Skandapurana 1.1.1

Obeisance to the venerable Gaṇeśa.
Now begins the first half of the glorious Aruṇācalamāhātmya.
With the triple mark of ashes upon his forehead, wearing a musk mark on his brow, wearing a gleaming garland, his loins clad in a radiant loincloth, / bearing on his head the unassailable king of serpents and the crescent of the moon, the yogin of Aruṇagiri, a light unto all, reigns supreme. (1)
Vyāsa said:
Then the sages dwelling in the Naimiṣāraṇya said to Sūta: / “We wish to hear from you the māhātmya of Aruṇācala. (2)
Tell us that māhātmya!” Addressed thus, Sūta said to those sages:
Sūta said:
Long ago, Sanaka questioned the four-faced [Brahmā] for this very purpose. (3)
Listen with attentive minds; I shall tell it to you now, / for hearing it with devotion destroys the sins of men. (4)
Once in Satyaloka, seated before Brahmā who sits on the lotus, / Sanaka bowed low and, standing with joined palms, questioned him: (5)
Sanaka said:
“O support of the worlds, lord of gods, you who are known through the Vedas, four-faced one! / Complete knowledge arose in me through your grace. (6)
When the mirror of my mind was purified through the glory of devotion to you, / all knowledge was reflected there simply upon a single teaching. (7)
The essential meaning of the Vedas and what is known through the Vedas—the undisturbed knowledge of Śiva— / I have fully attained through your glances, O teacher of the universe! (8)
There are Śiva’s liṅgas on earth: divine ones, O treasury of compassion, / and human ones, those established by siddhas, and elemental ones, O leader of the gods. (9)
Tell me of that pure, divine liṅga that possesses the majesty of destroying enemies, / self-manifest in Jambudvīpa, fiery in nature. (10)
Tell me, O treasury of mercy, of that which destroys sin by the mere recollection of its name, / and eternally grants conformity to Śiva’s form! (11)
That imperishable splendor of Śiva which is the beginningless support of the universe, / and seeing which one becomes fulfilled—let that be taught to me!”
Thus hearing the word of that devoted [disciple], full of curiosity, (12)

the blessed lord, a treasury of austerities, was pleased. (13)
And remaining seated on the lotus, the four-faced one meditated long on Śambhu, / his mind plunged into the ocean of inner bliss. (14)
When he saw Śiva consisting of a pillar of fire, as seen in ancient times, / which transcends every support, he was aware of nothing else. (15)
Then, to carry out the command received once more from Śiva, / the lord withdrew his heart from yoga and remembered his bowed son. (16)
His body bristling with horripilation born of the darśana of Śiva, / his eyes filled with tears of joy, he spoke in a choked voice: (17)
Brahmā said:
“Therefore, my son, I was reminded of ancient times by you; / while contemplating Śiva’s yoga, I remembered [you] out of affection for you. (18)
Supreme devotion to Śiva has arisen in you through your many austerities; / by that, my heart was, as it were, turned back in an instant. (19)
By their deeds those whose devotion to Sadāśiva increases at all times / purify the entire world, O untroubled one! (20)
Conversation, cohabitation, sporting, mingling, / darśana of the devotees of Śiva, and remembering them, destroys evil. (21)
Listen to the wondrous, divine light named Aruṇādri, / full of spontaneous compassion, as it appeared in former times. (22)
Both I and Nārāyaṇa were born from the manifestation surpassing all, / from Sadāśiva who was unfolding the resolve: ‘May I become many.’ (23)
Arisen according to [our] nature, we quarreled with one another; / and fighting with pride, we were never fatigued. (24)
Beholding the terrible enthusiasm for battle between the two of us, / Īśvara, the embodiment of compassion, then thought: (25)
‘Why has this fight, which will destroy the worlds, arisen between these two / who have entered into a dispute: “It was created by me,” “I am the protector”? (26)
At this moment, being myself visible to these two who are utterly bewildered, / if I do not stop the battle, the destruction of the worlds will take place.’ (27)”

