Skandapurana 16.147

Īśvara said: / Then one should go, O great goddess, to the unsurpassed Brahmakuṇḍa, / to the southwest of it, fashioned by Brahmā in ancient times. // 1

When Somanātha was consecrated by the King of the Constellations, / then all the gods, beginning with Brahmā, assembled there, / invited by the Moon for the consecration of the god. // 2

Then the Lord of Night, full of humility, spoke to Brahmā: // 3

'So that people know that the installation was made by you, / make an insignia born of yourself, O best among the gods.' // 4

Hearing this, Brahmā, having entered motionless meditation, / summoned all sacred fords from all around, beginning with Puṣkara. // 5

Whatever sacred fords were in heaven, and likewise in the netherworld, / were drawn together by Brahmā through the power of his austerity; / therefore, by his name it is called Brahmakuṇḍa. // 6

And it is guarded by fourteen thousand Gaṇas; / hence this excellent sacred ford is hard to attain for those devoid of devotion. // 7

Then Brahmā, the grandfather of the worlds, spoke to all the gods: // 8

'Having bathed in this pool, whichever person offers water to the ancestors, / that man will obtain the entire fruit of an Agniṣṭoma [sacrifice]; / by its grace, he will travel in an aerial chariot in heaven.' // 9

One should give the gift of a cow, the gift of a horse, and likewise a golden water pot / to a learned brahmin for the eradication of all sins. // 7.1.147.10

On the full-moon day, O great goddess, and likewise on the first day of the fortnight, / Sarasvatī bathes there for the destruction of all sins. // 11

The water there is indeed an accomplished elixir, O goddess, O dear one; / endowed with various colors, it is perfected through instruction. // 12

How can a man suffer from poverty, misery, disease, and grief, / having reached Brahmakuṇḍa, which is like another wishing tree? // 13

The goddess said: / O Lord, tell in detail the great glory of Brahmakuṇḍa; / tell me in detail for the benefit of all living beings, O Lord. // 14

Great is my curiosity to hear the māhātmya of Brahmakuṇḍa, / which serves to destroy the misery of the worlds and cause the cessation of poverty. // 15

O Lord, all human beings are afflicted by misery and grief; / they wander through their whole lives, deluded by [false] elixirs. // 16

Tell me, for their benefit, of the supreme elixir that brings liberation, / so that the body here may first become imperishable, // 17

endowed with the eight perfections, equipped with all sciences, / capable of assuming any form at will, fit for ritual action, and free from all diseases. // 18

Then [tell me], O God, that whereby one may obtain supreme liberation, / and how a human being becomes one who has accomplished his duty, O Lord. // 19

Speak to me thus, O God, taking pity, O Lord of the universe: / declare the supreme procedure for liberation, free from all confusion, / renowned, bestowing happiness, and divine, O Maheśvara. // 7.1.147.20

Īśvara said: / Excellent, excellent, O great goddess, benefactress of the worlds! / In the mortal world, O great goddess, is an auspicious, excellent sacred ford among sacred fords: // 21

the exceedingly renowned Prabhāsa, measuring twelve yojanas. / There dwells the god Someśvara, famous throughout the three worlds. // 22

To its east is proclaimed Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the slayer of Daityas; / Caṇḍikā Yoginī is there, surrounded by her female companions. // 23

To the east of that is [the sacred ford] fashioned by the Four-faced One [Brahmā], / a divine, auspicious, excellent sacred ford among sacred fords, full of all wonders, // 24

frequented by all the gods, by siddhas, sādhyas, and planets, / and constantly by divine apsarases, sages, yakṣas, and serpents. // 25

Bestowing divine enjoyment, auspicious, for the attainment of perfection and all desires, / it is known as Brahmakuṇḍa, since it was fashioned by Brahmā. // 26

In its northwestern corner Hiraṇyeśa himself resides. / Having worshipped that great god, the excellent Hiraṇyeśvara, // 27

the wise one should swiftly mutter the great mantra and offer a tenth part in fire. / The mantra is perfected through the fire offering; truly, truly, O lovely-faced one! // 28

In its northern direction, situated somewhat towards the northeast, / is the four-faced guardian of the field, O great goddess, bearing the form of a liṅga. // 29

Śaṃkara protects that site in the form of a liṅga, O goddess. / Having worshipped him with effort, one should then resort to the kuṇḍa. // 7.1.147.30

It contains all sovereign powers, O goddess, and is variegated with various colors. / In the northeastern quarter of the mouth of the pool is the excellent Bhairaveśvara. // 31

A foul-smelling, radiant [stream], O goddess, flows in the form of an elixir; / mingled with its juice, it is of distinct colors and variegated. // 32

Cloud-colored, greatly divine, and again an auspicious silvery hue, / tawny, milk-colored, and having the beautiful appearance of camphor; // 33

sometimes resembling musk, bestowing the luster of saffron, / fragrant, endowed with sandalwood, and sometimes having blood-red water. // 34

These various essences are seen there at all times; / to one with whom the Great God is pleased, it is perfected in an instant. // 35

Silver is cast therein, and it becomes like gold. / Directly visible right there is the unexcelled elixir. // 36

Men behold the wonder instantly and intensely, O goddess: / the supreme, divine elixir situated there in the Kali age, // 37

an accomplished, proven elixir that destroys diseases in men, / consisting of golden seed, divine, great, born of Brahmakuṇḍa. // 38

Now I will declare to you [the method] for the benefit of human beings, / by which poverty meets its destruction in an instant, O glorious one. // 39

