Skandapurana 6.3.191

Chapter 191
Śrī Mārkaṇḍeya said:
Then one should go to Siddheśvara, which is very close to it. / That primeval, self-manifest liṅga flows with nectar, 191.1

by merely seeing which a person becomes free from debt here [in this world]. / Long ago, having worshipped the Supreme Lord for over a full hundred years, 191.2

the twelve Ādityas attained supreme perfection. / Therefore it is called Siddheśvara, bestower of perfections to those who desire perfections. 191.3

Yudhiṣṭhira said:
How did the gods attain perfection at Siddheśvara, O best of the twice-born? / And that it was said to be the Ādityas—that has caused me wonder! 191.4

For what reason did the Ādityas engage in fierce austerity / and attain their desired perfection, O best of the twice-born? 191.5

I have asked in brief; tell me in detail, O twice-born one. 191.6

Mārkaṇḍeya said:
The twelve Ādityas were born of Aditi, with Śakra at their head: / Indra, Dhātṛ, Bhaga, Tvaṣṭṛ, Mitra, then Varuṇa, Aryaman, 191.7

Vivasvat, Savitṛ, Pūṣan, and Aṃśumat, and Viṣṇu. / These twelve Ādityas, desiring the solar station, 191.8

resorted to the bank of the Narmadā and engaged in fierce austerity. / At Siddheśvara, O great king, by those magnanimous sons of Kaśyapa, 191.9

known as the twelve Ādityas, supreme perfection was achieved. / And the Sun, creator of the world, was installed at that sacred ford 191.10

by those known as the twelve Ādityas through the division of their own portions. / Thenceforth, O king, that sacred ford became renowned on earth. 191.11

When dissolution arrives, those twelve Ādityas indeed / arise from Dvādaśāditya at the end of the age, O king. 191.12

Indra shines in the east, and Dhātṛ in the southeast; / Gabhastipati shines in the south, Tvaṣṭṛ facing the southwest; 191.13

Varuṇa in the western quarter, and Mitra in the northwest; / Viṣṇu in the northern quarter, and Vivasvat in the northeast; 191.14

Savitṛ above, and below Pūṣan desiccating [all]; / Aṃśumat and Viṣṇu—[all] issued forth from the mouth of the universe, 191.15

burning [everything], O best of men, and roamed here and there. / Just as they burn the entire universe, O great king, 191.16

so the twelve Ādityas accomplish the heartfelt desires of their devotees. / Having risen at dawn and bathed, whoever beholds the lord of the gods, 191.17

who is known as Dvādaśāditya—hear the fruit thereof! / Vocal, mental, or born of action—whatever sin was committed in the past 191.18

perishes at that very moment upon the darśana of Dvādaśāditya. / And whoever performs circumambulation of that deity, O descendant of Bharata, 191.19

by him the earth has been circumambulated, without doubt. / Whatever fruit is obtained by fasting on the seventh lunar day at that sacred ford, 191.20

one may or may not obtain elsewhere even in seven seventh lunar days. / On a Sunday that coincides with a sixth lunar day, by the darśana of Dvādaśāditya, 191.21

the sin of whoever performs circumambulation is destroyed. / For seven lifetimes he will be free from disease, without doubt. 191.22

And he who devoutly gives a hundred circumambulations day after day— / ringworm, boils, leprosy, blotches, and scabies: 191.23

all diseases perish, as serpents by Garuḍa. / He obtains a son by serving [the deity] on the sixth lunar day. 191.24

Thus ends the one hundred and ninety-first chapter, named 'The Description of the Māhātmya of Dvādaśādityatīrtha', in the Revākhaṇḍa of the fifth section, the Āvantyakhaṇḍa, in the glorious Skanda Mahāpurāṇa, a compendium of eighty-one thousand [verses].