Skandapurana 16.25

Īśvara said: / Then, O goddess, that gandharva, wishing to propitiate Bhava, / asked the best of sages about the vow named Somavāravrata.

The gandharva said: / “How is the Monday vow to be performed? What is its procedure? / And at what time is it to be observed? Tell me everything in detail.”

Gośṛṅga said: / “Excellent, excellent, O greatly wise one! Beneficial to all living beings, / that which has not been declared to anyone, I shall declare to you today.

It dispels all diseases, is divine, and bestows all perfections; / it is named the Somavāravrata, and grants the fruits of all desires.”

It should be undertaken at all times, bringing welfare to all varnas. / It should always be observed by women and men, whether or not its fruition is seen.

This great vow was performed by the gods, beginning with Brahmā and Viṣṇu, / and then again by Somarāja, who had been struck down by Dakṣa's curse.

Śambhu was worshipped by him by means of this, intent as he was on meditating on Śambhu. / Thereupon Mahādeva was pleased by Somarāja's devotion.

He said: 'If you are pleased, remain constantly installed here.

As long as the moon and the sun, and as long as the mountains remain, / so long let the liṅga established by me remain together with Umā.'

Then, having petitioned Maheśvara, it was established by him, / marking it with his own name; thereupon he was freed from diseases.

Then, his body purified, he shines brightly situated in the sky.

From that time forward, whatever human beings on earth perform it, / they too attain that realm, their bodies spotless like the Moon.

Now, what need of speaking at length? I shall describe its ritual procedure: / in whatever month, during the bright fortnight, on a Monday,

having first used a tooth-stick during the brāhma-muhūrta, one should perform ritual ablution. / Having performed the rites prescribed by one's own duty, in a charming place,

upon very level, pure ground, placing an auspiciously adorned pot, / set with mango shoots and beautifully painted with sandalwood,

dressed in white garments and adorned with all ornaments, / having first placed Śiva together with his support in a vessel,

one should worship Somanātha together with his Śakti in the directions with the group of eight forms, / accompanied by Umā, with white flowers.

With various foods to chew and eat, and citron fruits, / one should carry out everything right there, with this very mantra:

'Oṃ, homage to the five-faced, ten-armed, three-eyed one! / O you who mount the white bull, adorned with white ornaments,

joined with half of Umā's body, homage to you, the embodiment of all!' / With this very mantra one should perform the worship and the fire-oblation.

Having done this by day, during the night a man should sleep while contemplating thus, / mounted on a bed of darbha grass, meditating on Hara, Someśvara.

When this is done, the destruction of the eighteen kinds of leprosy occurs. / On the second Monday, a karañja tooth-stick [is to be used].

One should worship the subtle deity accompanied by the power Jyeṣṭhā; / having worshipped with lotuses and tasted honey according to rule,

and offering an orange there, one should perform the rest as before. / When this is done on the second [Monday], one obtains the fruit of a hundred thousand cows.

On the third Monday, having made a tooth-stick / from the apāmārga plant and the like, one should worship the three-eyed one.

One should offer a pomegranate fruit and worship with jasmine flowers; / having tasted an sprout at night, one should worship [him] endowed with Siddhi.

On the fourth Monday, the wood is stated to be that of the udumbara tree; / there one should worship the Lord of Gaurī together with Sūkṣmā.

One should offer a coconut and worship with damana [leaves]; / one should taste sugar at night and keep a vigil.

On the fifth Monday, one should worship the lord of the gaṇas; / one should worship the deity accompanied by Vibhūti with kunda flowers.

An aśvattha tooth-stick [is used], and the water-offering is made with grapes; / and one should taste a plantain at night; one obtains the fruit of an horse sacrifice.

On the sixth Monday, one should worship the one named Surūpa; / endowed with supreme devotion, one should taste camphor there.

On the seventh Monday, the tooth-stick is of mallikā; / there one should worship the Omniscient One, together with Dīptā.

One should offer a lime fruit and worship with jasmine flowers; / one should taste clove there; its fruit is endless.

On the eighth Monday, [one should worship] Īśvara accompanied by Amoghā; / one should offer the water-offering with a plantain fruit and worship with marubaka; / at night one should consume milk; one obtains the fruit of the Agniṣṭoma sacrifice.

