The Shiva Purana
by J. L. Shastri | 1950 | 616,585 words
This page relates “march of the victorious lord shiva” as found in the Shiva-purana, which, in Hinduism, represents one of the eighteen Mahapuranas. This work eulogizes Lord Shiva as the supreme deity, besides topics such as cosmology and philosophy. It is written in Sanskrit and claims to be a redaction of an original text consisting of 100,000 metrical verses.
Disclaimer: These are translations of Sanskrit texts and are not necessarily approved by everyone associated with the traditions connected to these texts. Consult the source and original scripture in case of doubt.
Chapter 33 - March of The Victorious Lord Śiva
[Sanskrit text for this chapter is available]
Sanatkumāra said:—
1. On hearing those words of the emissary, the infuriated emperor of the gods, Śiva spoke to Vīrabhadra and other Gaṇas.
Śiva said.
2-3. “O Vīrabhadra, O Nandin, O eight Bhairavas,[1] the frontier guards,[2] let the Gaṇas start along with my sons. at my bidding. Let those strong ones be ready and fully equipped with weapons. Let Bhadrakālī start with her army for the war. I start just now for slaying Śaṅkhacūḍa”.
Sanatkumāra said:—
4. Having ordered thus, lord Śiva started along with his army. His delighted heroic Gaṇas followed him.
5. In the meantime Kārttikeya and Gaṇeśa, the overall generals of the army, came near Śiva joyously, fully equipped with weapons and ready for war.
6-9. The leading chiefs of the Gaṇas were Vīrabhadra, Nandin, Mahākāla, Subhadraka, Viśālākṣa, Bāṇa, Piṅgalākṣa, Vikampana, Virūpa, Vikṛti, Maṇibhadra, Bāṣkala, Kapila Dīrghadaṃṣṭra, Vikara, Tāmralocana, Kālaṅkara, Balībhadra, Kālajihva, Kuṭīcara, Balonmatta, Raṇaślāghya, Durjaya, Durgama and others. I shall enumerate the number of Gaṇas they had. Listen attentively.
10. Śaṅkhakarṇa the suppressor of enemies went, accompanied by a crore Gaṇas; Kekarākṣa went with ten crores and Vikṛta with eight crores.
11. Viśākha with sixty four crores; Pāriyātrika with nine crores; Sarvāntaka with six crores and the glorious Vikṛtānana too with six crores.
12. The chief of Gaṇas, Jālaka went with twelve crores; the glorious Samada seven and Dundubha with eight crores.
13. Karālākṣa went with five crores; the excellent Sandāraka with six crores; Kunduka and Kuṇḍaka each went with crores of Gaṇas.
14. The leader of Gaṇas, the most excellent of all, Viṣṭambha, went with eight crores Pippala and Sannāda went with a thousand crores.
15. Āveśana went with eight crores; Candratāpana with eight crores; Mahākeśa the chief of Gaṇas with a thousand crores.
16. The heroic Kuṇḍin and the auspicious Parvataka went with twelve crores each; Kāla, Kālaka and Mahākāla with a hundred crores each.
17. Agnika went with a hundred crores, Agnimukha with a crore, Āditya and Ghanāvaha with half a crore.
18. Sannāha and Kumuda went with a hundred crores each; Amogha, Kokila and Sumantraka with a hundred crores each.
19. Kākapāda and Santānaka went with sixty crores each: Mahābala with nine crores and Madhu Piṅgala with five crores.
20. Nīla, Deveśa and Pūrṇabhadra each went with ninety crores; the powerful Caturvaktra with seven crores.
21. With thousands, hundreds and twenties of crores many heroes came there to take part in that festival of War.
22. Vīrabhadra came there with a thousand crores of Bhūtas, three crores of Pramathas and sixty-four crores of Lomajas.
23. Kāṣṭhārūḍha with sixty four crores and Sukeśa and Vṛṣabha too similarly. The honourable Virūpākṣa and Sanātana went with sixty-four crores.
24-26. Tālaketu, Ṣaḍāsya, the valorous Pañcāsya, Samvartaka, Caitra, Laṅkulīśa Svayamprabhu, Lokāntaka, Dīptātman, lord Daityāntaka, lord Bhṛṅgīriṭi, the glorious Devadevapriya, Aśani, Bhānuka, Kaṅkāla, Kālaka, Kāla, Nandin and Sarvāntaka each went with sixty-four crores.
