Skandapurana 16.90

Īśvara said: / Then, O great goddess, one should go to the fourth supreme Rudra, / named Vṛṣabheśvara, the kalpa-liṅga beloved by the gods, 1

where Brahmā himself dwells in the form of a child, O great goddess; / it stands three bow-lengths to his north. 2

A person devoid of merit certainly does not know this primeval one of great power. / I shall now tell you its names in different kalpas. 3

In a previous kalpa, O great goddess, it was remembered as Brahmeśvara, / having been worshipped formerly by Brahmā for ten thousand years, O beloved. 4

Maheśvara was pleased with the god who desired creation; / then the Grandfather brought forth the fourfold creation of living beings. 5

Because Hara attained satisfaction through Brahmā's lordly state, / therefore, in ancient times, the name Brahmeśvara was given to that liṅga. 6

Then, when the second kalpa arrived, O lady of fair complexion, / it became renowned on the surface of the earth under the name Raivateśvara. 7

There was a king named Raivata in the universe of moving and unmoving beings; / by the power of that liṅga he conquered this [world], the womb of creation. 8

By him the liṅga of great splendour came to have the name Raivateśvara. / Again, when the third kalpa arrived, O lady of fair complexion, 9

that liṅga acquired the name Vṛṣabheśvara, O passionate lady. / He who is my own mount is this Dharma who assumes the form of a bull. 7.1.90.10

By him that liṅga was worshipped for a thousand divine years. / Then, pleased [with him], O queen of the gods, the bull was led to union [with me]. 11

Therefore, that liṅga came to be known as Vṛṣabheśa on the surface of the earth. / Then, when the fourth [kalpa] named the Vārāha Kalpa arrived, 12

at the beginning of the Tretāyuga during the twenty-eighth [cycle], / there was a king named Ikṣvāku, an ornament of the Solar dynasty. 13

Endowed with devotion, he worshipped the liṅga at the three junctions of the day, / taking a single meal, having conquered his appetite, sleeping on the bare ground, with senses subdued. 14

After a long period of time in this manner, Maheśvara was pleased / and gave him an exalted kingdom and offspring consisting of sons and grandsons. 15

By him this supreme liṅga came to have the name Ikṣvākvīśvara. / He who worships that god whose mount is the bull with devotion / is freed from sins committed in seven births; of this there is no doubt. / The sacred field around it measures thirty bow-lengths in all four directions. 16–17

Ablution, recitation of mantras, offerings, fire sacrifices, worship, and the chanting of hymns of praise— / whatever one performs at that sacred ford becomes imperishable. 18

Thus is the field, measured within four corners. / Having fasted for a single night in the presence of that liṅga, 19

he who keeps vigil in celibacy is completely freed from sins, / absorbed in fire offerings, recitation, and meditation, with dances, songs, and instrumental music. 7.1.90.20

Whether a slayer of a cow, a slayer of a brahmin, or a sinner, a man is freed from his misdeeds / if he gratifies the brahmins there with various kinds of food. 21

When one brahmin is fed, ten million are considered fed. / Bhairava, Kedāra, Puṣkara, Drutijaṅgama, 22

Vārāṇasī, Kurukṣetra, Mahākāla, and Naimiṣa— / this group of eight sacred fords, O goddess, resides in that liṅga. 23

He who keeps vigil at night there on the fourteenth day of the dark fortnight of Māgha, / having duly worshipped the god, obtains the fruit of the eight sacred fords. 24

He who offers a piṇḍa there in the presence of Śiva on the new moon day— / his ancestors are satisfied until the end of Brahmā's day. 25

With curd, milk, and ghee, with the five products of the cow and kuśa water, / and with saffron, aloe-wood, and camphor, one should worship that liṅga at night. 26

Consecrating it with the Aghora mantra and meditating on the god Sadāśiva, / having acted thus, O great goddess, one is freed from the five great sins. 27

And if one bathes it with curd on the eighth and fourteenth days, / he will be born as a brahmin learned in the four Vedas; of this there is no doubt. 28

If one bathes that Vṛṣabheśvara with milk, O goddess, / he attains the great fruit [equivalent to the gift] of seven thousand cows. 29

Whatever sin was committed in another birth or is done now, O beloved, / all of that is destroyed by a bath of ghee, O passionate lady. 7.1.90.30

O goddess, he who bathes Vṛṣabheśvara with the five products of the cow / burns away all sins and obtains the fruit of all sacrifices. 31

Beholding it, a slayer of a brahmin, a slayer of a cow, a thief, one who violates the teacher's bed, / a slayer of one who sought refuge, and a betrayer of a friend's trust— 32

one who has practiced wicked sins, or even a killer of mother or father, / is freed from all sins when intent upon worshiping that liṅga.

Whoever worships the great liṅga Brahmeśvara together with Brahmā / for the entire month of Kārtika becomes liberated from sins.

Everything has been given by him; the gurus have been gratified by him; / a śrāddha has been performed at the tīrtha of Gayā; great austerity has been practiced by him / by whom this supreme God of gods, Vṛṣabheśvara, has been worshiped.

Thus has been told to you, O goddess, the māhātmya worshiped by gods, / belonging to the lord Vṛṣabheśvara, the Kalpaliṅga, O fair-faced lady.

A fool or even a learned man who hears this divine māhātmya / of the god of gods, O great goddess, attains the supreme destination.

Thus ends the ninetieth chapter, named 'The Description of the Māhātmya of Vṛṣavāhaneśvara,' in the Māhātmya of the Eleven Rudras, in the first [part], the Māhātmya of the Prabhāsakṣetra, in the seventh section, the Prabhāsakhaṇḍa, in the glorious Skandapurāṇa, a collection of eighty-one thousand verses.