Skandapurana 16.165

Īśvara said: / Then, O great goddess, one should go to Sāvitrī, the mother of the world, / who dispels great sins, situated in the northeastern quarter from Someśa.

With self restrained and mind controlled, a man should behold her there.

When Brahmā desired to perform a sacrifice, Sāvitrī was [his] lawful partner in duty; / finding that Gāyatrī was taken by force, anger seized her.

Then, abandoning Brahmā, the lotus-born, / burning with anger toward her co-wife, that goddess took refuge in the Prabhāsa kṣetra.

She performs great austerity, very hard to endure even for the gods. / Standing at that place, that fair-visaged goddess is [present] even today.

The Goddess said: / For what reason was that Sāvitrī abandoned long ago by Brahmā? / And how was Gāyatrī obtained, and by whom was she brought to him?

Of what sort was that Gāyatrī obtained by the lotus-born [Brahmā], / who, having completely abandoned that wife, set his mind on her alone?

Whose daughter was she, O Lord, and for what purpose was she married? / You ought to tell me all this curiosity accurately.

Īśvara said: / Listen, O goddess, I shall relate the great deed of Sāvitrī: / how she was abandoned by Brahmā and Gāyatrī was married.

Long ago, a thought arose in Brahmā, whose birth is from the unmanifest: / 'Thus the Vedas were spoken by me for the sake of sacrifice, there is no doubt here.

Gratified by sacrifices, the gods will bestow rain upon the earth's surface. / Then all medicinal herbs will come into being on the surface of the earth.

From that, semen is produced; from semen, creation proceeds. / Therefore, for the sake of the creation of all worlds, I shall perform a sacrifice.

Seeing me engaged in sacrifice, whatever brahmins are on the earth's surface / will perform sacrifices by the hundreds and thousands.'

Having made such a resolve for the sake of the sacrifice, O beauty among the gods, / he founded the sacred ford named Puṣkara by name.

There was a great sacrificial enclosure there for that great-souled one. / There all the divine seers and the gods, headed by Indra,

arrived, O great goddess, at the sacrifice of the Grandfather then. / Those virtuous, best of twice-born also became the officiating priests there.

Sāvitrī, the mother of the world and wife of that great-souled one, / was deeply engaged in household duties; because the time for consecration had passed, / summoned by the adhvaryu priest, Sāvitrī spoke [these] words:

Sāvitrī said: / 'My attire is not yet prepared, nor the adornment of the house in the home; / Lakṣmī has not yet arrived, nor Bhavānī, nor the Ganges;

nor Svāhā, nor Svadhā, nor indeed Arundhatī; / nor Indrāṇī and the other wives of the gods. How can I go alone?'

The Grandfather was addressed by the noble Pulastya, who went [to him]: / 'Sāvitrī does not come, O Lord; she is engrossed in domestic chores.

[Without] your wife, how can this ritual proceed to its fruit?' / Hearing that speech, the consecrated [Brahmā], with topknot, shaven head, and deer skin,

tormented by anger at his wife, spoke to Lord Purandara:

'Go, Śakra, at my command, take another wife from anywhere, / and come quickly, so that the time may not be lost.'

The slayer of Bala went quickly at the word of the Supreme Lord, / seeing no woman who was suitable for the swan-mounted [Brahmā].

Then, terrified of a curse, the wise thousand-eyed [Indra] / saw a cowherd's maiden, endowed with beauty and youth.

Carrying a full pitcher there, the maiden was urged on [by him]. / Taking her, Śakra then went to where the consecrated / god of gods, the four-faced [Brahmā], was present along with Viṣṇu and Rudra.

Madhusūdana, however, gave away the maiden [in marriage].

Urged by Śaṃkara and likewise by the divine seers, / Brahmā married her and then performed her consecration, just like his own.

Then the sacrifice, accompanied by all desired objects, was set in motion.

There Atri was the hotṛ, chanting the ṛcs; Pulastya was the adhvaryu; / Marīci was the udgātṛ; and I, the foremost of the gods, was the brahmā.

Those headed by Sanatkumāra were appointed as members of his assembly, / adorned with garments and ornaments, with diadems and rings.

Adorned and provided with ornaments, three others stood separately / behind each of them; and in this way there were sixteen officiating priests.

"You have declared: 'I must always be favored in this sacrifice.' / May this Gāyatrī, my wife, be favored in this sacrifice!"

