Skandapurana 1.4.32: adhyāyaḥ 34

Nārada said: / Then, as Guha wished to install the third liṅga, / Brahmā said to him for his pleasure: "We ourselves shall make another.

Even though this liṅga is auspicious and free of all flaws, / still I will make another that is the best of all."

Then Brahmā himself fashioned an excellent liṅga, free from all defects, / pleasing to the eyes, pleasing to the mind, and delightful in its fruits.

There, to please Skanda, a lovely lake was constructed / by all the gods, and they placed the sacred fords within it.

The denizens of heaven said to the sacred fords beginning with the Gaṅgā: / "For as long as this lake remains, you all must abide here."

Saying, "So be it," they agreed for the sake of pleasing the Reed-born one. / Then Brahmā himself, accompanied by brahmins such as the son of Gādhi, / gratified the fire there with mantras dedicated to Rudra.

Then, on an auspicious day, the fourteenth of the month of Vaiśākha, / the foremost twice-born brahmins performed the installation of the liṅga for a long time.

The lords of the gandharvas sang, and the hosts of apsarases danced. / Then Skanda, filled with delight, having bathed in that beautiful lake,

and having bathed the liṅga with the waters of all the sacred fords, full of devotion, / worshipped it with diverse flowers and with the five mantras.

At the time of worship, Hara himself, abiding within the liṅga, / in company with all mobile and immobile beings, personally accepted the worship.

Then Skanda, overflowing with devotion, said as he worshipped him: / "By offering which offerings unto you, what fruit is attained?"

The glorious Mahādeva said: / "He who installs my liṅga and causes an auspicious temple to be built / dwells in my world as long as the moon and the sun endure.

For as many as are the times a person makes my temple white with lime, / for just that many lives does he shine with glory.

By giving a flagstaff he becomes pre-eminent, by a banner he becomes free of sin, / and having arranged colourful decorations, he rejoices with the gandharvas.

By cleaning away the dust, a man is freed from diseases; / by plastering the temple of the god, he attains a lovely body and deep affection.

By offering arghya upon Śambhu's head with flowers, milk, / and the like, with sesamum seeds, unbroken grains, and darbha grass, he dwells in heaven for ten thousand years.

By bathing the liṅga with ghee, his sins are destroyed; with honey, he becomes fortunate; / and with curd and milk, he becomes free from disease.

With water, curd, milk, and so forth, the fruit increases tenfold in order. / Having bathed it with devotion for a month, one should rub it with flours and unguents.

Having bathed and worshipped me with the five products of a tawny cow, / or with the water of the celestial river, he attains my world.

Scented water is better than water with kuśa grass; better than that is water from a sacred ford; / and superior to water from sacred fords is that from the confluence of the Mahī and the sea on the new moon day.

The fruit one obtains by giving a tawny cow is obtained separately with each jar; / with jars of clay, copper, silver, and gold, the fruit is progressively a hundred times greater."

Sandalwood, agallochum, saffron, and camphor are progressively superior. / By smearing me with these, one will become prosperous, fortunate, and happy.

Guggulu incense is praised, and camphor and agallochum are superior to it. / By offering these incenses, a person easily attains heaven.

The giver of a lamp attains fame and excellent eyesight, / and by offering food, a person becomes one who eats fine fare.

By offering a flower with gold fastened to its pericarp, / a man attains double the fruit and becomes true to his word.

Filling the liṅga completely with unbroken bilva leaves / or various flowers, one dwells in heaven for a hundred thousand [years].

A person who makes a house of flowers becomes pure in heart; / he sports for a long time in heaven on the Puṣpaka aerial chariot.

By the gift of ornaments and garments, a man becomes an enjoyer of pleasures. / By the gift of an excellent chowrie, a man is born as an earthly king.

He who offers a beautiful canopy is not overcome by enemies; / having offered singing, instrumental music, and dances, pure, he goes to me.

By the gift of a conch and a bell, one becomes learned and eloquent; / and having performed a chariot procession, he is freed from grief for a long time.

Making salutations and prostrations, he is born in a noble family; / and reciting the scripture before me, he becomes wise.

By praising me with devotion, a man is freed from delusions of the mind; / by removing my withered offerings, he attains the fruit of giving a cow.

Waving the light for the ārārtika, he becomes free from distress; / having offered cooling, he is freed from the torments born of faults.

Bowing and then giving according to one's means in the presence of the liṅga, / he attains a hundredfold fruit and rejoices in this world and the next.

I forgive fifteen transgressions for a prostration, twenty for a bath, / and a hundred for worship performed according to the prescribed rule.

All this, as declared, will come to pass here, O Kumāra, / for those who worship me established as Kumāreśvara.

Just as, O child, I am established in Vārāṇasī as Viśvanātha,

so shall I reside in the concealed field in the midst of Kumāreśvara.

Having heard this speech from Rudra while the gods listened, Guha, / astonished, prostrated before the lord of the mountain's daughter and praised him:

“Homage to Śiva, free from affliction! Homage to Śiva, composed of mind! / Homage to Śiva, worshipped by the gods, to you who are ever devoted to compassion for devotees!

