Skandapurana 1.4.28: adhyāyaḥ 30

Nārada said: / Then Skanda, accompanied by the gods, / having descended from the crest of the white mountain, set out toward the southern direction to slay Tāraka.

Then, on the bank of the Sarasvatī, whatever beings there were, O Nārada— / planetary spirits and secondary planetary spirits, vetālas, and hosts of śākinīs,

insanities, falling sicknesses, flesh-eaters, and piśācas— / over their lordship, the son of the Fire was consecrated by the gods,

so that those wicked-minded ones would not transgress proper bounds. / Therefore, one afflicted by them should seek refuge in the son of the Fire.

The planetary spirits and others avoid one whose senses are not scattered, who is self-controlled, / pure, ever unwearied, faithful, and a devotee of Skanda.

And those who are devoted to Maheśvara, and those who are devoted to Nārāyaṇa— / at their mere sight, they perish from afar.

Then Guha, along with all the gods, went to the bank of the Mahī; / there, the supreme māhātmya of the Mahī was recounted by the gods.

Hearing it, Skanda was astonished and bowed down to that river. / Then, to the south of the Mahī, to him who remained established on the bank,

having bowed down, [the gods] headed by Śakra spoke these words: / 'Without a consecrated, stainless commander of the army, O Skanda,

the army obtains no security; therefore, consecrate yourself. / With the holy and auspicious waters born from the union of the Mahī and the ocean,

we shall consecrate you, and you ought to look upon us there. / Just as the inclusion of all footprints is held to be in an elephant's footprint,

so is the residence of all other sacred fords in the water of the ocean and the Mahī. / Just as Tryambaka is proclaimed to consist of all beings,

Likewise, the confluence of the Mahī and the ocean consists of all sacred fords, / just as the Ardhanārīśvara form of Rudra grants everything.

So too, a ritual ablution in the Mahī ocean bestows all fruits. / He by whom the ancestors have been gratified here through devotion, O Skanda,

by him they have been gratified in all sacred fords; of this there is no doubt. / Nor should it be thought in one's heart that this water is merely salty;

for just as bitter and pungent things eaten by a cow produce milk, / even so this water gives gratification to the ancestors."

While the gods were speaking thus, the sage Kapila also said: / "This is true, O son of Umā; the Mahī contains all sacred fords.

And I, Kardama's son, having known the great virtues of the sacred ford, / abandoned the entire earth and established an hermitage here."

Then Maheśvara said: "What the gods have spoken is true." / Brahmā and the others said the same to him; then, once more, the preceptor said here:

"We shall perform your consecration here, O hero; give the command." / Thereupon, deeply amazed, the magnanimous Skanda, having bathed there,

spoke this word to them: "Let the gods consecrate me." / Then, gathering all the materials for consecration according to the scriptures,

four principal officiating priests made offerings in the fire purified with mantras: / Brahmā, Kapila, Bṛhaspati, and Viśvāmitra as the fourth,

and hundreds of other sages there who were masters of the Vedas. / There Mahādeva showed a wonder, O Bhārata,

for he appeared in the form of a liṅga seated within the fire pit: / "Abiding in the midst of the fire, I myself constantly receive the oblation."

In order to demonstrate this, the Lord assumed the form of a liṅga. / Filled with joy, the gods bowed to that peerless liṅga,

which removes all sins, O son of Pṛthā, and bestows the fruits of all desires. / Then, at the conclusion of the fire offering, when the auspicious [seat] was offered by Himavat,

Skanda was seated upon the supreme seat endowed with divine gems. / With all the auspicious materials, preceded by rites and mantras,

the gods then consecrated Kumāra, the son of Śaṃkara: / Indra, Viṣṇu of great prowess, and Brahmā and Rudra, O Phālguna;

all the planets beginning with the sun, as well as both wind and fire; / the Ādityas, Vasus, Rudras, Sādhyas, and both Aśvins;

the Viśvedevas, the Maruts, the gandharvas and apsarases; / the divine and brahmin seers, the Vālakhilyas, and the Marīcipas;

the vidyādharas, the perfected masters of yoga, Pulastya, Pulaha, and others; / the ancestors, Kaśyapa, Atri, Marīci, Bhṛgu, and Aṅgiras;

Dakṣa, and the Manus, the heavenly bodies, and the seasons; / the rivers in embodied form, beginning with the Mahī;

the oceans beginning with the salt sea, and the sacred fords beginning with Prabhāsa; / the earth, heaven, the cardinal directions, trees, and mountains;

and the Mothers beginning with the solar deities, performing auspicious rites for Guha; / the nāgas led by Vāsuki, as well as both Garuḍa and Aruṇa;

Varuṇa, the giver of wealth [Kubera], and Yama accompanied by his attendants; / the rākṣasa Nirṛti, and the spirits that eat flesh;

Dharma, Bṛhaspati, Kapila, and the son of Gādhin [Viśvāmitra]; / and the various hosts of deities that were not mentioned because of their great number—

all of them joyfully consecrated Guha on the bank of the Mahī. / Then Paśupati gave him a fierce, loud-roaring army of all beings,

which crushed the pride of gods, Daityas, and others. / Viṣṇu gave the garland Vaijayantī, which increases strength;

