Skandapurana 1.2.17

Sūta said:

Having heard this speech of his, Mārkaṇḍeya spoke:

Mārkaṇḍeya said:

Indeed, O lord, what was to be heard has been heard by me from your mouth.

Even so, I am overcome by curiosity, and so are these sages:

How was austerity performed here by Gaurī, the great goddess? Let that be told!

Nandikeśvara said:

I shall relate that as well, just as I have learned it myself.

Listen attentively, O noble-minded Mārkaṇḍeya. (3)

Surely you know how formerly Śiva married the daughter of Dakṣa,

named Satī, the presiding deity of virtuous wives. (4)

And how in anger at Dakṣa Prajāpati, who hated her husband,

she cast off her own body through yoga—this too you have heard. (5)

Then, what was done by Vīrabhadra, obedient to Hara's command,

the great destruction of Dakṣa's sacrifice, is also known to you. (6)

You have heard of the severing of that Dakṣa's head by the gaṇas,

and the chastisement even of the gods headed by Brahmā, Acyuta, and Indra; (7)

the knocking out of the Sun's teeth, the cutting off of Agni's hands,

and the humiliation of the divine women beginning with Aditi. (8)

And that goddess took rebirth in the house of Himavat,

bearing again a second name, 'Umā' and 'Pārvatī'. (9)

And in the forest of Sthāṇu, the god, while she was devoted to his service in secret,

wishing to arouse desire, burned Kāma with the fire of time. (10)

And when that god of mastered senses had departed somewhere with his gaṇas,

Gaurī, dwelling on the mountain peak, pleased him with austerities. (11)

Then, having married her with narratives that captivated her heart,

the god in solitude delighted that playful maiden, saying, 'Rejoice!' (12)

Entreated by Rati, who was grieved by widowhood, the daughter of the mountain,

performing austerities at Kāmapīṭha, revived Kāma. (13)

And brought once more to the abode by her mother Menā and father Himavat,

she took delight with her husband for a long time. (14)

At that time, the two named Śumbha and Niśumbha obtained a boon from Brahmā:

'Among gods, dānavas, and mortals, let there be no death for us two from a male.' (15)

Hearing their words, the god was implored in secret by the frightened gods,

headed by Viṣṇu, and he said: (16)

'Do not fear, good sirs; in time it shall be so arranged

that those two dānavas shall be slain.' (17)

Having granted fearlessness to Mukunda and the others and dismissed them, the slayer of Andhaka

entered the inner chamber and sported with the goddess as before. (18)

Once, teasingly hit at a sensitive point in jest, she was called 'Kālī' [the dark one];

and Kālikā, for the sake of his love, shed her very skin. (19)

Where the supreme mistress cast off that skin of her own will,

that became an excellent sacred field called Mahākāśīprapāta. (20)

And that skin, named Kauśikī, [becoming] Kālī dwelling on the Vindhya mountain,

slew those two great asuras, who, lusting [for her], approached as she practiced austerity. (21)

And the goddess Gaurī, upon that very enchanting peak,

completely pleased her husband having regained her fair complexion through austerities. (22)

In due course, experiencing pregnancy cravings, Pārvatī gave birth

to elephant-faced Heramba, and to the commander of the army, the six-faced [Skanda]. (23)

And those who know the Āgamas say that they were Nārāyaṇa and Brahmā,

born from the womb of the goddess for the purification of their earlier offenses. (24)

As those two boys grew up under the gaze of their parents,

who were as if immersed in an ocean of joy, the knot of affection became firm. (25)

Sometimes with the sound of the vīṇā, sometimes with paintings,

at other times with mutually adorning ornaments, the two Śivas sported freely. (26)

Sometimes with discussions of sciences and traditional texts, sometimes with curious objects,

and at other times with news of the world, the married couple was amused. (27)

Sometimes with gathering flowers, sometimes with water games,

and at other times with swinging games, moist with passion, the two played. (28)

Sometimes worshipped by Maināka, sometimes venerated by Menā,

sometimes honored by Himavat, the couple was entertained. (29)

Sometimes through the amusement of dice, at other times through musical assemblies,

at other times through the games of gift-giving, the two Śivas played for a long time. (30)

Snatching the moon won at dice, which had fallen into her husband's lap,

and having made it into a bracelet, Umā turned it into an earring. (31)

Thus those two parents of all that moves and is motionless, dwelling on the Golden Mountain and others,

in delightful places, truly enjoyed extremely charming pleasures of love for a very long time. (32)

Thus ends the seventeenth chapter, named 'Description of the Sporting of Śiva and Pārvatī', in the second half of the Aruṇācalamāhātmya, in the first [section], the Māheśvarakhaṇḍa, in the Mahāpurāṇa of eighty-one thousand verses, the glorious Skandapurāṇa. 17.