Skandapurana 1.3.25: adhyāyaḥ 27

Lomaśa said:
In that same manner, all the mountains were honoured by Viṣṇu:
Mount Sahya, the Vindhya, Maināka, Gandhamādana,

Mālyavān, Malaya, Mahendra, Mandara,
and Meru was then assiduously worshipped by Viṣṇu.

Mount Śveta, Mount Nīla, the Sunrise Mountain,
Mount Śṛṅga, and the great, excellent Mount Asta;

Mount Mānasa, the mountain Kailāsa—best of mountains—
and Mount Lokāloka were thus worshipped by the supreme lord.

Thus all those best of mountains were indeed honoured;
and all other mountain-dwellers were honoured by him.

Together with Brahmā, Viṣṇu performed everything as was proper.
And when the next day arrived, the bridal procession took place.

With the Himālaya and their kinsmen, to Mount Gandhamādana
went all the hosts of gods and numerous retinues,

all the pramathas as well, and the other attendants of Caṇḍī,
and the many others who had assembled from the Himālaya,

for Śiva's wedding, O brahmins. Devoted to Śiva,
they were filled with supreme joy upon seeing the couple then:

Śambhu accompanied by Pārvatī, Pārvatī together with Śambhu,
just as flower and fragrance, or as word and meaning in their true nature;

and so too Prakṛti and Puruṣa, united in a single state, not otherwise.
Mounted upon an elephant, the couple shone with great splendor.

Brahmā was then in his aerial chariot, Viṣṇu upon Garuḍa,
Indra mounted on Airāvata, Kubera upon the Puṣpaka;

the Noose-bearer was mounted on a makara, Yama on a buffalo,
Nirṛti on a corpse, and the great Agni was mounted on a goat;

Pavana was mounted on a deer, and Īśa on a bull.
Thus the world-protectors, accompanied by the planets and the supreme deities,

were surrounded by their own armies, as were the others—the pramathas and the rest.
The Himālaya, that great mountain, Ṛṣabha, Gandhamādana,

Mount Sahya, Mount Nīla, Mandara, Mount Malaya,
Kailāsa of great radiance, and Maināka of great splendor,

these and other mountains, radiant and of great splendor,
all accompanied by their wives and handsome sons,

mighty and personified, all the mountains beginning with Meru,
were devoted to worshipping Śiva in the course of the bridal procession.

Those mountains beginning with Meru were seated by Nandin;
they took part in the bridal procession as prescribed by the Himālaya.
Together with all those kinsmen, they made their return.

Dwelling in his own abode, the Himālaya shone, possessed of great fame,
by means of the supreme splendor born of contact with Śiva alone;
the great mountain became celebrated and renowned in the three worlds.

He with whose great gift of his daughter Śaṃkara was pleased—
blessed are those high-souled ones, and they have accomplished all their aims.

Those on the tip of whose tongue rests always the two-syllable name,
by whom the two-syllable name “Śiva” has been uttered in their heart this day—
they are indeed Rudras in human form, there is no doubt.

He is pleased with even a small gift, even with a leaf,
and Mahādeva is constantly pleased even with water.

With a leaf, with a flower, and with water, this Sadāśiva is pleased;
therefore, Śiva, who bestows great good fortune on mortals here, must be worshipped by all.

One, the great light, unborn, the supreme lord, the supreme self above the higher and the lower,
continuous, changeless, without a master, unassailable, free from conceptual distinction, devoid of desire.

Taintless, eternal in form, restraint, eternal bliss, ever-liberated, ever-existing— / being such, the God of gods, Bhava, knowable by the universe, was worshipped by those gods and others; / praised, meditated upon, honoured, and contemplated, he is omniscient, eternal, and the giver of all.

Just as the famous Himavat was supreme through all qualities, endowed with all virtues, a great soul, / praised by the Lord of the Universe, so the Himālaya then became the foremost among mountains.

Then, accompanied by Menā, the righteous [king] went to his own abode; / the lord of mountains dismissed all the mountains.

When they had departed, Himavat, with his sons, grandsons, and great-grandsons, / [became] the foremost king of mountains by the grace of Mahādeva.

Then, along with the Mountain-born Daughter on Gandhamādana, / Maheśa, endowed with a beautiful form, turned his mind in solitude toward lovemaking.

Through great copulation indeed, with austerity in that union, / the lovemaking of the two was begun, and then took place between them.

It was disastrous, a great wonder, just like the universal dissolution; / while that great lovemaking was underway, they found no ultimate peace.

All the gods, Brahmā and the rest, [pondered] what should and should not be done; / and by the semen the entire world, both moving and unmoving, was endangered.

Brahmā and Viṣṇu, the bestower of spiritual wisdom, remembered Agni; / remembered in their minds, Agni immediately went with haste.

Sent by the two, he saw the charming dwelling of Śiva; / he saw Nandin standing at the door, full of great splendour in front.

