Skandapurana 16.32

Īśvara said: / Then, when those gods of gods had departed, that sage, / the twice-born, having stayed there for a hundred years, set out for austerity,

from that northern hermitage towards the divine northern quarter. / Subhadrā also, of great fortune, who was his attendant,

unable to carry the weapons, that lovely woman said to the seer: / 'I am not able to carry the weapons, grasping them in my hand.'

Then that seer drank their energy along with water; / having made all those divine weapons abide within himself, / that sage, a treasure-house of austerities, went to the northern direction.

He beheld the Himācala, which was like Śiva: / holding the Gaṅgā, of white body, its mass covered with serpents, giving happiness to men.

He also saw a hermitage towering high, protected by aśvattha trees, / situated on the banks of the Candrabhāgā, supplied with sacrificial fuel, flowers, and kuśa grass.

That tiger among sages dwelt there together with the sages / and accompanied by Subhadrā, as the moon with moonlight.

Once, as he was dwelling [there], his attendant Subhadrā, / having menstruated, on the fourth day set out to go for a bath.

And while going, she saw a loincloth covering / that had been discarded; knowing it to be thus, by fate she took it.

Having put on that loincloth filled with semen, / she began to bathe in solitude near the water at her pleasure.

Then, suddenly and unexpectedly, that lady saw / an embryo born within her womb, she being languid with a heavy burden.

Grieving in her mind [she thought]: 'I came here without a womb [bearing child]; / then by whom has this defilement been brought upon an unfortunate woman like me?'

Overwhelmed with shame, having entered an aśvattha grove there, / she brought forth that fetus, not knowing: 'Whence indeed is this?'

Then, having bathed again, unaware of her own misdeed, / she began to utter an unbearable curse upon the maker of the fetus:

'Whether knowingly or unknowingly, whoever has caused this defilement, / may he meet his death this very day, if I am a devoted wife!

If even in my mind I do not desire another husband, / by this statement of truth let the paramour perish on his own!'

Having thus cursed him, not knowing the maker of the fetus, / that lady began to return to that abode of Dadhīci.

And abandoning the fetus there, which was radiant like the sun, / she arrived at that charming penance-grove where that bull among sages was.

In the meantime, all the gods and the mighty world-protectors / arrived at the sage's hermitage for the sake of the weapons.

Śakra said to that sage: 'O you of good vows, the deposit of weapons / that was given by us to you, give those quickly to us.'

The seer said: 'O Vāsava, where they were placed formerly in my hermitage, / there alone they remain; they have not been brought here.

However, that strength and power of theirs in battle, O slayer of foes, / that was completely drunk by me together with water, O Vāsava.

Such being the case, if weapons are to be given by me to you, O sinless one, / then, O you of good vows, I shall give my bones, which have their forms.'

Thus addressed, the thousand-eyed [Indra] said to that best of sages: / 'That fierce strength which resided in them does not exist in any other [weapons],

because Rudra, the benevolent Śiva, having infused into them / a thousandth part of his own splendor, gave [them] to us for the protection of the worlds.

Therefore, taking all of them, we stood / for the protection of the world; hence the name "world-protectors" [applies to us].

Even among these weapons, the thunderbolt is considered the best; / because from bearing it our sovereignty over the gods is maintained.

And better than the thunderbolt is the discus, which is held by Viṣṇu; / victory over the hosts of Daityas and Dānavas was dependent on that.

Therefore, O best of sages, O best of those who know what must be done, / deliberate and act in such a way that they may be obtained by us.'

When this was said, the sage spoke to that Śakra who stood before him: / 'I shall tell you another means for obtaining them.

These bones of mine that exist—from them / have weapons completely fashioned by you all, possessing their respective forms.

These, originating from them, having strength even greater than theirs, / will accomplish for you in battle whatever is desired by me.'

Then Śakra said to him, to Dadhīci, the treasure-house of austerities: / 'I am not able to take away your life, which you desire [to give].

