Skandapurana 16.58

Īśvara said: / Now I shall tell you, O goddess, of the second Śakti, whose nature is action (kriyā), / the Great Goddess situated in Prabhāsa, who bestows joy upon the gods. (1)

She is located sixty bow-lengths in the north-western direction from Someśa. / There is the seat, O Great Goddess, praised by the host of yoginīs. (2)

In that place, O goddess, is a great cavity leading to Pātāla. / In that place of great radiance, she who is situated in the form of protection, (3)

the treasures, deposits, divine herbs, and elixirs of Pātāla— / one devoted to her worship will obtain all that is situated within the sacred field. (4)

‘Bhairavī’ was proclaimed to be that goddess's former name. / But again, in this interval, in the twenty-eighth four-age cycle, / at the beginning of the Tretāyuga, there was a king named Ajāpāla. (5)

And having come to this sacred field, for five hundred years / the goddess Bhairavī was worshipped by him, who was afflicted with diseases, O passionate one. (6)

Then, well pleased, the goddess addressed that best of kings: / “Enough with distress, O royal sage! I am pleased with your devotion.” (7)

Thus addressed, the wise king then, joining his palms in reverence / and bowing down, spoke to that goddess, his eyes clouded with tears of joy: (8)

“If you are pleased with me, O goddess, or if I am worthy of a boon, / may all diseases leave my body, cast outside, and be destroyed.” (9)

Addressed thus, that goddess spoke again to the king: / “Everything will be for you, O great king, just as you have spoken.” (10)

When this was spoken by the goddess, then from the body of that king / the diseases came out separately in the form of goats, (11)

five thousand and a half precisely. / This having taken place, the king of men was addressed again by the Great Goddess: (12)

“O king, protect all these diseases in the form of goats! / They will become your servants, obedient to your command. (13)

Your name will be renowned in the world as Ajāpāla (‘Goat-Protector’). / And after your name, my name shall be Ajāpāleśvarī / upon the face of the earth, as long as the four-age cycle lasts. (14)

Whoever will worship me here on the eighth and fourteenth [lunar days], / pleased, I will bestow eightfold majesty upon him without a doubt. (15)

And on the bright eighth of Āśvina, having circumambulated three times, / keeping Someśa in the center, and having bathed and worshipped me separately, / O king, he will have neither fear nor grief for three years. (16)

A woman who is barren, diseased, or likewise unfortunate, / should perform the prescribed ninth [lunar day] before me, which increases satisfaction.” (17)

Īśvara said: / Having spoken thus, the goddess then vanished right there. / That king of unequalled valor, remaining within the Prabhāsa sacred field, (18)

the righteous-minded one, tended those goats in the form of diseases, / and various kinds of medicinal herbs that were the cause of their nourishment. (19)

There, for a full century of years, the goats were separately brought to nourishment. / The great repository's abode was constructed by Ajāpāla. (20)

Then, by her grace, that king of vast prowess / became the ruler of seven continents, an ornament of the solar dynasty. (21)

The goddess said: / “This is exceedingly wondrous, O god, the origin of the goddess [named from] goats! / I wish to hear further the great wonder performed by that king. (22)

How, O Lord of gods, did that king rule the earth of seven continents / all alone? And how were those diseases made [into goats]?” (23)

Īśvara said: / Formerly, there was a renowned royal sage named Dilīpa. / His son was named Dīrgha, and from him Raghu was born. (24)

And Raghu's son was Aja, who was born from him, of immense prowess. / Having propitiated Bhairavī and turned the diseases into flocks of goats,

he protected [the earth], delighted; thus he became Ajāpāla. / At that time, Rāvaṇa was the lord of the rākṣasas.

Residing in Laṅkā, he assigned the hosts of gods to his personal tasks: / he made the unbroken orb of the moon his parasol;

he made Indra his general, Vāyu the sweeper of dust, / Varuṇa employed in the work of an envoy, Dhanada the guardian of wealth,

Yama for subduing enemies, and he employed Manu in counsel; / the clouds poured water and plastered [the grounds], the trees cast down flowers,

the seven seers were dedicated to peace-offerings, the brahmins uttered pleasing praises, / the serpents stood watch at the gate, the gandharvas were intent on singing,

the host of apsarases was gathered for spectacles, the vidyādharas for instrumental music, / the Gaṅgā and other rivers for drinking water, Hutāśana for the household fire,

and the craftsman Viśvakarman was appointed by him for personal adornment. / All the earthly kings stood before him, rendering service;

they were seen stumbling because of their radiant gems and ornaments. / Seeing them, Rāvaṇa said to Prahasta, the chamberlain:

"Tell me, who have arrived here to render service at my abode?" / Bowing before him, that night-roaming demon, staff in hand, said:

"Here is the scion of Kakutstha, Māndhātṛ, Dhundhumāra, Nala, Arjuna, / Yayāti, Nahuṣa, Bhīma, this descendant of Raghu, and Vidūratha;

these and many other kings have arrived here / to render service at your abode; but Ajāpāla has not come here."

Infuriated, Rāvaṇa said: "Send an envoy quickly!" / Having spoken thus, an envoy was dispatched, a rākṣasa named Dhūmrākṣa:

"Dhūmrākṣa, go and tell Ajāpāla by my command: / 'Come to render service to me, or pay tribute, O king!

Otherwise, I will make you neckless with Candrahāsa.'" / Thus addressed by Rāvaṇa, Dhūmrākṣa, like Garuḍa,

reached that delightful city and went to the royal palace. / He saw Ajāpāla coming alone, surrounded by goats,

with disheveled hair, loose loincloth, wearing a golden woolen blanket, / with a staff on his shoulder, covered in dust, surrounded by diseases,

as if striking down a tiger, destroying all afflictions, / writing the names on the earth and smiting the host of his foes,

bathed and fed in his own abode, like Manu having accomplished his duty. / Seeing him, Dhūmrākṣa, pleased in mind, spoke what Rāvaṇa had said.

Ajāpāla, having also replied with reproach and given a reasoned answer, / sent Dhūmrākṣa away, and then addressed the task at hand.

Having summoned Fever, the king said this: / "Go to the abode of the lord of Laṅkā, and act as directed."

Commissioned by Ajāpāla, Fever went to the sky; / and having gone, he caused Rāvaṇa, the lord of the rākṣasas, to tremble.

Recognizing that exceedingly terrible fever, Rāvaṇa / said: "Let the king remain [where he is]; I have no need of him!"

Then that king, the younger brother of Dhanada, became free from fever. / In this manner there are millions of other deeds of his,

of Ajāpāla, O goddess, whose diadem shone like the sun. / By that wise Ajāpāla this goddess was propitiated— / she who pacifies all sickness and destroys all afflictions.

If a mortal desires enjoyments, he should worship her according to rule / with perfumes, incenses, ornaments, garments, and other offerings, in devotion.

Thus has the entire origin of the goddess Ajā been told to you, / which pacifies all sorrows and destroys all sins.

Thus ends the fifty-eighth chapter, entitled "Description of the Greatness of Ajāpāleśvarī," in the first [part], the Greatness of Prabhāsa Sacred Field, in the seventh [book], the Prabhāsa Section, of the venerable Skanda Mahāpurāṇa, a collection of eighty-one thousand verses.