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.'
मृत्युना सह संमन्त्र्य नैमिषारण्यवासिनः सर्वे त्यक्त्वा स्वाश्रमं तं शमित्रा सह नारद
After consulting with Death, all the residents of Naimiṣāraṇya, along with the subduer of Death, left their hermitages, O Nārada.
अग्निमात्रम् उपादाय त्यक्त्वा पात्रादिकं तु यत् क्रतुनिष्पत्तये जग्मुर् गौतमीं प्रति सत्वराः
Taking only the sacred fire and abandoning their vessels and other items, they quickly went toward the Gautamī river for the completion of the sacrifice.
तत्र स्नात्वा महेशानं रक्षणायोपतस्थिरे कृताञ्जलिपुटास् ते तु तुष्टुवुस् त्रिदशेश्वरम्
There, after bathing, they approached the great lord for protection; with joined palms, they praised the lord of the gods.
यो लीलया विश्वम् इदं चकार धाता विधाता भुवनत्रयस्य यो विश्वरूपः सदसत्परो यः सोमेश्वरं तं शरणं व्रजामः
He who playfully created this universe, who is the creator and ordainer of the three worlds, who is of universal form and beyond existence and non-existence—to that lord of Soma we take refuge.
इच्छामात्रेण यः सर्वं हन्ति पाति करोति च तम् अहं त्रिदशेशानं शरणं यामि शंकरम्
I seek refuge in Śaṃkara, the Lord of the gods, who, by mere will, destroys, protects, and creates all things.
महानलं महाकायं महानागविभूषणम् महामूर्तिधरं देवं शरणं यामि शंकरम्
I seek refuge in Śaṃkara, the god of great fire, of vast form, adorned with the great serpent, who bears the mighty form.
ततः प्रोवाच भगवान् मृत्यो का प्रीतिर् अस्तु ते
Then the blessed Lord spoke: 'May you have satisfaction, O Mṛtyu.'
राक्षसेभ्यो भयं घोरम् आपन्नं त्रिदशेश्वर यज्ञम् अस्मांश् च रक्षस्व यावत् सत्त्रं समाप्यते
O Lord of the gods, terrible fear has arisen from the Rākṣasas; protect the sacrifice and us until the rite is completed.
तथा चकार भगवांस् त्रिनेत्रो वृषभध्वजः शमित्रा मृत्युना सत्त्रम् ऋषीणां पूर्णतां ययौ
Thus did the blessed three-eyed, bull-bannered Lord act; with Mṛtyu as ally, the sacrifice of the sages reached completion.
हविषां भागधेयाय आजग्मुर् अमराः क्रमात् तान् अवोचन् मुनिगणाः संक्षुब्धा मृत्युना सह
The immortals came in order for their share of the offerings; the hosts of sages, agitated along with Mṛtyu, addressed them.