Skandapurana 6.2.6

The venerable Mahādeva said: / Know Svarṇajvāleśvara as the sixth here, O glorious lady, / by the mere darśana of which one becomes wealthy in this world. // Formerly, O goddess, while I was sporting with you in my dwelling, / a hundred divine years passed as I relished sole delight in lovemaking. // Then fire was dispatched by all the gods into my presence; / thereupon Fire arrived for the sake of the three worlds, O glorious lady. // Then my semen was cast into the mouth of Fire by me as I sported; / burning from it then, Fire went to the Gaṅgā. // Having gone there, Fire cast forth the semen, so exceedingly difficult to bear; / nevertheless, Fire was still burned by the remainder of the semen, O Pārvatī. // Then, from that remainder of the semen, lovely and divine gold was born, / blazing with excessive heat, unbearable and hard to retain, O dear one. // Seeing that first offspring of Fire born, O Pārvatī, / overcome by greed, the asuras, the suras, the gandharvas and kinnaras, // the yakṣas, sādhyas, and piśācas, humans, rākṣasas, and birds, / rushed forward in great fury, desiring to seize the gold. // For the sake of the gold, a great roar arose from those clamoring, “This is mine!” / And out of ignorance a battle arose that took many lives. // Then, seizing foremost shields and diverse weapons, / they roared with great sounds along with the gods, O glorious lady: // asuras with asuras, humans with humans, / gandharvas with gandharvas, kinnaras with kinnaras, // spirits with spirits, and rākṣasas with rākṣasas, / vetālas with vetālas fought an exceedingly dreadful battle. // Son hated father, and father likewise hated son; / wife struck down her husband, and husband likewise his dear wife. // Son killed his own mother, and mother harmed her son; / then an unyielding hostility arose on account of the gold, // most horrific and great among gods and asuras all alike. / Broad and sharp javelins fell by the thousands, // along with extremely sharp-pointed iron bars and various weapons. // For the sake of the gold, O great goddess, vomiting much blood, // swords, spears, clubs, and rṛṣṭi-daggers fell upon the surface of the earth; / and heads were severed in the terrible battle by battleaxes. // With their limbs smeared with blood and having slain one another, / they lay like peaks of mountains rich in mineral ores. // A cry of “Alas! Alas!” arose by the thousands, causing terror, / as they cut each other down with weapons for the sake of the gold. // With iron bludgeons, nooses, and fists like vajras, / as they struck one another in battle, the sound seemed to touch the sky. // “Cut! Pierce! Run! Knock down! Attack!”— / such exceedingly horrific cries were heard there on every side. // Thus, while this tumultuous and terrifying battle was taking place, / the earth trembled, O goddess, and the gods, along with Indra, were terrified. // The oceans grew agitated and the mountains moved; / for the sake of it, the entire world, with gods, asuras, and humans, was tormented. // The seers, headed by the Vālakhilyas, the gods, with Śakra at their head, / placing Bṛhaspati at the fore, and the women went to Brahmā's realm. // Panting for breath, with their heads battered and shattered, / they recounted in full the entire event that was destroying the three worlds. // Hearing their speech, Brahmā, the grandfather of the worlds, / having reflected, came into my presence along with them. // They were all questioned by me: “By whom have you been battered? / By whom have you been afflicted with weapons and missiles? Whence has fear come upon you? // And who is this wicked dānava by whom you have been so severely tormented?” / Then all was recounted before me, O goddess, by those overwhelmed with fear. // The gods, headed by Brahmā, then told me the cause of their fear: // “We are all ruined out of greed and on account of gold; / and the entire world, with gods, asuras, and humans, is tormented.” // Hearing their words, O fair-faced lady, I understood / that a horrific strife among one another had indeed arisen for its sake, // by which the destruction of the three worlds was swiftly wrought. / One on whose account life is surrendered is called a slayer of a brahmin; // the son of Fire is indeed a slayer of a brahmin, on whose account people died. / His body will become variegated and deformed; // minerals shall indeed arise in his body, there is no doubt. / Incomparable suffering is foreseen—cutting, burning, rubbing, and the like. // In the meantime, Fire, having seen the behavior of his son / and having realized my anger, was terrified on account of his son. // He came into my presence along with the gold, O goddess; / indeed, I was propitiated by Fire for the sake of his son, O fair-faced lady: // “This son of yours, O Śaṃkara, must be protected by you, O god; / place him in your own treasury, O supreme lord! // When you are pleased, O Mahādeva, he can be obtained—of this there is no doubt; / let him be given at your pleasure to whichever person you will, O goddess!” // Hearing this speech of his, who is the mouth of the ancestors and the gods, / “So be it,” was promised by me out of desire, O glorious lady.

