Chapter 45 - The Efficacy of Kumudvati

[Sanskrit text for this chapter is available]

Note: After claiming every important sacred place to be present in this city the name Kumudvatī is explained as ‘The city full of blooming lotus-ponds’ (vide verses 25-30)

1. Listen attentively, O Vyāsa, to the story that is extremely destructive of sins, explaining how this city Padmāvatī became Kumudvatī. I shall narrate exactly as Lomaśa narrated it to me.

Lomaśa said:

2. Listen, O dear one. A very meritorious city was seen by me. Once in the course of my pilgrimage, I went to Kuśasthalī, a holy place that is the most guarded of all worthy of being guarded, where Hara abides.

3. The mere sight thereof removes the sin of Brāhmaṇa’s slaughter. (In that city) wherever Brāhmaṇas reside they loudly chanted the Vedic hymns.

4. Ṛtviks, expert in the performance of rituals, and illustrious sages perform various kinds of Yajñas with great concentration.

5. So also the chaste wives of those sages attend upon them. Ten (incarnations) are famous like Viṣṇu and all of them reside there.

6-15. The various gods, demigods etc. attend upon and perform the Upāsanā (adoration) of the Consort of Umā, the Lord of the chiefs of Devas. They are the eleven Rudras, twelve Arkas (Suns), eight Vasus, thirteen well-known Viśvedevas, eight elephants of the quarters, fourteen Manus, the whole group of Maruts with Indra as their leader, Gandharvas, Apsaras, Kinnaras, Serpents and Rākṣasas, Siddhas, ascetics, O dear one. All these are present there itself: The eight Bhairavas, four sons of Pavana (Wind-god), six Vināyakas and twenty-four Devīs. These are mentioned as the groups of gods and the groups of Rudras.

Brahmā, the most excellent of all who know the Vedas, Marīci, Kaśyapa and others, Dakṣa the chief of the partiarchs, Diti, the mothers of Devas, cows, chief of whom is Surabhi (Kāmadhenu), the mobile and immobile beings, all the Tīrthas, rivers, streams and rivulets, all the holy spots that are excessively meritorious, seven cities, three Grāmas (villages), nine Araṇyas (forests), nine Ūṣaras (arid lands), fourteen secret doorways of salvation over the earth, four oceans, different kinds of Ratnas, chaste holy women of virtue, Brāhmaṇa-sages free from impurities, royal sages (saintly kings), quiescent Brāhmaṇas, masters of the Vedas, the Vedas, the Purāṇas, the Smṛti texts, the Gāthās, the Gītis, the Prahelikās (riddles)—all these performed the adoration of the Consort of Umā.

16. Merely at the sight thereof, I became devoid of feverish excitement and impurities, long-lived and free from old age and ailments due to prolonged penance.

17. I took my holy bath in all the Tīrthas, became pure and composed. My mind became pleased and I was averse to all kinds of sins.

18-24. On seeing the pure Padmāvatī that fulfils all cherished desires, I became delighted. No sick or a grief-stricken man is to be seen there. There is neither the miserable nor the impoverished, neither the foolish nor the lecherous without control over the sense-organs. No one inimical to others is seen among men or the brutish creatures. All of them are friendly to one another, rendering help to one another. All had mental restraint and control over the sense-organs. All were calm and quiet. All were ready as instructors of learning.

The gardens are beautiful; the forests and the parks are splendid. The mansions are very bright and they appear splendid in their beautiful rows. They shine with golden domes studded with various kinds of gems of great splendour. They reverberate with echoes of festivities and musical instruments and vocal songs.

It is there that the moon-crested Lord Śaṅkara wearing the hide and smearing his body with the ashes of the cremation ground as with unguents, resides with Umā permanently. The city shone with full rays with the entire digits of the moon always. There is no darkness, no dark half of a month and no new-moon day.

25-27. It is always in full bloom like Śyāmā (middle-aged beautiful woman) endowed with beauty and youth. All the quarters appear white and bright with moonlight over the mansions, windows, doorways, inner apartments, bowers, mountain caves and dark cavities, beautiful hermitages, beautiful forests and parks, domestic ponds and lakes and charming halls everywhere.

28. The lakes shine in full bloom with Kumudvatīs (lily ponds) like the firmament in autumn with groups of luminaries spread everywhere.

29. The rivers, all the lakes, the tanks, wells and puddles became over-spread with lilies and the earth appeared to be full of moon.

30. Since for all times the city was full of lilies, the city of Padmāvatī became Kumudvatī.

31-33. If men perform Śrāddha rites in the city of Kumuḍvatī

with concentration, their ancestors will never slip down from heaven. Everything given to the Pitṛs, the Śrāddha performed unto them shall be of everlasting benefit. The holy bath, Dāna, Homa and propitiation of the deities, whatever holy rite is performed there, shall be of everlasting benefit. Thus, O Vyāsa, the eternal city became Kumudvatī.