Homage to Bhava, source of existence! Homage to you, destroyer of Kāma! / Homage to you of the hidden great vow! Homage to the resort of the thicket of Māyā!

Homage to Śarva! Homage to Śiva! Homage to the ancient, perfected one! / Homage to Kāla! Homage to the skilled! Homage to you who transcend time and its parts!

Homage to him whose nature is inherent majesty! Homage to him whose immense glory has the bull [as its vehicle]! / Homage to the refuge! Homage to him who is without qualities! Homage to you who are attended by fierce attributes!

Homage to the supreme lord of the various worlds! Homage to the granter of devotees’ desires! / Homage to the creator, the procreator of action! Homage ever to you, O Lord, who act beneficently!

Homage ever to you of endless forms! Homage ever to you of unbearable anger! / Homage to you of immeasurable honor! Homage to you whose vehicle is the chief of bulls!

Homage to the celebrated, supreme medicine! Homage to you, remover of host of diseases! / Homage to Śiva, the lord of Kumāra, moving and unmoving, the bestower of discernment!

You are my lord, the lord of beings, the great lord, lord of desire, lord of speech, lord of strength, lord of intellect, / lord of anger, lord of delusion, lord of the high and low, homage to the lord of liberation, the lord abiding in the secret cave!”

Having praised the boon-giver, the wielder of the trident, the husband of Umā, / the son of Umā bowed down and repeatedly said, “Homage, homage!”

Then Śiva, after praising for a long time this hymn / filled with devotion and worthy of himself, spoke these words:

“You should not grieve over the killing of my devotee; / by this deed, O son, you are praiseworthy even among sages.

And those who, at evening and morning, praise me with this hymn / composed by you, with supreme devotion, hear the fruit that is theirs:

neither disease nor poverty, nor separation from loved ones [will befall them]; / and having enjoyed pleasures rare to obtain, they will go to my abode.

I shall likewise grant other boons that are exceedingly rare to obtain; / I am exceedingly pleased by your devotion, for your gratification, O son.

For those who praise me with worship on the shore of the ocean at the Mahī river, / their gift and worship on the full moon day of Vaiśākha will all be imperishable.

And whatever people take a bath in this lake / on the full moon day of Vaiśākha will attain the fruit of all sacred fords.

He who, having bathed at the confluence of the Mahī and the ocean, / constantly worships me as Kumāreśa with devotion, will attain memory of his past births.

This recollection of past lives, O son, into whatever birth it arises, / makes one remember the duty leading to the highest good, which is exceedingly rare.

At whatever time drought occurs, O son of the Kṛttikās, / one should bathe me according to the rule with various auspicious pots.

For one night, or three nights, or five nights, or seven, / one should bathe me with fragrant water and smear me with saffron.

One should worship me with oleanders, red flowers, and likewise hibiscus flowers, / with garlands of flowers, having put on two reddish garments.

One should feed brahmins and ascetics observant of vows, / and perform a hundred thousand oblations, the Śiva homa, the planetary rites, and so forth.

Then one should make a gift of land, and then provide daily fodder for cows; / one should proclaim auspicious peace and have the Rudra recitation performed.

When this rite is performed by the best of the twice-born, / then the clouds, pregnant with rain, will shower; of this there is no doubt.

The earth is filled with various grains and lush grasses, / and health indeed will come to the people and to the herds of cattle.”

The king will be endowed with righteousness and will not be afflicted by hostile armies. / And whichever man here bathes me with ghee at the transit of the sun,

obtains the fruit of the gift of a maiden—of this there should be no doubt. / Whoever bathes the god with milk, as well as with the five nectars,

the fruit of the Agniṣṭoma sacrifice is produced for him. / Whosoever gives up his life at the sacred ford Kumāreśvara,

shall dwell in the world of Rudra until the destruction of all elements. / At the solstices and the equinoxes, and during eclipses of the moon and the sun,

on the full moon, on the new moon, on the transit of the sun, and on Vaidhṛti, / a man, having bathed at the confluence of the Mahī and the ocean,

who worships Kumāreśa, namely me, with devotion—hear the meritorious fruit for him! / Whatever great fruit there may be in bathing at the sacred fords on the earth,

and whatever fruit there may be when all liṅgas are worshipped, / health, obtaining a son, acquiring wealth, and happiness with children—

a mortal certainly attains all this through the service of Kumāreśvara. / Whichsoever ascetic, becoming a celibate student and pure, remains here,

having attained supreme Pāśupata yoga, he merges into me. / And for mortals who are evil-minded, I instantly reveal the fruit.

Here, by means of an eightfold divine ordeal, the oath is customary. / Having bathed the exceedingly radiant liṅga with the five mantras beginning with Aghora,

one should offer that water with the Aghora mantra for the sake of the divine ordeal. / Uttering this, one should drink just three handfuls:

‘If there is righteousness, truth, and the Lord in the three worlds, / through the drinking of this consecrated water I shall instantly see the auspicious or inauspicious fruit.’

