Skandapurana 1.3.8: adhyāyaḥ 10

The sages said: / O brahmin, as you have related that the entire cosmic egg with its moving and unmoving beings / was burned to ashes by the fire of the kālakūṭa poison through Rudra's wrath,

yet we consider Rudra to be within the cosmic egg. / When everything moving and unmoving was destroyed, headed by Brahmā and Viṣṇu,

and reduced to ashes through Rudra's wrath, how did creation proceed? / Whence came Brahmā and Viṣṇu, and whence came the moon and the others?

Where were the other gods? Where were the demons when they were reduced to ashes and dissolved? / You ought to tell us all of what happened after that.

Through the grace of Vyāsa, you know everything, and no one else; / therefore you know that scripture filled with knowledge, and no one else does.

Thus questioned then by all the sages of cultivated minds, / Sūta, having bowed to Vyāsa, spoke these words:

Lomaśa said: / When the gods dwelling within the cosmic egg were pervaded by the fiery poison— / these ones, Hari, Brahmā, and the others, the world-protectors along with Indra— / then Śambhu was petitioned by the great-souled Heramba.

Heramba said: / O Rudra! O Mahādeva! O Sthāṇu! O Lord of the universe! / In sport, I have created an insurmountable obstacle for them.

Out of fear and delusion of intellect, they worship neither you nor me. / Those who exert effort shall only suffer greater distress.

Thus petitioned then by him, the wielder of the Pināka, whose emblem is the bull, / by the lord of the gaṇas, the sun to the darkness of obstacles,

Śambhu, who has the form of a liṅga, formless, free from disease, / taintless, having the sky for hair, matted-haired, blue and red, spoke:

Maheśvara said: / O Heramba, listen to my words endowed with supreme faith: / this entire world of moving and unmoving beings consists of ego-sense.

Ego-sense performs maintenance, dissolution, and origination. / At the beginning of the universe, O lord of the gaṇas, by mere consciousness,

free from māyā, peaceful, beyond duality and non-duality, / that whose essential nature is pure consciousness alone, whose sole mark is eternal bliss [persists].

Gaṇapati said: / If you alone are the Self, characterized by supreme bliss, / then there is nothing other than you, O scorcher of foes.

How did multiform existence arise, distinct as gods and demons, / manifold, causing delusion, observed by the three gods,

along with the four classes of living beings endowed with diverse differences? / How did the wheel of worldly existence arise, distinct as eternal and non-eternal?

Deluded by mutually contradictory doctrines of knowledge, / some are devoted to doctrines of action, while others rely on their own qualities;

and those who are devoted to knowledge are mutually opposed. / Save me, who am thus fallen into doubt, O one whose emblem is the bull!

Where do I and the gaṇas come from? And where did this bull come from, O Lord? / Whence were these and many others born, and where indeed

were all the fortunate ones made, both sāttvika and rājasa? / Laughing, the Lord Śambhu prepared to speak to Gaṇeśa.

Maheśvara said: / Through the power of time were born rajas, sattva, and tamas; / by them the entire universe is pervaded, along with gods, demons, and humans.

And this that is seen around is not imperishable in ultimate reality; / know that all this, through accomplishment and because it is made, is perishable.

Lomaśa said: / While Sadāśiva was speaking together with Gaṇeśa, / having the form of a liṅga, universal in form, there appeared from Sadāśiva

she who has the form of Śiva, the womb of the universe, having the form of effect and cause; / and that Lord, having the form of a liṅga, became submerged from that very moment.

The one supreme power remained, whose self-nature is the knowledge of Brahman. / Gaṇeśa, overcome with wonder, was intent on watching.

The seers said: / All this universe of moving and unmoving beings is contained within nature; / let it be explained how the distinctness of Gaṇeśa arose.

Lomaśa said: / Born directly from nature, Gaṇeśa became a lord; / just as the visible form of Śiva is, such indeed was the form of the lord of gaṇas.

A battle took place between him, the great-souled one, and Śiva; / having become an ordinary being through ignorance, [he fought] continuously for a long time.

Seeing that he who was mounted on an elephant was then invincible, / Śambhu struck him with his trident and brought him down together with the elephant.

Then Mahādeva, the scorcher of foes, was praised by the supreme power; / he said to the supreme power: 'Choose a boon, O fair one.'

