शेषतीर्थम् इति ख्यातं सर्वकामप्रदायकम् तस्य रूपं प्रवक्ष्यामि यन् मया परिभाषितम्
It is known as Śeṣa-tīrtha, bestower of all desires; I will describe its form, as I have explained it.
शेषो नाम महानागो रसातलपतिः प्रभुः सर्वनागैः परिवृतो रसातलम् अथाभ्यगात्
Śeṣa, the great serpent, lord of Rasātala, surrounded by all serpents, entered Rasātala.
राक्षसा दैत्यदनुजाः प्रविष्टा ये रसातलम् तैर् निरस्तो भोगिपतिर् माम् उवाचाथ विह्वलः
The demons, offspring of Daityas and Danavas, who had entered Rasātala, expelled the lord of serpents; then, distressed, he spoke to me.
रसातलं त्वया दत्तं राक्षसानां ममापि च ते मे स्थानं न दास्यन्ति तस्मात् त्वां शरणं गतः
'You have given Rasātala to the demons and to me as well, but they will not grant me a place; therefore, I have come to you for refuge.'
ततो ऽहम् अब्रवं नागं गौतमीं याहि पन्नग तत्र स्तुत्वा महादेवं लप्स्यसे त्वं मनोरथम्
Then I said to the serpent, 'Go to the Gautamī. There, by praising Mahādeva, you will obtain your desired wish.'
नान्यो ऽस्ति लोकत्रितये मनोरथसमर्पकः मद्वाक्यप्रेरितो नागो गङ्गाम् आप्लुत्य यत्नतः कृताञ्जलिपुटो भूत्वा तुष्टाव त्रिदशेश्वरम्
There is no one in the three worlds who grants wishes; prompted by my words, the serpent, having bathed in the Gaṅgā with effort, joined his palms and praised the lord of the gods.
नमस् त्रैलोक्यनाथाय दक्षयज्ञविभेदिने आदिकर्त्रे नमस् तुभ्यं नमस् त्रैलोक्यरूपिणे
Salutations to the lord of the three worlds, the destroyer of Dakṣa's sacrifice, the prime creator; salutations to you, who embodies the three worlds.
नमः सहस्रशिरसे नमः संहारकारिणे सोमसूर्याग्निरूपाय जलरूपाय ते नमः
Salutations to the thousand-headed one, to the agent of dissolution; to you whose forms are moon, sun, fire, and water, salutations.
सर्वदा सर्वरूपाय कालरूपाय ते नमः पाहि शंकर सर्वेश पाहि सोमेश सर्वग जगन्नाथ नमस् तुभ्यं देहि मे मनसेप्सितम्
Always, salutations to you of all forms, to you who are time; protect, O Śaṅkara, lord of all, protect, O lord of Soma, all-pervading one, lord of the world, salutations to you; grant me my heart's desire.
ततो महेश्वरः प्रीतः प्रादान् नागेप्सितान् वरान् विनाशाय सुरारीणां दैत्यदानवरक्षसाम्
Then Maheśvara, pleased, granted the serpent the desired boons, for the destruction of the enemies of the gods—the Daityas, Dānavas, and Rākṣasas.
शेषाय प्रददौ शूलं जह्य् अनेनारिपुंगवान् ततः प्रोक्तः शिवेनासौ शेषः शूलेन भोगिभिः
He gave Śeṣa a trident, saying, 'With this, destroy the foremost of your enemies.' Then Śiva instructed Śeṣa, along with the serpents, regarding the trident.
रसातलम् अथो गत्वा निजघान रिपून् रणे निहत्य नागः शूलेन दैत्यदानवराक्षसान्
Then, going to Rasātala, the serpent slew his enemies in battle; with the trident, he killed the Daityas, Dānavas, and Rākṣasas.
न्यवर्तत पुनर् देवो यत्र शेषेश्वरो हरः पथा येन समायातो देवं द्रष्टुं स नागराट्
The god again turned back to the place where Śeṣa's lord, Hara, was; by the path he had come, the serpent king went to see the god.
रसातलाद् यत्र देवो बिलं तत्र व्यजायत तस्माद् बिलतलाद् यातं गाङ्गं वार्य् अतिपुण्यदम्
Where the god emerged from Rasātala, there a cave appeared; from the floor of that cave, the Ganges water, supremely holy, flowed forth.
तद् वारि गङ्गाम् अगमद् गङ्गायाः संगमस् ततः देवस्य पुरतश् चापि कुण्डं तत्र सुविस्तरम्
That water became the Ganges; from the confluence of the Ganges, before the god, there was also a wide pool.
