दुःखशोकसमाविष्टः पीड्यमानो दिवानिशम् । कौंडिन्यस्याश्रमपदं प्राप्तः पुण्यागमात्क्वचित्
Overwhelmed by suffering and sorrow, tormented day and night, he once reached the hermitage of Kaundinya by the force of merit.
माधवे मासि जाह्नव्याः कृतस्नानं तपोधनम् । आससाद धृष्टबुद्धिः शोकभारेण पीडितः
In the month of Mādhava, he approached the sage, who had bathed in the Ganges, himself weighed down by the burden of grief.
तद्वस्त्रबिंदुस्पर्शेन गतपापो हताशुभः । कौंडिन्यस्याग्रतः स्थित्वा प्रत्युवाच कृतांजलि
By the touch of a drop from the sage’s garment, his sins and misfortunes were destroyed; standing before Kaundinya with joined palms, he spoke.
धृष्टबुद्धिरुवाच- भो भो ब्रह्मन्द्विजश्रेष्ठ दयां कृत्वा ममोपरि । येन पुण्यप्रभावेन मुक्तिर्भवति तद्वद
Dhṛṣṭabuddhi said: 'O best of Brahmins, show me compassion; tell me by what power of merit liberation may be attained.'
कौंडिन्य उवाच- शृणुष्वैकमनाभूत्वा येन पापक्षयस्तव । वैशाखस्य सिते पक्षे मोहिनी नाम विश्रुता
Kaundinya said: 'Listen with focused mind to that by which your sins are destroyed: in the bright fortnight of Vaiśākha, there is the renowned Ekādaśī called Mohinī.'
एकादशीव्रतं तस्याः कुरु मद्वाक्यनोदितः । मेरुतुल्यानि पापानि क्षयं गच्छंति देहिनाम्
'Observe the vow of Ekādaśī on that day as I instruct you; sins as great as Mount Meru are destroyed for embodied beings.'
बहुजन्मार्जितान्येषा मोहिनी समुपोषिता । इति वाक्यं मुनेः श्रुत्वा धृष्टबुद्धिः प्रसन्नधीः
'Mohinī, when properly observed, destroys sins accumulated over many births.' Hearing the sage’s words, Dhṛṣṭabuddhi became serene in mind.
व्रतं चकार विधिवत्कौंडिन्यस्योपदेशतः । कृते व्रते नृपश्रेष्ठ गतपापो बभूव सः
He performed the vow according to the instructions of Kaundinya; when the vow was completed, O best of kings, he became free from sin.
दिव्यदेहस्ततो भूत्वा गरुडोपरिसंस्थितः । जगाम वैष्णवं लोकं सर्वोपद्रव वर्जितम्
Then, having attained a divine body, he mounted Garuḍa and went to the world of Viṣṇu, free from all afflictions.
इतीदृशं रामचंद्र उत्तमं मोहिनी व्रतम् । नातः परतरं किंचित्त्रैलोक्ये सचराचरे
Thus, O Rāma, is the supreme Mohinī vow; in all the three worlds, there is nothing greater than this among moving and unmoving beings.
यज्ञादितीर्थदानानि कलां नार्हंति षोडशीम् । पठनाच्छ्रवणाद्राजन्गोसहस्र फलं लभेत्
Sacrifices, pilgrimages, and gifts do not equal even a sixteenth part; by reciting or hearing, one attains the fruit of a thousand cows.
इति श्रीपाद्मेमहापुराणे पंचपंचाशत्साहस्र्यां सहितायामुत्तरखंडे उमापतिनारदसंवादे वैशाखशुक्ले मोहन्येकादशीनाम एकोनपंचाशत्तमोऽध्यायः
Thus ends the forty-ninth chapter, named 'Mohinī Ekādaśī of the bright fortnight of Vaiśākha,' in the dialogue between Umāpati and Nārada, in the Uttarakhaṇḍa of the glorious Padma Mahāpurāṇa, comprising fifty-five thousand verses.
नारद उवाच- यमस्याराधनं ब्रूहि मद्धितार्थं सुरोत्तम । कथं न गम्यते देव नरेण नरकांतरे
Nārada said: O best of gods, tell me for my benefit the worship of Yama; how can a man avoid going to another hell, O Lord?
श्रूयते यमलोके तु सदा वैतरणी नदी । अनाधृष्यात्वपारा च दुस्तरा बहुशोणिता
It is heard that in the world of Yama there is always the river Vaitaraṇī, impossible to approach, boundless, difficult to cross, and filled with much blood.
दुस्तरा सर्वभूतानां सा कथं सुतरा भवेत् । भयमेतन्महादेव यमलोकं प्रति प्रभो
It is difficult for all beings to cross; how can it be easily crossed? This is my great fear, O Mahādeva, regarding the world of Yama, O Lord.
