Skandapurana 14.34

Pulastya said: / Then one should go to Kṛṣṇatīrtha, always beloved of Kṛṣṇa, / where Viṣṇu himself is eternally present, O protector of the earth. / Yayāti said: / How did Kṛṣṇatīrtha arise there, O best of brahmins? / At what time, O sage? Tell me everything in detail. .... 2 ..

Pulastya said:
In that dreadful solitary ocean, when the stationary and moving [beings] had perished, / when the moon, sun, and wind had vanished, and the luminaries had dissolved into destruction,

then, at the end of a thousand yugas, the lotus-seated [Brahmā] awoke. / Being alone, he pondered: “How may creation come to be?”

And while wandering, the four-faced [god] saw from afar / a four-armed, large-eyed male standing before him.

And the four-faced [god] said to him: “Who are you? By whom were you created? / For what purpose have you arrived here? Tell me everything in full.”

Govinda then said to him, laughing with a smooth voice:

“I am the one primal male; you too were created by me. / I desire to create once again the fourfold aggregate of beings.”

Pulastya said:
Hearing that statement of his, the grandfather god was enraged, / and reproaching him repeatedly, he spoke harsh words:

“Indeed, you were created by me, fool! I am the first, without a doubt. / I shall make thousands of beings like you, without a doubt!”

Thus disputing with each other, O king, those two of great splendour, / their eyes red with wrath through rivalry, fought each other.

With fists, with arms, with nails, teeth, and grappling, / their battle continued thus for a thousand years.

Then, at the end of a thousand years, O best of kings, between the two of them / there appeared a great liṅga, divine, full of fiery radiance, and auspicious.

At that very moment, a bodiless voice spoke: / “Desist from battle, O Brahmā, and you too, O Viṣṇu, at my command!

This is a liṅga of Maheśvara. Whoever reaches its end, / he shall be the elder, he the all-pervading lord and creator of you two; of this there is no doubt.”

"Let one go to the lower region and one go upward by my command."
Hearing that, Brahmā quickly set out along the path of the sky.

Tearing through the earth, Kṛṣṇa too went swiftly downward.
Piercing the seven netherworlds, as far down as he went,
just so far was Kālāgnirudra seen by that great-souled one.

Wishing to go below him, as much speed as he exerted,
just so much was he scorched by his flames and turned black.

Then, distressed by fainting, being burned by the marvelous fire,
Viṣṇu hastily turned back, having fallen into the deepest embarrassment.

Then, approaching the liṅga, he performed worship with devotion;
he uttered praise, O king, with supreme and subtle [hymns] prescribed in the Vedas.

Brahmā also went along the path of the sky on his swan-vimāna;
for a thousand divine years, he did not reach its end.

Then, at the end of a thousand years, he saw a ketakī [flower]
coming along the path of the sky; and the Four-faced One was asked by her:

"Where are you going, O Brahmā, on this great path devoid of support,
in the void? Tell me the truth, for my curiosity is indeed great."

Brahmā said:
"A rivalry has arisen between me and Viṣṇu, O fair one:
whoever among the two of us finds the end of this liṅga,

he will be the elder, the other inferior—thus it was spoken by the bearer of the Pināka.
Then I departed upward, and Hari went along the downward path.

Having found the end of the liṅga, I will go back to the circle of the earth."
Hearing those words of his, that flower said:

"Your effort is in vain, O lord of the world! There is no end to the liṅga.
One crore of thousands of four-age cycles [has passed], O Grandfather,

since the time I have been falling from the top of the liṅga, O you of great splendor;
even so, I have not reached the surface of the earth by any means!

In the time that your swan travels a single yojana,
in that same time I travel a hundred yojanas.

Therefore, turning back is proper for you on my advice, O lord;
and having shown me to Viṣṇu, attain the status of the elder now."

