दीर्घायुर्भव तैरुक्तः स बालस्तुष्टितत्परैः
He was told by them, 'May you have a long life,' and the boy was pleased by their devotion.
तेषां मध्येंऽगिरानाम दिव्यज्ञानसमन्वितः
Among them was one named Aṅgirā, endowed with divine knowledge.
अथ तानब्रवीत्सर्वान्मुनीन्किंचित्सविस्मयः
Then, with some wonder, he addressed all the sages.
गमिष्यति कुमारोऽयं निधनं पंचमे दिने 7.3.41.
This boy will meet his end on the fifth day.
यथाऽयं चिरजीवी स्यात्तथा नीतिर्विधीयताम्
Let a means be devised so that he may live long.
बालकं तं समादाय ब्रह्मलोकं गतास्तदा
Then, taking the boy, they went to the world of Brahmā.
तेषामनंतरं तेन बालके नाभिवादितः
Immediately after them, the boy did not greet him.
ततः सप्तर्षयो हृष्टाः स्वचित्ते नृपसत्तम
Then the seven sages, delighted in their hearts, O best of kings—
अर्बुदं पर्वतं नाम तस्य तीर्थेषु वै गताः
Those who went to the holy places of the mountain called Arbuda,
अथागत्य द्रुतं दूराद्बालेनानेन वंदिताः पंचमे दिवसेऽस्यापि मृत्युर्देव भविष्यति
Then, having arrived quickly from afar, honored by this boy, on the fifth day, O god, his death will also occur.
यथा वयं त्वया सार्द्धमसत्या न चतुर्मुख
Just as we, together with you, are not false, O Four-faced One,
अथ ब्रह्मा प्रहृष्टात्मा दृष्ट्वा तं मुनिदारकम्
Then Brahmā, his heart gladdened, upon seeing that young sage,
ततस्ते मुनयो हृष्टास्तमादाय गृहं प्रति 7.3.41.
Then those delighted sages, taking him, went towards their home.
अथ तस्य पिता तत्र मृकंडो मुनिसत्तमः
Then his father, the eminent sage Mṛkaṇḍu, was there.
हा पुत्रपुत्र करुणं रुदित्वा धर्मवत्सलः
Alas, my son, my son! he cried out in grief, full of righteousness.
अकृत्वापि क्रियाः कार्याः कथं मृत्युवशं गतः
How has he, without even performing the necessary rites, fallen under the power of death?
एवं विलपतस्तस्य बहुधा नृपसत्तम
Thus, as he lamented in many ways, O best of kings,
अथासौ प्रययौ बालः प्रहृष्टेनांतरात्मना
Then that boy, with a heart filled with joy, departed.
पप्रच्छांकं समारोप्य चिरागमन कारणम् दर्शनं ब्रह्मलोकस्य पद्मयोनेर्वरं तथा
He asked, after seating him on his lap, the reason for his long absence and also the boon of seeing Brahmā’s world, the lotus-born.
तस्मात्सत्यं मदर्थे ते व्येत्वसौ मानसो ज्वरः
Therefore, for my sake, speak the truth, so that this mental anguish may subside.
सोऽहमाराधयिष्यामि तथैव चतुराननम्
I will worship the Four-faced One in the same way.
अमृतस्रावि तद्वाक्यं श्रुत्वा पुत्रस्य स द्विजः
Hearing those nectar-like words of his son, that twice-born one,
मार्क्कंडोऽपि द्रुतं गत्वा रम्य मर्बुदपर्वतम् 7.3.41.
Mārkaṇḍa also quickly went to the delightful Arbuda mountain.
तस्याश्रमपदे पुण्ये श्रावणे मासि पार्थिव पितृमेधफलं तस्य सकलं स्यादसंशयम्
In that sacred hermitage, in the month of Śrāvaṇa, O king, the full fruit of ancestral rites will certainly be obtained there.
ऋषियोगेन यस्तत्र तर्पयेद्ब्राह्मणोत्तमान्
Whoever, through the practice of the sages, satisfies the foremost Brāhmaṇas there,
यः स्नानं कुरुते तत्र सम्यक्छ्रद्धासमन्वितः
Whoever bathes there, endowed with proper faith,
ततो गच्छेन्नृपश्रेष्ठ लिंगं पापहरं परम्
Then, O best of kings, one should go to the supreme linga that removes sin.
तस्मिन्स्पृष्टेऽथ वा दृष्टे पूजिते च विशेषतः
When it is touched, seen, or especially worshipped,
सर्वपापविनिर्मुक्तः शिवलोके महीयते
One becomes free from all sins and is honored in Shiva's realm.
इति श्रीस्कांदे महापुराण एकाशीतिसाहस्र्यां संहितायां सप्तमे प्रभासखंडे तृतीयेऽर्बुदखण्ड उद्दालकेश्वरमाहात्म्यवर्णनंनाम द्विचत्वारिंशोऽध्यायः
Thus ends the forty-second chapter named 'The Description of the Glory of Uddalakeshvara' in the third Arbudakhanda of the seventh Prabhasa section of the eighty-one-thousand-verse Skanda Mahapurana.