27. These and other leading Gaṇas, powerful and innumerable started lovingly to fight fearlessly with Śaṅkhacūḍa.
28. All of them had thousand arms, matted hair for their crowns, and crescent moon for embellishment. They had blue necks and three eyes.
29. They wore Rudrākṣas as ornaments. They had smeared their bodies with fine Bhasma. They were decorated with necklaces, earrings, bracelets, coronets and other ornaments.
30. They resembled Brahmā, Indra and Viṣṇu. They had the attributes of Aṇimā[3] etc. They were as refulgent as a crore suns. They were efficient in warfare.
31. O sage, some of them were the residents of the earth; some of the Pātāla, some of the sky and some of the seven heavens[4].
32. O celestial sage, why shall I dilate? All the Śivagaṇas, residents of different regions went to fight with the Dānavas.
33-35. The eight Bhairavas[5] the terrible eleven Rudras,[6] the eight Vasus,[7] the twelve Ādityas,[8] Indra, the fire god, the moon, Viśvakarman, the Aśvins, Kubera, Yama, Nirṛti, Nalakūbara, Vāyu, Varuṇa, Budha, Maṅgala, the other planets and the valorous Kāmadeva went with lord Śiva.
36-37. Ugradaṇḍa, Ugradaṃṣṭra, Koraṭa and Koṭabha too went. The great goddess Bhadrakālī herself with hundred arms was seated in an aerial chariot studded with gems. She was wearing a red cloth and a red garland. She had smeared red unguents over her body.
38. She was dancing, laughing and singing in a sweet voice joyously. She was offering protection to her own people and striking terror to the enemies.
39-44. Her tongue was a yojana long and terrible. She bore conch, discus, mace, lotus, sword, leather shield, bows, arrows, skull of circular shape, a yojana in width and majestic in appearance, a trident that touched the sky, a yojana long spear, iron club, threshing rod, thunderbolt, sword, a thick shield, the miraculous weapons of Viṣṇu, Varuṇa, Vāyu, Nārāyaṇa, Gandharva, Brahmā, Garuḍa, Parjanya, Paśupati, Parvata, and Maheśvara, Nāgapāśa, Jṛṃbhaṇāstra, the Mahāvīra, the Saura, the Kālakāla and the Mahānala weapons, the staff of Yama, the Sammohana, the divine weapon called Samartha. Many such and other divine weapons she held in her hands.
45. She came and stood there with three crores of Yoginīs and three crores of terrible Ḍākinīs.
46. Bhūtas, Pretas, Piśācas, Kūṣmāṇḍas, Brahmarākṣasas, Vetālas, Yakṣas, Kinnaras and Rākṣasas too came there.
47. Skanda was surrounded by these all. He bowed to Śiva and at his bidding stayed near his father to assist him.
48. The fearless, fierce Śiva gathered his armies and went to fight Śaṅkhacūḍa.
49. The great god stationed himself at the foot of a beautiful Banyan tree on the banks of the river Candrabhāgā,
[9] for the emancipation of the gods.
Footnotes and references:
[1]:
See Note 255 P. 948.
[2]:
Kṣetrapālas are tutelary deities whose number is given as fortynine.
[4]:
The concept of seven heavens is not peculiar to the Purāṇas alone, it is found in the Semitic and Christian sacred lore as well.
[5]:
[6]:
Eleven Rudras are regarded as inferior manifestations of Śiva. They are variously named in different Purāṇas. See Note 127 P. 138.
[7]:
Vasus, a class of deities, are rather Vedic personifications of natural phenomena. They are eight in number āp (Water) dhruva (pole-star), soma (moon), dharā (earth), anila (wind), anala (fire), prabhāsa (dawn) and pratyūṣa (light). See Śiva-purāṇa, Vājasaneyisaṃhitā (of Śuklayajurveda) 24. 101 and Note 163 P. 162.
[8]:
Ādityas are twelve in number: etc. They are variously named in the Purāṇas.
[9]:
Candrabhāgā, (Mod. Chenab, Ptolemy’s Sandabaga) rises from the foot of the Himalayas in two rivulets Chandrā and Bhāgā which join at Tandi. The joint stream is known as Chandrabhāgā. See Note 237 P. 235.