Nor do we have the power to take the bones of you while un-dead; / therefore, having considered everything, let that which ought to be done be spoken.'

Thus addressed, the sage said: 'I myself shall renounce / this very body for the accomplishment of the gods' purpose.

Since this [body] is impermanent, the receptacle of all miseries, and utterly repulsive, / its abandonment right now is proper.

By renouncing it, no misery arising from worldly existence will be born for me; / for one who is born in another life would certainly die again.

A wife, a sister, or a daughter is born in worldly existence / through the conjunction of the fruits of one's own deeds, repulsive in sexual union.

And because this body will certainly cast itself off on its own, / therefore it is better that its abandonment be done soon by myself.'

Having spoken thus before Puraṃdara, that great sage / Dadhīci then swiftly brought about the cessation of his own life breaths.

Knowing him thus to be dead, the gods deliberated / on how his body should be made free of flesh and blood.

Then, for the purification of those bones, the lord of the gods said this: / 'The tongues of white cows are rough; let them lick this away.'

Then, when Nandā, who resided in the worlds, was meditated upon / by those gods, she came forth surrounded by her companions.

Nandā, Subhadrā, Surabhi, Suśīlā, and Sumanas— / thus the five mother cows arrived from Goloka.

They said to all the gods: "Whatever task needs to be done by us, / we shall do it; tell us after considering well."

The gods said: / "This corpse that has been abandoned voluntarily by the seer, / let it be stripped of flesh and the rest, and made into a skeleton of bones."

Having performed that terrible and blameworthy deed at the command of the gods, / they, the best of divine cows, went again to see Pitāmaha.

Then they accurately reported to Pitāmaha / all that terrible deed which had been carried out by them.

Hearing that, Pitāmaha summoned all the gods / and touched the divine cows on all their limbs, wishing for their purification.

Touched by those gods, they remained completely pure; / only their mouth was not touched, for it was remembered as impure.

Let their single mouth be impure and despised; / but the rest of their body was rendered superior by the gods.

Sarasvatī, however, said to them: "You are slayers of a brahmin! / Otherwise, for what reason was your mouth not touched by the immortals?"

Then the goddess Sarasvatī was spoken to by them there: / "It is not proper for you to speak such words to our face.

Because our heart has been burned by you with this speech, / for that reason you shall soon suffer burning!"

Having thus pronounced a curse upon Sarasvatī, / those divine cows, worshipped by the gods, then went to Goloka.

Summoning Viśvakarman the architect, the best of the gods / said to him: "Make weapons for us for the sake of battle."

Hearing this speech, he fashioned those weapons / from the purified, fresh, and solid collection of Dadhīca's bones.

He crafted them endowed with the proper dimensions and forms / so that they would be invincible for the gods in battle.

He made Indra's thunderbolt, Agni's spear, and Yama's staff, / Nirṛti's sword, and properly crafted the noose of Pracetas;

He made Vāyu's banner, Kubera's heavy mace, / and Viśvakarman likewise fashioned Īśāna's trident.

Taking up those weapons and the power of the missiles, / the gods then marched to conquer the Daityas and Dānavas.

Meanwhile, Subhadrā also, having performed Dadhīci's funeral rites / together with those sages, went to look for her son.

And she saw him looking charming in an aśvattha grove; / seeing him alive, she shed tears and wept immediately.

Addressing her with, "Mother!", he said to her: "Do not weep, illustrious lady! / All this is the fruit of past actions, both yours and mine.

Whatever karma was earned in another birth, in whatever manner, wherever, and by whomever, / that must inevitably be experienced; therefore cast off all sorrow.

You should not feel shame here at abandoning me, O beautiful lady; / this was the fruit of past deeds, which had to be experienced by me as well.

O mother, show a mother's affection toward me, O illustrious lady; / for a mother is tainted with sin by the abandonment of her child."