[With her] who wore soft garments and was visibly veiled in a linen cloth, / Brahmā, having emerged from the wife's chamber, accompanied by the officiating priests who had mastered the Vedas,

[and] equipped with an udumbara staff and covered with a deer skin, / entered the sacrificial pavilion together with her.

Īśvara said: / At that very time, the wives of the gods arrived, / coming to the sacrifice to which they had been invited, where Sāvitrī was.

Viṣṇu's glorious wife, born from Khyāti to Bhṛgu, / that Lakṣmī, having been invited, arrived there with haste.

There [arrived] the fortunate goddess adorned with Yoganidrā and the rest, / the goddess Kānti, as well as Śraddhā, Dyuti, and Tuṣṭi,

Satī, who is the daughter of Dakṣa, and auspicious Umā, who is Pārvatī, / the goddess who is the beauty of the three worlds, bestowing good fortune on women,

Jayā and Vijayā, highly opulent Gaurī, / Manojavā the wife of Vāyu, and Ṛddhi the beloved of the giver of wealth [Kubera].

Likewise arrived the daughters of the gods, the Dānavī women born of Danu's lineage, / and the wives of the seven seers, and of the [other] seers as well,

Plavā, Mitrā, the daughters, and the Vidyādhara troops, / the Pitṛs, the daughters of the Rakṣases, and other mothers of the worlds.

Along with the principal wives, Sāvitrī wished to go. / The goddesses beginning with Aditi, daughters of Dakṣa, assembled.

Surrounded by them, Brahmāṇī, whose abode is the lotus, / some taking sweetmeats, some cakes, O fair-faced one,

taking fruits, departed for the presence of Brahmā; / others took pigeon peas, white beans, and cowpeas;

diverse pomegranates and citrons, O beautiful one; / while others took shoots of caper and karamarda berries;

and others saffron, cumin seeds, and dates; / others took raisins, and others coconuts;

a mango stuffed with grapes for ornamentation as in former times; / variegated kerba plums and auspicious rose-apples;

others took walnuts, myrobalans, and limes; / fully ripe bilvas and cucumbers, O fair-faced one;

many diverse things suitable for food and drink; / and others brought dolls of sugar, wrapped in saffron-dyed cloth.

Taking these and other things as before, O fair-faced one, / all those auspicious women, accompanied by Sāvitrī, then arrived.

Seeing Sāvitrī arrive, Puraṃdara became afraid. / Brahmā stood with his head bowed, thinking: "What will she say to me?"

Viṣṇu and Rudra were filled with shame, as were all the other twice-born. / The members of the assembly became afraid, as did the other dwellers of heaven,

sons, grandsons, nephews, maternal uncles, and brothers, / and the gods called Ṛtus, who are the deities even of the gods.

They were all embarrassed, wondering: "What will Sāvitrī say? / Can the sacred words of Brahmā indeed be recited with a cowherd's daughter?"

Becoming silent, they listened to the voices of all who spoke: / "Summoned by the adhvaryu, the fair-complexioned lady did not come.

Another was brought by Śakra, given away by Viṣṇu himself, / approved by Rudra, and likewise given by her father himself.

How will that be? Or how can the sacrifice reach completion?" / While they were reflecting thus, she whose abode is the lotus entered.

Brahmā was surrounded by his wife and by the officiating priests who had mastered the Vedas, / and the fires were offered into there by the brahmins who had mastered the Vedas.

So too in the wife's chamber, the cowherd girl, wearing silver horns and a girdle, / dressed in linen garments, meditating on the Supreme Lord,

devoted to her husband, holding her husband as her life-breath, was seated in the place of honor, / compassionate, large-eyed, resembling the sun in splendor,

illuminating the assembly there like the radiance of the sun. / The fire was blazing, and the officiating priests moved about.

The best of the twice-born took the sacrificial portions of the victims. / The gods desiring their shares arrived; it had become a time of delay.

"A rite must not be performed out of time; done [so], it bears no fruit." / This rule in the Vedas has been observed by all wise men.

While the pravargya rite was being performed by the brahmins who had mastered the Vedas, / and two offerings of milk were being poured with mantras by the adhvaryu,

as the twice-born came when summoned by the call to eat, / and while the food was being prepared, the goddess, seeing this and filled with anger, / said to Brahmā, who stood silent in the midst of the assembly:

"O lord, how is this action that has been done understood? / Abandoning me, you have committed an offense out of lust!

She who is not equal to the dust of my feet has been placed over [my] head!

As all men assembled and seated in the assembly say: / 'Astonishing is the power of the mighty: they do whatever they wish!'