Then Mahādeva was chosen [by her] with a supreme boon: / 'This one who was slain by you, O Lord, is my son, without a doubt.

This foolish one, born of a portion of nature, does not know you; / therefore revive this son, just for my satisfaction.'

Laughing, the Lord Rudra revived the son of māyā; / he joined an elephant face to his head.

Then he became the elephant-faced one through the grace of Śaṃkara; / even though the son of māyā, he became free of māyā and full of knowledge.

Eternally satisfied by the nectar of self-knowledge alone, free from affliction, / established in deep meditation, fierce, he became the ender of the ender of time.

Pulling out his own large tusk to serve as a yogic staff / and holding it in his hand, the leader of the gaṇas transcends the sound-Brahman, / shining forth in unity with the pair of Ṛddhi and Siddhi.

Those who are gaṇas, and obstacles, and those others who are superior on earth — / of them too he became the lord, made so by Śambhu at that time.

Therefore he beheld primordial matter which embodies the universe. / Standing apart, in front, through knowledge he knew the liṅga and primordial matter; / by nature he saw the spotless liṅga abiding in primordial matter.

Heramba, though possessed of knowledge, [saw] himself along with the gaṇas, / and likewise the three worlds, all dissolved in that liṅga.

And he fell into a swoon; then regaining consciousness with effort, / that lord of gaṇas bowed his head to those two rulers.

Then right there he saw the cause of the dissolution of the worlds, / and Brahmā, and Rudra, and Viṣṇu, and Sadāśiva.

He saw the globes of the cosmos, equal to corpses, / consisting of the liṅga and śakti, by the crores, like atoms.

They dissolve and are completely dissolved in Maheśa who has the form of a liṅga; / the liṅga entered within primordial matter, and she entered within the liṅga.

The liṅga was covered by śakti, and then everything was seen [by him]; / śakti was covered by the liṅga; they were mutually engaged.

The world, this movable and immovable universe, took refuge in the two Śivas; / even Gaṇeśa possessed that knowledge, while others did not know it so.

Then the commander of the gaṇas, endowed with great splendor, together with the gaṇas, / being praised with his śakti, spoke to [Śiva] with the supreme Śakti:

Gaṇeśa said: / I bow to the God endowed with śakti, the form of knowledge, gracious, beyond knowledge, whose form is the supreme light, / beyond form, whose form is the supreme reality, beyond reality, supreme auspiciousness, called bliss, partless, devoid of sorrow.

The fire beyond smoke appears like smoke. / Abiding within primordial matter, you are perceived as the origin of the knower; / abiding within primordial matter, you are known as the manifestation of māyā.

Being of such a nature, O Blessed One, through your own māyā you create, then destroy, and protect the universe. / From this poison, all this has perished, the movable and immovable along with Brahmā, the brahmins, and Indra.

As you were formerly, O Blessed Maheśa, you are the lord of the three worlds, the self of the movable and immovable. / Quickly restore, together with their sheaths of living beings, all those movable and immovable things that have been consumed by fire!

Lomaśa said: / Praised thus by Gaṇeśa, the Blessed One, the source of beings, / [swallowed] the kālakūṭa that had arisen, the cause of the dissolution of the worlds.

In the form of the liṅga it was swallowed, and he made it pure then. / Together with the gods, asuras, and mortals, all the three worlds / were instantly protected by him, filled with supreme compassion.

Brahmā, Viṣṇu, the lord of gods, the guardians of the quarters along with the seers, / the yakṣas, vidyādharas, siddhas, gandharvas, and the hosts of apsarases, / all of them arose as if overcome by sleep.

Seized with astonishment, they became filled with fear. / All the gods and asuras then spoke with wonder:

“Where is that immense kālakūṭa by which we were driven away, / and all these [beings], together with the guardians of the quarters, were instantly made almost dead?”

Saying this, the daityas then stood silent. / Indra and the other guardians of the quarters, placing Viṣṇu, the lord of the lord of all, / and Brahmā at their head, having regained strength, spoke this:

“By whom was this accomplished, O Viṣṇu? We of little intellect do not know.” / Then, laughing, the Blessed One along with Brahmā and those gods,

all entered into samādhi with one-pointed minds at that time, / having removed lust, anger, and the like by knowledge of the truth, O twice-born.

