Skandapurana 16.105

Īśvara said: / “Now I shall proclaim another secret, supreme place / that removes all sins of men; I will describe it to you at length.

It is the māhātmya of the principal deities, the māhātmya of those who dwell there for a kalpa: / Someśa, the slayer of Daityas, the Grandfather in child form,

Arkasthala, as well as Āditya, Prabhāsa, and the moon-adorned one. / These are the six eminent gods established in the sacred field of Prabhāsa.

By merely beholding them, a person achieves all his aims / and is surely freed from terrible sins accumulated since birth.”

The goddess said: / “The māhātmya of the aforesaid gods has been related by you; / but what is the meaning of the statement made that the Grandfather has the form of a child in Prabhāsa?

In all other places, the Grandfather has the form of an old man. / How did he come there, and what is remembered as his māhātmya?

How should he be worshipped, O Lord of gods? How should the pilgrimage be performed by men? / Tell this in detail, O Lord, if you are pleased with me.”

Īśvara said:
Listen, O goddess, I shall declare the māhātmya concerning Brahmā,
by the mere hearing of which one is freed from all sins.

There is no god equal to Brahmā; there is no guru equal to Brahmā;
there is no knowledge equal to Brahmā; there is no austerity equal to Brahmā.

They wander in saṃsāra, flooded with grief, sorrow, and fear,
only as long as they do not become devoted to the grandfather, the eldest among the gods.

Just as a creature's mind is intensely attached to the realm of sense objects,
if it were thus directed towards Brahmā, who would not be liberated from bondage?

The goddess said:
If Brahmā, the guru of the universe, is endowed with such māhātmya,
then in what location does he dwell in the great sacred ford of Prabhāsa?

For what reason did that best of gods come there, and at what time?
How is he to be worshipped by the foremost of brahmins, and on which lunar day? Tell me in order.

Īśvara said:
To the northeast of Somanātha, in the direction of the fire god from Sāmbāditya,
is the supreme abode of Brahmā, like a second Brahmaloka.

The cosmic ages stay there, and those who dwell until the end of a kalpa;
in that place, O goddess, the grandfather resides in the form of a child.

The lord of the universe, the creator of the worlds, the embodiment of sattva, of great radiance,
came to the auspicious sacred field of Prabhāsa as an eight-year-old.

There he performed terrible austerity for a thousand divine years,
having installed a great liṅga, desiring to create various creatures.

Then, after a period of time had elapsed, the all-pervading lord was requested by Soma,
who had been freed from consumption and was endowed with full faith,

for the sake of consecrating the liṅga in the auspicious sacred field of Prabhāsa;
together with a crore of brahmin seers and accompanied by Viśvakarman,
he had the excellent liṅga consecrated according to the injunctions.

Having then consecrated that liṅga, Somanātha, O fair-faced one,
he had abundant sacrificial fees given to the brahmins.

Thus the liṅga was consecrated by Brahmā, the creator of the worlds;
and years have passed for him here in Prabhāsa in the form of a child.

His age as a dweller within the sacred field is forty [years];
thus a parārdha has passed for him as an inhabitant of the sacred field of Prabhāsa.

The goddess said:
Tell me in detail the full measure of a day of Brahmā, / as well as the months, years, and thousands,
according as the lifespan of Brahmā is recorded.

Īśvara said:
Brahmā is recorded to have the supreme lifespan; indeed, a parārdha of his has passed.
Now begins the second [parārdha] for him who resides in the sacred field of Prabhāsa.

When Brahmā, the grandfather of the worlds, came to the sacred field of Prabhāsa,
he was eight years of age, and therefore he is called 'the child-formed'.

In all other sacred fords, the grandfather has the form of an old man,
except in the sacred field of Prabhāsa, always, O beloved of the gods.

Among all the tīrthas in the universe, whatever manifestations of Brahmā are recalled,
the first of them is the one of great splendour who resides in Prabhāsa.

Hear his names in kalpa after kalpa, O beloved:
he was Svayambhū in the first kalpa; in the second, he was Padmabhū; / in the third, he was Viśvakartṛ; and in the fourth, he was Bālarūpin.
These principal names of the self-manifest one have been told.

The man who constantly remembers them becomes long-lived.

The moon, sun, and all the planets, along with gods, asuras, and humans—
the entire three worlds perish at the arrival of the night of Brahmā.

When day dawns once again, the grandfather, having awakened,
performs the creation just as it was before, O beloved.

I shall declare the measure of a day of Brahmā, the creator of the worlds:
a fourth part of an eye's wink is said to be the unit of time called a truṭi.

Twice that should be known as a nimiṣa, O fair-faced one;
fifteen nimiṣas are called a kāṣṭhā by the wise;
and thirty kāṣṭhās are declared to be a kalā by the intelligent.

Thirty kalās make a muhūrta, and fifteen of them make a day;
the night is to be known as of the same measure as the day; the two make a day-and-night.

Fifteen of these [days and nights] make a fortnight; two fortnights are called a month;
six months make an ayana; and from two ayanas a year is formed.

Forty lakhs, and three lakhs more,
and twenty thousand [solar years] are to be known as a solar caturyuga.

Seventy-one caturyugas are declared to be a manvantara;
this is the lifespan of an Indra, told to you in brief.

First was Svāyambhuva Manu, and then Svārociṣa Manu;
Auttami, Tāmasa, Raivata, and then Cākṣuṣa;

Vaivasvata, Arkasāvarṇi, and Brahmasāvarṇi;
and the one named Dharmasāvarṇi, Raucya, and likewise Bhautya.

