Kārttikamāsa-māhātmya · Chapter 22
Source।। नारद उवाच ।। ।। ततो जलंधरो दृष्ट्वा रुद्रमद्भुतविक्रमम् ।। चकार मायया गौरीं त्र्यंबकं मोहयन्निव ।। १ ।। रथोपरि च तां बद्धां रुदन्तीं पार्वतीं शिवः ।। निशुंभप्रमुखाद्यैश्च वध्यमानां ददर्श सः ।। २ ।। गौरीं तथाविधां दृष्ट्वा शिवोऽप्युद्विग्नमानसः ।। अवाङ्मुखः स्थितस्तूष्णीं विस्मृत्य स्वपराक्रमम् ।। ३ ।। ततो जलंधरो वेगात्त्रिभिर्विव्याध सायकैः ।। आपुंखमग्रैस्तं रुद्रं शिरस्युरसि चोदरे ।। ४ ।। ततो जज्ञे स तां मायां विष्णुना च प्रबोधितः ।। रौद्ररूपधरो जातो ज्वालामालाऽतिभीषणः ।। ५ ।। तस्याऽतीव महारौद्रं रूपं दृष्ट्वा महासुराः ।। न शेकुः संमुखे स्थातुं भेजिरे ते दिशो दश ।।६।। ततः शापं ददौ रुद्रस्तयोः शुंभनिशुंभयोः ।। मम युद्धादपक्रांतौ गौर्या बध्यौ भविष्यथः ।। ७ ।। पुनर्जलंधरो वेगाद्ववर्ष निशितैः शरैः ।। बाणांधकारैः संछन्नं तदा भूमितलं महत् ।। ८ ।। यावद्रुद्रश्च चिच्छेद तस्य बाणगणं जवात् ।। तावत्स परिघेणाऽऽशु जघान वृषभं बली ।। ९ ।। वृषस्तेन प्रहारेण परावृत्तो रणांगणात् ।। रुद्रेणाऽऽकृष्यमाणोऽपि न तस्थौ रणभूमिषु ।। 2.4.22.१० ।। ततः परमसंक्रुद्धो रुद्रो रौद्रवपुर्धरः ।। चक्रं सुदर्शनं वेगाच्चिक्षेपाऽऽदित्यवर्चसम् ।। ११ ।। प्रदहद्रोदसी वेगात्पपात वसुधातले ।। जहार तच्छिरः कायान्महदायतलोचनम् ।। १२ ।। रथात्कायः पपाताऽस्य नादयन्वसुधातलम् ।। तेजश्च निर्गतं देहात्तद्रुद्रे लयमागमत् ।। १३ ।। वृन्दादेहोद्भवं तेजस्तद्गौर्यां विलयं गतम् ।। अथ ब्रह्मादयो देवा हर्षादुत्फुल्ललोचनाः ।। १४ ।। प्रणम्य शिरसा रुद्रं शशंसुर्विष्णुचेष्टितम् ।। ।। देवा ऊचुः ।। ।। महादेव त्वया देवा रक्षिताः शत्रुजाद्भयात् ।। १५ ।। किंचिदन्यत्समुद्भूतं तत्र किं करवामहे ।। वृन्दालावण्यसंभ्रांतो विष्णुस्तिष्ठति मोहितः ।। १६ ।। ।। ईश्वर उवाच ।। ।। गच्छध्वं शरणं देवा विष्णोर्मोहापनुत्तये ।। शरण्यां मोहिनीं मायां सा वः कार्यं करिष्यति ।। १७ ।। ।। नारद उवाच ।। ।। इत्युक्त्वांतर्दधे देवः सर्वभूतगणैस्तदा ।। देवाश्च तुष्टुवुर्मूलप्रकृतिं भक्तवत्सलाम् ।। १८ ।। ।। देवा ऊचुः ।। ।। यदुद्भवाः सत्त्वरजस्तमोगुणाः सर्गस्थितिध्वंसनिदानकारिणः ।। यदिच्छया विश्वमिदं भवाऽभवौ तनोति मूलप्रकृतिं नताः स्म ताम् ।। १९ ।। या हि त्रयोविंशतिभेदशब्दिता जगत्यशेषे समधिष्ठिता परा ।। यद्रूपकर्माणि जडास्त्रयोऽपि देवा न विद्युः प्रकृतिं नताः स्म ताम् ।। 2.4.22.२० ।। यद्भक्तियुक्ताः पुरुषास्तु नित्यं दारिद्र्यभीमोहपराभवादीन् ।। न प्राप्नुवंत्येव हि भक्तवत्सलां सदैव मूलप्रकृतिं नताः स्म ताम् ।। २१ ।। ।। नारद उवाच ।। ।। स्तोत्रमेतत्त्रिसंध्यं यः पठेदेकाग्रमानसः ।। दारिद्यमोहदुःखानि न कदाचित्स्पृशंति तम् ।।