Skandapurana 15.5

Prahlāda said: / Then, O best of the twice-born, one should go to the Gomatī which rests in Kṛṣṇa, / by the mere sight of which one is freed from all sins; / freed from all sins, one attains union with Kṛṣṇa.

Which causes the destruction of the flood of misfortunes, which destroys all inauspiciousness, / which grants all desires to mortals—one should bow to the water of the Gomatī.

Which destroys great sins, which provides a refuge to the helpless, / attained by the power of past merits—one should bow to the water of the Gomatī.

The seers said: / O Lord of Daityas, we have a doubt; you ought to resolve it here. / What is this Gomatī, and by whom was she brought there, O highly intelligent one?

On account of what purpose did she reach here, the abode of Varuṇa (the ocean)? / O best of the devotees of the Blessed One, tell all this in detail.

Prahlāda said: / Formerly, when there was a single vast ocean and moving and unmoving things had perished, / Brahmā then arose from the navel-lotus of Viṣṇu.

Brahmā was instructed by the Lord: 'Create diverse living beings.' / Thus was the creator instructed by Hari for the purpose of creation.

Saying 'Very well', Brahmā then directed his mind toward creation. / From his mind he immediately created the Kumāras headed by Sanaka. / Brahmā spoke the word: 'My sons, create offspring.'

Hearing the word of Brahmā, they said with joined palms: / 'O Blessed Lord, we wish to see the form of the Blessed One, O master.

We will not follow the bond in the form of creation, which is hard to overcome.' / Having spoken thus, they all, the Kumāras headed by Sanaka, departed.

Proceeding to the western direction, on the shore of the ocean (lord of rivers and streams), / desiring to behold the radiant form of the Great Soul, / fixing their minds upon him, they performed supreme austerity.

After many thousands of years, when the Supporter of the Earth (Viṣṇu) was pleased, / splitting the waters, a radiant form arose, difficult to approach,

subduing many Daityas, shattering many [mystic] weapons, / shining with the brilliance of ten million suns, the thousand-spoked Sudarśana.

Seeing it, all the sons of Brahmā were amazed among themselves, / beholding the supreme, excellent weapon of the Blessed One.

Beholding them in that condition, a bodiless voice spoke: / 'O sons of Brahmā, the Blessed One will soon manifest himself.

Quickly prepare the arghya offering for honoring the Blessed One. / O twice-born, quickly propitiate the weapon of the Lord of the worlds.'

Hearing that speech from the sky, they praised Sudarśana.

The seers said: / O you who consist of light, homage to you; homage to you, the beloved of Hari! / O Sudarśana, homage to you, thousand-spoked, imperishable, immutable!

Homage to you whose form is the sun, homage to you whose form is Brahman! / Homage to you, the unfailing one; homage, homage to the discus!

Thus they worshipped [it] with flowers as well as unbroken grains of rice.

Having praised the beloved of Hari with various hymns, they bowed down. / Having then propitiated Sunābha, eager for the vision of the Lord,

they remembered in their minds the god Brahmā, their own father. / Knowing their thought, Brahmā then said to the Gaṅgā:

'Go quickly to the earth, O best of rivers, for the sake of Hari. / Because you go to the earth, O highly fortunate one, you are therefore greatly esteemed by me.

On earth your name will become very famous as Gomatī.

Following Vasiṣṭha, go quickly to the surface of the earth. / Following like a daughter follows her father, become the daughter of Vasiṣṭha.'

Saying 'Very well', that goddess set out for the abode of Varuṇa (the ocean). / Vasiṣṭha went ahead, and Gaṅgā followed behind him.

Seeing her accompanied by Vasiṣṭha, all the mortals / bowed to the highly fortunate one as she was going to the western ocean.

She manifested right there where those sages were staying, / who were desiring to see the four-armed form of Hari served by Śrī.

Seeing her who purifies the gods arriving as a follower of Vasiṣṭha, / they showered the highly fortunate one completely with flowers.

Having worshipped [her] with divine garlands, sweet fragrances, incense, scents, and unbroken grains of rice, / with joyful minds, they said, 'Excellent, excellent!'

Seeing Vasiṣṭha going ahead, the twice-born then stood up. / Having performed hospitality with arghya and other offerings, highly delighted, they said this:

'Because the best of rivers has been brought to this world by you, / therefore she will attain fame in the world as your daughter.'

"Because this wise river has come to this place from heaven by the cow's power, / therefore she shall indeed be famed in the world by the name Gomatī.

Mortals will attain liberation merely by the sight of her; / what then of performing ritual ablution, giving gifts, and the like, by which they attain the abode of Hari?"

Offering arghya to her, those lords among yogins praised Hari, / the supreme Puruṣa resting on Śeṣa, with the Puruṣasūkta.

As they were thus praising him, Hari manifested himself: / wearing yellow silken garments, adorned with a garland of forest flowers, / his limbs smeared with divine unguent, adorned with divine ornaments,

the God seated upon the seat of Śeṣa, brandishing numerous divine weapons, / wearing a blazing diadem-crown, with shimmering fish-shaped earrings,

granting fearlessness to his devotees, peaceful, marked with the Śrīvatsa, mighty-armed, / ever with a smiling face, dark as a raincloud, four-armed,

attended by charming Lakṣmī, devoted to massaging his feet. / Seeing him, all the sages, filled with the utmost joy, / praised Viṣṇu with the Viṣṇusūktas born of the Veda.

As they were thus praising him, Viṣṇu, compassionate to the wretched, / spoke to the best among brahmins with a gracious mind.

The Blessed Lord said: / "O youths! I am pleased; I will grant whatever is desired. / You shall be endowed with knowledge, untouched by my māyā.

Because I was propitiated with water by you who seek liberation, O brahmins, / therefore this supreme sacred ford shall be supreme, granting all desires.

O brahmins, where the Sudarśana discus first emerged before me, / cleaving the waters to show favor to you,

therefore this shall be known as Cakra-tīrtha. / And my dwelling too shall be perpetual in the great ocean.

Those men who take a bath here in Cakra-tīrtha, even by chance, / O best of brahmins, liberation rests in their hand.

You two also, O foremost brahmins, dwell here perpetually, / becoming the wind, dwelling in the sky, granting all desires."

Prahlāda said: / Having heard that, with joyful minds they made the purifier of gods into arghya, / washed Hari's feet, and bore the water upon their heads.

Having washed Hari's feet, she entered the abode of Varuṇa; / destroying great sins, that Gomatī went to the ocean.

Having granted the boon, Viṣṇu then vanished right there; / Sanaka and the other sons of Brahmā remained there, collected in meditation.

Thus the Gomatī flowed there, going to the ocean; / she who is heard of as the 'Eastern Gaṅgā' is declared to remove all sins.

Thus ends the fifth chapter, titled "Description of the Origin and Greatness of the Gomatī along with the Narrative of the Blessed Lord's Manifestation by the Power of Sanatkumāra's Austerities," in the Dvārakāmāhātmya, the fourth [sub-section] of the Prabhāsakhaṇḍa, in the seventh part of the glorious Skanda Mahāpurāṇa consisting of eighty-one thousand verses.