Skandapurana 1.4.20: adhyāyaḥ 22

Nārada said:
Thus humiliated, the gods, along with great Indra at that time,
resorting to the form of monkeys, went to the abode of the Self-born One.

Then Brahmā, astonished, said to those foremost of gods:
"Stand here in your own forms; there is no fear for you from Tāraka here."

Then the gods, assuming their own forms with lotus faces withered,
bowed down and all praised him, like sons praising their father:

"Salutations to you, the source of the universe, the cause, the protector,
and the destroyer—salutations to you; three are your states, O Lord!

Having first created the waters, you cast your seed into them;
that became a golden egg, in which are all moving and unmoving worlds.

In the Vedas they speak of you as the cosmic form, endowed with a single form like this:
Pātāla is the soles of the feet, and Rasātala the heels and feet.

Mahātala is his ankles, and Talātala his shanks;
Sutala is his knees, and the two thighs are in Vitala.

The earth is the hips, and the region of the sky is his navel;
the realm of the luminaries is the chest, and the celestial world is called his arms.

The neck is Maharloka, and Janaloka is proclaimed as the face;
Tapoloka is the forehead, and Satyaloka is declared to be the head.

The moon and the sun are the two eyes, the directions the ears, and the Aśvins the nose;
those who know the Vedas speak of you as the Self residing in the aperture of the crown.

Those who thus worship your cosmic form, remembering it,
freed from the bondage of birth, attain you, the supreme state.

Thus they praise you, gross and subtle within living beings, conceived in every state of being;
therefore the Vedas speak of you as dwelling everywhere. To you, O lotus-born one, we offer worship.

Thus praised, the Creator, flooded with compassion,
though knowing [the reason], spoke to them to bring them comfort:

"All of you are afflicted with grief, your lotus faces utterly withered,
your weapons cast aside, and suddenly bereft of ornaments and garments.

This humiliation of yours, O gods, is indeed my own affliction;
since in my cosmic body you are designated as the arms.

Whatever being is endowed with power, righteous, mighty, and great,
there was the loss of my arm, for you are in the place of my arms.

Surely, then, my two arms were broken by that evil-minded one.
By whom was this brought about, O gods? You should tell me that."

The gods said:
That son of Vajrāṅga, unto whom a boon was granted by you, O Lord—
by him we have been greatly tormented; in truth, you know this in reality.

That which was the shore of the earth’s ocean, a sacred ford dedicated to Śarva—
having invaded that, he has turned the place of the Lord into something like a desert.

The prosperities of all the gods have been seized by him from all sides;
in the form of the great elements, he alone is the lord of the world.

The moon, the sun, the planets, the stars, and whatever else belonged to the faction of the gods—
having cast all that aside, the faction of the Daityas has been established [in their places].

And we have been restrained by him, and greatly mocked as well;
somehow, with great distress, we were released by his favor.

Therefore, afflicted and tormented by hunger and thirst, we have sought refuge;
considering that we are the protectors of dharma, you ought to deliver us.

Thus addressed by the gods concerning the actions of the Daitya,
the self-born lord, the Blessed One, having considered [it] truly from that [perspective], spoke to the gods:

The Daitya Tāraka cannot be slain even by all the gods and Asuras together;
and the Blessed One by whom he is to be slain has not even yet been born.

And he was restrained by me, having been gratified with the granting of a boon.

For through his austerity he had become ablaze, capable of burning up the three worlds;
and that Daitya chose his slaying by a child seven days old.

And that seven-day-old child who will be born from Śaṃkara
shall become the slayer of the heroic Tāraka.

Now, that goddess named Satī who perished through Dakṣa’s disrespect,
that auspicious one will be born from the body of Himācala.

And an effort must be made to bring about the union of Śaṃkara and her;
I too shall accomplish the rest of this task, without a doubt.

Having been thus addressed by him, the creator born from the lotus,
the thirty [gods], having bowed to the Lord, went to Meru, disguised in the form of monkeys.

Then, when the gods had departed, Brahmā, the grandfather of the worlds,
the Blessed One, called to mind Night, his own body that had originated previously.

Then the blessed Night approached the Grandfather;
beholding that Night in a secluded spot, he spoke to her thus:

O Night, a great task for the gods has presented itself;
that must be accomplished by you, O goddess; hear the determination of the task.

There is a lord of Daityas named Tāraka, the banner of the gods’ defeat, invincible;
for his destruction, the son whom the blessed Śiva will engender—

that son of his shall be the cause of Tāraka’s end.
When I was born in the beginning, I saw standing before me

the god Ardhanārīśvara, who abides pervading the universe;
seeing him, I said to that god with devotion: ‘Share [yourself].’

Thereupon the woman became separate, and the man likewise separate;
and all women in the three worlds are remembered as born from her portion.

And the eleven Rudras and men were born from his portion;
beholding that woman, I then spoke to my son Dakṣa:

‘Accept this daughter of the universe, who belongs to me and also to you;
for she is to become your daughter, the protectress from the distress of men.’

Being thus addressed by me, Dakṣa gave her, who was assigned daughterhood,
to Rudra with devotion, having bestowed the name Satī [upon her].

