Skandapurana 16.199

Īśvara said: / Then one should go, O great goddess, to the god situated to its south, / on the delightful bank of the Sarasvatī, named Kṛtasmara,

who is self-manifest, O great goddess, and destroys all sins. / I shall recount his origin, how he appeared on the surface of the earth.

Formerly, O fair-faced one, when Kāma was burned by me there, / then Rati came and, exceedingly grief-stricken, lamented bitterly. // 3

Seeing her tormented by sorrow, filled with compassion I / said to her: "Do not weep! O auspicious one, your husband / shall rise again in time by my grace, there is no doubt." // 4

The goddess said: / For what reason was Kāmadeva burned formerly by you, O all-pervading lord? / How did he obtain rebirth? Tell me in detail! // 5

The lord said: / Formerly, Dakṣa Prajāpati was your father, O beloved. / A hundred daughters of fair complexion and long eyes were born to him. // 6

He gave you first to me, renowned by the name Satī. / He gave ten to Dharma: Śraddhā, Medhā, Dhṛti, Kṣamā, // 7

Anasūyā, Śuci, Lajjā, Smṛti, Śakti, and Śruti; / two wives to Kāmadeva: Rati and likewise Prīti; // 8

he gave one, Svāhā, to the Fire, and then Svadhā to the ancestors; / twenty-seven to the Moon, traditionally known beginning with Aśvinī. // 9

They, ending with Revatī, are known to you as well as among people, O goddess. / He gave thirteen daughters to Kaśyapa, O goddess: // 10

Aditi, Diti, Vinatā, and Kadru, / Siṃhikā, Suprabhā, and the one who is Ulūkī, O fair-faced one, // 11

Anuviddhā, Sitā, Īrṣyā, and the other, Hiṃsā, / Māyā combined with Niṣkṛti. Formerly, the wise Dakṣa— // 12

Gaurī, Suprabhā, Vārttā, Sādhvī, and Sumālikā— / he then gave [these] five to Varuṇa, O daughter of the mountain; // 13

Bhadrā, Madirā, Vidyā, Dhanyā, Dhanā, and Śubhā / —he gave five to Kubera as wives, O daughter of the mountain; // 14

Jayā, Vijayā, Madhuspandā, Irāvatī, / Supriyā, Janakā, Kāntā, Subhadrā, Dhārmikā, and Śubhā— // 15

he, knowing dharma, then gave ten daughters to the Rudras: / Prabhāvatī, Subhadrā, Vimalā, Nirmalā, Anṛtā, // 16

Tīvrā, Dakṣā, Aruṇā, Vidyā, and Dhārapālā with splendor; / Dakṣa gave twelve daughters to the Ādityas, O beloved; // 17

overcome by yoganidrā: Saṃsarpā, Saramā, Guhā, / Mālā, Campā, and Jyotsnā, he [gave] to the Viśvedevas; // 18

likewise two daughters to the Aśvins: Suveṣā and the auspicious Bhūṣaṇā; / and one daughter was given to Vāyu. These have been declared. // 19

He gave Sāvitrī to Brahmā, and Lakṣmī to the great-souled Viṣṇu. / Then, after some time, he performed a sacrifice rich in priestly gifts // 20

on the great mountain Himavat, O daughter of the mountain. / His sacrificial enclosure was indeed abundant with all desired things. // 21

To that sacrifice came the Ādityas as well as the Vasus, / the Viśvedevas, the Maruts, and the world-guardians from all quarters; // 22

Brahmā, Viṣṇu, the thousand-eyed [Indra], Varuṇa, and Yama, / Dhanada, Kumāra, and likewise the rivers and the oceans, // 23

reservoirs, wells, pools, and ponds, / Suparṇa, and whichever serpents there were, all assembled in bodily form; // 24

Dānavas and apsarases, yakṣas, kinnaras, and guhyakas, / with their followers and their wives, masters of the Vedas and Vedāṅgas, // 25

great seers of great fortune, and whichever divine seers there were— / they dwell there along with their wives, O fair-faced one. // 26

He who wears a garland of skulls as an ornament and bears funeral ashes— / Śaṃbhu, being of such a kind, was not invited because of impurity. // 27

From here and there, those sisters beginning with Aśvinī came / to the excellent mountain Kailāsa and spoke these words to you: // 28

"Why do you stay as if contented, O auspicious one of slender waist? / We are all departing for our father's sacrifice together with our husbands. // 29