‘I shall depart’—saying thus, if he walks away [perjured], it destroys his family and relatives; / while in truthful darśana and drinking, it brings auspiciousness; by falsehood, it destroys the body.

Within three days, three fortnights, three months, or three years, / one reaps the fruit in proportion to one's extremely fierce merits or sins.

These boons have been given by me to the liṅga established here by you. / For the sake of increasing your delight, speak further, O son of Umā.”

Skanda said: / “I have accomplished my purpose through these boons given by you, O Maheśvara! / Salutations, salutations, let there be salutations to you; this place must not be abandoned by you, O Lord!”

Having thus bowed down to the god, he bowed down and spoke to his mother: / “By you too, O mother, desiring to do what is pleasing to me, this place must not be abandoned.

I shall establish you here as well; be a bestower of boons, O Pārvatī.”

The goddess said: / “Where Śarva is naturally present, there I remain, O son.

Especially out of devotion to you, I will abide here granting boons to women. / Beholding your deeds in battles and your compassion towards the devotees of Rudra,

I, the foremost of mothers, am exceedingly pleased by you. / I consider that a woman's pain of pregnancy attains its fruition

when a son is a devotee of Rudra, praised joyfully by good men. / Therefore, O six-faced one, for the sake of pleasing you, I will stay here.

Worshipped by women, I shall bestow good fortune, an excellent husband, and sons. / And on the third day in the month of Caitra, having bathed with cool water,

those women who will worship me with flowers, incenses, and ointments— / to that woman who is intent on devotion, I shall bestow the eightfold good fortune:

parents, parents-in-law, sons, a husband, and the treasures of good fortune: / saffron, flowers, sandalwood, betel, collyrium, sugarcane,

salt is declared the seventh, and good cumin the eighth. / Or if she weighs them on a scale, and she too is weighed together with the feet,

with gold, fragrant substances, and auspicious fruits, / or if she eats salt afterwards, she shall never become a widow.

Having bathed in Māgha, Kārtika, or Caitra, if she worships me, / she shall never encounter misfortune, sorrow, or poverty.”

Having heard these words of the mountain-born goddess, the son of Pārvatī was delighted. / Having established the daughter of the mountain, he then spoke to Kapardin:

“O Lord, to those who, having first worshipped you with flowers, incenses, and sweet cakes, / worship Kumāreśa, be the remover of obstacles for them.”

Kapardin said: / “O brother, for those men who are devoted to this liṅga established by you, / my obstacles shall not arise; my word will follow [them].”

When this was said by the lord of obstacles, who was pleased, he established him. / Therefore, he should always be worshipped, and especially on the fourth day.

Having thus established Kumāreśa and obtained these boons from Śiva, / the six-faced one considered himself accomplished in purpose.

By a portion [of himself] he remained right there in the presence of Kumāreśvara. / Those pilgrims of Svāmī who see Kumāra stationed here,

their pilgrimage to Svāmī becomes fruitful, O descendant of Bharata. / Especially on the full moon of Kārtika, one should worship Kārtikeya;

whatever fruit there is in the pilgrimage to Svāmī, that very fruit one obtains. / Such is this confluence of the Mahī and the ocean, O son of Pṛthā.

Making himself the instrument, he worshipped the liṅga for the benefit of the virtuous. / If one afflicted by diseases recites the one hundred and eight names,

becoming pure and celibate for a month, he will be freed from sin. / Having worshipped this in ancient times, Raji, Rāma, and others arose,

and attained kingship with the strength of a hundred armies, as well as the world of Rudra. / The descendant of Jamadagni, having worshipped this liṅga for a year,

obtained an axe with which he cut off the arms of Arjuna in battle. / Knowing the great virtues at this sacred ford in the presence of the God of gods,

the excellent liṅga celebrated as Rāmeśvara was established. / And whoever worships it with devotion, he goes to the world of Rudra.

Rāma and Kumāreśa will be pleased with him, O Phālguna. / Thus the description of Kumāreśa has been declared in brief.

Whoever proclaims the māhātmya of Kumāreśa in his presence, / and those who listen to it daily, they dwell in the world of Rudra.

Whoever recites the māhātmya of this liṅga at the time of a śrāddha, / for his ancestors there arises inexhaustible [satisfaction]; of this there is no doubt.

If one causes a pregnant woman to hear the māhātmya of this liṅga, / a virtuous son is born, or a devoted daughter.

This is meritorious, sin-destroying, righteous, and brings delight; / and to those who recite it, it grants the fruit of all desired wishes.

Thus ends the thirty-fourth chapter, entitled 'The Description of the Māhātmya Preceding the Installation of Kumāreśa', in the Kaumārikākhaṇḍa of the first section, the Māheśvarakhaṇḍa, in the glorious Skanda Mahāpurāṇa, a collection of eighty-one thousand [verses].