Then the gods and others saw the liṅga abiding within the self. / Placing Viṣṇu at their head, they then praised in accordance with the ultimate truth.

By the self, yogins worship the supreme Self:

“The liṅga alone is the supreme knowledge; the liṅga alone is the supreme austerity; / the liṅga alone is the supreme dharma; the liṅga alone is the supreme goal. / There is nothing whatever higher than that liṅga.”

Saying this at that time, the gods and asuras, together with the guardians of the quarters and the seers, / placing Viṣṇu, whose color is like the tamāla tree, at their head, sought refuge in Śambhu, the refuge.

“Save, save, O Mahādeva, compassionate Parameśvara! / Just as you were the savior of all in the past, so ought you to save [now].

Therefore, O God of gods, your lotus foot, the greatness of whose service is boundless, whose form is infinite, / has been resorted to by [us] through your supreme compassion. Salutation to you, O best of gods! Be gracious!”

The Blessed One, the source of beings, who is situated in the midst of the nature of the liṅga, / was spoken to by the lord of Ramā together with all the hosts of gods:

“You are the Blessed One possessing the form of the liṅga, granting fearlessness to the worlds.” / The God possessing the form of the liṅga, Maheśvara, was praised by Viṣṇu:

“Those who were dead were all saved from the poison; therefore, O Conqueror of Death, O Lord, / protect, protect, O Mahākāla, O destroyer of Tripura! Salutation to you!”

Praised by Viṣṇu, the God possessing the form of the liṅga, Maheśvara, / accompanied by Ambā, then manifested, as though awakening those gods:

“O Viṣṇu, O all gods and seers, let this be heard! / Even in the impermanent cycle of rebirth, one considers it full of permanence,

not looking at the Self by the self, O gods and others! / What is the use of sacrifices, what of austerities, what of the effort of actions?

In oneness or in separateness, there is no purpose at all. / For that difficult deed which was done by you all assembled together,

that churning of the Ocean of Milk for the sake of nectar—how was it done? / Having rejected the conqueror of death, and always having disregarded me,

therefore all of you have indeed fallen into the mouth of death; of this there is no doubt. / The god Gaṇeśa was created by us for the accomplishment of purposes.

Those who do not bow to Gaṇeśa, and likewise to Durgā, / will become partakers of suffering; there should be no deliberation about this.

You all are completely unrighteous, stubborn, thinking yourselves learned, / not knowing what should and should not be done, completely deluded by pride.

Therefore, all have fallen into the mouth of Death; of this there is no doubt. / All of you, the hosts of deities headed by Indra, are intent on the Vedic texts,

Yet, [being] petty, Indra and the rest are all vainly devoted to mere cajolery. / Indeed, O lord of Śacī, you do not know yourself in this phenomenal world.

A great effort was indeed made by you for the sake of nectar, you villain! / The kingdom that you attained solely through a hundred horse-sacrifices— / even that is dependent on others, yet you do not understand it, O evil-minded one!

The Vedic words by which you have been praised by ascetics, O fool— / those fools, intent on their respective passions, merely flatter you.

And you, O Viṣṇu, because of partiality, do not distinguish between good and bad. / Some were struck down by you, O Viṣṇu, and some were protected.

Possessed of desire here, your behavior is always like that of a child. / As for the others who are world-guardians, what need is there to speak of them here?

For if an action is performed incorrectly, contrary results will ensue. / That by which success in an undertaking would arise has been forgotten by you.

The one by whom all were protected today from the great terror of the Kālakūṭa poison, / by whom Viṣṇu was turned blue, by whom all were subdued,

By whom the worlds were reduced to ashes, and yet by whom they were also preserved— / the rite of worshipping that great-souled Gaṇeśa must be performed.

Those who do not worship the lord of obstacles, the commander of the gaṇas, at the beginning of an undertaking / will surely have no success in their enterprise, just like you."

Hearing this speech of the great lord, the gods and demons, Kinnaras and Cāraṇas, / then asked that Lord of the Mountain about the ritual procedure of worship in its true reality. 10.87

Thus ends the tenth chapter, titled “The Description of the Eating of Poison by Śiva in the Account of the Churning of the Ocean,” in the Kedārakhaṇḍa of the first [part], the Māheśvarakhaṇḍa, in the glorious Skanda Mahāpurāṇa of eighty-one thousand verses. 10.