२२।। इत्थं स्तुवंतस्ते देवास्तेजोमण्डलमास्थितम् ।। ददृशुर्गगनं तत्र ज्वालाव्याप्तदिगंतरम् ।। २३ ।। तन्मध्याद्भारतीं सर्वे शुश्रुवुर्व्योमचारिणीम् ।। ।। शक्तिरुवाच ।। ।। अहमेव त्रिधा भिन्ना तिष्ठामि त्रिविधैर्गुणैः ।। ।। २४ ।। गौरी लक्ष्मी स्वरा चेति रजःसत्त्वतमोगुणैः ।। तत्र गच्छत ताः कार्यं विधास्यति च वः सुराः ।। २५ ।। ।। नारद उवाच ।। ।। शृण्वतामिति तां वाचमंतर्धानमगान्महः ।। देवानां विस्मयोत्फुल्लनेत्राणां तत्तदा नृप ।। २६ ।। ततः सर्वेऽपि ते देवा गत्वा तद्वाक्यनोदिताः ।। गौरीं लक्ष्मीं स्वरां चैव प्रणेमुर्भक्तितत्पराः ।। २७ ।। ततस्तास्तान्सुरान्दृष्ट्वा प्रणतान्भक्तवत्सलाः ।। बीजानि प्रददुस्तेभ्यो वाक्यान्यूचुश्च भूमिप ।। २८ ।। ।। देव्य ऊचुः ।। ।। इमानि तत्र बीजानि विष्णुर्यत्राऽवतिष्ठते ।। निर्वपध्वं ततः कार्यं भवतां सिद्धिमेष्यति ।। २९ ।। ।। ।। नारद उवाच ।। ।। ततस्तु हृष्टाः सुरसिद्धसंघाः प्रगृह्य बीजानि विचिक्षिपुस्ते ।। वृंदान्वितो भूमितले स यत्र विष्णुः सदा तिष्ठति सौख्यहीनः ।। 2.4.22.३० ।। इति श्रीस्कांदे महापुराण एकाशीतिसाहस्र्यां संहितायां द्वितीये वैष्णवखण्डे कार्तिकमासमाहात्म्ये जलंधरमुक्तिकथनं नाम द्वाविंशोऽध्यायः ।। २२ ।।
|| nārada uvāca || || tato jalaṃdharo dṛṣṭvā rudramadbhutavikramam || cakāra māyayā gaurīṃ tryaṃbakaṃ mohayanniva || 1 || rathopari ca tāṃ baddhāṃ rudantīṃ pārvatīṃ śivaḥ || niśuṃbhapramukhādyaiśca vadhyamānāṃ dadarśa saḥ || 2 || gaurīṃ tathāvidhāṃ dṛṣṭvā śivo'pyudvignamānasaḥ || avāṅmukhaḥ sthitastūṣṇīṃ vismṛtya svaparākramam || 3 || tato jalaṃdharo vegāttribhirvivyādha sāyakaiḥ || āpuṃkhamagraistaṃ rudraṃ śirasyurasi codare || 4 || tato jajñe sa tāṃ māyāṃ viṣṇunā ca prabodhitaḥ || raudrarūpadharo jāto jvālāmālā'tibhīṣaṇaḥ || 5 || tasyā'tīva mahāraudraṃ rūpaṃ dṛṣṭvā mahāsurāḥ || na śekuḥ saṃmukhe sthātuṃ bhejire te diśo daśa ||6|| tataḥ śāpaṃ dadau rudrastayoḥ śuṃbhaniśuṃbhayoḥ || mama yuddhādapakrāṃtau gauryā badhyau bhaviṣyathaḥ || 7 || punarjalaṃdharo vegādvavarṣa niśitaiḥ śaraiḥ || bāṇāṃdhakāraiḥ saṃchannaṃ tadā bhūmitalaṃ mahat || 8 || yāvadrudraśca ciccheda tasya bāṇagaṇaṃ javāt || tāvatsa parigheṇā''śu jaghāna vṛṣabhaṃ balī || 9 || vṛṣastena prahāreṇa parāvṛtto raṇāṃgaṇāt || rudreṇā''kṛṣyamāṇo'pi na tasthau raṇabhūmiṣu || 2.4.22.10 || tataḥ paramasaṃkruddho rudro raudravapurdharaḥ || cakraṃ sudarśanaṃ vegāccikṣepā''dityavarcasam || 11 || pradahadrodasī vegātpapāta vasudhātale || jahāra tacchiraḥ kāyānmahadāyatalocanam || 12 || rathātkāyaḥ papātā'sya nādayanvasudhātalam || tejaśca nirgataṃ dehāttadrudre layamāgamat || 13 || vṛndādehodbhavaṃ tejastadgauryāṃ vilayaṃ gatam || atha brahmādayo devā harṣādutphullalocanāḥ || 14 || praṇamya śirasā rudraṃ śaśaṃsurviṣṇuceṣṭitam || || devā ūcuḥ || || mahādeva tvayā devā rakṣitāḥ śatrujādbhayāt || 15 || kiṃcidanyatsamudbhūtaṃ tatra kiṃ karavāmahe || vṛndālāvaṇyasaṃbhrāṃto viṣṇustiṣṭhati mohitaḥ || 16 || || īśvara uvāca || || gacchadhvaṃ śaraṇaṃ devā viṣṇormohāpanuttaye || śaraṇyāṃ mohinīṃ māyāṃ sā vaḥ kāryaṃ kariṣyati || 17 || || nārada uvāca || || ityuktvāṃtardadhe devaḥ sarvabhūtagaṇaistadā || devāśca tuṣṭuvurmūlaprakṛtiṃ bhaktavatsalām || 18 || || devā ūcuḥ || || yadudbhavāḥ sattvarajastamoguṇāḥ sargasthitidhvaṃsanidānakāriṇaḥ || yadicchayā viśvamidaṃ bhavā'bhavau tanoti mūlaprakṛtiṃ natāḥ sma tām || 19 || yā hi trayoviṃśatibhedaśabditā jagatyaśeṣe samadhiṣṭhitā parā || yadrūpakarmāṇi jaḍāstrayo'pi devā na vidyuḥ prakṛtiṃ natāḥ sma tām || 2.4.22.20 || yadbhaktiyuktāḥ puruṣāstu nityaṃ dāridryabhīmohaparābhavādīn || na prāpnuvaṃtyeva hi bhaktavatsalāṃ sadaiva mūlaprakṛtiṃ natāḥ sma tām || 21 || || nārada uvāca || || stotrametattrisaṃdhyaṃ yaḥ paṭhedekāgramānasaḥ || dāridyamohaduḥkhāni na kadācitspṛśaṃti tam ||22|| itthaṃ stuvaṃtaste devāstejomaṇḍalamāsthitam || dadṛśurgaganaṃ tatra jvālāvyāptadigaṃtaram || 23 || tanmadhyādbhāratīṃ sarve śuśruvurvyomacāriṇīm || || śaktiruvāca || || ahameva tridhā bhinnā tiṣṭhāmi trividhairguṇaiḥ || || 24 || gaurī lakṣmī svarā ceti rajaḥsattvatamoguṇaiḥ || tatra gacchata tāḥ kāryaṃ vidhāsyati ca vaḥ surāḥ || 25 || || nārada uvāca || || śṛṇvatāmiti tāṃ vācamaṃtardhānamagānmahaḥ || devānāṃ vismayotphullanetrāṇāṃ tattadā nṛpa || 26 || tataḥ sarve'pi te devā gatvā tadvākyanoditāḥ || gaurīṃ lakṣmīṃ svarāṃ caiva praṇemurbhaktitatparāḥ || 27 || tatastāstānsurāndṛṣṭvā praṇatānbhaktavatsalāḥ || bījāni pradadustebhyo vākyānyūcuśca bhūmipa || 28 || || devya ūcuḥ || || imāni tatra bījāni viṣṇuryatrā'vatiṣṭhate || nirvapadhvaṃ tataḥ kāryaṃ bhavatāṃ siddhimeṣyati || 29 || || || nārada uvāca || || tatastu hṛṣṭāḥ surasiddhasaṃghāḥ pragṛhya bījāni vicikṣipuste || vṛṃdānvito bhūmitale sa yatra viṣṇuḥ sadā tiṣṭhati saukhyahīnaḥ || 2.4.22.30 || iti śrīskāṃde mahāpurāṇa ekāśītisāhasryāṃ saṃhitāyāṃ dvitīye vaiṣṇavakhaṇḍe kārtikamāsamāhātmye jalaṃdharamuktikathanaṃ nāma dvāviṃśo'dhyāyaḥ || 22 ||
English translation
Nārada said :
1. On seeing Rudra with wonderful exploits, Jalandhara created (an illusory) Gaurī by means of his Māyā , as though to delude the Three-eyed Lord.
2. Śiva saw that Pārvatī was crying. She was bound above the chariot and was being struck and hit by Niśuṃbha and others.
3. On seeing Gaurī in that plight, Śiva too became agonized in his mind. With his face bent down, he stood motionless forgetting his own valour.
