Skandapurana 6.3.229

The venerable Mārkaṇḍeya said: / Thus has this Purāṇa endowed with dharma been told to you, O king, / as it was proclaimed by Vāyu in the assembly of the gods out of love for Śiva.

There are sixty thousand sacred fords, and likewise six hundred million, / at the beginning, middle, and end, at every step along the Narmadā.

The compendium of twelve thousand verses that was heard by me long ago / as the God of gods spoke it, has now been related to you.

I was questioned by you, O lord of the earth, as I stayed on Mount Amarakantaka; / all of that has been told to you in summary by me.

Listen to the holy life-story of the Narmadā and the fruit that belongs to it: / whatever fruit would come from all the Vedas with the six auxiliary limbs, word-by-word recitations, and step-by-step recitations,

when studied or heard, much greater than that accrues; / the fruit that a performer of a twelve-year sacrificial session attains,

such fruit one obtains when the life-story of the goddess is heard. / Whatever merit is found at all sacred fords by bathing from the source to the ocean,

that fruit is obtained by bathing once in the Narmadā, or likewise by hearing [its deeds]. / The auspicious life-story of the Narmadā, through its beginning, middle, and end—

hear the holy fruit of that man who listens to it with devotion: / having attained the abode of Śiva, surrounded by the maidens of Rudra,

becoming an attendant of Rudra, he rejoices together with him. / This narrative of dharma is the best of all treatises;

in whatever country, district, village, city, / or house of the four castes it resides, O Bhārata,

that is Brahmā, that is Śiva in person, and that is the god Janārdana. / It is the threefold cause in the world, the supreme path of dharma,

the guru of the deities, the scripture, the supreme source of perfection. / Having heard it from the mouth of Īśvara, O Pārtha, it has also been recounted by me to you.

Whatever sacred fords there are on the southern and northern banks / have been described in particular according to their primary importance, possessing great merit.

By touching them, beholding them, proclaiming them, and hearing of them, / one is liberated from all sins and goes to the world of Rudra.

Whoever listens daily to this purāṇa spoken by Śiva— / a brahmin becomes learned in Vedic knowledge, a kṣatriya becomes victorious;

a vaiśya gains wealth, and a śūdra attains righteousness; / by hearing it, a woman obtains good fortune, offspring, heaven, and wealth.

Even the slayer of a brahmin, the drinker of liquor, the thief, and the violator of the guru's bed, / having heard the māhātmya of the Narmadā, are cast free from sin.

The perpetrator of sins, the ungrateful, the betrayer of a master's trust, / the killer of cows, the poisoner, and the seller of his daughter—

these, merely by hearing it, are freed from their sins; of this there is no doubt. / How much more so those purified souls who listen constantly, O king!

By those who worship this [text], the gods are worshipped, and gurus are worshipped; / by such a one Narmadā is worshipped, and the Lord Maheśvara is worshipped.

Therefore, by every effort, with fragrances, flowers, and ornaments, / this scripture, which bestows fruits, should be worshipped with supreme devotion.

Having caused the entire auspicious account of the Narmadā to be copied down, / whoever gives [this], the best of all treatises, to a twice-born,

attains the reward of ritual ablution and gifting / at all the sacred fords of the Narmadā; that man [reaches it], there is no doubt in this.

This purāṇa, spoken by Rudra, yields the reward of great merit; / it grants heaven, grants sons, brings blessings, confers renown, and increases fame.

It removes all sins, O Pārtha, and destroys suffering and bad dreams; / for those who recite or listen to it, O king, it grants the fulfillment of all desires and aims.

May there be peace, and may there be auspiciousness; may the worlds be free from disease; / may there be well-being for cows and brahmins, and may righteousness abide in the son of Dharma.

May the Revā, which puts an end to hells, is endowed with sacred fords, and purifies the universe, / the Narmadā, grant you righteousness and grant you bliss forever, O Pārtha.

Thus ends the two hundred and twenty-ninth chapter, entitled "Description of the Fruits of Recitation, Listening, Gifting, and Other [Rites] of the Revākhaṇḍa," in the dialogue between Mārkaṇḍeya and Yudhiṣṭhira, in the Revākhaṇḍa of the fifth [part], the Āvantyakhaṇḍa, in the glorious Skanda Mahāpurāṇa, a compendium of eighty-one thousand verses.