Brahma Purana — Chapter 145
BrP 145.1
मार्कण्डेयं नाम तीर्थं सर्वपापविमोचनम् सर्वक्रतुफलं पुण्यम् अघौघविनिवारणम् ॥
mārkaṇḍeyaṃ nāma tīrthaṃ sarvapāpavimocanam sarvakratuphalaṃ puṇyam aghaughavinivāraṇam //
There is a holy ford named Mārkaṇḍeya, which releases from all sins, meritorious, (yielding) the fruit of all sacrifices, warding off floods of guilt.
AI translation rendered from the Sanskrit, not a published edition
BrP 145.2
तस्य प्रभावं वक्ष्यामि शृणु नारद यत्नतः मार्कण्डेयो भरद्वाजो वसिष्ठो ऽत्रिश् च गौतमः ॥
tasya prabhāvaṃ vakṣyāmi śṛṇu nārada yatnataḥ mārkaṇḍeyo bharadvājo vasiṣṭho 'triś ca gautamaḥ //
I shall tell its power; listen attentively, Nārada. Mārkaṇḍeya, Bharadvāja, Vasiṣṭha, Atri and Gautama,
AI translation rendered from the Sanskrit, not a published edition
BrP 145.3
याज्ञवल्क्यश् च जाबालिर् मुनयो ऽन्ये ऽपि नारद एते शास्त्रप्रणेतारो वेदवेदाङ्गपारगाः ॥
yājñavalkyaś ca jābālir munayo 'nye 'pi nārada ete śāstrapraṇetāro vedavedāṅgapāragāḥ //
and Yājñavalkya and Jābāli, and other sages too, Nārada — these composers of treatises, who had mastered the Vedas and the Vedic auxiliaries,
AI translation rendered from the Sanskrit, not a published edition
BrP 145.4
पुराणन्यायमीमांसाकथासु परिनिष्ठिताः मिथः समूचुर् विद्वांसो मुक्तिं प्रति यथामति ॥
purāṇanyāyamīmāṃsākathāsu pariniṣṭhitāḥ mithaḥ samūcur vidvāṃso muktiṃ prati yathāmati //
Well versed in the Purāṇas, in logic, in Mīmāṃsā and in (sacred) narratives, those learned men spoke together, each according to his own view, concerning liberation.
AI translation rendered from the Sanskrit, not a published edition
BrP 145.5
केचिज् ज्ञानं प्रशंसन्ति केचित् कर्म तथोभयम् एवं विवदमानास् ते माम् ऊचुर् उभयं मतम् ॥
kecij jñānaṃ praśaṃsanti kecit karma tathobhayam evaṃ vivadamānās te mām ūcur ubhayaṃ matam //
Some praise knowledge, some action, and some both alike; disputing thus, they came to me, and I told them that both are (my) view.
AI translation rendered from the Sanskrit, not a published edition
BrP 145.6
मदीयं तु मतं ज्ञात्वा ययुश् चक्रगदाधरम् तस्य चापि मतं ज्ञात्वा ऋषयस् ते महौजसः ॥
madīyaṃ tu mataṃ jñātvā yayuś cakragadādharam tasya cāpi mataṃ jñātvā ṛṣayas te mahaujasaḥ //
But having learned my view, they went to the bearer of the discus and mace; and having learned his view too, those sages of great vigor —
AI translation rendered from the Sanskrit, not a published edition
BrP 145.7
पुनर् विवदमानास् ते शंकरं प्रष्टुम् उद्यताः गङ्गायां च भवं पूज्य तम् एवार्थं शशंसिरे ॥
punar vivadamānās te śaṃkaraṃ praṣṭum udyatāḥ gaṅgāyāṃ ca bhavaṃ pūjya tam evārthaṃ śaśaṃsire //
disputing once more, set out to ask Śaṃkara; and having worshipped Bhava on the Gaṅgā, they laid that very matter before him.