Out of affection, the son of Fire was then placed by me upon my lap;

out of affection, he was kissed on the head and embraced again and again:

“I grant you a boon, O fortunate one; choose an auspicious boon!

I am exceedingly pleased; obtain whatever you desire as you wish!

I instruct you, and thus you shall attain the highest good:

There is a place upon the surface of the earth that fulfills my desires,

imperishable at the dissolution of the world, O son—the auspicious Mahākālavana.

Right there, to the south of Karkoṭaka, is a liṅga

that removes great sin, O son, and bestows radiance upon darśana.

By the mere darśana of it, you will have accomplished all your ends.”

And he shall become meritorious through the purifier, and hard to attain;

a base-born man shall become noble, and an impure man pure;

and the deformed shall become handsome by your grace.

Gifts, religious observances, and restrictions,

sacrifices, fasts, sacred fords, piṇḍa offerings, and the like,

shall all become completely fulfilled through the gift of you, O one of good vows.

You shall exercise sovereignty over all precious stones,

and you shall be dear and beloved to the gods and the worlds.

Addressed thus, O great goddess, O lovely-faced one, possessing a celestial form,

surrounded by a garland of flames, he became meritorious and pure indeed.

The gold was addressed by the liṅga: "By good fortune, by good fortune!"—[and was told:] "Gold,

from this day forth you shall attain fame on the surface of the earth by that name.

You must always remain near me, O son of fire!

Your fame shall be imperishable in the three worlds."

Addressed thus by the liṅga, O goddess, the son of fire became exceedingly pure,

his body encircled by flames, equal in splendor to ten million suns.

Radiance filled with a garland of flames was then obtained by the gold;

therefore, O goddess, Śiva is renowned as Svarṇajvāleśvara.

Whoever worships that Śiva, Svarṇajvāleśvara, with devotion,

to him, O goddess, victory and a mighty kingdom accrue,

as well as lordship, the capacity to give gifts, and endless sons and grandsons.

Whatever sin a man commits, whether knowingly or unknowingly,

arising from the body, it washes away simply by darśana; of this there is no doubt.

Whatever fruit a man obtains by the offering of piṇḍas at Gayā,

twice that fruit is declared [to be gained] by worship [here]; of this there is no doubt.

Whatever fruit is attained by a hundred thousand recitations of the Gāyatrī properly performed,

that fruit one obtains from the praise of Svarṇajvāleśvara.

Whatever merit is obtained from every gift given in accordance with the rules,

that fruit one obtains through reciting [his glory]; of this there is no doubt.

Those who worship Svarṇajvāleśvara on the fourteenth day [of the lunar fortnight]

are constantly honored by Lakṣmī, who fulfills their desires.

It is guarded by the thirty [gods], O goddess, and likewise by various kinds of Gaṇas;

deluded by my māyā, no one knows this liṅga.

By my grace, O goddess, that supreme liṅga is seen.

This has been fully related to you; listen to another, O lovely-faced one.

Thus ends the sixth chapter, named 'Description of the Māhātmya of Svarṇajvāleśvara', in the Māhātmya of the Eighty-Four Liṅgas in the Fifth [Book], the Āvantyakhaṇḍa, in the glorious Skanda Mahāpurāṇa, a compendium of eighty-one thousand [verses].