These fourteen Manus have been enumerated to you in order;
and I shall declare to you in sequence all the past and future Indras:

Viśvabhuj, Vipaścit, Sukīrti, and Śibi;
Vibhu, Manobhuva, and likewise the mighty Ojasvin, Bali;

Adbhuta, and likewise Śānti, Ramya, Devavara, Vṛṣan,
Ṛtadhāman, Divaḥsvāmin, and Śuci—these are the fourteen Śakras.

All these perish in a single day of Brahmā, O beloved;
the night is to be known as of equal length; this is recalled as the measure of a kalpa.

The first is the Śvetakalpa, and the second is the Nīlalohita;
the third is Vāmadeva, and after that the other is Rāthantara;

the fifth is declared to be Raurava; the sixth is recorded as Prāṇa;
then the seventh is the Bṛhatkalpa; the eighth is called Kandarpa;

then the ninth is declared to be Sadya; the tenth is remembered as Īśāna;
the eleventh is declared to be Dhyāna; and the next is Sārasvata;

the thirteenth is Udāna, and then the fourteenth is Garuḍa;
the fifteenth should be known as Kaurma, the full-moon day of Prajāpati;

the sixteenth is Nārasiṃha, and following that is Samādhi;
the eighteenth is declared to be Āgneya, and after that the Somakalpa.

The twentieth is said to be the Bhāvana, and another is Suptamālin; / then Vaikuṇṭha, Arciṣa, Rudra, and next the Lakṣmīkalpa.

The twenty-seventh is the Vairāja, then the Gaurīkalpa and Andhaka; / then the Māheśvara is proclaimed, wherein Tripura was slain.

And at the end is the Pitṛkalpa, which is regarded as the new-moon day of Brahmā. / Thus thirty kalpas are enumerated in a month of Brahmā, O beloved!

All these have passed; now the Vārāha is current, / the first day of the fortnight of Brahmā, wherein the earth was raised up by the Boar.

A month is considered to consist of thirty kalpas, and a year of twelve such [months]. / By this reckoning of years, Brahmā was then eight years old / when brought by the moon-god, and Somanātha was consecrated.

While he thus resided in the sacred field of Prabhāsa in the form of a child, / one half [of his lifespan] passed, and the second is current now.

Thus of great power is this Lord Brahmā, self-manifest, situated in the midst of the Prabhāsakṣetra, / who resorted to the sacred field on account of his childhood.

He indeed is to be worshipped, saluted, and praised by the wise; / he alone should be worshipped first by those desiring the complete fruit of the pilgrimage.

Whoever worships him with devotion, surely worships me; / whoever hates him, hates me; whoever is honoured by him, is honoured by me.

When Brahmā is worshipped, Viṣṇu and I are worshipped; / when Viṣṇu is worshipped, Brahmā and I are worshipped.

By merely worshipping me, both Brahmā and Viṣṇu are worshipped. / Brahmā is proclaimed as sattva, Viṣṇu as rajas, and I as tamas.

Brahmā is proclaimed as wind, Rudra as fire, and Viṣṇu as the waters; / Viṣṇu is night, Rudra is day, and the twilight is the Grandfather.

For I am the Sāmaveda, O goddess, Brahmā is called the Ṛgveda, / Viṣṇu is the Yajurveda, and the Atharvaveda is the support of the family.

I am the hot season, O goddess, the Grandfather is the rainy season, / and Viṣṇu is the cold season; thus he is the triad of seasons.

I am to be known as the Dakṣiṇāgni, Hari is remembered as the Gārhapatya, / and Brahmā as the Āhavanīya; thus all is threefold in divinity.

I reside in the form of the liṅga; Viṣṇu is proclaimed as the womb; / Brahmā resides in the seed, and Viṣṇu is proclaimed as the waters.

I reside in the form of space, the lord consisting of the principles thus; / and that seed which trickles from space is situated in Brahmā; / resting on his own form as Brahmā, Brahmā is the sprout of the seed.

Brahmā is situated in the navel, and Viṣṇu within the heart; / I am in the mouth, O goddess, the support of all embodied beings.

He who is I, is himself Brahmā; he who is Brahmā, is the fire; / she who is the Goddess, is herself Viṣṇu; he who is Viṣṇu, is the moon.

He who is Time, is himself Brahmā; he who is Rudra, is the sun; / thus, through distinctions of power, the supreme Brahman exists, O beloved!

The syllable Oṃ is that supreme Brahman; the Gāyatrī is the supreme primordial matter; / knowing these two, a man does not fall away; he is liberated.

Whoever thus knows the supreme imperishable non-duality, O ruler of the gods, / he knows everything, and no other; one who creates division is the lowest of men.

The supreme Brahman of single form stands distinct because of the nature of its effects; / whoever hates it, O fair-hipped woman, is called a hater of Brahman.

Brahmā is situated on my right side, Keśava on my left; / he who shows hatred toward those two, hates me, O passionate woman!

Knowing thus with an undivided inner self, O fair-hipped woman, / one should worship Brahmā, Keśava, and Rudra as one single form.

Thus ends the one hundred and fifth chapter, titled 'Description of the Glory of Brahmā during the Intermediate Pilgrimage', in the First [Part], the Māhātmya of the Prabhāsakṣetra, in the Seventh Section, the Prabhāsakhaṇḍa, in the glorious Skanda Mahāpurāṇa, a collection of eighty-one thousand [verses].