Skandapurana 1.1.6

Gautama said:

Formerly in a kalpa, Nārāyaṇa was reclining upon the ocean of waters;

lying upon the couch of Śeṣa, he did not wake at all.

Seeing the universe filled with darkness, devoid of knowledge and lacking distinguishing marks,

even at the end of the kalpa, the eternal seers grieved:

"Alas, how dreadful is this form of darkness, deluding the universe,

by which Viṣṇu does not wake even now, though the kalpa has ended!

Even the gods do not see the complete person of light;

how then could reflective minds obtain peace from the darkness?"

Having so resolved in their minds, they meditated upon the God of gods, Umā's lord,

dwelling within themselves, the mass of fiery splendour, free from taint.

Then the blessed Maheśvara, the mass of fiery splendour, was pleased,

entreated for the protection of the universe by the bowed eternal seers.

Then, from Śambhu who consists of fire, arising as rays of sparks,

the thirty-three crores of gods sprang forth.

Awakened by all the gods, the lord of Ramā arose;

beholding the complete dawn, he reflected in his mind thus:

"Out of an excess of darkness, I slept at an improper time;

for my awakening, Sadāśiva, the supreme light, has been seen directly.

He himself undertakes to perform the acts of creating the world;

what work remains here for me, or for the self-manifest Brahmā?

Fie on me, ignorant of the Self, my consciousness stolen away by sleep!

Or rather, I go for refuge to Śaṃkara, the maker of all,

the pacifier of all faults, the bestower of all desired fruits.

The darśana of Śambhu is purifying, difficult to attain by those of little merit."

Meditating thus upon Sadāśiva within himself, the liṅga of light,

Hari bowed down repeatedly to the god with devotion, with eight limbs prostrated.

He praised Īśāna, the creator of the universe, who cuts away sins.

Then fiery Śambhu, the refuge, addressed him who had come for refuge,

favouring him with side glances: "Arise!"

Having risen before Śambhu, who was full of compassion and crescent-crested, [he said]:

"Homage to the Lord of the three worlds, who bears the qualities of the three forms,

to you whose body is the three deities, who are three-eyed, the enemy of Tripura!

You alone are the Lord of the worlds; through your own portions composed of deities,

in the form of cause and effect, you perform actions at your own will.

Having assigned me to the protection of the world and bewildered me with your māyā,

you do not wish to abandon my fault or your intention.

What shall I do, O embodiment of the world, when I have placed my burden on you?

Surely you do not seek to find fault with me for sleeping at the wrong time.”

Having seen that distress and repentance of Hari, O Hara, O Śambhu,

the glorious Hara prescribed this expiation for Hari:

“I remain on the surface of the earth in the form of Aruṇācala.

By the mere darśana of it, your darkness shall be destroyed.

A boon was granted there by me in the past to the previous Viṣṇu;

at that very time, the fiery liṅga named Aruṇācala [manifested].

This form made of light became tranquil for the protection of the world;

which, composed of fire, unmanifest, has boundless glory and virtues.

Of rivers, mountain torrents, and even waters released by clouds,

because it consists of inner light, dissolution is seen right there.

By granting sight to the blind, movement of feet to the lame,

attainment of sons to the childless, and the faculties of speech to the mute;

by granting all supernatural powers, by delivering from all diseases,

by appeasing all sins, it stands bestowing all boons.”

Having spoken thus, Śambhu vanished, and Hari went to Aruṇācala;

having arrived and undertaken austerity, he worshipped the Crimson Mountain.

Seeing the gods resorting to the woods all around that mountain,

Hari established the holy hermitages of the ṛṣis,

and the Vedas with their auxiliary limbs and Upaniṣads, taking embodied forms, all around.

He created a group of a hundred apsarases of divine forms,

and commanded: “Serve with dances, songs, and instrumental music!”

Having bathed in this lake of Brahmā, lotus-eyed Viṣṇu

circumambulated this worshipped Aruṇagiri.

Freed from sin, he obtained the sovereignty of all the worlds,

together with Ramā forever, who was exquisitely lovely and shapely.

The Sun, the mass of radiance, afflicted even by the asuras,

from the instruction of Brahmā, worshipped the Lord of Aruṇagiri with devotion.

Having bathed in the pure, sanctifying sacred ford fashioned by Brahmā,

he circumambulated this Aruṇagiri, the self-luminous Lord.

Having gained victory over all the Daityas and the circumambulation of Meru,

he obtained supreme radiance that destroys the radiance of enemies.

