Skandapurana 16.308

Īśvara said: / East of that Nārāyaṇa, situated slightly towards the northeast, / is that which is renowned throughout the three worlds by the name Mūlacaṇḍīśa. // 1

Where in ancient times our liṅga was cast down by the seers, O beloved, / their eyes red with wrath, O goddess, and it attained the state of Mūlacaṇḍīśa. // 2

The primeval manifestation of the liṅga was thrown down through the anger of the seers, O goddess. / The seers who were staying there in the pine forest (Devadāruvana)— // 3

after some time, O great goddess, I went there. / In order to test them, O goddess, [I went]; thereupon they became enraged. / Cursed then by them, O ruler of gods, they brought about the falling of my liṅga. // 4

The goddess said: / How did these twice-born ones come to have their true nature destroyed by anger? / Tell me this, for my curiosity is very great. // 5

Īśvara said: / In ancient times, O goddess, having assumed the form of a naked mendicant (ḍiṇḍi) in the Dāruka forest, / I wandered as an ascetic gathering alms in the holy hermitage of the seers. / Seeing me begging in the hermitage, all those wives of the seers // 6

fell under the sway of desire, abandoning their beloveds on all sides, / beholding him whose liṅga was erect, wearing a crown of matted locks, // 7

begging alms, his body smeared with ashes, like another fish-bannered [Kāma]. / [The seers said:] 'All our wives have been agitated by this naked mendicant! // 8

Therefore, we shall pronounce a curse upon him!' so said those seers then. / Then, taking up the water for the curse and having meditated, the rich in austerities [said]: // 9

'Let his liṅga go down, which is seen to be perpetually erect!' / When this was spoken, my liṅga fell there in that temple. // 10

It became renowned in the three worlds by the name Mūlacaṇḍīśa. / Seeing that liṅga fallen, their minds overcome with wrath, / those rich in austerities set about again to kill the naked mendicant. // 11

Some had grass cushions in hand, others held water-pots, / and others, grabbing wooden sandals, ran behind him. // 12

And the naked mendicant, disappearing, spoke to you of slender waist: / 'Look at these rich in austerities, whose minds are afflicted by wrath! // 13

For this reason, O sinless goddess, according to your words, / no grace was granted by me to those angry ascetics.' // 14

Meanwhile, those sages, no longer seeing the naked mendicant, / all became devoid of joy and went to see the god, the grandfather [Brahmā]. // 15

Seeing that lord of the gods, Virañci, free from fever, / all the seers bowed with their heads and said straightforwardly: // 16

'O Lord, there is a certain ascetic in the form of a naked mendicant / who entered, it is said, to beg alms for the ruin of our wives. // 17

Cursed by us, that wicked one had his liṅga cast down. / When that fell, ours fell in the very same way! // 18

For that reason he departed; and with that liṅga fallen, / we have all remained joyless. Tell us, indeed, the cause of this!' // 19

Brahmā said: / 'This is a terrible and improper deed that has been done by you, / who with jealousy set out to kill Rudra of exceedingly handsome form! // 20

Forsaking the beautiful women of the Asuras, Dānavas, gods, / Yakṣas, Kiṃnaras, Vidyādharas, Gandharvas, and charming daughters of the Nāgas— / having forsaken all these excellent women, [would he find] // 21

delight in those wives of yours? You do not know at all, O brahmins! / [His consort is] the mistress of the three worlds, endowed with the perfection of beauty; // 22

leaving her, how could he delight in the wives of sages? / For Rudra was requested by her: "Bestow grace upon the seers." // 23

Due to those words of Pārvatī, his mind was resolved to test [you]. / He who is the master of all the fourteen classes of living beings, // 24

that Lord of the senses in the form of a naked mendicant was cursed by you! / Because of that curse, this entire abode of his qualities has been cursed; / thus gods, animals, and humans have come to be joyless! // 25

A great fault arises for you on account of this curse. / The fallen liṅga cannot otherwise rise again unless propitiated.' // 26

When this was spoken by the god, the brahmins said to the grandfather: / 'Where should he be seen by us? Tell us as it really is!' // 27

Brahmā said: / 'He dwells in the form of an elephant, staying at Kubera’s hermitage. / Having gone there and approached him, propitiate the wielder of the Pināka!' // 28

Hearing his words, all those rich in austerities, glad at heart, / numbering in the tens of millions, set out at once to go, // 29

pondering the auspicious place to see that one having the form of an elephant, / Rudra dwelling in the hermitage of Kubera, described by the grandfather. // 30

Perceiving the ascetics to be thirsty, with their throats parched by hunger, / Gaurī, out of compassion, took milk and stood before them. // 31

Wearing on her head a braid of hair—black, curled, glossy, / and long like a female serpent—Gaurī stood endowed with milk. // 32

She said to all those sages: 'Drink this milk like nectar, / smelling of kapittha fruit, which has been brought by me from the mountain!' // 33

Addressed thus by her, the brahmins said to that large-eyed lady: / “Having bathed, we shall all drink the milk brought by you.”

