Skandapurana 1.4.31: adhyāyaḥ 33

Nārada said:
Then, seeing him of mountain-like body fallen upon the earth,
as if embraced by the earth, as a virtuous woman [embraces] a virtuous man,

the gods were astonished, and repeatedly sang of victory;
yet some of the heaven-dwellers were afraid to approach,

[fearing:] "What if the daitya Tāraka should rise and strike us?"
Seeing him thus fallen on the circle of the earth, Guha—

O Pārtha, the wise [Skanda] became downcast in mind and grieved. / Checking the praises of the gods, he spoke these words: 33.4

"Why do you gods praise me, a wretched sinner? / He who is the master of even five [elements or beings] is not reckoned ordinary. 33.5

Moreover, he was proclaimed to be born from a portion of Rudra; harming him is like [harming] Rudra. / And likewise a verse sung by Svāyambhuva [Manu] is heard: 33.6

'Having killed a heroic man, one is released by a thousand cows; / therefore, a man should never be killed in any way by the wise.' 33.7

Even though there is no fault in slaying an evil-natured person, / still, remembering that he was a devotee of Rudra, I grieve thus. 33.8

Therefore, I wish to hear of some expiation; / for by expiations even great [sin] that has been acquired goes away." 33.9

As that wise son of Śiva was thus lamenting, / Vāsudeva, the teacher of men, spoke these words amidst the gods: 33.10

"O son of Śiva, if Śruti, Smṛti, the Itihāsas, and the Purāṇa / are authoritative, then there is no fault in slaying the wicked. 33.11

When a merciless man nourishes his own life with the lives of others, / his slaying is indeed a benefit to him, since because of that sin a man sinks down. 33.12

The killer of an embryo wipes off [his sin] on the one who eats his food, the adulterous wife on her husband, / the disciple and the sacrificer on the guru, and the thief wipes off his sin on the king. 33.13

He who is capable and does not slay a sinful man, / [takes on] as many sins of that man; he attains half of them. 33.14

If sinners are not slain by those appointed to protect, / then to whom does this helpless world go for refuge, O Guha? 33.15

How would the sacrifices and the Vedas, which sustain the universe, continue? / Therefore, merit was obtained by you, and no sin whatsoever. 33.16

Yet if you have great regard for the devotees of Rudra, O Lord, / I shall proclaim to you the supreme expiation in that regard, 33.17

by which a man is freed from the sins born of his whole life, / and by which he rejoices in the world of Rudra until the end of the kalpa. 33.18

O Skanda, when repentance indeed arises in one who has committed a sin, / there is no higher expiation other than the worship of Rudra. 33.19

Even Brahmā is not able to describe his greatness; / who could be higher than him, of whom the Veda speaks in awe? 33.20

Śrīkaṇṭha held in his throat the halāhala [poison] / that had unexpectedly set out to destroy the universe—who could be higher than him? 33.21

The god who became distressed in the cosmic dance of suffering, with his mind overwhelmed by the egg [of the universe], / and who is the slayer of Kāma—who could be higher than him? 33.22

The stream of the river of the gods, filling the sky, became the form of a drop / on his head—who could be higher than him? 33.23

Righteous duties such as sacrifice and the like are futile without his worship; / Dakṣa is a true example in this matter—who could be higher than him? 33.24

The earth was the chariot, Brahmā the charioteer, I the arrow, Mandara the bow, / and the moon and sun the wheels in his battle against Tripura. 33.25

Some perform his worship by the path of yoga; / but that is difficult to accomplish for those who constantly meditate on the void. 33.26

Therefore, he who desires enjoyment and liberation should worship his liṅga. / At the beginning of creation he took the form of a liṅga, and a dispute of mine with Brahmā 33.27

arose; the two of us were unable to delimit it. / Because all the moving and unmoving universe is always dissolved (līna) in it, 33.28

therefore it is called 'liṅga' by the gods of wise Rudra. / Whosoever bathes the liṅga with pure water and faith, 33.29

by him this universe, from Brahmā down to a blade of grass, is propitiated. / And whichever wise person bathes that liṅga with the five nectars, 33.30

by him the universe together with the ancestors is propitiated with nectar. / And whosoever worships the liṅga with flowers blooming according to the season, 33.31

by him the entire universe is worshipped—there is no doubt in this. / The discerning person who offers food before the liṅga, 33.32

by him the universe has been fed; such is the great fruit of the liṅga. / What is the use of saying much here? Whether little or much, 33.33

whatever is done for the liṅga gives delight to the entire universe. / And he who installs that liṅga in a pure place with great devotion, 33.34

freed from all sins, rejoices in the world of Rudra. / The fruit that the wise say comes from constantly sacrificing with sacrifices, 33.35

that belongs to the one who installs the auspiciously marked liṅga of Śiva. / Just as fire is proclaimed to be the mouth of all the gods, O Skanda, 33.36

so too the liṅga is without doubt the mouth of all the worlds. / From the very beginning [of the work], one is freed even from the sins committed in all births. 33.37

