Śarkarācala Dāna Mantra
Śarkarācala Dāna Mantra, “the mantra of the gift of the sugar mountain”
The Śarkarācala dāna mantra is the verses that the giver says when giving the Śarkarācala, the mountain of sugar. They praise the mountain as the essence of saubhāgya and amṛta, born of the drops that fell while the devas drank amṛta, and made of the sugar that came forth from Kāmadeva‘s bow, and ask it to save the giver from the ocean of saṃsāra. Śrī Kṛshṇa gives them in the Uttara Parva of the Bhavishya Purāṇa.
The setting
Śrī Kṛshṇa tells the king of the supreme gift of the Śarkarācala, by which Bhagavān Vishṇu, Rudra and Sūrya are always satisfied. The best mountain is of eight bhāras of sugar, the middle of four and the least of two; one of small means may make it of one bhāra or even half. The four flanking mountains are made of a quarter of the main one. All is prepared as for the mountain of grain: a golden image of the deva on the summit, with golden mandāra, pārijāta and kalpavṛksha trees; Kāmadeva under a kadamba on Mandarācala, Bhagavān Vishṇu under a jambū on Gandhamādana, a golden haṃsa facing east on Vipulācala, and a golden cow facing south. After the invocation and the yajña, the giver says the mantras and gives the main mountain to the guru and the four flanking ones to the ṛtvijas.
The mantra
सौभाग्यामृतसारोऽयं परमः शर्करायुतः ॥
यस्मादानन्दकारी त्वं भव, शैलेन्द्र सर्वदा।
अमृतं पिखतां ये तु निष्पेतुर्भुवि शीकराः॥
देवानां तत्समुत्थोऽसि पाहि नः शर्कराचल।
मनोभवधनुर्मध्यादुद्भूता शर्करा यतः ॥
तन्मयोऽसि महाशैल पाहि संसारसागरात्।saubhāgyāmṛtasāro’yaṃ paramaḥ śarkarāyutaḥ ||
yasmād ānandakārī tvaṃ bhava śailendra sarvadā |
amṛtaṃ pikhatāṃ ye tu nishpetur bhuvi śīkarāḥ ||
devānāṃ tatsamuttho’si pāhi naḥ śarkarācala |
manobhavadhanurmadhyād udbhūtā śarkarā yataḥ ||
tanmayo’si mahāśaila pāhi saṃsārasāgarāt |Śailendra, king of mountains, this mountain made of sugar is the essence of saubhāgya and amṛta: so be ever a giver of delight to me. Śarkarācala, you arose from the drops that fell to the earth while the devas drank amṛta: so protect us. Mahāśaila, since sugar came forth from the middle of the bow of Manobhava (Kāmadeva), and you are made of it, save me from the ocean of saṃsāra.
Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Uttara Parva, Chapter 204
The phalaśruti
One who gives the mountain of sugar by this rule is freed of all pāpa and reaches Śivaloka. There, by the command of Bhagavān Vishṇu, he shines with those who depend on him, seated in a vimāna bright as the sun, moon and stars. After a hundred kalpas, for thirty thousand births, he lives on earth long-lived and free of disease, ruling all seven dvīpas. In every mountain gift the giver feeds people without grudging, eats food without salt as the guru directs, and himself has all the materials sent to the brāhmaṇa’s house.
Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Uttara Parva, Chapter 204
Sources
- Bhavishya Purāṇa, Uttara Parva, Chapter 204