Out of longing for beauty, you have done a contemptible deed!"

You felt no shame before your sons, nor before your grandsons, O all-pervading lord. / I consider this contemptible deed to have been done out of lust.

You are the grandfather of the gods, the great-grandfather of the seers; / how did you feel no shame looking upon your own form?

A laughingstock has been made [of you] in the world, and you are condemned here. / If such is your intention, remain [here], O god; reverence be to you!

How indeed shall I show my face to my companions? / How shall I say this: 'Another wife has been taken by my husband'?

Brahmā said: / I was instructed by the officiating priests: 'The time for consecration is passing away; / without a wife, no oblation can be made here; bring a wife here at once.'

She was brought by Śakra, and she was given by Viṣṇu, / and accepted by me. Forgive this one [fault] committed by me; / and I shall not commit another offense against you, O lady of virtuous vows!

Īśvara said: / Addressed thus, she, enraged, prepared to curse Brahmā: / 'If I have performed austerity, if the elders have been pleased,

in all the halls of the brahmins and in various places, / brahmins shall never perform worship to you,

except for one annual worship of yours on the full moon of Kārttika, / which all the twice-born shall perform; by this truth I curse you! / Knowing this, let there be no anger; one who is struck strikes back, without doubt.'

Sāvitrī said: / O Śakra, an Ābhīra woman was brought by you into the presence of Brahmā; / because such an act was done [by you], therefore you shall reap the fruit.

When you stand in the midst of battle, O Śakra, / then, bound by enemies, you will be reduced to the most dire state.

Destitute, your son lost, residing in the city of your enemies, / having suffered great humiliation, only after a long time will you be released.

Having cursed Śakra, the goddess then spoke these words to Viṣṇu:

When your birth among mortals shall take place due to the curse of a guru, / then you will experience the sorrow born of separation from your wife.

With your wife abducted by hosts of enemies to the far shore of the great ocean, / you will not know Sītā, your mind overcome by grief.

Afflicted by sorrow, you will face the utmost extremity of misfortune together with your brother, / and your association with beasts will last for a long time.

Likewise she, enraged, spoke to Rudra: 'When you are staying in the pine forest, / then the enraged sages will utter a curse upon you, O Hara:

"O vile Kāpālika, you wish to ravish our wives! / Therefore this adorned liṅga of yours shall fall to the ground, O Rudra!"

Deprived of virility and tormented by the curse of the sages, / your wife, standing on the bank of the Gaṅgā, will comfort you.'

'O Agni, you were previously made an eater of everything by my son; / [thinking,] "The killer of an embryo is righteousness: how can I burn what is already burnt?",

O Jātavedas, Rudra will flood you with his semen, / and a flame ignited among sacrificial offerings will burn you with its blaze.'

Then Sāvitrī cursed all the brahmins who were officiating priests:

'Your receiving of gifts and your Agnihotra fires will be in vain, your wives in vain, your efforts in vain. / You will constantly wander to sacred fields and sacred fords purely out of greed.

You will always be satisfied with food from others, and never satisfied in your own homes. / Having performed sacrifices for those unfit to sacrifice, and having accepted gifts from the despicable,

having acquired wealth in vain, and your expenditure also being in vain, / when dead, you will become hungry ghosts on that account, without doubt.'

Thus she cursed Śakra, Viṣṇu, Rudra, and Pāvaka, / as well as Brahmā and all those brahmins at that time.

Having pronounced the curse upon them, she then stood firm.

Lakṣmī, lovely-faced Indrāṇī, and the other goddesses said to that friend: / 'I shall not stay here; / I shall go there where I will not hear the noise.'

Then all those women departed to their own abodes. / Enraged at them, Sāvitrī prepared to curse them again:

'Because those wives of the gods have gone away, abandoning me, / exceedingly enraged, I shall pronounce a curse upon them as well.

Lakṣmī shall never have an abode in one single place; / even if restrained, you will be fickle, and you will dwell among fools,

among barbarians, mountain-dwellers, the despicable, the leprous, / the talkative, the arrogant, the defiled, and the wicked-minded; / an abode with such a man is ordained for you by my curse.'

Having pronounced the curse upon her, she then cursed Indrāṇī:

'When your husband Indra is seized at Tvaṣṭṛ’s word, O evil-doer, / and when the kingdom has passed to Nahuṣa, he will ask for you upon seeing you:

"I am Indra; why does she not attend upon me, sluggish woman? / I will slay all the gods if I do not obtain Śacī!"