Then, in the course of time, her father slighted her—
about to die, evil in intent, wicked, a stain upon his lineage.

Those who do not honor Rudra are clearly a stain upon their lineage;
those wicked ones become piśācas and brahmarākṣasas.

How, through his insult, the goddess abandoned her body,
and how that sacrifice was destroyed by Bhava, is indeed known to you.

Now she is to become the daughter of the snowy mountain,
and she will surely obtain Maheśvara again as her husband.

Therefore, this must be done by you: having entered the womb of Menā,
make her complexion dark, so that she will be Kālī.

When, mocked by Rudra, she performs great austerity—
when, having completed her vow, the goddess becomes fierce—

when of her own accord she assumes a very fair form—
and Hara, considering the three worlds empty due to separation from her,

in a cave of that very snowy mountain frequented by Siddhas,
awaiting that goddess, will perform fierce austerity.

The great son who will be born to the two of them, who have performed severe austerity,
shall be the slayer of the Daitya Tāraka.

For without austerity there is no success anywhere, O fair one;
indeed, austerity is said to be the root of all achievements of actions.

By you as well, O goddess, having departed from her body at that time,
the Danavas led by Caṇḍa and Muṇḍa, who are invincible to the worlds, must be slain.

Because you will slay Caṇḍa and Muṇḍa, O goddess,
therefore you will become renowned in the world as Cāmuṇḍā, O goddess.

Then, O boon-giver, the world will worship you, the goddess,
through distinctions of many kinds of forms, as all-pervading and fulfilling desires.

Best of brahmins worship you as Gāyatrī whose face is the syllable Oṃ;
exceedingly powerful kings [worship you] as powerful, granting strength, and protecting.

Vaiśyas [worship you] as prosperity, and Śūdras as auspicious, O fair one;
[you are] the unshakable forbearance of sages and the compassion of the self-restrained.

You are the assemblage of great means, the policy of those who practice statesmanship;
you are the abiding state of wealth, and oh, you are regarded as the life-force of living beings.

You are the expedient of all beings, you are the goal of all embodied beings;
you are pleasure for minds inclined to pleasure, you are love for those who behold what is dear.

You are the luster of auspicious forms, you are the peace of those of auspicious deeds;
you are the delusion of confused minds, you are the fruit of those who perform sacrifices.

You are the great tide of the oceans, and you are the play of the playful;
you are the origin of existing things, you are the maintenance that protects the world.

You are Kālarātri, the destroyer of the entire series of worlds;
you are the night, granting the bliss of an embrace around a beloved's neck.

Be pleased; look upon us who are bowed down with a gentle gaze.

"Those who praise and worship you thus, O auspicious goddess, / will surely attain all their desires; of this there is no doubt."

Thus addressed, the goddess Night said, "So be it," and with folded hands, / swiftly went first to the great mansion of the Himalaya.

There, seated in the great palace supported by jeweled walls, / she saw Menā, whose lotus-like face had a pale complexion,

bent down by the weight of breasts whose nipples were slightly dark, / and attended by sovereign mantras bound with hosts of great medicinal herbs.

Then, as Menā's pair of lotus eyes gently closed, / Night entered her mouth at that moment by the command of Brahmā.

[Entering] by degrees into the belly of the mother of the universe who was to give birth, / the Night gave color to the complexion of the goddess, the mother of Guha.

Then Menā, the beloved of the Himalaya, bestowing auspiciousness on the universe, / gave birth to the auspicious-faced one during the lovely muhūrta sacred to Brahmā.

While she was being born, the creatures, both immobile and mobile, / all dwelling throughout all the worlds, became happy.

The minds of cruel beings and embodied souls became tranquil, / and the brilliance of the heavenly luminaries then increased exceedingly.

The medicinal herbs dwelling in the forests [bore] sweet fruits, / garlands were fragrant, and the sky became spotless.

The wind was pleasant to the touch, and the quarters of the sky were utterly delightful; / and forgotten scriptures manifested anew.

The power of the principal sacred fords then became most sacred; / in truth, in righteousness, in Vedic study, in sacrifice, in donation, and in austerity,

faith arose in everyone at the time of the birth of the kindling-stick of Guha; / and the gods in the sky, their eyes wide with joy,

led by Hari, Brahmā, Mahendra, the Sun, Vāyu, and Agni, / showered down a rain of flowers upon that auspicious dwelling of Menā.

The great mountains also, beginning with Meru, embodied in form, / arrived at that great festival, adorned with brave bronze vessels.

And the oceans and rivers also arrived from every side.

The snowy mountain then became in the world, to all mobile and immobile beings, / worthy of service, to be approached, and to be worshipped, O Bhārata.

Having experienced the festival, they then departed to their own abodes.

Thus ends the twenty-second chapter, titled "Description of the Birth of Pārvatī," in the Kumāreśamāhātmya of the Kaumārikākhaṇḍa, in the first Māheśvarakhaṇḍa of the glorious Skanda Mahāpurāṇa, a compendium of eighty-one thousand [verses].