Addressed by the child, she meditated upon the god Janārdana / and with joined palms spoke this: "Tell me with certainty:

I do not know the truth: from whose seed was he born? / Therefore, Lord of the gods, tell me your definitive word."

When this was spoken, Kṛṣṇa Janārdana said to the mother, Subhadrā: / "This is indeed the son of Dadhīci, born in your husband's field."

Knowing his origin thus, Subhadrā, with a glad heart, / placed the child on her lap and wept with an anguished voice.

The newborn boy said: "Tell me the cause of your sorrow." / Then she said: "Deprived of breastmilk, how did you sustain your life?

For a fourfold creation of living beings was made by Brahmā; / they are remembered as womb-born, egg-born, plant-born, and sweat-born.

The womb-born are classified into male, female, and neuter forms of species, / as well as four-footed beasts, both domestic and wild;

The egg-born are all birds, fish, turtles, and reptiles; / the sweat-born are bugs, lice, stinging flies, and gnats;

The plant-born are said to be immovable things: grasses, shrubs, creepers, and the rest; / and thousands of others are included appropriately in this way.

The offspring of egg-born creatures live on earth by the brooding of wings; / all sweat-born live by warmth, and the plant-born indeed by water.

The plant-born on earth live through the aggregation of the five elements, / and the womb-born are unable to live without breastmilk.

Without that, O son, how were your vital breaths preserved?" / And he spoke to that mother whose eyes were filled with tears:

"My vital breaths were sustained by drinking the sap of the fruits of the aśvattha tree." / Then a descriptive name, Pippalāda, was given to him by her, / by which name that great soul is forever famous in this world. / By all the sages residing there, in proper sequence,

the life-cycle rituals of Pippalāda were performed as prescribed by the Vedas by those who had crossed to the other shore of the Vedas. / The Vedas with their six limbs and secondary limbs were comprehensively preserved by him / and abundantly taught to the sages dwelling in that hermitage.

Remaining there, seeing the sons of the sages / sitting on their fathers' laps, he said to that mother of bright smiles:

"Where is my father, Subhadrā? May you be blessed, tell me clearly, / so that, sitting by his side in private, I may play childhood games."

When that ascetic mother was questioned in this way by him, / she then began to weep and spoke no answer at all.

Beholding her weeping, the sage's boy became angry: / "Is he some despicable person, that you do not reveal him to me?"

When this was said, she spoke thus to her son: "Your father was killed by the gods. / Renounce your anger, may you be blessed; Dadhīci was spoken of by me."

His self ablaze with the fire of anger, he spoke to his mother again: / "What harm was done to the gods by my father? Tell me that!"

Subhadrā said:
That best of sages was slain by the foolish ones for the sake of weapons, / even though he offered them others of the same form, O one of noble vows.

Having heard those words, that sage of fierce austerities then [thought]: / "Because my father was slain by the gods, [I will summon] a mighty kṛtyā against them;

raising her up, I will hurl her down upon their heads, depriving them of life. / Excepting Grandfather [Brahmā], if there be none who should be slain,

I will crush the others joined [with them] by means of the weapon of the kṛtyā. / If the gods, terrified through fear of me, go for refuge, / even so I will strike them down along with him [they resort to]."

Knowing that the seer was enraged in this way, all those foremost gods, / afflicted by great fear, sought refuge with Brahmā.

Knowing that they had sought his refuge, the compassionate god, / Janārdana, having gone swiftly to that very place, spoke to the gods:

"A means to protect you has now been devised here by me; / by it I will delude that kṛtyā who has arrived to slay."

Meanwhile, Pippalāda, remembering the hostility against his father, / determined to slay the gods, entered the Himālayas.

Having heard those unpleasant words coming from his mother's mouth, / Pippalāda went once again from that place to the Himālayas.

Like a staircase to heaven for men, as though the sky had become solid ground, / resembling the coil of Śeṣa, he reached the mountain of snow.