"My greatness is heard in the Vedas as transcending all. / These two deluded ones, their memory lost through anger, do not know it.
Every creature considers itself exceedingly superior. / But the fool who does not acknowledge the equality or superiority of others falls downward.
If in any world I give a measure of myself, / then, from realizing that form, he too may attain measure of the Self."
Deciding thus in his mind, Sadāśiva himself / arose as a pillar of fire between the two of us as we fought,
surpassing all the worlds, blazing on every side like fire.
Then, because it had neither beginning nor end, they stood with eyes pained, / their resolve broken upon seeing that blazing pillar of fire.
And before us a bodiless voice arose: / "Why is a battle undertaken, you two children of foolish mind?
Śiva alone will judge the difference between your powers. / This form standing here, composed of a pillar of fire, belongs to Śambhu.
If you two see its beginning and end, [that one is] superior in power." / Hearing those words, the two of us then ceased from combat,
and I and Viṣṇu, who possesses movement, resolved to search it out. / That form composed of a pillar of fire belonging to Śambhu was devoid of beginning or end;
the two of us resolved to inspect it from its beginning and its end. / Just as two children wish to seize the moon reflected in the sky,
so the two of us set out to measure that great splendor. / Then Viṣṇu, with great zeal, became a boar of immense body,
and to seek its base he tore open the interior of the earth. / And I, having assumed the state of a wild gander, flying up with great speed,
desirous to see its crown, plunged upward into the sky. / Rending the entire earth lower and lower, Mādhava
beheld the pillar of fire as if appearing from below. / Though searching for many crores of years,
not seeing the imperishable beginning of the splendor, he became afflicted in form and distressed.

With the rings of his tusks shattered, his joints and sinews giving way, / afflicted with exhaustion, overcome with thirst, Hari was unable to go on.
Unable to sustain that incomparable boar-like form, / exhausted even from turning back, the lord of Ramā despaired.
Endowed with an immeasurable soul, his body utterly fatigued, / his glory departed, exhausted by effort, taking refuge in Śiva who is worthy of refuge, he thought:
"Fie on this great delusion of mine born of egoism, / by which I did not recognize my master, my own Self!
For he is the root of all the Vedas, of the gods, and of the worlds; / he is Śiva in person—how could there be a root to him?
From him alone, who is devoid of beginning and end, have I arisen. / That I began to search for Śiva, having assumed an animal's body, [was folly].
By the grace of Father Śambhu, a friend of unconditioned compassion,

such an intellect, awakening me to my own Self, has been regained by me.

Whomever Mahādeva Śambhu desires to protect on his own,

to him instantly comes knowledge born of the Self, free from egoism.

I am not able again to perform worship of this teacher of the universe;

I surrender myself and go to Śaṃkara for refuge."

Thus Viṣṇu meditated upon Śiva, his consciousness fixed on praise.

By the true grace of the lord of spirits, he was raised up again to the earth.

And I wandered in the sky for many years;

with dizzy eyes and slackened wings, I became exhausted,

and higher and higher I saw the fire standing before me,

a pillar of fire resembling a massive liṅga, Śiva's splendor worshipped by gods.

Some perfected ones, born from parts of that splendor, seeing [me], said:

"To me, who have made effort, desirous to see the eternal, highest limit of Śambhu—

oh, this one truly wishes to practice foolishness even today!

Even with the fall of his body imminent, his egoism indeed has not departed.

His wings shattering, exhausted, his eyes bewildered,

this delusion regarding the boundless splendor will prove useless.

In this way Janārdana, in the form of a boar, his mind bewildered,

was turned back by Śiva alone, who possesses unconditioned compassion.

Crores of gods like Brahmā and the rest arise

from the atomic particles of that splendor whose limit he desires to see.

The Lord Śiva, who is attained by meditating on one's own Self,

if he gives understanding to him in due time, his egoism will perish."

Hearing these compassionate words of those perfected ones as they spoke thus,

my egoism shattered, I thought within myself:

"Not from knowledge of the multitude of Vedas, nor from austerity, nor from visiting sacred fords,

does knowledge of Śiva arise, except by his own grace.

Though my pair of wings is shattered, though my firm body sinks down,

my mind is eager once again to maintain its own egoism.

Fie on me, overcome by egoism, unaware of my own lack of power!

Constant salutation to the perfected ones whose minds are dedicated to Śiva,

by whose association, through acquired austerity, my intellect is purified,

so that I recognize this Śiva standing before me as the cause of my own Self;

endowed with the power obtained through whose grace,

all the gods will continuously have their enemies subdued;

whose ultimate reality the Vedas do not know through great Āgamas—

to that very Śambhu, distinct from the universe, I go for refuge."

Then, having addressed the lotus-eyed Viṣṇu, I said—

he who had regained his form and resorted with devotion to Śiva, who bears the moon on his crest:

"Ah, what wonder is this that has come upon us, who are full of valor,

that we resorted to egoism, which was produced by Śambhu!

Hearing of the vast and great battle between the two of us,

that very Śaṃkara, of immeasurable soul, took away all the egoism

of both of us by revealing his own greatness.

Whoever sets out to worship this Īśvara, Sadāśiva, bowed to by the gods,

who consists of a pillar of fire, will indeed become a boat for the ocean of worldly existence."

Thus ends the first chapter, named 'Description of the Manifestation of the Liṅga', in the dialogue between Brahmā and Sanaka, in the first half of the Aruṇācalamāhātmya, in the first Māheśvarakhaṇḍa of the glorious Skanda Mahāpurāṇa, in the collection of eighty-one thousand verses. 1.