And then, having disappeared, struck down and distressed in the great forest, / you will dwell, O arrogant woman of wicked conduct, by my curse!'

She then bestowed a curse upon all the wives of the gods:

'There shall be no joy born of offspring for any of you; / burning day and night, you will be grieved by the word "barren".'

Having thus cursed Gaurī as well, that goddess of excellent complexion, / Sāvitrī, standing outside her husband’s sacrifice, wept loudly.

Seen weeping, she was conciliated by Viṣṇu: / 'Do not weep, O large-eyed lady! Come, enter the assembly, O auspicious one!

Enter the auspicious sacrifice, take the girdle and the two silken garments, / receive the consecration, O consort of Brahmā; I bow at your feet, O auspicious one!'

Addressed thus, she said to him: 'I will not obey your word. / I shall go to a place where I will not hear the noise.'

Having said this much, standing upon the ground at an elevated place, she ceased.

Standing before her and joining his palms, / Viṣṇu bowed down and praised her, filled with supreme devotion.

Viṣṇu said:
“Salutations unto you, O great goddess, who consist of the three worlds—Bhūḥ, Bhuvaḥ, and Svaḥ—and the three Vedas!
O Sāvitrī, deliverer from perils! You are remembered as speech sevenfold.

All scriptures of praise, and likewise all treatises on characteristics,
and the future forms of all sacred sciences are you, O goddess. Salutations unto you!

You are white, of white form, your face like the moon.
You shine upon Hari’s chest with the radiance of moonbeams,
adorned with ears full of celestial earrings.

You are accomplishment, and likewise prosperity, fame, fortune, progeny, and intellect.
You are twilight, night, dawn, and Kālarātri herself.

Just as the furrow is to farmers, so are you the supporter of all beings.”
To Viṣṇu, who was thus praising her, Sāvitrī of virtuous vows spoke:

“I have been fittingly praised by you, my son. You shall be invincible.
In your incarnation, my child, you will always be dearly loved by your father and mother.

Whoever continually praises me with this king of hymns,
freed from all faults, will go to the supreme realm.

Go, bring that long-delayed sacrifice of his to completion, my little son!

At Kurukṣetra, at Prayāga, and in the future sacrificial rite,
standing by my husband's side, I shall do as you have spoken.”

Thus addressed, Viṣṇu went to Brahmā’s excellent assembly-hall.
Sāvitrī, however, came to Prabhāsa, O fair-complexioned lady.

When Sāvitrī had departed, Gāyatrī spoke these words:

“Let the sages listen to my words in the presence of my husband,
which I speak, well-pleased and eager to grant boons.

Men who worship Brahmā endowed with devotion,
theirs shall be garments, wealth, grain, wives, happiness, and sons indeed.

And after enjoying unbroken happiness and a home with sons and grandsons
for a very long time, he shall go to liberation.

O Śakra, I tell you your boon: when you are in battle with your enemies,
then Brahmā, having gone to the enemy’s abode, will deliver you.

From the destruction of your enemy and his sons you will obtain supreme joy,
and yours will be an untroubled, great dominion in the three worlds.

When, O Viṣṇu, you make an incarnation in the mortal world,
and undergo great sorrow along with your brother, as well as the abduction of your wife,

having slain the enemy, you will regain your wife in the presence of the gods.
Taking her back, you will rule an extensive kingdom and then depart.

Having ruled the kingdom for eleven thousand [years], you will return to heaven.
Your renown in the world will be widespread, and there will be great affection for you.”

Gāyatrī also said this to all those brahmins:

“By gratifying you, the gods will attain satisfaction.
You, indeed, will become gods upon earth, worthy of worship by all.

Having honoured you and given numerous gifts,
and with a single breath-control, they will cross over all this.

Especially in Prabhāsa, by reciting me, the Mother of the Vedas,
you will not incur the faults arising from accepting gifts, O best of the twice-born.

And at Puṣkara, all the gods are pleased by the gift of food.
When one brahmin is fed, ten million are considered fed.

Whatever sins there are, such as the killing of a brahmin, and other misdeeds,
all men will cross over them when wealth is placed in your hands.

You will be magnified by recitation; when three breath-controls are performed,
sin equal to the killing of a brahmin is destroyed that very moment.

Gāyatrī destroys the sin born of this life with ten [recitations],
that committed in a former birth with a hundred, and that of three yugas with a thousand.