Then, having heard [this], an excellent sacred ford was made by the goddess for their bath, / a charming pool filled with warm water.

Having plunged into it, all of them were freed from their great fatigue; / having performed their daily rites, they approached to drink the milk.

Fashioning auspicious cups from the leaves of the sun-tree (Arka), / and sitting down in order, all of them drank the milk.

Then, to satisfy those hungry sages, / their cups were filled with milk as if with nectar.

Gaurī filled them again, and having drunk, they attained satisfaction; / freed from hunger, thirst, and fatigue, they stood as though reborn.

Then, with calm minds, they realized: “She is not a cowherdess; / this Gaurī has come here to bestow grace upon us.”

Bowing their heads, they all said to that slender-waisted lady: / “O Umā, tell us where we may someday see Rudra!”

Thus addressed, she said to those high-souled ones: “Look upon that great elephant; / having assumed the form of an elephant, he roams about, full of great might.

He should indeed be comfortably captured by you through your own devotion.” / Hearing her word, those twice-born assembled in one place.

Purified, with hearts concentrated, in order to behold that elephant— / where the brahmins stood together in one place, there is a most auspicious sacred ford / known as Saṅgameśvara, celebrated everywhere from of old.

Then they set out from there, desirous of seeing the great elephant, / abandoning their water-pots and girding themselves up.

Where those water-pots were cast aside, that sacred ford is called Kuṇḍikā; / it removes all sins of mortals and grants both seen and unseen rewards.

Reaching Kubera’s hermitage, those best of sages / then saw that elephant stationed in a coconut grove.

With joyful minds, they began to seize his trunk with their hands; / the elephant flung off those rich in austerity who clung to his trunk,

and some who clung to his limbs, free of fear from every side. / In this manner, all of them acted around him like gnats.

Standing in the forest, Hara's elephant engaged in various sports; / then Rudra abandoned that form consisting of a fierce elephant,

and assumed another charming form as Ḍiṇḍi. / With the roaring sound of “Victory!” and auspicious Vedic chants,

he was raised up again where the most auspicious liṅga was; / that place, the best among places, is called Unnata.

Bearing the form of an elephant, that mighty one stayed in that place; / in the form of Gaṇanātha, Unnata is established in the world.

Having assumed the form of Ḍiṇḍi, Rudra said to those rich in austerity: / “What service is to be done by me for you, let that be stated here.”

Being thus addressed, he was spoken to by those devoted to all knowledge and rituals: / “May living beings be joyful through your grace, just as before.

O Lord of the gods of gods, forgive what was done by us with foolish minds; / by your grace, O Lord of gods, be gracious unto us!”

Told by him, “So be it,” all of them were freed from feverish distress. / Then the sages worshipped that liṅga in imitation of the divine liṅga, / and all those sages, freed from malice, offered praise:

“Forgive us, O Lord of the gods of gods! Bestow your grace upon us! / Enter into dissolution in this liṅga named Mūlacaṇḍīśa; / a portion of you should be received here at the three junctures of the day, O Lord of the gods of gods.”

The Lord said: / “The goddess is called Caṇḍī, and I am considered her lord (īśa); / this liṅga is considered its root (mūla), since it fell here.

Therefore, it will attain renown as Mūlacaṇḍīśa. / Whatever merit arises from digging hundreds of large stepwells, / wells, and reservoirs,

that merit comes from the darśana of this liṅga. / Whatever meritorious fruit one would attain by giving the entire universe,

that merit one obtains, O goddess, from the darśana of Mūlacaṇḍīśa; / there, the sixteen gifts should indeed be given by the best of men.

All that I have spoken will happen thus, O best of the twice-born! / Go to the Dāruvana, O brahmins, all of you rich in austerity! / You are all commanded by me: go to the Dāruvana, O twice-born!”

Then, having received that great and highly prosperous command of mine, all the sages rejoiced; / and going to that Dāruvana, O Maheśvarī, those rich in austerity performed great austerity again.

For this reason, O goddess, the liṅga named Mūlacaṇḍīśa, / adorned with a crescent moon, removes the sins of mortals.

Because of the milking vessel, through the gift of milk to the thirsty sages, / the supreme removal of exhaustion was accomplished by you, O goddess, / that pool on the surface of the earth came to be named Taptodaka.

Whoever bathes in the water of Ṛṣitoyā and worships Caṇḍīśa / shall become formidable on earth, a sovereign lord of the worlds.

Thus, O goddess, has the māhātmya of Lord Mūlacaṇḍīśa been briefly proclaimed to you; / heard, it destroys sin.

Thus ends the three hundred and eighth chapter, entitled “Description of the Māhātmya of the Origin of Mūlacaṇḍīśa in the Context of the Origin of the Taptodaka Pool,” in the first [sub-section], the Prabhāsakṣetramāhātmya, of the seventh section, the Prabhāsakhaṇḍa, in the glorious Skanda Mahāpurāṇa, a compendium of eighty-one thousand [verses].