4. Then with great rapidity, Jalandhara pierced Rudra with three arrows which went deep into his head, chest and belly up to their tail-feathers.
5. Then enlightened by Viṣṇu , he (Śiva) understood that it was all Māyā (trickery). Thereupon he adopted a very terrific form, dreadful on account of the clusters of flames.
6. On seeing his excessively terrifying form, the great Asuras being incapable of standing in front of him (fled) and resorted to all the ten quarters.
7. Then Rudra cursed the two Rākṣasas Śuṃbha and Niśuṃbha thus: “You who fled away from the battle with me, shall be killed by Gaurī.”
8. Again Jalandhara showered sharp arrows in quick succession. At that time the vast surface of the earth was covered by darkness due to the (numerous) arrows (so discharged).
9. By the time Rudra quickly cut off the mass of his arrows, that powerful demon immediately hit the bull with an iron club.
10. On account of that blow, the bull turned away from the battlefield. Though it was dragged and pulled by Rudra, it did not stay on the battlegrounds.
11. Thereupon Rudra became excessively infuriated. He adopted a highly dreadful physical form. With great velocity he hurled the discus Sudaraśana that had the refulgence of the Sun.
12. Burning heaven and earth, it rapidly descended on the earth and severed his (Jalandhara’s) head with huge large eyes from his body.
13-14a. His body came with a thudding sound upon the surface of the earth when it fell from the chariot. A refulgence issued forth from his body and it merged in Rudra. The refulgence that had issued forth from the body of Vṛndā got merged into Gaurī.
14b-16. Then the Devas beginning with Brahmā , with eyes beaming like full-blown lotuses due to delight, bowed down their heads before Rudra and spoke of the action of Viṣṇu.
Devas said :
O Mahādeva , Devas have been rescued from the fear arising from the enemies. But a new development has taken place. What shall we do in that respect? Viṣṇu has become deluded by the beauty of Vṛndā, He stands enchanted.
Īśvara said :
17. O Devas, in order to dispel the delusion of Viṣṇu, go and seek refuge in Māyā, the Mohinī (Enchantress) worthy of being sought shelter in. She will do your work.
Nārada said :
18. After saying this the Lord vanished along with all the Bhūtas and the Gaṇas . The Devas then eulogized Mūlaprakṛti (Primordial Prakṛti ) fond of her devotees.
Devas said :
19. We bow down to that Mūlaprakṛti from whom the guṇas , Sattva , Rajas , and Tamas , originate and then cause the creation, sustenance and annihilation (of the universe) and at whose will this universe extends and causes its existence and non-existence.
20. We bow down to that Prakṛti which has been said to have twenty-three different manifestations (evolutes or Tattvas ?), which is the greatest being that is established in the entire universe, and whose form and activities are not known to even the three foolish Devas.
21. We bow down to that Mūlaprakṛti who is fond of her devotees. Those Puruṣas who have devotion to her do not meet with poverty, fear, delusion, defeat etc.
Nārada said :
22. Poverty, delusion and misery never touch that person who reads and recites this prayer with fully concentrated mind during the three junctions (i.e. morning, noon and at dusk).
23. Even as those Devas were eulogizing thus, they saw a mass of splendour spreading in the firmament. Flames spread in all the quarters and the intervening spaces.
24-25. From its middle all of them heard the speech spreading in (i.e. emanating from) the firmament.
Śakti said :
I alone stand in three different forms characterized by the three Guṇas. I am Gaurī, Lakṣmī and Svarā characterized by the Guṇas of Rajas, Sattva and Tamas respectively. Therefore go to them, O Suras , they will do your work.
Nārada said :
26. Even as the Devas stood listening to this, with surprise evident in their beaming eyes, that refulgence vanished, O king.
27. On being urged by those words (of Śakti ), all those Devas went to Gaurī, Lakṣmī and Svarā and bowed down with great devotion.
28. On seeing the Suras bowing down, those deities, fond of devotees, gave them the seeds and spoke these words, O king.
The Devīs said :
29. Sow these seeds in the place where Viṣṇu is present. Then you will succeed in your work.
Nārada said :
30. The groups of Suras and Siddhas took those seeds and scattered them on the earth where Viṣṇu always stays (stayed) following Vṛndā without happiness (in misery).
Complete chapter-aligned witnesses. Sanskrit Wikisource page 23003, revision 410648 (2025-11-14T15:57:09Z). English is G. V. Tagare’s complete translation, controlled against its chapter page at https://www.wisdomlib.org/hinduism/book/the-skanda-purana/d/doc371664.html and the archival publication witness. The witnesses are aligned at chapter level; no unsupported verse-by-verse equivalence is asserted.