Overwhelmed by the fire of Dakṣa's curse, Soma, through the power of Śiva's word,

worshipped Aruṇācala and regained his form once again.

Agni, afflicted by pulmonary consumption due to the curse of a brahmin ṛṣi,

though impure, became pure through service to Aruṇācala.

Śakra, having slain Vṛtra, Bala, Pāka, Namuci, and the arrogant Jṛmbha—

the Daityas, masters of the world, who had obtained boons from Śiva in the past—

and wasted away by major sins, took refuge at the edge of the world;

having propitiated Śambhu through austerity, impelled by Śiva,

and having worshipped Aruṇādri, the ruler of the gods became freed from sin.

And having sacrificed with the horse-sacrifice, he gratified Śaṃkara.

And having regained the position of Indra, the glorious Śakra assigned a troop of a hundred apsarases

for service, with the playing of divine drums.

Having commanded the flower-clouds with showers of celestial blossoms,

he worships the Crimson Mountain and constantly praises it in heaven.

Śeṣa too, the bearer of the terrestrial circle, having worshipped the Lord of the Crimson Mountain at Śiva's command,

attained the power of assuming forms at will.

Other serpents, gandharvas, siddhas, hosts of apsarases,

and the guardians of the directions, having worshipped it, obtained the desired boons.

By all the gods who were striving, eager to conquer the Daityas and others,

the Aruṇa mountain, granting desired boons from every side, was petitioned.

The Sun, whose form was fashioned by Tvaṣṭṛ, burning with radiance,

the lord of planets, endeavoured to cross over the Crimson Mountain.

Then the draft-horses of his chariot, deprived of power, became exhausted.

And he, stripped of his splendour by the radiant power of the Crimson Mountain,

though garlanded with rays, could not traverse the sky in his all-reaching course.

He, indeed, by Brahmā's instruction, worshipped Aruṇācala,

and graciously received from that lord a path through the sky and fine steeds.

From that time forth, the hot-rayed [sun] indeed does not cross

the mountain named the Crimson [Peak], but [circles it] in clockwise circumambulations.

Long ago, the thirty [gods], mutilated and stripped of their limbs at Dakṣa's sacrifice,

worshipped Aruṇācala and obtained new limbs.

Pūṣan [obtained] a tooth, Agni a hand, and Bhaga an unblemished eye;

and Sarasvatī received her nose by serving the Crimson Mountain.

The son of Bhṛgu, whose eye was destroyed by the tip of a kuśa grass blade in Viṣṇu's hand

when he obstructed the stream of water poured by Bali to give the earth,

went to the Crimson Mountain, performed very arduous austerity,

and, purified in soul, standing upon the mountain named Bhāskara, recovered his eye.

By serving the Lord of Aruṇācala, [Aruṇa,] the charioteer of the sun, [regained his limbs].

A king named Pratardana, seeking to seize a celestial maiden

who was singing with devotion to the Lord of the Crimson Mountain,

in an instant became monkey-faced. Urged by his ministers, the king

returned her, and moreover presented other [maidens] to the Crimson Mountain.

Then, by the grace of the Lord of Aruṇa, he regained a handsome face;

and out of loving devotion, [the Lord] granted him complete union [with Himself].

In the presence of the Lord of Aruṇācala, a gandharva named Puṣpaka,

feeble in understanding and devoid of devotion, once went.

Then, seeing him with the face of a tiger, the gandharva's attendants

in astonishment asked one another: "What is this?"

Then, instructed by Nārada, having understood the fruit of his own contempt,

he worshipped the Crimson Mountain and again gained a handsome face.

This realm of Śiva is famed to extend two yojanas all around;

liberation is [assured] for those who die there—never is there destruction [for them].

Formerly, the Seven Seers, afflicted with the burden of a curse upon earth,

served the Crimson Mountain; and the glorious Lord, knowing their firm resolve,

granted release from the curse to the great-souled Seven Seers.

A sacred ford made by the Seven Seers, which destroys all sin,

is seen, holy and auspicious, near the Crimson Mountain.

A lame sage came from the Crimson Mountain to obtain legs,

holding his wooden hand-props, his prayed-for wish concealed [in his heart];

busily crawling on his knees, he reached the bank of the Crimson River.

Thirsty, he cast the two wooden hand-props into the sacred ford;

as he crawled on his knees, the rogue thirsted for water.

Then, having reached the Crimson Mountain, how indeed [could he go] with wooden hands?