AI translation rendered from the Sanskrit, not a published edition
BrP 145.8
कर्मणस् तु प्रधानत्वम् उवाच त्रिपुरान्तकः क्रियारूपं च तज् ज्ञानं क्रिया सैव तद् उच्यते ॥
karmaṇas tu pradhānatvam uvāca tripurāntakaḥ kriyārūpaṃ ca taj jñānaṃ kriyā saiva tad ucyate //
The destroyer of Tripura declared the primacy of action: that knowledge too has the form of activity, (and so) it is called action itself.
AI translation rendered from the Sanskrit, not a published edition
BrP 145.9
तस्मात् सर्वाणि भूतानि कर्मणा सिद्धिम् आप्नुयुः कर्मैव विश्वतोव्यापि तदृते नास्ति किंचन ॥
tasmāt sarvāṇi bhūtāni karmaṇā siddhim āpnuyuḥ karmaiva viśvatovyāpi tadṛte nāsti kiṃcana //
"Therefore all beings would attain success through action; action alone pervades everywhere, and without it there is nothing at all.
AI translation rendered from the Sanskrit, not a published edition
BrP 145.10
विद्याभ्यासो यज्ञकृतिर् योगाभ्यासः शिवार्चनम् सर्वं कर्मैव नाकर्मी प्राणी क्वाप्य् अत्र विद्यते ॥
vidyābhyāso yajñakṛtir yogābhyāsaḥ śivārcanam sarvaṃ karmaiva nākarmī prāṇī kvāpy atra vidyate //
The study of sacred learning, the performance of sacrifice, the practice of yoga, the worship of Śiva — all this is action alone; nowhere here is there found a living being without action.
AI translation rendered from the Sanskrit, not a published edition
BrP 145.11
कर्मैव कारणं तस्माद् अन्यद् उन्मत्तचेष्टितम् ऋषीणां यत्र संवादो यत्र देवो महेश्वरः ॥
karmaiva kāraṇaṃ tasmād anyad unmattaceṣṭitam ṛṣīṇāṃ yatra saṃvādo yatra devo maheśvaraḥ //
Therefore action alone is the cause; anything else is the behavior of a madman." Where the sages' colloquy took place, where the god Maheśvara
AI translation rendered from the Sanskrit, not a published edition
BrP 145.12
चकार निर्णयं सर्वं कर्मणावाप्यते नृभिः मार्कण्डं मुख्यतः कृत्वा ततो मार्कण्डम् उच्यते ॥
cakāra nirṇayaṃ sarvaṃ karmaṇāvāpyate nṛbhiḥ mārkaṇḍaṃ mukhyataḥ kṛtvā tato mārkaṇḍam ucyate //
made the entire determination that (all) is obtained by men through action — having made Mārkaṇḍa foremost, that (place) is thence called Mārkaṇḍa.
AI translation rendered from the Sanskrit, not a published edition — the model flagged this verse as uncertain
BrP 145.13
तीर्थम् ऋषिगणाकीर्णं गङ्गाया उत्तरे तटे पितॄणां पावनं पुण्यं स्मरणाद् अपि सर्वदा ॥
tīrtham ṛṣigaṇākīrṇaṃ gaṅgāyā uttare taṭe pitṝṇāṃ pāvanaṃ puṇyaṃ smaraṇād api sarvadā //
(It is) a sacred ford thronged with hosts of sages, on the northern bank of the Gaṅgā, purifying for the ancestors, meritorious always even through remembrance (of it).
AI translation rendered from the Sanskrit, not a published edition
BrP 145.14
तत्राष्टौ नवतिस् तात तीर्थान्य् आह जगन्मयः वेदेन चापि तत् प्रोक्तम् ऋषयो मेनिरे च तत् ॥
tatrāṣṭau navatis tāta tīrthāny āha jaganmayaḥ vedena cāpi tat proktam ṛṣayo menire ca tat //
There, my dear, the one who consists of the world declared ninety-eight sacred fords; and that was proclaimed by the Veda too, and the sages assented to it.
AI translation rendered from the Sanskrit, not a published edition