Umā gave two dustless garments radiant like the sun; / Gaṅgā, an excellent divine water pot sprung from nectar;

the great river Mahī, together with the ocean, gave him a rosary; / and Bṛhaspati joyfully gave Kumāra a staff;

Garuḍa [gave] his beloved son, a peacock with colorful tail feathers; / Aruṇa bestowed a red-crested cock, whose feet are weapons;

King Varuṇa gave a goat endowed with power and vigor; / and Brahmā gave victory and a black antelope skin to the friend of brahmins;

and [he gave] four mind-born attendants of great prowess and mighty strength: / Nandisena, Lohitākṣa, Ghaṇṭākarṇa,

and the fourth, known as Kusumamālin, exceedingly strong. / Then god Sthāṇu gave the great attendant Kratu,

who, enraged in the battle between the gods and asuras, / slew with his two arms one million four hundred thousand Daityas of terrible deeds.

Then Yama gave two attendants resembling Yama and death: / Unmātha and Pramātha, of great prowess and great splendor;

the Sun, filled with joy, O son of Pṛthā, gave to Kārttikeya / the very radiant pair who ever follow the sun;

resembling the peaks of Kailāsa, with white garlands and ointments, / Soma too gave two attendants: Maṇi and Sumaṇi;

Agni gave the two of great strength: Jvālājihva and Jyotiṣa; / and Viṣṇu of wide strides gave three attendants to Skanda:

Parigha, Bala, and the exceedingly strong Bhīma; / the slayer of enemy heroes, Indra, gave to the son of Maheśa

Utkrośa and Pañcaja, both bearing thunderbolts and staffs; / for those two had slain many enemies of the great Indra in battle;

pleased, the two Aśvins, skilled in the science of medicine, / gave Vardhana and Bandhana to Skanda, O bull of the Bharatas;

Vāyu bestowed on Kārttikeya two attendants: / Bala and Atibala, large-mouthed and of great strength;

Lord Varuṇa gave two heroes: Ghasa and Atighasa; / Himavat bestowed, O son of Pṛthā, manifestly on his grandson

the magnanimous Suvarcas and likewise Ativarcas; / Meru gave Kāñcana and Meghamālin;

and, pleased, the Vindhya gave two auspicious attendants who fight with great boulders / to the son of Svāhā: Ucchrita and Atiśṛṅga.

The ocean too, accompanied by the river Mahī, gave two heroic attendants, / Saṃgraha and Vigraha, both wielding maces.

Pārvatī of auspicious appearance gave Unmāda, Puṣpadanta, / and likewise Śaṅkukarṇa to the son of Agni.

The two serpents Jaya and Mahājaya, best among the strong, / [and] Suparṇa both gave two attendants to the fire-born son.

Thus the Sādhyas, the Rudras, the Vasus, and the ancestors, / indeed all who are foremost in the world, gave attendants to Skanda.

Possessed of various prowess, of great heroism, adorned with diverse weapons— / because of their vast number, O Phālguna, they cannot be counted.

And the mothers then gave him hosts of mothers, O lord, / auspicious ones by whom the three worlds of moving and unmoving beings are pervaded:

Prabhāvatī, Viśālākṣī, Gopālā, Gonadā likewise, / Apsujātā, Bṛhaddaṇḍī, Kālikā, Bahuputrakā,

Bhayaṃkarī and Cakrāṅgī, Tīrthanemi, and Mādhavī, / Gītapriyā, Alātākṣī, Caṭulā, Śalabhāmukhī,

Vidyujjihvā, Rudrakālī, Śatolūkhalamekhalā, / Śataghaṇṭākiṅkiṇikā, Cakrākṣī, Catvarālayā,

Pūtanā, Rodanā, Āmā, Koṭarā, Meghavāhinī, / Ūrdhvaveṇīdharā, and Jarāyu, Jarjarānanā,

Khaṭakheṭī, Dahadahā, likewise Dhamadhamā, Jayā, / Bahuveṇī, Bahuśīrā, Bahupādā, Bahustanī,

Śatolūkamukhī, Kṛṣṇā, Karṇaprāvaraṇā likewise, / Śūnyālayā, Dhānyavāsā, Paśudā, and constantly Dhānyadā.

These and many other mothers, O bull of the Bharatas— / because of their great number, I do not venture to count them here.

Dwelling in trees and courtyards, having their homes at crossroads, / dwelling in caves and cremation grounds, having mountain cascades for their abode,

bearing diverse ornaments and attire, displaying diverse forms, / speaking diverse languages and bearing diverse weapons, they then surrounded Guha.

Then glorious Guha shone like another Guha, / consecrated to the commandership of the army by the gods and various lords of sages.

Then, having bowed to all of them one by one, the son of the Fire-god / said to those led by Bhava and Brahmā: “Let a boon be chosen!”

Thus ends the thirtieth chapter, titled “Description of Kārttikeya's Consecration to the Commandership of the Army,” in the Kumāreśvaramāhātmya of the Kaumārikākhaṇḍa, in the first Māheśvarakhaṇḍa of the glorious Skandapurāṇa, a collection of eighty-one thousand verses.