Remaining there, unmoving like a tree-trunk, he made a vow: / "I will swiftly slay those who are the slayers of my father,

all who are proud of their immortality, with the weapon of a kṛtyā." / Remaining there, enraged, in the precinct of the sanctuary of Śiva,

he thought in his heart: "Standing here, I will accomplish that kṛtyā; / I will either accomplish the kṛtyā or go to the realm of Yama.

Free from duality, fearless, taking no food day and night, / continuously churning my left thigh with my left hand,

I will produce from it a great kṛtyā." Resolved thus, he stood. / When a year had passed for him, there emerged from the limb of his thigh

a mare, afflicted by a heavy burden, accompanied then by the submarine fire. / Having emerged from that thigh, she gave birth to one of very great strength.

The mare released the embryo, filled with wreaths of flames, / from her belly—that blazing embryo—before the seer.

Then she departed somewhere again, nor was she known [further] by the sage. / He was the submarine fire in human form; that embryo emerged then,

resembling the fire of time at the end of the world-age for all creatures in brilliance, / like a mass of lightning. Seeing him standing before him,

he too was greatly astonished, thinking, "What is this?" / Then, by that submarine fire standing before him,

the seer Pippalāda was addressed: "I have been accomplished by you through force; / now I must perform the deed that you desire.

I will accomplish all of that here; even the impossible shall become possible. / Since I was born after a year by your churning your own thigh, / though devoid of a father's thigh, I will fulfill your wish."

Having heard those words of his, the sage, filled with wrath, / said: "Devour yourself all the gods that are delivered by me!"

Perceiving him focused on wrath because of his father's slaying, exceedingly dreadful and terrible, / all the gods, having assembled with their wives, hastily took refuge with the Primeval Person.

Having consoled those gods, delighted, he went there to the foremost fire of wrath; / and seeing him who shone like a cluster of suns, Viṣṇu spoke these most excellent words:

"O Lord of the gods, I have been dispatched to your presence by the gods who have become fearful. / Listen from me to words that are wholesome—wholesome for the celestial bards and for you as well.

Your power, inconceivable and the inevitable destruction of embodied beings, is known to the gods; / such being the case, follow the advice regarding the gods: devour [them] one by one each day.

There are thirty crores of chief, mighty gods; / how will you devour them all at once?

Therefore, the devouring of them should be done by you one by one. / It is not possible for you alone to carry out the act of devouring all at once.

Moreover, the Consumer of Offerings [Fire] contracted jaundice in ancient times; / excessive eating is not proper; therefore, follow my counsel.

Furthermore, if they are devoured all at once by you, / a means of eating will have to be thought of every day due to hunger.

Your vow will indeed be fruitful; what was spoken by the sage will not be false; / even when this is done, all your desires will come to pass."

"I will do all that," said Janārdana; / "that submarine fire will devour the gods one by one."

Then the gods, having bowed to Viṣṇu, the lord of gods, of immeasurable splendor, / said: "What was fitting has been done well by you.

Again today, you alone are capable of performing the act of pacifying this fault; / there is no other protector for the dwellers of heaven."

Then Mādhava, who wears yellow garments and holds the conch, discus, and mace, / spoke to the gods: "I will remove your fear."

Having heard this, all the gods had their eyes wide open with joy.

Then, seeing those gods, the submarine fire spoke: / "What deed must now be done by me for you? Let that be spoken!"

Meanwhile, the glorious one possessing the universe as his form and endowed with great energy, deluding that fire with his intellect, / spoke: "Devour the waters that were created first!"

Whoever, with a concentrated mind, listens to this resolve of Viṣṇu, / is freed from the fear of transgression and attains knowledge and liberation.

Thus ends the thirty-second chapter, named 'Description of the Episode of the Deception of the Submarine Fire', in the Prabhāsakṣetramāhātmya, the first [part] of the seventh Prabhāsakhaṇḍa, in the glorious Skanda Mahāpurāṇa, a compendium of eighty-one thousand verses.