First of all, they prepare a strong, auspicious copper vessel; / one should pour the sacred water therein, together with copper leaves. // 7.1.147.40

Placing that pot on the ground, one should then kindle a fire; / by means of an oven one should cook it slowly for six months. // 41

Afterwards, lifting that pot, one should pour water once again; / one should do it again for one month, and repeatedly for another month. // 42

Then, having gathered all the pieces together with effort, / inundating them again with water, one should stir them once more. // 43

Gold is produced there if Maheśvara is pleased. // 44

If the best of men desires bodily perfection, O goddess, / he should first perform ritual ablution, and then for three years, // 45

observing silence and restraint, engaged in muttering the great mantra, / he should diligently worship Hiraṇyeśa, the guardian of the field, // 46

with the five forms of worship, accompanied by meditation and concentration. / Cooking [his food] with the water of the sacred ford, his drink likewise [taken] in an udumbara vessel, // 47

in this way, within just three years a divine body is produced: / radiant, strong, wise, and free from all diseases. // 48

He lives for three hundred years free from sorrow, / whoever performs ritual ablution there continuously for three years. // 49

He should constantly mutter [the mantra of] Vāgīśvarī, accompanied by worship and fire offering; / his speech flows forth, and his perfection becomes sārasvata. // 7.1.147.50

Sanskrit, Prākrit, Apabhraṃśa, and the dialect of spirits— / like the torrent of the Gaṅgā's stream, the self-controlled man pours forth speech / that is untiring, O woman of beautiful hips, uninterrupted and continuous. // 51

He may debate with a thousand disputants and no fatigue arises in him; / by the power of this sacred ford, [men become] skilled in all the scriptures. // 52

Scholars, all proud, experts in the science of logic, / arrive together, dear one, their necks held high with learning; / [yet] they are not able to speak, nor even to look upon his face, beloved.

And he breaks thousands of disputants merely with a glance.

He readily explains the scriptures with their meanings fully awakened— / the spotless Pāñcarātra, the Vaiṣṇava, and the Śaiva,

the epics and Purāṇas, the Bhūtatantra, the Gāruḍa, / the Bhairava, the Mahātantra, and the two branches of the Kula path, beloved.

His speech flows unhindered with the speed of an excellent chariot; / all disputants perish like serpents before Garuḍa.

There is no poverty, no disease, nor mental sorrow for him; / honoured by kings, highly respected, he becomes [so] by the grace of Brahmā.

Endowed with enthusiasm and strength, the wise man lives like a god, / a generous giver, an enjoyer, and eloquent, through the grace of this sacred ford.

Whatever splendour appears in men who are anointed with oil, / just so does splendour arise merely upon bathing, through the grace of this very sacred ford.

Whatever sin a creature commits—slander and ungratefulness, / whatever sin is in betraying a friend, and whatever sin in adultery— / all of that is dissolved for one devoted to bathing in the pool.

Whoever steps over a pestle, or whichsoever twice-born abandons cows— / that sin meets destruction from the darśana of Brahmakuṇḍa.

Whatever sacred fords there are on earth, and likewise all the deities— / all of them are worshipped through the power of bathing in the pool.

The sin acquired across seven lifetimes departs into destruction from its darśana.

Whatever sin is incurred in killing a guru or a cow, and in seizing the property of others— / that sin meets destruction from serving Brahmakuṇḍa.

And whoever, having bathed, circumambulates the pool by name / fifteen in number—hear the fruit of that too!

By him has been circumambulated the earth with its seven continents, / together with the seven netherworlds, surrounded by millions of sacred fords.

Whoever gives mere food there to the best among the knowers of the Veda— / feeding a hundred thousand has been accomplished by him through the power of this sacred ford.

And having worshipped Brahmeśvara, and the supreme Hiraṇyeśvara, / one should worship the four-faced guardian of the sacred field; one obtains what is desired.

Accompanied by twenty-one generations of his family, freed from all sin, / he indeed goes to the realm of Brahmā; no doubt should be entertained here.

Or having bathed in Virañcikuṇḍa, whoever mutters the Mother of the Vedas / according to the ritual of muttering it a hundred thousand times, becomes freed from sins.

He alone is the performer of meritorious deeds, he alone is the best of men, / by whom a pilgrimage has been made there to Brahmakuṇḍa, O fair-faced one.

Eighty-eight thousand seers with sublimated vital seed, / having resorted to Brahmakuṇḍa, worship the god Brahmā.

The sacred fords in the three worlds, with moving and unmoving beings, roar only so long / as men do not see the sacred ford Brahmeśvara, beloved.

And the men who drink water at Brahmakuṇḍa even once— / sin of speech or mind does not enter into their body.

Whatever sacred fords exist in the northern center of the cosmic egg— / one attains their merit from circumambulating Brahmakuṇḍa.

Even the great-souled Yājñavalkya, embodying the Supreme Brahman, / does not leave the pool, nor does the gaṇa Nikuṃbha.

Thus the māhātmya originating from Brahmakuṇḍa has been spoken in brief. / Out of affection for you, O queen of gods, what else do you ask?

Whichsoever mortal hears this, fully endowed with faith, / freed from all sins, he goes to the realm of Brahmā.

Thus ends the one hundred forty-seventh chapter, named the Description of the Māhātmya of Brahmakuṇḍa, in the first [part], the Prabhāsakṣetramāhātmya, in the seventh [book], the Prabhāsakhaṇḍa, in the glorious Skanda Mahāpurāṇa, a collection of eighty-one thousand [verses].