One delivers a hundred past and future families. / A shrine made of clay, constructed of wood, of baked bricks, or of stone, 33.38

gives progressively a hundredfold fruit. / Having placed the pinnacle-jar upon it, accompanied by twenty-one generations, 33.39

he rejoices happily in the world of Rudra like Rudra until the end of the kalpa. / The liṅga has such fruit; never again does one fall down from there. 33.40

Therefore, O Mahāsena, you ought to install a liṅga here. / If anything improper has been spoken here, 33.41

let Maheśvara himself, the witness, declare that, O Mahāsena." / As Govinda spoke thus, there was a great shout of approval. 33.42

Then Mahādeva, embracing Skanda, spoke these words: / "Because you show supreme compassion toward my devotees, 33.43

by that too supreme love for you has arisen in me. / But as to what the Lord Vāsudeva, the teacher of the universe, said: 33.44

that is true, nothing spoken here by Viṣṇu is otherwise. / Indeed, whoever is I, that is to be known as Hari; whoever is Hari, that is I. 33.45

There is no difference whatsoever between the two of us, like two lamps, O you of noble vows! / He who hates him hates me; he who follows him is my follower. 33.46

O Skanda, he who understands thus is my devotee, not otherwise." 33.47

Skanda said: / Just so do I know you and Viṣṇu [to be one], O Śaṃkara.

And what Hari, who loves righteousness, told me concerning the liṅga— / that voice in the sky at the slaying of Tāraka—said the very same to me of old.

Therefore, I will establish a liṅga that removes all sins: / the first where my vow was taken for his destruction,

the second where the Asura was left deprived of strength by the spear, / and the third where he was slain, which pacifies the sin of killing.

Having spoken thus, the son of the Fire-god summoned Viśvakarman and said: / "You ought quickly to fashion three flawless liṅgas."

At the command of the son of the Kṛttikās, the architect of the gods made / three flawless liṅgas and presented them.

Then, together with Brahmā and the others, with Viṣṇu and Śaṃkara, / he first installed [one] not far from the west,

the exceedingly beautiful liṅga named Pratijñeśvara. / Here, having bathed and fasted on the eighth day of the dark fortnight in Caitra,

and having performed worship and a vigil, one is freed from the sin of harshness. / Thus Maheśvara himself spoke there to please Skanda.

Then he installed the second liṅga in the southeast quarter / of the lake, where the spear had emerged,

the auspicious liṅga named Kapāleśvara, which removes sins. / And having praised that spear, he also established there

the goddess Kāpālikeśvarī in the presence of Kapāleśvara. / And there, in the northern direction, they speak of Śakticchidra,

where the auspicious Pātālagaṅgā is, which removes all sins. / Having bathed there, Skanda, overflowing with compassion,

then offered water for Tāraka, accompanied by all the deities,

saying: "May there be imperishable water with sesamum seeds for the noble son of Kaśyapa, / the offspring of Vajrāṅga, who was devoted to Rudra."

Then Maheśvara, pleased, spoke while Skanda listened: / "The human who, on the fourteenth day of the dark fortnight in Madhu, / having bathed, fasted, and thoroughly worshipped Kapāleśvara and the goddess,

is freed from the sin born of the destruction of splendour.

On this very lunar day, when there is Monday, the Śiva yoga, and the Taitila [karaṇa], / a sixfold conjunction, he who chants Rudra's [mantra] during the night and day at Śakticchidra, / having bathed here, will indeed go in bodily form to the world of Rudra.

Śakticchidra is celebrated in the presence of Kapāleśa; / there exists on earth no other sacred ford equal to it."

Hearing these words of Rudra, Skanda was exceedingly pleased, / and all the gods rejoiced and chanted, "Excellent! Excellent!"

Thus ends the thirty-third chapter, entitled "The Description of the Greatness of Jñeśvara and Śakticchidreśvara Installed by Kumāra", in the Kaumārikākhaṇḍa of the first Māheśvarakhaṇḍa in the glorious Skanda Mahāpurāṇa, a compendium of eighty-one thousand verses.