Agni then became dwarfish, with a lustre like saffron, / and entered Śambhu's inner apartment, which was filled with various wonders,

surrounded by many jewels and well adorned with mansions. / Having reached its courtyard and sat down, the fire spoke:

“O mother, give alms from the inner apartments to me, whose hand is his bowl!” / Hearing that speech of his whose hand was his bowl, the young woman,

as she began to give him alms, then Śiva himself, / rising from that lovemaking, became exceedingly enraged.

Lifting his trident, Rudra then became terrifying; / restrained from slaying him by the Mountain-born Daughter, Śiva himself / gave alms in word to Agni, the knower of beings.

Then, the alms having been received directly into his hand by that fire, / the Mountain-born Daughter, angered at his begging, then cursed him:

“O mendicant, by my curse you will quickly become an eater of everything; / by this semen you will immediately suffer torment on all sides!”

Thus addressed, the fire, the carrier of oblations, consumed the semen of the Lord; / [he went to] where all the gods, Brahmā and the others, were assembled everywhere.

Arriving, he related everything—the consumption of that semen and the rest; / and all the hosts of gods, Indra and the rest, became pregnant.

Just as the oblation of Agni reaches all of them, / through the semen arising from Agni's mouth, those lords of the gods,

all became pregnant and were tormented with anxiety; / they sought refuge with Viṣṇu, the Lord, the ruler of the God of gods.

The gods said: / “You are the protector of all the gods and the lord of the worlds; / therefore protection must be granted, O you who are affectionate to those seeking refuge!

We all desire to die, tormented by this semen; / we, all the gods of heaven, are terrified of the asuras.

We went to Śaṃkara for refuge, eager to be saved; / [thinking] that when a son is born to Rudra, then we / will all be happy and fearless in heaven.

To us thus obstructed, fear has come; / O Viṣṇu, how can one live with this semen?

Even if the threefold aim of life of men is thoroughly accomplished, / it indeed turns contrary without God, not otherwise.

Therefore, considering that to be the strength of all embodied beings, / we all reflect upon the determination of what should and should not be done.”

Hearing that lamentation of the gods, the supreme Lord, / the slayer of the enemies of the gods, spoke these words to the gods with a smile:

“Let Mahādeva, Maheśa, be praised because of the gravity of the task!”

Saying “So be it,” all those gods headed by Viṣṇu, / as well as Brahmā and the others, all the seers, praised Hara:

“Om, homage to the radiant god, to the blue-throated, the bountiful, / to the three-eyed, the three Vedas, the supporter of the three worlds;

to the three tones, the three measures, the three Vedas, the three forms, / to the threefold aim, the threefold abode, the three paces, the bearer of the trident!

Save us, save us, O Mahādeva, Lord of the world, from the semen!”

As soon as he was praised by Brahmā, the god whose banner is the bull / appeared right there for the accomplishment of the purpose of the gods.

Then the sole friend of the universe was seen, well worshipped by the great-souled foremost gods, / being extolled with various fresh words consistent with the Vedas.

And to the praising gods the Supreme Lord said: / “Let none of you, tormented by this semen, be afraid.

Vomiting must be done by you this very day, O gods!” / Thinking “So be it,” all those hosts of gods, Indra and the rest, / then vomited that semen of Śaṃkara, O brahmins.

All at once that semen, resembling a great mountain, / looking like molten gold, became a supreme wonder.

And all the hosts of gods, Indra and the rest, became happy; / except for Agni, they all were then fully satisfied.

And by that fire too, Śaṃkara, the causer of welfare to the world, was addressed: / “What must be done by me today, O Mahādeva, O best of deities?

Tell me that today, O Lord, whereby I may always be happy, / and whereby I may become the bearer of oblations for the gods.”

Then Śiva spoke directly, while the gods were listening here: / “Let the semen be discharged into a womb.” Then Agni, laughing, [said] also:

he said to the god Śaṃkara: “Your fiery splendour is hard to approach. / How can this exceedingly terrible fiery splendour be borne by ordinary beings?”

Then the blessed Maheśvara said to Agni: / “Discharge that fiery splendour into the bodies of those [women] who are heated [by morning bathing] month after month.”

Thinking “So be it,” regarding that command, the greatly luminous Jātavedas, blazing with supreme splendour, / possessed of great power, sat down there during the brāhma-muhūrta.

Then, having arisen in the morning, the wives of the seers, devoted to morning ablutions, / virtuous as they were, constantly went to Jātavedas.

Seeing him blazing there, all of them, tormented by the cold, / desired to warm themselves, but were all restrained by Arundhatī.

Even though restrained by her, those Kṛttikās warmed themselves on their own. / As they were all warming themselves, the subtle particles of semen / swiftly entered their hair-pores right there.

Then Agni was rendered devoid of semen and became calm on his own.

Then the wives of the seers went to their own dwellings. / But, cursed then by the seers, the Kṛttikās became sky-wanderers [as stars].

At that very time, all of them, distressed by the transgression, / discharged that semen on the ridge of the Himālaya mountain.