Whatever fruit is remembered as being multiplied ten-millionfold upon making a proper ablution in the Gaṅgā, / [or by the gift] of ten thousand [pieces] of gold at Kurukṣetra during a solar eclipse,

whatever fruit one obtains by giving to a brahmin learned in the Vedas, / that merit is multiplied ten-millionfold when this vow is performed.

Whatever fruit [comes] when a hundred elephants and a hundred thousand chariot-horses are given, / that fruit is multiplied ten-millionfold when the Monday vow is performed.

Whatever fruit one obtains ten-millionfold by burning guggulu incense, / that merit belongs to him when the Monday vow is performed.

Endowed with all sovereignty, with prowess equal to Śiva's, / he dwells in the realm of Rudra until the dissolution of Brahmā.

When the ninth Monday arrives, one should perform the auspicious concluding rite. / O Gandharva, I shall now tell you how it is performed.

A circle, a pavilion, and a sacrificial pit adorned with banners and flags, / and four archways, having made a sacrificial pit according to the rule,

an altar should be constructed in the middle, four-cornered and very beautiful. / Having drawn a maṇḍala there, one should fashion a lotus in the middle.

Having placed pots in the eight directions, separately, each with gold, / [and having invoked] those powers, Vāmā and the others, in order starting from the east,

upon the pericarp of the lotus, [one should install] the glorious Someśa, the great lord, / fashioned as an image made of gold, endowed with his power,

mounted upon a golden couch, accompanied by Manonmanī. / In a gold vessel or other vessel filled with honey,

covered with a golden bed, one should worship him situated there in due order; / one should worship him successively with names beginning with Ananta and ending with Śikhaṇḍin.

With scents, garlands, incenses, lamps, and various kinds of food-offerings, / garments, ornaments, betel, umbrella, chowrie, and mirror,

a lamp, a bell, a canopy, and a couch with a mattress— / dedicating them to Someśvara, they should be given to the Purāṇic guru.

Having thus adorned the ācārya, one should perform the fire-oblation right there; / and at the end of the offering-rite, one should keep a vigil right there at night.

Then, having drunk the five products of the cow, one should meditate on Someśvara in one's heart. / In the morning, having bathed, one should meditate on him according to the prescribed rules. 50.

Then with devotion, O Gandharva, he should feed the brahmins / with various foods and refreshments prepared with sweetmeats and milk. 51.

Then, having given a pair of garments and given a cow, he should dismiss them. 52.

One who has properly performed this vow attains imperishable religious merit, / enriched with wealth and grain, endowed with sons and a wife. 53.

In his family, no one is born poor or miserable; / one who has no son obtains sons, and a barren woman becomes a mother of sons. 54.

A woman who bears only one child, one whose children die, an unfortunate woman, / and one who gives birth only to daughters—this [vow] should especially be undertaken by them. 55.

When the rite has been performed thus, at the fall of the body he goes to Śiva. / For thousands of crores of kalpas and hundreds of crores of kalpas, / until the dissolution of all beings, he enjoys vast pleasures. 56.

Thus the entire Monday vow has been declared to you in due order. / Go swiftly, O fortunate one, where Someśvara resides. 57.

Īśvara said: / Thus addressed, O fair-faced one, that Gandharva, together with his daughter / and equipped with all offerings, took refuge in Prabhāsa-kṣetra. 58.

Beholding Someśvara there, overwhelmed with tears of joy, / having worshipped according to the procedure of the pilgrimage, he performed the Soma-vow in due order. 59.

Together with his daughter, that fortunate one [worshipped him, and] Maheśvara was pleased with him. / The destroyer of all diseases, the granter of the fulfillment of all desires, / he gave [him] the kingdom of the Gandharvas and devotion to himself. 69.

Thus ends the twenty-fifth chapter, named 'The Narrative of the Gandharva's Daughter,' in the description of the māhātmya of Someśvara, in the first Māhātmya of Prabhāsa-kṣetra, in the seventh section, Prabhāsakhaṇḍa, of the venerable Skanda-Mahāpurāṇa, a collection of eighty-one thousand [verses]. 25.