Asking him, "What is this?", intent on that, [the Lord] ran to him.

Suddenly having received feet, he went to his own abode.

He did not see a person there; the wooden hands were lying ahead of him.

Picking them up himself and looking at them, he bowed to the Crimson Mountain;

having received feet and restored his form, the great sage rejoiced.

Honoured by great-souled devotees of Śiva whose eyes were wide with wonder,

having obtained legs, he departed just as he had come.

The glorious Vālin, son of Śakra, from the peak of the mountain of sunrise,

attempted to fly toward the summit of the mountain of sunset.

In between, he caught sight of Aruṇagiri, worshipped by the gods;

as he tried to fly above it, his strength depleted and he fell to the earth.

Meeting his father Śakra and urged by him to [worship] the Crimson Mountain,

he worshipped the fiery liṅga and regained his strength once more.

Formerly, having worshipped [it], Nala protected those dear to men,

his subjects, righteous in soul and endowed with the essence of good policy.

Ila, having entered the unbroken forest of Gaurī unawares,

was transformed into a woman and consulted his priest.

Instructed by Vasiṣṭha, he worshipped the Crimson Mountain;

having propitiated the Lord of the gods with austerity, he regained his manhood.

Then, through Soma's counsel, he remembered the Crimson Mountain with devotion.

By the grace of the Lord, rich in tapas, he gained release from his curse,

and attained the supreme abode unreachable even by the immortals.

Because he remembered a deer fawn at the end of his life, Bharata

did not attain liberation through yoga, but was joined to birth as a deer.

Hari experienced boundless sorrow born of separation from his wife;

yet, worshipping this Crimson Mountain on Bhṛgu's instruction,

he dispelled all his sorrows throughout all his incarnations.

Sarasvatī, Sāvitrī, Śrī, the Earth, and the rivers,

by worshipping the Lord of the Crimson Mountain, crossed over their misfortunes.

The Sun in the eastern direction, Viśvāmitra in the south,

Varuṇa in the western quarter, and the Trident taking refuge in the north:

situated upon the hills, they are the boundaries up to two yojanas around.

These four deities serve the Crimson Mountain.

Standing at the outer limits of the boundary, before the Lord of the Crimson Mountain who dwells there,

the four deities bow to Śiva in the form of the Crimson Mountain.

On its northern peak a banyan tree is seen,

at whose base Maheśvara always remains in the guise of a siddha.

Its very great shade is always circular in shape;

it is always observed by gods and men filled with wonder.

Surrounded on all sides by eight liṅgas worshipped by the eight world-guardians,

stationed in the eight directions, he shines, truly attended upon [by them].

For kings devoted to Śambhu and obedient to Śaṃkara's command,

a great assembly hall was fashioned right here by the Primal God.

And there stands a great bakula tree, bestowing the fruit of whatever is desired at all times;

at its base it is attended by Vāmadeva, who knows the meaning of the Āgamas.

Agastya and Vasiṣṭha, having worshipped the Crimson Mountain

and established two spotless liṅgas, performed such tapas.

Long ago, the son of Hiraṇyagarbha, the male river Śoṇa,

performed fierce tapas here and flowed towards the Gaṅgā.

Here flows the sacred river Śoṇā with its pure waters,

and the sacred river Veṇā attends upon the mountain all around.

In the northwestern quarter the Vāyutīrtha shines;

bathing there in former times, the Wind God obtained his nature as the life-breath of the world.

To the north of this mountain is a sacred ford radiant with golden lotuses,

strewn with celestial fragrant lilies, captivating with swans and bees.

The ford of Kubera is in the northeast, the supreme sacred ford belonging to Īśāna.

In the western part of that very [ford], lotus-eyed Viṣṇu,

having bathed, his form caressed by Kamalā, attained his status as Viṣṇu.

Long ago, the nine planets, having bathed there, attained their status as planets;

and the favor of the nine planets arises for those who plunge into it.

Durgā, Vināyaka, Skanda, the guardian of the field, and Sarasvatī

guard that sacred ford on all sides. After this, one should understand:

the Gaṅgā, the Yamunā, the Godāvarī, the Sarasvatī,

the Narmadā, the Sindhu, the Kāverī, the Śoṇa, and that river Śoṇā—

these, concealed, constantly attend [it] in the directions beginning with the east,

destroying all the sin that has arisen in their own fields.

And other celestial rivers, as well as earthly ones of auspicious waters,