Skandapurana 1.1.5

Brahmā said:

[When] Gautama, calm and arrived from the forest at the door of the hut,

she who embodies devotion to Śiva and comprises the universe prepared to receive him.

She beheld Gautama as he approached, attended by his disciples,

the orb of his face completely covered by long head-hair and beard,

with deep reddish matted locks purified by bathing in sacred fords,

resembling fire with its flames adorned with rudrākṣa beads,

his broad forehead shining, adorned with a triple-stripe mark of sacred ash,

wearing a white sacrificial thread, filled with garlands of rudrākṣa beads,

wearing two garments of red bark, his body emaciated by austerity,

whispering many Vedic mantras that bring delight to Rudra,

as if possessing the noble similarity of form granted by Śambhu,

a treasury of splendor, full of compassion, like the sun made visible.

Seeing that great-souled elder taking refuge at Śambhu's feet,

Gaurī joined her palms and began to pay homage.

Beholding the mother of the whole universe with folded palms,

the sage, saying "What is this?" in astonishment, stopped her and bowed down.

"Welcome, fortunate Gaurī, mother of the worlds, treasure of compassion!

Under a pretext, ah, you have come here to protect your devotees!

Ah, venerable Lady, having known beforehand that venerable purpose,

we, adopting as it were a separate existence, arrived with our disciples.

O Goddess, if there were no play of your own māyā,

how then could the accomplishment of the phenomenal world come to be?

Let that be; it is impossible for me to fully speak of the play of your māyā,

which can never be fathomed even by those who belong to you.

Please sit down upon this pure, holy seat made of kuśa grass;

and accept the water for the feet and the guest-offering given by me according to rule."

When the disciples brought the supreme seat made of darbha grass,

the aged sage, full of devotion, worshipped the Mother who was seated upon it.

Having offered complete worship, filled with a mood of devotion,

and permitted by Gaurī, he too took a seat.

With the directions bathed in the moonlight of his teeth,

his limbs thrilling with horripilation, with tears of joy, he spoke in a choked voice:

"Ah, the greatness of the god Śambhu of boundless splendor!

He who loves his devotees directed you to protect the true devotee.

What other unattained thing is there for you to obtain?

O Mother, the Lord [has done] this to demonstrate the greatness of devotion.

The event on Mount Kailāsa, your standing in austerity on the bank of the Kampā,

and the command regarding Aruṇādri—all this is known to me.

You have come in person, O highly fortunate one, to this devotee's hermitage;

O embodiment of compassion, affectionately instruct me what should be done."

Hearing these words of that great seer who knew everything,

the Mother, praising that great sage out of eagerness, said:

"This is your great magnificence! The god of gods, Śiva himself,

instructed me: 'You should see him among the practitioners of austerity.'

You have reached the furthest shore of the Vedas and of the Āgamas proclaimed by Śiva;

through austerity you alone among the devotees of Śambhu are approved by Śiva.

Śiva said: 'I abide under the name of Aruṇācala;

and the greatness of this mountain is to be heard from your mouth.'

I have come to perform austerity in the presence of Aruṇācala;

the Lord himself is pleased merely by the sight of you.

Conversation with a devotee of Śiva, listening to the glorification of Śiva,

and worship of the Śivaliṅga are in this world the dawn of the fruit of taking a bodily form.

Therefore, this greatness must be heard by me from your mouth;

through your clear teaching and through knowledge, you are my father."

Hearing her words, Gautama, a treasure-house of austerity,

meditating on Giriśa, recounted the glory of Aruṇācala:

"As if unknowing, whatever you ask anew,

I understand: you are that very māyā of Śiva, the source of all sciences.

Or rather, hearing the glory of Śiva through the mouth of a devotee

is the instruction belonging to Śambhu for them, and the cause of your satisfaction.

Just as the Vedas, when recited, bear the fruit of repeated study,

likewise does the glorification of Śiva in this world for those who speak and listen.

Today all the austerities I have performed have borne fruit,

since I proclaim the māhātmya heard as commanded by Śambhu.

By the grace of Śiva and Śivā, this wondrous māhātmya,

the Aruṇācala-māhātmya, which is the cause of the destruction of sins—

let this great ancient event be heard, O lady of faultless limbs!

How the liṅga made of the red mountain manifested in ancient times,

the Aruṇācala-māhātmya, cannot be told completely

even by tens of millions of mouths of tens of millions of Brahmās.

Anciently worshipped by Brahmā, Viṣṇu, the Moon, the Sun, and Agni,

and by the guardians of the directions, Indra and the others, for the attainment of the eight perfections;

revered by siddhas, cāraṇas, gandharvas, yakṣas, vidyādharas, and uragas,

and by birds, divine sages, and perfected yogins;

for the cessation of various sins, and for the attainment of various desired ends,

this Lord Śiva, the master of the red mountain, has been worshipped.

When seen, he destroys sins; when served, he grants desires.

