिलादेश्वरसंज्ञां च प्राप लोकादपि प्रभुः।

tena sa sthāpito devaḥ svanāmnā bharatarṣabha| tilādeśvarasaṁjñāṁ ca prāpa lokādapi prabhuḥ||

O bull among the Bharatas, he established that deity under his own name, and the Lord came to be known among the people by the name "Tiladeshvara."

Verse 11 (skanda.5.377.11)

तदा प्रभृति विख्यातं तीर्थं पापप्रणाशनम्। तत्र तीर्थे नरः स्नात्वा चतुर्दश्यष्टमीषु च।

tadā prabhṛti vikhyātaṁ tīrthaṁ pāpapraṇāśanam| tatra tīrthe naraḥ snātvā caturdaśyaṣṭamīṣu ca||

From that time, the tirtha became renowned as a destroyer of sin. A man who, having bathed at that tirtha, on the fourteenth and the eighth days,

Verse 12 (skanda.5.377.12)

उपवासपरः पार्थ तथैव हरिवासरे। तिलहोमी तिलोद्वर्ती तिलस्नायी तिलोदकी।

upavāsaparaḥ pārtha tathaiva harivāsare| tilahomī tilodvartī tilasnāyī tilodakī||

O Partha, and likewise on Hari's day, observing a fast, offers oblations of sesame, anoints himself with sesame paste, bathes with sesame, offers sesame-water,

Verse 13 (skanda.5.377.13)

तिलदाता च भोक्ता च नानापापैः प्रमुच्यते। तिलैरापूरयेल्लिङ्गं तिलतैलेन दीपदः। रुद्रलोकमवाप्नोति पुनात्या सप्तमं कुलम्।

tiladātā ca bhoktā ca nānāpāpaiḥ pramucyate| tilairāpūrayelliṅgaṁ tilatailena dīpadaḥ| rudralokamavāpnoti punātyā saptamaṁ kulam||

and who gives sesame and partakes of it — such a man is freed from manifold sins. One who fills the linga with sesame seeds and offers a lamp of sesame oil attains the world of Rudra and purifies even the seventh generation of his lineage.

Verse 14 (skanda.5.377.14)

तिलपिण्डप्रदानेन श्राद्धे नृपतिसत्तम। विकर्मस्थाश्च गच्छन्ति गतिमिष्टां हि पूर्वजाः।

tilapiṇḍapradānena śrāddhe nṛpatisattama| vikarmasthāśca gacchanti gatimiṣṭāṁ hi pūrvajāḥ||

O best of kings, by the offering of sesame-pindas in the shraddha rite, even ancestors dwelling in evil states attain their desired destination.

Verse 15 (skanda.5.377.15)

स्वर्गलोकस्थिताः श्राद्धैर्ब्राह्मणानां च भोजनैः। अक्षयां तृप्तिमासाद्य मोदन्ते शाश्वतीः समाः।

svargalokasthitāḥ śrāddhairbrāhmaṇānāṁ ca bhojanaiḥ| akṣayāṁ tṛptimāsādya modante śāśvatīḥ samāḥ||

Those established in the heavenly world, through shraddhas and the feeding of brahmins, attain imperishable satisfaction and rejoice for eternal years.

Verse 16 (skanda.5.377.16)

पितुः कुलं मातृकुलं तथा भार्याकुलं नृप। कुलत्रयं समुद्धृत्य स्वर्गं नयति वै नरः।

pituḥ kulaṁ mātṛkulaṁ tathā bhāryākulaṁ nṛpa| kulatrayaṁ samuddhṛtya svargaṁ nayati vai naraḥ||

O king, the lineage of the father, the lineage of the mother, and likewise the lineage of the wife — a man, by redeeming all three lineages, leads them to heaven.