Knowing this, you will ever be worthy of worship when my recitation is performed;
of this there is no doubt, and no hesitation should be entertained here.

Accompanied by the oṃkāra of three and a half measures especially,
all become worthy of worship, without a doubt, having recited me together with the Śiras.

I abide in eight syllables, and this universe is pervaded by me.
I am the Mother of all the Vedas, adorned by all the Vedas.

Having known me, the best of the twice-born behold supreme perfection.
Through the recitation of me, pre-eminence shall belong to all of you.

Even a brahmin who possesses only the Gāyatrī is superior, if well-restrained,
not one unrestrained though knowing the four Vedas, who eats anything and sells anything.

Because a curse was pronounced upon you here in the assembly by Sāvitrī,
whatever is given and offered into fire here shall become imperishable;
therefore has this boon been granted to you by me, O best of the twice-born.

The brahmins devoted to the agnihotra, offering oblations at the three junctures of the day,
will go to heaven along with twenty-one generations of their family.”

In this way Gāyatrī granted a boon to Śakra, Viṣṇu, Rudra, and Pāvaka,
and to Brahmā and the brahmins.
Having granted the boon at that time, she stood beside Brahmā.

Then Hari explained the cause of Lakṣmī's curse,
and the individual curses of all the young women.

Then Gāyatrī, the beloved of Brahmā, granted a boon to Lakṣmī:

“O daughter, O fair lady! By your presence, people will never be despised;
they will, without doubt, bring delight to everyone.

All those who are looked upon by you are vessels of merit.
Theirs will be high birth, lineage, virtuous conduct, and dharma, O fair-faced one.

Those men who are abandoned by you are partakers of sorrow;
they do not shine in an assembly, nor are they respected by kings.

To those [favoured by you], the best of the twice-born indeed give blessings;
grandson, brother, father, and teacher show benevolence toward them.

‘You are a kinsman, without a doubt; I cannot live without you.
When you are seen, my gaze becomes bright and cheerful;
my mind is exceedingly delighted’—I tell you this in absolute truth.

Good people, bringing delight to men, will speak words of this kind
to the one looked upon by your glance.”

O Indrāṇī, Nahuṣa, having attained heaven, will demand you. / But, not seeing [you], that wicked one will be destroyed swiftly by the word of Agastya.

Reaching the state of a serpent, he will pray to that sage: / ‘I have been ruined by pride; O sage, become my refuge!’

At that speech of that king, the venerable seer, / feeling compassion in his mind, spoke this word:

‘A king will be born in your lineage, O delight of the Kurus; / seeing your serpentine body, he will deliver you with questions.

He too, abandoning the state of a python, will go to heaven again. / When the horse sacrifice is performed, you will go again to heaven with your husband. / You will obtain [this] by this boon granted by me, O fair-eyed one.’

Then all the wives of the gods were addressed by her who was pleased: / ‘Even though devoid of offspring, there will be no sorrow for you at all.’

Having thus granted boons, the goddess Gāyatrī, revered by the worlds, / vanished while everyone was watching then.

Then the goddess Sāvitrī came to the sacred field of Prabhāsa, / on the peak of Kṛtasmara, to the east of Śrī Someśvara.

In the Cākṣuṣa Manvantara, in the auspicious second Dvāpara, / a sacrifice was undertaken there by Brahmā, the creator of the worlds.

The noble gods and the excellent Seven Seers went to the sacrifice; / they who were praised in the Svāyambhuva [age] had been cursed formerly.

Beginning from that time, they resorted to the sacred field of Prabhāsa.

Sāvitrī is the mother of the worlds, bestowing grace upon the worlds. / Whoever worships her with devotion continually for one fortnight, / by the procedure of the worship of Brahmā, his son will surely become enduring.

A man, having bathed in Pāṇḍukūpa and having beheld the five liṅgas / installed here by the Pāṇḍavas, having beheld [them], obtains the fruit of a sacrifice.

On the full-moon day of Jyeṣṭha, in the vicinity of the place of Sāvitrī, / whoever recites the Brahma-sūktas is released from all sins.

This has all been related to you, famous and destroying impurities. / And whoever hears this with devotion shall go to the supreme abode.

Thus ends the one hundred and sixty-fifth chapter, named 'Description of the Glory of Sāvitrī', in the first [part], the Glory of the Sacred Field of Prabhāsa, in the seventh Prabhāsakhaṇḍa, in the glorious Skanda Mahāpurāṇa, a compendium of eighty-one thousand [verses].