Immediately that semen, with the splendour of molten gold, / was quickly surrounded by reed bamboos in the Gaṅgā.

Knowing that the child had six faces, all the gods were filled with joy; / then, addressed by Garga, [they thought]: “Let him be carried away easily.”

By the grace of Śambhu, this son is all-pervading and eternal; / the mighty Kārttikeya was born on the bank of the Gaṅgā.

Then the son of Gaṅgā sat down, having fasted for a day and a night; / he is Śākha, Viśākha, exceedingly powerful, six-faced, and possessed of great might.

When that six-faced son of Śaṃkara was born in the Gaṅgā, / at that very moment milk flowed from the breasts of the Mountain’s daughter.

Looking at Śiva, she said: “O Śambhu, a great flow of milk / has occurred for me, O Mahādeva! Look into why this is so!” / Even though omniscient, Mahādeva spoke to her as if ignorant:

Nārada, having arrived there, reported that birth of his / to Śiva and Śivā: “A handsome son has indeed been born!”

Hearing that word, O brahmins, their minds filled with joy; / all the Pramathas [rejoiced], and the Gandharvas were devoted to singing.

With many banners, cloth-and-shoot festoons, / and many aerial chariots, the great mountain shone brightly, blazing, / because of the birth of the son of the great-souled Śaṃkara.

Then all the hosts of gods, seers, Siddhas and Cāraṇas, / Rākṣasas, Gandharvas, and Yakṣas, attended by hosts of apsarases,

all together in a single body, along with Śaṃkara, / went in great numbers to see the son of Gaṅgā staying on the sandbank.

Then the Lord, having mounted the bull, set out with the Mountain’s daughter, / accompanied by the other gods, Indra and the rest.

Then conches and kettle-drums and numerous trumpets resounded.

At that very time, the Gaṇas led by Vīrabhadra followed the Lord of all, / eager for sport, playing various musical instruments, / sounding instruments with stretched membranes and stringed instruments.

Some were intent on dancing there, and others were singers; / and panegyrists who were offering praises proclaimed his glorious virtues.

Thus these gods, Siddhas, Yakṣas, Gandharvas, Vidyādharas, and Pannagas, / with exceedingly delighted minds, went with Śiva to see that boon-bestowing son of Śaṃkara.

As they beheld the son of Gaṅgā, who was like Śaṃkara, / they saw a great fiery splendour that had pervaded the three worlds.

They saw the child enveloped by that splendour, glowing like molten gold, / having a lovely face, endowed with auspicious beauty, with a shapely nose and smiling eyes,

with a charming, serene face and handsome in all his limbs. / Beholding that great wonder, the renowned son of Gaṅgā,

the Pramathas, all the Gaṇas, and likewise Vīrabhadra and the others, / then bowed down to the child, Kumāra, who possessed the splendour of the sun.

They stood around him on the left and right sides; / likewise Brahmā, Viṣṇu, and Indra, surrounded by the gods,

the seers, Yakṣas, and Gandharvas, surrounding Kumāra; / some fell to the ground like a stick, and some bowed their necks.

Others bowed with their heads, regarding him as the imperishable master. / Diverse musical instruments were played during the great celebration; / in this way, during that festival of prosperity, the seers recited peace-chants.

In the meantime Śaṃkara, the husband of the Mountain’s daughter, arrived; / having quickly dismounted from the bull together with Pārvatī, O you of noble vows,

the sole friend of the universe, accompanied by Bhavānī, filled with supreme love, / filled with affection, adorned with the body of a serpent, the Lord of all in visible form, surrounded by the Pramathas, joyfully looked upon his son.

Embracing Guha there, Pārvatī, agitated with excitement, / overflowing with affection, suckled him with her flowing breast.

Then, waved over with lamps by the joyful gods together with their wives, / the vault of the sky was filled with a great cry of “Victory!”

The seers with Vedic recitation, the singers with song, / and the instrumentalists with musical instruments approached Kumāra.

Placing that Kumāra, who was of great brilliance, on his lap by his power, / the husband of Bhavānī, endowed with splendour, shone like the foremost among fathers in visible form.

At that time, both husband and wife rejoiced together, / while he was being sprinkled [with waters] by the seers, surrounded by the foremost of the gods.

Kumāra played upon the lap of Śaṃkara; / and with both hands he squeezed Vāsuki, who was around his neck.

Having squeezed his face, he then counted his hands: / “One, three, ten, eight,” in reverse order.

Laughing, the blessed Śambhu then spoke to the Mountain’s daughter.

And then, with a gentle smile, the lord Maheśa, united with Girijā, attained supreme joy; / with affection and a voice faltering [with emotion], the sole friend of the universe, the sole master of the worlds, said nothing at that time.

Thus ends the twenty-seventh chapter, named 'Description of the Origin of Lord Kumāra Kārttikeya', in the first [section], the Māheśvarakhaṇḍa, in the glorious Skanda Mahāpurāṇa of eighty-one thousand verses.