Skandapurana 6.3.36

Mārkaṇḍeya said: / Then one should go, O best of kings, to the unsurpassed Dārutīrtha, / where in ancient times Dāruka, the beloved of Indra, attained perfection.

Yudhiṣṭhira said: / How, O sinless father, was austerity practiced formerly by Dāruka? / I wish to hear the account from you, O best of brahmins.

The glorious Mārkaṇḍeya said: / Ah, I shall tell you the wondrous, ancient event / that took place in heaven's assembly among seers of purified selves.

The beloved charioteer of the wielder of the thunderbolt was named Mātali. / Formerly, on account of some reason, he cursed his son.

Afflicted by the curse, trembling, pressing with his head / the auspicious feet of Indra, he petitioned the lord of gods, O Bhārata.

The lord of gods spoke to him, who was accursed and helpless: / 'By what deed will there be an end to this dreadful curse?'

'Resorting to the bank of the Narmadā, pleasing Maheśvara, / remain there until the end of the yuga, for you shall attain another birth.

Being born again, purified, renowned by the name Dāruka, / having worshiped the supreme deity who holds the conch, discus, and mace,

and attained human form, you will thereafter achieve perfection.' / Thus spoken to by the wise god of a thousand eyes,

having bowed with his head to the ground, he came, distracted in mind. / Resorting to the bank of the Narmadā, emaciating his own body,

distressed by vows and fasts, ever devoted to silent recitation and oblations, / [he worshiped] the great-souled Mahādeva, the granter of boons, holding the trident in hand,

with supreme devotion, O king, until the dissolution of all beings. / Becoming the charioteer of Viṣṇu of great intellect upon his descent in portion,

pleasing the Lord of the World, he then indeed attained the auspicious state.

This is the origin of Dārutīrtha, O father of good vows; / this has been related by me just as Śaṅkara formerly told me.

Then Yudhiṣṭhira, having heard this, went to the highest amazement; / with hair standing on end again and again, he looked at his brothers.

The glorious Mārkaṇḍeya said: / Having bathed at that sacred ford according to the precept, O ruler of men, / and having observed the twilight worship, whosoever worships the lord of the gods, Śaṅkara,

and whoever undertakes the study of the Vedas right there, self-composed, / he obtains the fruit of a horse-sacrifice, O king, there is no doubt here.

Whosoever, pure, feeds brahmins with devotion at that sacred ford, / obtains the excellent fruit of [feeding] a thousand brahmins.

Ritual ablution, gifting, silent recitation, oblation, recitation of scripture, and worship of deities— / whatever is done with a pure disposition, all that becomes fruitful.

Thus ends the thirty-sixth chapter, named 'The Description of the Greatness of the Dāruka Sacred Ford,' in the Revākhaṇḍa of the fifth section, the Āvantyakhaṇḍa, in the glorious Skanda Mahāpurāṇa consisting of eighty-one thousand verses.