Skandapurana 4.26

Agastya said:

If you are pleased, O Skanda, and your love for me is unsurpassed,

then explain, O Lord, what has long dwelt in my heart:

Beginning from when did this sacred field of Avimukta / attain supreme renown on the surface of the earth, and how did it become the grantor of liberation?

How did it attain supreme renown and become the bestower of liberation?

How is this Maṇikarṇikā praised, lauded throughout the three worlds?

What was there anciently, O Lord, when the river of the immortals was not [yet present]?

How did that city acquire these names, O Lord:

Vārāṇasī, Kāśī, and Rudrāvāsa,

and next the delightful Ānandakānana, Avimukta,

and Mahāśmaśāna? How did it become celebrated [thus], O you whose emblem is a peacock?

I desire to hear this; dispel my doubt!

Skanda said:

This unmatched weight of a question which has been raised by you—

O pitcher-born one, Ambikā questioned Hara about this very matter.

And just as it was declared by the omniscient God of gods

before the Mother of the Universe, in that very manner I tell it to you.

At the time of the great dissolution, when both moving and unmoving things had perished,

everything was composed of darkness, devoid of sun, planets, or stars,

without moon, without day and night, devoid of fire, wind, and the surface of the earth,

without primal nature, an empty sky, destitute of any other light,

devoid of perceivers and the like, stripped of sound and touch,

bereft of smell and form, devoid of taste, without cardinal directions.

When there was thus blind darkness, impenetrable and continuous,

that real Brahman, which is constantly declared by the Vedic revelation as the sole real,

beyond the scope of mind, in no way an object of words,

without name, form, or color, neither gross nor subtle,

neither short nor long, devoid of lightness and heaviness,

in which there is neither any increase nor any decrease,

which the Vedic revelation repeatedly affirms in awe: 'It is!',

truth, knowledge, and infinite, which is bliss, the supreme light,

immeasurable, without support, unchanging, without visible form,

attributeless, attainable by yogins, all-pervading, the sole cause,

free of conceptual differentiation, free of initiative, without māyā, without affliction—

for it, which is beyond designations, designations are thus conceived.

To that solitary one moving [alone], indeed, arose a desire for a second;

by that formless one, his own form was imagined by his own sport,

endowed with the qualities of all sovereignty, full of all knowledge, auspicious,

all-pervading, all-formed, all-seeing, all-doing,

solely worshipped by all, primeval to all, all-granting, the fashioner of all.

Having thus conceived that sovereign form of pure nature,

the all-pervading, imperishable Brahman known as the Supreme concealed itself.

'I, O beloved, am the form of that formless one known as the Supreme;

the wise of later and earlier times have called me Īśvara.'

Then, as I was sporting at will, even though I was all alone,

you were created by myself from my own body, never parting from my own form.

They declare you to be pradhāna, prakṛti, māyā possessed of the qualities, the supreme,

the mother of the principle of intellect, free from transformation.

And simultaneously with you, [my] power, by me whose nature is time,

the primordial Person, this sacred field was also fashioned.

She, the power, is proclaimed as prakṛti; that male is Īśvara, the supreme.

And by those two taking delight in that sacred field, O pot-born [Agastya],

who consist of supreme bliss, [this field] that consists of supreme bliss,

five krośas in extent, was fashioned under their own feet.

O sage, even at the time of cosmic dissolution, never is that sacred field

forsaken by the two auspicious ones (Śiva and Śivā); therefore, they know it as Avimukta ('never-abandoned').

When there was no circuit of the earth, and when there was no arising of the waters,

then this sacred field was fashioned by the Lord to sport in.

Hardly anyone knows this secret of the sacred field, O jar-born [Agastya].

It must never be told to an atheist or to one who sees only with physical eyes.

To one full of faith, humble, possessing the eye of knowledge of the three times,

a devotee of Śiva, peaceful, and desiring liberation, it should be told.

From that time forward, this sacred field has been proclaimed as Avimukta,

serving as the couch for Śiva and Śivā, the abode of uninterrupted bliss. / Only when the non-existence of those two auspicious deities is imagined by fools,

can the non-existence of this sacred field, which bestows nirvāṇa, be imagined.

Without worshipping the great Lord, and without reaching Kāśī,

even one knowledgeable in the means such as yoga cannot attain nirvāṇa.

Formerly, the name Ānandavana ('Forest of Bliss') was given to it by the wielder of the Pināka; / because the sacred field is the cause of bliss, [and] subsequently it was called Avimukta.

