Skandapurana 1.2.12

Nandikeśvara said:

Then, following along the pillar of fire, the grandfather of the worlds

flew upward swiftly, facing skyward, into the unsupported sky.

As he flew swiftly upward, checked by the force of his wings,

the clouds scattered, like waves driven away by the winds.

Flying swiftly far into the distance, he passed beyond the range of sight;

only a long, extended streak was discerned in the sky.

The illusory swan was seen alongside the pillar of fire,

like the moon moving near twilight clouds.

First, as he flew upward, he passed the path of rain clouds;

then the track of aerial chariots; beyond that, the realm of the stars.

Those abodes of splendors belonging to sky-dwellers, exceedingly high,

that deceitful bird crossed swiftly beyond them.

The speed of the wind, or even of the mind, which is of most subtle form—

that was surpassed by that swan through his flight and other means.

The more he flew very far, his wings exhausted,

the more the pillar of fire appeared towering ever higher.

Passing beyond the seven realms of the winds, filled with wonder,

he broke through the cosmic egg's cauldron and beheld that blazing [column].

“How can I stand before Hari when I have not seen its base,

without having relieved Śauri of his peerless equality with me?

What is the use of my long life if my vow remains unfulfilled?

So what expedient deed should be done here? What course remains for me?

Who will be an ally to me, wishing to deceive Viṣṇu?

Honesty is utterly unable to defeat an adversary;

or should I confound him by deceit? For honor is the wealth of the great.”

While Viriñci was reflecting thus with an agitated mind,

something pure and bright appeared in the sky not very far away.

“Can this be the crescent of the moon? How could it have come here?

Or is it a lotus-stalk in that [celestial] river? But where would it come from in this sky?”

While he was thus in doubt, it drew closer.

The lotus-born [Brahmā] recognized it: “This is a petal of the ketakī flower.”

Though it was old, it gave off a rising fragrance by the natural power of the object.

Hiraṇyagarbha grasped that pure ketaka petal;

as soon as it was taken by him, it became endowed with consciousness, indeed, and spoke:

The ketaka said:

“O, why do you seize me? Release me, intent upon resting,

having fallen thus through the sky for a hundred thousand years!”

Nandīśa said:

Seeing him growing in this way, he became distressed with exhaustion.

The lotus-born [Brahmā] reflected, his hopes utterly dashed:

“My vow remains unfulfilled, and I have sunk into humiliation.

Where is that mass of light that has pervaded the cavity between heaven and earth,

and where am I, with my manly prowess limited in this examination?

My wings seem to break, and my eyes seem to go blind;

my limbs seem to waste away, and I feel as though I am falling downward.

Or what else is there to say with many words? Along with the breaths of my sighing,

my vital breaths seem surely to be departing now.

May this knot of pride and egoism break in my mind;

and may that rivalry with Mukunda quickly perish!

For this pillar of fire, exerting itself beyond the expanse of the vault of heaven and earth,

even today attains height just as before.

Therefore, neither I nor Nārāyaṇa is the source of this mass of light,

much less the other gods headed by Mahendra.

I have no power to fly further upward from here; therefore I shall turn back.”

Having so resolved in his mind, the Creator, filled with wonder,

addressed him: “Who are you, or where have you come from?”

And that ketaka petal replied to Vedhas:

“I was merely a ketaka petal, endowed with consciousness by the command of Śiva,

and for a long time I rested upon the head of Śambhu, who is the pillar of fire.

Desiring to dwell in the mortal world, I have come down from there.”

Having thus heard the words of the ketakī petal, the lotus-born [Brahmā] gained reassurance and said:

“Tell me, at what distance is the top of the pillar of fire?”

Thus ends the twelfth chapter, entitled “Description of Brahmā's Search for the Upper Part of the Liṅga,” in the second half of the Aruṇācalamāhātmya, in the first Māheśvarakhaṇḍa of the glorious Skandapurāṇa, a collection of eighty-one thousand verses.