तस्य निर्मोचनार्थाय ब्रूहि कृत्यमशेषतः । भगवन्देवदेवेश कृपां कृत्वा ममोपरि
For the sake of liberation from that, tell me fully what should be done, O Lord of gods, showing your compassion upon me.
महादेव उवाच- द्वारवत्यां पुरा विप्र स्नातोऽहं लवणांभसि । ददृशे मुनिमायांतं मुद्गलं नाम वाडव
Mahādeva said: Once, O brāhmaṇa, I bathed in the salt ocean at Dvāravatī; there I saw the sage Mudgala approaching.
ज्वलंतमिवचादित्यं तपसा द्योततांगकम् । मां प्रणम्य मुनिः प्राह मुद्गलो विस्मयान्वितः
He shone like a blazing sun, his body radiant with austerity; after bowing to me, the sage Mudgala, filled with wonder, spoke.
मुद्गल उवाच- अकस्मान्मूर्च्छितो देव पतितोऽस्मि धरातले । प्रज्वलंति ममांगानि गृहीतो यमकिंकरैः
Mudgala said: O Lord, I suddenly lost consciousness and fell to the ground; my limbs were burning, and I was seized by Yama's attendants.
बलादाकृष्यमाणोऽहं पुरुषॐगुष्ठमात्रकः । बद्धो यमभटैर्गाढं नीतोऽस्मि शमनांतिकम्
Dragged by force, I became the size of a man's thumb; tightly bound by Yama's guards, I was led near the Lord of Death.
क्षणात्सभायां पश्यामि यमं पिंगललोचनम् । कृष्णमुखं महारौद्रं मृत्युव्याधिशतान्वितम्
In a moment, in the assembly, I saw Yama with tawny eyes, dark-faced, exceedingly terrible, surrounded by hundreds of diseases and death.
वातपित्त श्लेष्मदोषैर्मूर्तिमद्भिस्तु सेवितम् । कायशोषज्वरातंक स्फोटिका लूतकादिभिः
He was attended by forms embodying the faults of wind, bile, and phlegm, with emaciation, fever, afflictions, eruptions, and wasting diseases.
ज्वालांगमर्दशीर्षार्ति भगंदर बलक्षयैः । कंठमालाक्षिरोगैश्च मूत्रकृच्छ्रज्वरव्रणैः
With burning, body pain, head agony, fistula, loss of strength, throat tumors, eye diseases, painful urination, fever, and ulcers.
विमूर्च्छिका गलग्राह हृद्रोगैर्भूततस्करैः । इत्थं बहुविधै रौद्रैर्नानारूपैर्भयंकरैः
With fainting, throat constriction, heart diseases, spirits and thieves; thus, with many fierce and terrifying forms of various kinds.
कपालशिरोहस्तैश्च संग्रामे नरके तथा । राक्षसैर्दानवैर्घोरैरुपविष्टैः पुरः स्थितैः
With skulls, severed heads, and hands, in the hellish battlefield, with dreadful demons and rākṣasas, seated and standing before me.
धर्माधिकारिभिश्चात्र चित्रगुप्तादि लेखकैः । व्याघ्र सिंह वराहैश्च शिखासर्पैः सुदुर्द्धरैः
There were officers of justice, scribes like Citragupta, tigers, lions, boars, and hair-tufted serpents, extremely hard to overcome.
वृश्चिकैर्दंष्ट्रिभिर्भूतैः कीटकैर्मत्कुणादिभिः । वृक चित्रादि शुनकैः कंकैर्गृध्रैश्च जंबुकैः
With scorpions, fanged spirits, insects, beetles, wolves, strange dogs, herons, vultures, and jackals.
तस्करैर्भूतदारिद्रैर्मारिभिर्डाकिनीग्रहैः । मुक्तकेशैः श्वासकासैर्भ्रुकुटी कुटिलाननैः
With thieves, spirits of poverty, Māras, witches, wild-haired, with asthma and cough, frowning, with crooked faces.
बृहत्प्रतापैर्नोभीतैः शासकैः पापकर्मणाम् । यमः सभायां शुशुभे सेव्यमानः परिग्रहैः
Yama shone in his assembly, attended by formidable and fearless enforcers, rulers over those who commit evil deeds, surrounded by their retinues.
भीमाटविकजीवैश्च यथा व्यालांजनो गिरिः । ततो विश्वेश्वरः प्राह समयः किंकरान्प्रति
And with beings as fierce as wild forest-dwellers, like a mountain encircled by venomous creatures, then the Lord of all addressed his servants.