Because it is the cause of joy of the sacred field, it is named Avimukta.

The sprouts of the seeds of the bulb of bliss, wherever they may be,

are to be known as all the liṅgas in that Forest of Bliss.

Thus, O pot-born [Agastya], did it become renowned as Avimukta.

And now, O sage, I shall tell how Maṇikarṇikā came into being.

Formerly, in that Forest of Bliss, as Śiva and his consort were taking delight,

a desire arose, O jar-born one: 'Indeed, someone else should be created,

upon whom, when the great burden is placed, we two may roam at will,

bestowing only nirvāṇa upon those who rest in Kāśī.

He alone shall make everything, he alone shall protect all,

and he alone shall dissolve [all] in the end; he shall be the treasury of all sovereign power.

Contracting the ocean of the mind, which is rocked by the surging waves of anxiety,

whose jewels are sattva, whose sea-monster is tamas, and which is entwined with the corals of rajas,

by his grace we two may abide happily in the Forest of Bliss.

Where, indeed, is happiness for one troubled by anxiety, when the movement of the mind is distracted?'

Having deliberated thus, that all-pervading Lord, the creator of the world, Dhūrjaṭi,

together with her who sustains the universe, whose nature is consciousness everywhere,

directed upon his left side his gaze that showers nectar.

Then there appeared a male, the most handsome in the three worlds,

peaceful, overflowing with the quality of sattva, who surpassed the ocean in profundity,

and endowed with such forbearance, O sage, that he was beyond compare.

Possessing the lustre of sapphire, glorious, with eyes like the finest white lotuses,

clad in a pair of silk garments of golden hue and splendid sheen,

shining with two pairs of splendid and mighty rod-like arms,

with a lotus in the lake of his navel giving off supreme fragrance.

He alone was the home of all virtues, he alone the treasury of all arts;

because he alone was the highest of all, therefore he was the Supreme Person (Puruṣottama).

Then, beholding that great being adorned with great majesty,

Mahādeva said this: 'Become Mahāviṣṇu, O Acyuta!

The Vedas are your breath; from them you will understand everything.

By the path seen in the Vedas, do everything as is appropriate.'

Having spoken thus to him whose nature is the principle of intellect,

Maheśāna, Rudra, accompanied by Śivā, entered the Forest of Bliss.

Then the blessed Viṣṇu, placing the command upon his head,

became absorbed in meditation for a moment and set his mind on austerity alone.

Digging a delightful lotus-pond there with his discus, Hari

and filled it with the mass of perspiration-water from his own body.

He performed severe austerity for fifty thousand years,

resembling a post [in immobility] on the bank of that Cakrapuṣkariṇī.

Then the blessed lord Mṛḍa, accompanied by Mṛḍānī,

seeing him blazing with austerity, motionless, his eyes closed,

shaking his head repeatedly, said to that Hṛṣīkeśa:

“Ah, the greatness of your austerity! Ah, the steadfastness of your mind!

Ah, this fuelless fire blazes incessantly!

Enough of your mortification, O Mahāviṣṇu; choose a boon, O best of beings!”

Recognising this repeated speech of Mṛḍa,

the four-armed [god] opened his lotus-eyes and stood up.

Śrī Viṣṇu said:

“If you are pleased, O lord of gods, God of gods, Maheśvara,

I wish always to behold you along with Bhavānī.

In all deeds and everywhere, O moon-crested one,

let my boon be such that I see you walking ahead of me.

Eager for the honey of the pollen from your lotus-feet,

let the bee of my mind abandon its wandering and become completely still.”

Śrī Śiva said:

“Let it be so, O Hṛṣīkeśa, as spoken by you, O Janārdana!

I grant you another boon; listen to it, O you of good vows!

Because of beholding the great abundance of this austerity of yours,

as my head, adorned with serpents for ear-ornaments, was shaken,

from that shaking a jewel ear-ornament (maṇikarṇikā) fell from my ear,

inlaid with jewels and charming; therefore, let it be [named] Maṇikarṇikā.

Formerly this auspicious sacred ford was named Cakrapuṣkariṇī,

because it was dug by you with your discus, O bearer of the conch, discus, and mace.

And since this jewel ear-ornament fell from my ear,

from then on let it be known in this world as Maṇikarṇikā.”

Śrī Viṣṇu said:

“By the falling of your pearl earring, O beloved of the mountain’s daughter,

let this indeed be the supreme sacred ford of all sacred fords, a sacred field of liberation.