All of us daughters have been invited by him, O glorious one; / Dakṣa did not invite you, since he is ashamed because of Śaṃkara." // 30

Hearing their words, Satī, filled with rage, said: / "Ah, shame on Dakṣa of evil conduct! What shall I say to Maheśvara? // 31

How can I show my face?" Having said this, by the power of yoga / she discarded herself by herself and remembered nothing else. // 32

Then Mahādeva, seeing Satī deprived of her vital breaths / through insult, and knowing himself to be [despised as] the skull-bearer, // 33

dispatched his gaṇas for the destruction of the sacrifice. / And those fierce gaṇas went, by hundreds and by thousands, // 34

deformed, hideous in appearance, innumerable, of great strength. / Seeing those dispatched by Rudra, led by Vīrabhadra, // 35

then all the hosts of gods, the Vasus together with the suns, / the Viśvedevas, and the Sādhyas, bows in hand, of great strength, // 36

came forth to battle, releasing sharpened arrows. / Then, engaging with one another, the pramathas together with the gods // 37

discharged showers of arrows, like clouds pouring torrents of rain. / Then an elephant belonging to them was pierced in the heart with a trident by a gaṇa. // 38

From that blow, it indeed collapsed senseless. / Then the elephant Airāvaṇa was struck on the frontal globes with a fist; // 39

suddenly struck by him, that elephant, uttering dreadful roars, / making noise and taking to flight, rushed into the sacrificial enclosure. // 40

The Viśvedevas were left breathless by fierce, great arrows. / The very powerful Vasumat drew his bow; // 41

then the Ādityas were rendered lusterless by him on the battleground. / Meanwhile, the gods were put to flight by him. // 42

Then they went for refuge to Viṣṇu who was staying there. / Then Viṣṇu, overcome with anger, seeing all the gods // 43

with Indra routed, quickly released the Sudarśana [discus]. / As that Sudarśana discus of Viṣṇu was flying swiftly, // 44

suddenly opening his mouth, he took it into his belly! / When that unerring discus was thus swallowed, O daughter of the mountain, // 45

the blessed Viṣṇu grew furious and ran forward, bow in hand. / Having struck Nandin with ten sharp arrows and Bhṛṅgin with a hundred, // 46

[striking] Mahākāla with a thousand, and the lord of Gaṇas with ten thousand, / having pierced Vīrabhadra with tens of thousands of arrows, he rushed upon him.

Striking him with his mace, Viṣṇu, extremely enraged, / seized him by the feet, distressed and drenched in blood, and dashed him to the ground.

As he was being struck down upon the earth, the Sudarśana discus / was covered with blood that surged forth, but did not strike [again].

Vīrabhadra, the lord of Gaṇas, had obtained boons from Rudra, O goddess; / therefore, even though oppressed by the mace, he did not meet his demise.

Seeing him fallen, all [the Gaṇas], afflicted by the power of Viṣṇu's splendor, / fled and went in all directions to where the god Maheśvara was.

They reported to him everything that had happened: the defeat, / and the prowess of Vīrabhadra. Thereupon Maheśvara became enraged.

Quickly seizing his trident, he set out along with his own Gaṇas / towards Dakṣa's sacrificial enclosure, the source of the defeat, / where Vīrabhadra had displayed his prowess, and where Viṣṇu himself was stationed.

Seeing Maheśvara arriving full of wrath, / and knowing him to be invincible in battle, [Viṣṇu] vanished right there.

Indra along with the Maruts, the Vasus, and the Kinnaras / [also vanished]; and Śiva, his soul possessed by wrath, then became invisible [to them].

Only the brahmins remained there in the assembly, O lovely lady; / seeing Śaṃkara arrived, with eyes reddened by anger,

terrified, they then offered oblations all around with Rudra mantras; / others, seized with terror, fled into the ten directions.

Then, having arrived and seen those excellent brahmins, / not seeing the gods, Mahādeva struck down the sacrifice there.

And it, having assumed the form of a deer, fled out of fear of Śiva; / but behind it went the Lord Śiva, bow in hand. / Even today he is seen in the sky in the form of a constellation, O Maheśvarī.

Thus ends the one hundred and ninety-ninth chapter, named 'The Destruction of Dakṣa’s Sacrifice', in the first [sub-section], 'The Greatness of the Prabhāsa Sacred Field', of the seventh [section], Prabhāsakhaṇḍa, in the glorious Skanda Mahāpurāṇa, a collection of eighty-one thousand [verses].