नागस् तत्राकरोद् धोमं यत्र चाग्निः सदा स्थितः सोष्णं तद् अभवद् वारि गङ्गायास् तत्र संगमः
There the serpent performed a sacrifice, where fire always resides; thus, the water became warm, and there was the confluence with the Ganges.
देवदेवं समाराध्य नागः प्रीतो महायशाः रसातलं ततो ऽभीष्टं शिवात् प्राप्य तलं ययौ
Having worshipped the god of gods, the illustrious and pleased serpent obtained from Shiva the desired netherworld and went to that realm.
ततः प्रभृति तत् तीर्थं नागतीर्थम् उदाहृतम् सर्वकामप्रदं पुण्यं रोगदारिद्र्यनाशनम्
From that time, that sacred place has been called Nāgatīrtha, bestower of all desires, holy, and destroyer of disease and poverty.
आयुर्लक्ष्मीकरं पुण्यं स्नानदानाच् च मुक्तिदम् शृणुयाद् वा पठेद् भक्त्या यो वापि स्मरते तु तत्
It is holy, bestowing long life and prosperity, and grants liberation through bathing and giving; whoever listens to, recites, or even remembers it with devotion attains the same.
तीर्थं शेषेश्वरो यत्र यत्र शक्तिप्रदः शिवः एकविंशतितीर्थानाम् उभयोस् तत्र तीरयोः शतानि मुनिशार्दूल सर्वसंपत्प्रदायिनाम्
O best of sages, at that sacred place where Śeṣa is lord and Shiva grants power, there are hundreds of holy sites among the twenty-one tīrthas, all bestowers of every prosperity.
महानलम् इति ख्यातं वडवानलम् उच्यते महानलो यत्र देवो वडवा यत्र सा नदी
It is known as Mahānala, also called Vaḍavānala; where the great fire is the deity and the river is called Vaḍavā.
तत् तीर्थं पुत्र वक्ष्यामि मृत्युदोषजरापहम् पुरासन् नैमिषारण्ये ऋषयः सत्त्रकारिणः
O son, I will tell you about that sacred place, which removes the faults of death and old age; formerly, in Naimiṣāraṇya, the sages performed a great sacrificial session.
शमितारं च ऋषयो मृत्युं चक्रुस् तपस्विनः वर्तमाने सत्त्रयागे मृत्यौ शमितरि स्थिते
The sages, engaged in austerities, subdued death itself; while the sacrificial session was ongoing, death, thus subdued, remained present.
न ममार तदा कश्चिद् उभयं स्थास्नु जङ्गमम् विना पशून् मुनिश्रेष्ठ मर्त्यं चामर्त्यतां गतम्
At that time, no one died—whether stationary or moving beings—except for animals, O best of sages; mortals attained immortality.
ततस् त्रिविष्टपे शून्ये मर्त्ये चैवातिसंभृते मृत्युनोपेक्षिते देवा राक्षसान् ऊचिरे तदा
Then, when heaven was empty and the world was overfilled, and death was disregarded, the gods spoke to the demons.
गच्छध्वम् ऋषिसत्त्रं तन् नाशयध्वं महाध्वरम् इति देववचः श्रुत्वा प्रोचुस् ते राक्षसाः सुरान्
Go, destroy that great sacrifice of the sages—thus spoke the gods; hearing this command, the demons replied to the gods.
विध्वंसयामस् तं यज्ञम् अस्माकं किं फलं ततः प्रवर्तते विना हेतुं न कोपि क्वापि जातुचित्
We will destroy that sacrifice, but what benefit will come to us from this? Nowhere does anything ever arise without a cause.
देवा अप्य् असुरान् ऊचुर् यज्ञार्धं भवताम् अपि भवेद् एव ततो यान्तु ऋषीणां सत्त्रम् उत्तमम्
The gods said to the demons: 'Half the sacrifice shall be yours as well.' Thus, let them go to the great session of the sages.
ते श्रुत्वा त्वरिताः सर्वे यत्र यज्ञः प्रवर्तते जग्मुस् तत्र विनाशाय देववाक्याद् विशेषतः
Hearing this, all the demons quickly went to the place where the sacrifice was being performed, especially to destroy it, as instructed by the gods.
तज् ज्ञात्वा ऋषयो मृत्युम् आहुः किं कुर्महे वयम् आगता देववचनाद् राक्षसा यज्ञनाशिनः
Knowing this, the sages said to Death: 'What shall we do? The demons, destroyers of the sacrifice, have come by the command of the gods.'