Then, becoming delighted in mind and taking her, the Four-faced One
arrived back at the surface of the earth at the end of another thousand years.
He showed her to Viṣṇu, [saying,] "From the top of the liṅga

this auspicious garland was brought by me, and the end was found, O four-armed one!
Did you find it, or not? Speak the truth to me, O Puruṣottama."

Viṣṇu said:
"To the endless, immeasurable god of gods, the bearer of the trident,
I was not able to reach the supreme end by any means, O Brahmā.

If its end has been found by you somehow, O Brahmā,
then the god of gods, Maheśvara, has truly become pleased with you.

Otherwise, its end is not seen by anyone anywhere;
therefore, you are the elder and the superior; I am the younger, without doubt."

Pulastya said:
At that very moment, the Blessed One who bears the bull upon his banner
instantly showed anger toward Brahmā, O great king.

Then, coming into sight, he said: "Fie! Fie, you babbler of useless things!
While speaking falsely, what is this rash act that has been done?

Because you have falsely spoken of seeing my end,
therefore you shall not be worthy of worship by all castes.

And whatever human beings, overcome with delusion, shall worship you,
they, meeting with the greatest distress, shall meet with utter destruction.

And since [a false testimony] was likewise spoken by the ketakī, the extremely wicked one,
therefore, by touching her, a person shall attain the state of an outcaste."

Having thus given a curse to the two of them, the god spoke to Keśava;
having become bright-faced, Maheśvara was then pleased.

The Blessed One said:
"O Vāsudeva, mighty-armed one! I am pleased with you, O highly intelligent one!
Just because you spoke the truth, choose a boon, O one of good vows."

Śrī Vāsudeva said:
"This alone is the praiseworthy boon, that you are pleased, O Maheśvara;
and toward the unmeritorious, O god, you do not attain pleasure.
If a boon must certainly be given to me by you, O lord of gods,

bring this liṅga, called endless, to smallness without delay,
so that there may be creation in the world, for by this the universe is pervaded."

Pulastya said:
Then, having compressed that liṅga and made it small, Maheśvara
said to Keśava once more: "Listen to these words, O Hari:

'Establish this liṅga of mine in the purest region, O Hari!
Worship it according to the rule; you shall attain supreme welfare.'

"Since, completely scorched by my radiance, you became black,
therefore the name 'Kṛṣṇa' ('the Black One') shall indeed become famous in the world.

Rising in the morning, which human being with devotion
shall recite your name as 'Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa', he goes to the supreme state."

Pulastya said:
Having spoken thus to him, Īśāna disappeared right there.
Vāsudeva too, having taken that liṅga on Mount Arbuda,
installed it in a waterfall that was very holy and had pure water.

From that, it became known indeed on the earth's surface by the name Kṛṣṇatīrtha.
Listen, O tiger among kings, to the fruit of one who has bathed there:

Having bathed in the holy pool of Kṛṣṇa, whoever sees that liṅga,
that mortal attains all the welfare arising from all sacred fords.

And likewise, without desire, he would obtain the fruit of all gifts;
and even with desire, [he would obtain] the desired fruit, even if it were very hard to attain.

Therefore, one should take a bath there with all effort;
whoever desires eternal welfare, here no doubt should be made.

On the eleventh day [of the lunar fortnight], O great king, fasting, with senses subdued,
whoever, having kept a vigil there before the liṅga with great devotion,

performs a śrāddha at dawn, endowed with faith,
that knower of dharma delivers all ancestors together with their forebears.

The man who gives black sesame seeds to brahmins there, / that mortal is surely freed from sins such as killing a brahmin.

O king of kings, simply by the darśana of Kṛṣṇatīrtha, / a human being is freed from all sins; there should be no doubt about this.

Thus ends the thirty-fourth chapter, entitled 'Description of the Glory of Kṛṣṇatīrtha,' in the third Arbuda section of the seventh Prabhāsa section, in the Mahāpurāṇa composed by Skanda containing eighty-one thousand verses.