Since the unutterable light, the Lord, shines here,

therefore, O omnipresent one, let another renowned name be Kāśī.

I choose another boon, O God, and that too should be granted without deliberation;

it is for the welfare of others, O Śiva, jewel of the protection of the world:

Whatever is designated a living being, from Brahmā down to a clump of grass,

among the four classes of creatures, let it attain liberation in Kāśī.

In this best of sacred fords, O Śambhu, [named] Maṇiśravaṇabhūṣaṇa,

twilight worship, ritual ablution, recitation, fire offering, the excellent study of the Vedas,

ancestral libation, offering of rice-balls, and the worship of the deities,

the gifting of cows, land, sesame seeds, gold, horses, lamps, food, garments, ornaments,

the gifting of a maiden diligently, the numerous Vedic sacrifices,

the conclusion of vows, the releasing of a bull, and likewise the installation of a liṅga and the like—

whichever wise person performs these, knowing that lifespan is fleeting in an instant,

and that misfortune is vast, while fortune is exceedingly fragile,

let the single fruit of his action be imperishable liberation.

And whatever other auspicious deed [is performed] here with faith,

short of suicide, O Īśāna, and setting aside fasting to death,

O Lord of the universe, let that become the cause of the fortune of the highest beatitude.

What one does not regret and does not boast of even after a long time,

let that attain imperishability here by your grace, O Lord;

by your favour, O Lord, let all that be imperishable for him.

Beyond all that exists, that will be, and that has been, O Sadāśiva,

let this sacred field be the bringer of auspicious prosperity.

Just as nothing is more auspicious than you, O Sadāśiva,

so let nothing anywhere be superior to this Ānandavana.

Without Sāṃkhya, without Yoga, without perception of one's own Self,

without vows, austerity, and gifts, let there be the highest good for living beings here.

Rabbits, mosquitoes, insects, moths, horses, snakes,

may those who die in Kāśī within its five-krośa circuit be consecrated for nirvāṇa.

May there be destruction of sin at all times even for those who merely utter the name of Kāśī.

May it always be the Kṛta age, may it always be the northern course of the sun,

and may there always be great auspiciousness for the virtuous dwelling in Kāśī.

O Sadāśiva, whatever pure things are proclaimed in the Veda,

may this sacred field be greater than them, O three-eyed one!

And whatever merit arises from the study of all four Vedas,

may that merit be produced in Kāśī by muttering one hundred thousand Gāyatrī mantras.

And whatever merit is produced by the practice of the eightfold yoga,

may that merit become greater by faithfully resorting to Kāśī.

And whatever spiritual good is acquired by the kṛcchra and cāndrāyaṇa penances and the like,

may that come about in the Forest of Bliss by a single fast.

Whatever spiritual good would come from performing austerity elsewhere for a hundred autumns,

may that indeed come about in Kāśī in one year through the vow of sleeping on the ground.

Whatever fruit is recorded elsewhere from a vow of silence kept from birth,

may that come about in Kāśī from speaking the truth for a single fortnight.

Whatever good deed is spoken of by giving away all one's possessions elsewhere,

may that become ten thousand times greater in Kāśī by feeding a thousand people.

Whatever fruit is declared from resorting to all the sacred fields of liberation,

may that come about here in five nights by resorting to Maṇikarṇikā.

Whatever merit granting Śiva arises from the merit of ritual ablution at Prayāga,

may that merit come about here through devotion by the mere darśana of Kāśī.

Whatever merit comes from a horse sacrifice, whatever merit from a royal consecration,

may the self-restrained attain that merit in Kāśī by lying down for three nights.

Whatever merit is fully attained by the gift of one's weight in gold,

may that merit indeed come about through devotion by the mere darśana of Kāśī.”

Having heard this boon asked by Viṣṇu, the god of gods, the lord of the universe,

with a gracious heart spoke: “So be it, O Madhusūdana!”

The glorious Mahādeva said:

“Listen, O mighty-armed Viṣṇu, source and dissolution of the universe!

Bring about the manifold creation properly, as declared in the Veda.

Like a father, become the protector of all living beings in accordance with dharma.

The manifold bringers of the destruction of dharma are to be destroyed.

For the destruction of those who stand on a path other than dharma, O Hari,

be merely an instrument; for they are slain by their own deeds.

Just as ripe grain falls from the stalk that bore it,