Skandapurana 1.3.28: adhyāyaḥ 30

Lomaśa said: / As Tārakāsura came bounding along in his might, / Indra, best among the wise, struck him with his thunderbolt.

Overwhelmed by that blow of the thunderbolt, Tāraka, / though fallen, rose up and struck his elephant with a spear.

He caused Puraṃdara, mounted on his elephant, to fall to the earth; / and when Puraṃdara fell, there was a great cry of woe.

Hear also what was done right there by Tāraka, O lord! / Stepping with his foot upon the fallen one and seizing the thunderbolt from his hand,

seeing Deveṃdra struck down, Tāraka, the slayer of foes, / struck Puraṃdara with a mighty blow of the thunderbolt.

Raising his trident, the exceedingly mighty Vīrabhadra then, enraged, / protecting Puraṃdara, struck the Daitya Tāraka with the trident of great splendour.

Struck by the blow of the trident, he fell onto the surface of the earth; / yet though fallen, Tāraka of great splendour rose up again.

With an excellent spear he struck Vīrabhadra in the chest; / and Vīrabhadra also fell from the blow of his spear.

Then the gods with their gaṇas, and the Gandharvas, serpents, and Rākṣasas, / wailed repeatedly with a great cry of woe.

Then the exceedingly mighty Vīrabhadra, slayer of foes, suddenly rose up, / raising his trident that resembled a flash of lightning, continuously blazing with splendour, / illuminating the expanse of the directions with its radiance, resembling the sun’s disc, fire, and the multitude of stars.

Then, as the exceedingly mighty one wished to kill him with his trident, / he was restrained by Kumāra: “Do not kill him, O great-minded one!”

And Kārttikeya of great splendour and immense strength roared.

Then, addressed with cries of “Victory!” by the beings stationed in the sky, / the heroic one prepared to slay Tāraka with his supreme spear.

Then an unbearable combat took place between Tāraka and Kumāra, / exceedingly dreadful and striking terror into all beings.

With spears in hand, the two heroes fought each other; / with their spears their hands were wounded, yet they were endowed with great daring.

Eluding each other like two exceedingly strong lions, / resorting to the Vaitālikī posture and likewise the movement in the air,

and resorting to the mountainous style of combat, they struck spear against spear; / adopting these tactics, the two great heroes waged an excellent fight.

Matching one another, possessed of great strength and valour, / skilled in warfare, they struck with the blades of their spears in the battle.

On the head, on the throat, on the arms, on the knees, and on the hips, / on the chest, on the breast, and on the back, they cut one another.

Then, as those two of mighty strength were fighting and seeking to kill [each other], / all the gods, gandharvas, and guhyakas became spectators.

They all said to one another, “Who will be victorious in this battle?” / Then a voice situated in the sky spoke, reassuring them indeed:

“O gods, today this Kumāra will surely slay Tāraka. / Let no gods grieve; let everyone abide happily in heaven.”

Then, having heard that voice uttered in the sky at that very moment, surrounded by the pramathas, / the young boy, desiring to slay him, turned toward that ruler of daityas, Tāraka of terrifying form.

The mighty-armed Kumāra, the more powerful one, struck with that spear / Tāraka, the foremost of the asuras, in the chest.

Disregarding that blow, Tāraka, the bull among daityas, / became enraged and struck Kumāra indeed with his own spear.

By that blow of the spear, the son of Śaṃkara swooned; / after a moment, being praised by the great ṛṣis, he regained consciousness.

Just like a lion intoxicated with rut wishing to kill, even so / the glorious Kumāra struck the daitya Tāraka.

In this way, Kumāra and Tāraka / fought each other with great fury, devoted to the spear duel.

Devoted to their practice, they stood wishing to conquer each other; / thus the two of wondrous form, full of austerity, fought on.

With blades and points well employed, they struck [each other]; / all the gods, gandharvas, and kinnaras were intent on watching.

Filled with the utmost amazement, they said nothing at all to him; / and the wind did not blow then, and the sun lost its splendor.

Then Himālaya, Meru, Śvetakūṭa, Dardura, / Malaya the great mountain, Maināka, Mount Vindhya,

the two great mountains Lokāloka, Mount Mānasottara, / Kailāsa, Mandara, Mālya, and Gandhamādana,

the mountain of sunrise, Mahendra, and likewise the great mountain of sunset—

these and many other mountains of great splendor, / overwhelmed with affection, came then, desiring to protect Kumāra.

Then, seeing all those mountains terrified with fear, / the son of Śaṃkara, the son of the Mountain's daughter, spoke, reassuring them:

Kumāra said: / “Do not despair, O blessed ones! Do not worry, O mountains! / Today I shall slay this most sinful one while everyone looks on here.”

Having thus comforted those mountains along with the hosts of gods, / Kumāra, the wise one dear to Hari, bowed in his mind to Śambhu and bowed down to his own mother.

Then Kārttikeya severed the enemy's head with his spear; / at that instant, that head of Tāraka fell upon the earth; / thus did Kārttikeya, the great lord, attain victory.

The hosts of gods, the ṛṣis, guhyakas, birds, / kinnaras, cāraṇas, serpents, and likewise troops of apsarases saw him.

Overcome with great joy, they praised that Kumāra; / vidyādharīs danced, and singers sang at that time.

Seeing him thus victorious, everyone was filled with joy; / then, having approached out of joy and placed her son upon her lap,

and embracing him tightly, the Mountain's daughter rejoiced indeed; / placing upon her lap Kumāra, who possessed the radiance of the sun,

Pārvatī of slender limbs and charming eyes fondled him; / Śambhu, honored by the ṛṣis together with Pārvatī at that time,

and the virtuous woman seated upon the noble seat, speaking measured words, shone, / being praised by the munis, siddhas, cāraṇas, and pannagas.

Then Pārvatī, with Śambhu, was venerated with the waving of lights by the gods; / and with Kumāra, the virtuous lady shone then.

Then Himālaya, having arrived surrounded by his sons / and being praised by Meru and other mountains, became supreme.

Then all the hosts of gods, Indra and the others together with the ṛṣis, / rained a great shower of flowers upon him of boundless splendor; / placing Kumāra at their head, they were intent on waving lights before him.

With the sound of songs and musical instruments, and the loud roar of Vedic chanting, / he was praised with various hymns by the foremost of the knowers of the Vedas.

This supremely wondrous narrative called ‘The Victory of Kumāra’ / removes all sins, is divine, and grants all desires to mortals.

Those pure people who, endowed with boundless fortune, proclaim this noble / greatness of Kumāra's valor, which assumes an infinite, ageless, and immortal form, indeed brings delight and fulfills the desires of men.

Whoever reads or hears this deed of the great-souled Kumāra, / known by the name of Tāraka, is released from all sins.

Thus ends the thirtieth chapter, named ‘Description of the Festival of Victory of Lord Kārttikeya Preceded by the Slaying of the Asura Tāraka,’ in the Śiva-śāstra in the Kedārakhaṇḍa of the first section, the Māheśvarakhaṇḍa, in the glorious Skanda Mahāpurāṇa of eighty-one thousand verses.