Skandapurana 1.4.29: adhyāyaḥ 31

Nārada said: / And having joined him with blessings, they asked a boon of Guha: / “This alone is our boon: slay the wicked Tāraka!”

Having said to them, “So be it,” and declaring “Preparation! Preparation!”, / the enemy of Tāraka, possessed of great splendor, mounted the peacock.

Spear in hand, having roared, Guha then addressed the gods: / “If today I do not slay the wicked Tāraka, O best of the gods,

then clearly I shall go to the destination of those who insult cows and brahmins!” / When this vow was made by him, an exceedingly great roar arose.

“Preparation! Preparation!” they shouted at the command of the reed-born god. / Clothed in two dustless red garments, the son of Pārvatī,

standing at the head of all the gods, the hero went forth with joy. / His banner shone brightly, adorned with a rooster.

He who was capable of splitting mountains with both feet in battle— / whatever activity, radiance, tranquil strength all living beings have,

composed of that, that spear of Guha shone intensely in his hand. / Whatever firmness exists in all the worlds, an armor composed of that

manifested of its own accord upon the body of the hero about to fight. / Righteousness, truth, freedom from delusion, splendor, charm, invulnerability,

might, vigor, and compassion, with folded hands, / carrying out his orders, stood of their own accord before that great-souled one.

And as he went ahead, Hara followed behind him, / the lord along with Pārvatī on a sun-colored chariot

fashioned in play by Hara himself, the sovereign Lord. / A thousand lions were yoked to that supreme chariot.

Brahmā himself, O tiger among men, held the reins. / As if drinking the sky, terrifying moving and unmoving beings,

the lions of the chariot advanced, roaring, with beautiful manes. / Paśupati, standing upon that chariot together with Umā, shone

like the sun enveloped by lightning, like a cloud with a rainbow. / In front of him, the blessed lord of wealth, along with the Guhyakas,

having mounted the splendid Puṣpaka, rode, borne by a man. / Śakra too, having mounted Airāvaṇa, together with the gods,

followed behind the boon-granting bull-bannered god as he went. / To his right, the Maruts, gods of wondrous warfare,

advanced along with the Vasus, united with the Rudras. / And Yama, accompanied by Death, surrounded on all sides

by hundreds of terrible diseases, proceeded on the left in wrath. / And behind Yama went the trident called Vijaya,

fashioned by Rudra himself, terrible, three-pronged, and white. / Surrounding it by hundreds, the blessed Varuṇa, lord of waters, bearing a dreadful noose,

went forth, surrounded by diverse aquatic creatures. / And behind Vijaya went Rudra's paṭṭiśa,

surrounded by excellent weapons: maces, clubs, spears, and others. / And the great Pāśupata weapon, O Pārtha, followed the paṭṭiśa:

many-headed, exceedingly terrible, single-footed, and multi-bellied. / And behind it was his water-pot, attended by hosts of great seers.

To its right shone the staff, proceeding surrounded with majesty, / accompanied by the Bhṛgus and Aṅgirases, revered even by the gods.

Rākṣasas and other gods, gandharvas, serpents likewise, / rivers, streams, and oceans, sages, and troops of apsarases,

lunar mansions and planets, the moving and the unmoving, / and the mothers, gripped by hunger, followed Mahādeva.

And behind everyone came wise Hari, mounted on Tārkṣya, / protecting the entire army, surrounded by his own retinue.

Thus accompanied by the army, having arrived at the northern bank, / the son of Tryambaka halted, taking his position by the copper rampart.

Beholding the incomparable prosperity of Tāraka's city, / Mahāsena was astonished, and he praised his austerity.

Stationed upon his peacock, Guha shone then as he gazed, / under a parasol held above him, himself resembling the moon in brilliance,

fanned with two chowries by Vāyu and Agni, possessing great splendor, / surrounded by the Mothers, by [gods] given by the gods, and by his own attendants.

Then Śakra, bowing down to him amidst the gods, said these words: / 'Behold, behold, O Mahāsena, [the city] of the mighty Daityas,

who do not recognize you as Death, like mortals attached to their homes! / Let a messenger go to their home who may proclaim you to Tāraka.

For this is fitting for heroes, and it brings renown among the great.' / Thereupon, with [Skanda's] permission, Śakra, O Dhanañjaya, [spoke to me,] Skanda's devotee;

instructing me, fit for an embassy, he dispatched me to the king of the Asuras. / Desiring to go myself, and also sent by Śakra,

in the palace, even in the midst of thousands of women, I spoke: / 'O lowest of Asuras, evil-minded one, Śakra speaks to you; listen to this!

The guilt that was incurred by you, O Dānava, from crushing the world— / I am the destroyer of that for you today, if you will act like a man!

Come out quickly, most wicked one! If you do not come out, / in a moment I will cast your city into the ocean for its purification!'

Hearing these harsh words, enraged, surrounded by a host of women, / he ran at me with raised fist, and I fled in fear.

Agitated, I reported the incident there to Kumāra; / and when I had gone, the Daitya reflected in his mind:

'Without having found a refuge, Śakra would not be fit to say this here; / and terrible omens produce terror in me.'

Having reflected thus and arisen, he climbed up to an oriel window; / stationed at the window on the summit of his thousand-storied dwelling,

he beheld the army of the gods covering heaven and earth, / and the ten directions resounding with chariots, elephants, and horses,

with aerial chariots of wondrous forms resplendent with the song of Kinnaras, / and noisy with kettle-drums, cow-horns, cymbals, and conches.

Seeing that army, unshakeable as it were, he then thought: / 'These were conquered by me before; why have they come together again?'

While the Daitya was thus absorbed in thought, he heard bitter words / chanted by the bards of the gods, dread and heart-rending:

'Victory to the commander of the Kumāras, who illuminates the army of the gods with the red disc of his arms shining with the luster of the flashes of his peerless spear, the moon making bloom the groves of white water-lilies of the city's gardens! Victory, O submarine fire to the great ocean of Diti's race, whose foot-sprouts of nails are crushed against the tops of the diadems of the Asuras roaring like sweet-sounding peacocks, Mahāsena, forest fire to the dry grass of the line of Tāraka, lord of yogins, whose lotus feet are adorned with a cluster of nails that act like sharp rays driving away the deep darkness of the chain of anxious thoughts spread across the sky of the hearts of yogins, Skanda! Victory, O child of seven days, consumer of the grief of the worlds!'

'Homage, homage be to you, the delightful one! Homage be to you, the remover of fear for the virtuous! / Homage be to you, who made mountains firm while a boy! Homage, homage! Destroy the enemies of the gods!'

Thus ends the thirty-first chapter, titled 'Description of Kumāra's March to the City of the Asura Tāraka,' in the Kumāreśvaramāhātmya of the Kaumārikākhaṇḍa, in the first [section], the Māheśvarakhaṇḍa, of the Skanda Mahāpurāṇa consisting of eighty-one thousand verses.