Even when glorified from afar by people as 'the Red Mountain', he grants liberation.

The form composed of the pillar of fire, known as the Red Mountain—

meditating upon it in their minds, yogins attain union with Śiva.

Whatever is given, offered in fire, whispered in recitation, and whatever other austerity is performed—

obtained in the presence of Aruṇācala, it becomes imperishable.

In ancient times, Brahmā and Viṣṇu, who arose from portions of Śiva’s fiery energy,

filled with egoism, fought with the desire to conquer one another.

Then, to subdue the pride of both, Sadāśiva, the object of yogins' meditation,

having assumed a form composed of the fiery energy of fire, devoid of beginning, middle, and end,

stood between them, illuminating the ten directions.

Then, in order to see the beginning and ending portions of that pillar of fire,

having assumed the bodies of a swan and a boar, they went to heaven and to the netherworld.

Seeing them with dejected faces, the Lord, the ocean of compassion,

manifested himself and granted them their desired boon.

And prayed to by them, the Lord of gods assumed the condition of an immovable liṅga;

renowned as the Red Mountain, tranquil, he shines forth.

With the sounds of divine drums, with the songs and dances of apsarases,

this fiery liṅga is constantly worshipped with hundreds of showers of flowers.

Anciently, after ninety-six Brahmās had passed away, the Lord

Brahmā, arisen from Viṣṇu's navel, created the worlds.

Once, requested by Indra who wished to create an obstacle

to the austerity of yogins, Brahmā created a charming woman.

Beholding that lotus-eyed woman, replete with the qualities of loveliness,

Brahmā was bewildered, his heart pierced by the arrows of the god of love.

Seeing Brahmā, whose seat is the lotus, desiring to touch her,

the excellent apsaras, bowing down, wished to leave under the pretext of circumambulation.

As she performed the circumambulation of the Lord of Creatures with devotion,

in an instant faces arose on him facing all four directions.

Becoming a bird, that maiden plunged into the sky;

and seeing him again pursuing her in the form of a bird,

begging for refuge, she resorted to this Red Mountain:

'You, whose feet and crest were unseen by Brahmā and Viṣṇu—

protect me, O Lord of the Red Mountain, refuge, who have sought your refuge!'

As she, distressed by fear, cried out in this way from Aruṇācala,

there arose from the immovable liṅga a certain hunter bearing a bow.

With an arrow fixed to his bow, possessing the lustre of a sky filled with clouds—

when that tribal hunter was seen before him, his delusion was indeed destroyed.

Then, with a serene heart, utterly humble, the lotus-born [Brahmā]

then bowed down to the refuge, the Lord of the Red Mountain:

'Salutations to you, the wielder of the Pināka, the destroyer of all sins;

salutations to Śambhu, who has the form of Aruṇācala, who is subservient to devotion!'

to turn your devotees away from improper actions when they are ignorant?

Who other than you is able to accomplish what is impossible for embodied beings?

With your fiery splendour, dissolve my body that resolved upon sin,

or create another Brahmā, O Soul of the Universe, for the creation of the worlds!"

Then, hearing the words of that wretched creator,

Śiva, the crescent-crested lord, becoming the embodiment of compassion, spoke:

"Your lifespan was granted by me long ago; it is not revoked.

Who, indeed, placed in authority, would passions and other defects not afflict?

Therefore, even while remaining far away, worship this fiery liṅga

named Aruṇācala, for the cessation of all faults.

Whatever sin there may be, committed by speech, mind,

or body, it all perishes in an instant from the darśana of Aruṇācala.

Through circumambulations, prostrations, remembrances, worship, and praises,

this Aruṇa mountain destroys all the sins of men.

On Kailāsa, on the peak of Meru, in my own abodes, or on mountains of divine parts,

I am seen only by some, but this Aruṇa mountain is myself directly,

by merely beholding whose peak with the attainment of eyesight,

destruction of all sins occurs for men, along with the attainment of the eye of knowledge.

Born from a portion of me, Brahmā bathed here in the Brahmapuṣkara [pool] named after himself;

in ancient times, O priest, the delusion of the lord of the earth disappeared.

Having bathed in the Brahmatīrtha, worshipping me with joined palms,

observing silence and performing circumambulation, be free of distress, O Soul of the Universe!"

Having uttered these words to the Lord of the Universe, Maheśa, who stood in the form of Aruṇācala,

the lotus-born [Brahmā] then dipped into the lake and worshipped the dispeller of sins in due order.

Having worshipped this Lord of Aruṇagiri clearly and with respectful offerings,

his mind cleansed by the discipline of restraints and observances, the creator, freed of sin, returned to his dominion.

Thus ends the fifth chapter, named 'Description of the Glory of Brahmapuṣkara', in the first half of the Aruṇācalamāhātmya in the first book, the Māheśvarakhaṇḍa, of the glorious Skandapurāṇa of eighty-one thousand verses.