Skandapurana 14.30

Pulastya said:
Then one should go to Agnitīrtha, which brings supreme purification to men;
there Fire was lost in ancient times, and recovered even by the gods.

Yayāti said:
For what reason, O venerable one, was Fire lost in ancient times, O best of the twice-born?
And how was he recovered right there? Great is my curiosity, O great sage!

Pulastya said:
In ancient times there was a cessation of rain for twelve years;
all the world was afflicted with hunger and faced extreme peril.

For the most part it was dead; what was left on the surface of the earth was almost dead;
wild and domestic animals, birds, and deer were destroyed.

When the mortal world had thus fallen into dire distress, O lord of men,
Viśvāmitra, the best of sages, fell into extreme uncertainty.

Owing to the lack of food, herbs, and essence, he became reduced to mere bones;
on another day, emaciated by hunger, wandering through the directions,

tormented greatly by hunger and thirst, he reached the dwelling of a Caṇḍāla.
There he saw a dead, dried dog, O best of kings.

Taking it, he reached home, washed it with water,
and emaciated by hunger, cooked it; then he offered it into the fire.

Knowing that uneatable food was being eaten, the fire-god, O king,
then conceived violent anger against Śakra, O lord of the earth:

“In a world where the essence of herbs is lost, this is indeed fitting now;
whatever oblation has been obtained, such becomes the food of Fire!

I will not consume what is uneatable; I shall abandon the orb of the earth,
so that the gods headed by Śakra will go to an even more wretched state.”

Having thus reflected in his mind, the fire-god, filled with wrath,
vanished, leaving behind the entire mortal world, moving and unmoving.

When Fire had suddenly disappeared, rites such as the Agniṣṭoma were discontinued;
all people were ruined and fell into utter distress.

Then all the hosts of gods fell into extreme uncertainty;
being deprived of their sacrificial shares, they then took counsel among themselves:

“Mortal [existence] has been abandoned by Fire, and therefore men have perished;
by the destruction of the remainder, all of us will perish, there is no doubt.

Therefore let Fire be searched for, wherever he now stays;
and let such policy be ordained so that he may move among mortals again.”

Pulastya said:
Having thus made their resolve, all the gods along with Indra
searched for Fire all around the orb of the earth.

Then the exhausted denizens of heaven, seeing a parrot before them,
asked with faith: “If Fire has been seen, let it be told.”

The parrot said:
“That great bamboo which was burnt in front, in contact with fire—
there the fire-god of great splendor vanished; he was seen by me.”

Betrayed by the parrot, Fire, filled with wrath, cursed him:
“Your voice shall become stammering!” Having said this, he quickly departed.

He entered the hollow of a śamī tree and an aśvattha, the best of trees;
standing there, he was told to the gods by the king of elephants.

He said to him: “Your tongue shall become inverted!”
Then, having gone to a body of water on the mountain named Arbuda,

the venerable Fire entered so that he would not be noticed by the gods;
by a frog that rose up there, the Fire was reported to them:

“Here stays this Fire, in the mountain's waterfall;
and all water-born creatures have been burnt by the thoroughly boiling water.

With difficulty have I escaped from that mouth of death, O gods!”
Hearing that, Fire, having made an effort, entered [deep within].

“You shall become tongueless!” cursed he the frog, O king.

Then all the hosts of gods, emerging from the shelter of the water,
surrounded him and all praised him with hymns born of the Vedas, O king.

The gods said:
O Agni, you move within all beings, O purifier;
deprived of you, the entire universe will swiftly go to ruin.

You are the mouth of all the gods; on you the worlds are established;
and when the mortal world is abandoned by you, all of us along with Indra
shall go to utter destruction. Therefore you ought to protect us.

You are Brahmā, you are Mahādeva, you are Viṣṇu, you are the sun,
you are the moon, and you are the giver of wealth, the wind, and the lord of the gods.

All the deities beginning with Indra depend on you, O Fire;
why, O venerable one, have you remained here, having abandoned the mortal world?
Why, O venerable one, do you wish to abandon us who are sinless?

Pulastya said:
Surrounded by the gods intent upon praise,
the venerable Fire, standing on the bank of that very waterfall, then spoke these words:

Fire said:
Śakra wishes to engage me in eating uneatable things;
for that very reason this lord of the gods does not make rain in the mortal world.

Therefore, having abandoned the surface of the earth, I have entered here into the waterfall;
and in a world where the essence of food is ruined, I have no desire to stay.

Śakra said:
Hear, O Fire, why the obstruction of rain was made by me:
there was a knower of dharma named Devāpi, who brought fame to the kṣatriyas.

Pratīpa's son was virtuous, the best of all well-behaved men;
and when Devāpi went to heaven, his younger brother Śaṃtanu,
having superseded the eldest brother, took the kingdom.

For this reason, rain was withheld in his kingdom.
At your command I shall make [it rain]; turn back, O Fire!

Pulastya said:
Having spoken thus, the thousand-eyed Indra quickly commanded
the Puṣkarāvarta clouds to rain upon the surface of the earth.

Then, commanded by Śakra, the lightning-bearing clouds,
deep-thundering, highly fierce, and resplendent, filled the entire
surface of the earth with abundant waters, O lord of the earth.

Then the blessed Carrier of Oblations attained supreme satisfaction; / he was pleased to reside on the surface of the earth for the sake of the gods.

The gods said: / 'By your command rain has been made; what other task is there, O Fire, / that is pleasing to you? Declare that to us very quickly indeed.'

Agni said: / 'Through your grace, may this holy pool of water, an excellent sacred ford in my name, / attain fame on the surface of the earth.'

The gods said: / 'This Agnitīrtha shall attain renown in the world; / a person having performed a ritual ablution here properly shall go to the world of Agni.

A person who, deeply concentrated, shall give sesamum seeds at this sacred ford, / shall attain the fruit of an Agniṣṭoma sacrifice.'

Pulastya said: / Having spoken thus, all the gods then went to their respective abodes; / and the blessed fire, O king, remained as before.

And whoever, rising in the morning, constantly recites this excellent / māhātmya of Agnitīrtha, is freed from all sins.

Even while merely hearing it, he is freed from the sin committed by day and night.

Thus ends the thirtieth chapter, named 'Description of the Māhātmya of Agnitīrtha', in the Arbuda section, the third [part] of the seventh [book], the Prabhāsakhaṇḍa, in the glorious Skanda Purāṇa, a compendium of eighty-one thousand [verses].