Skandapurana 2.1.33

Now follows the praise of the Suvarṇamukharī by Indra and others.

Bharadvāja said:

Then the heaven-dwellers, headed by Śakra, standing on their celestial aerial chariots,

followed that great river as she followed Agastya.

And all the foremost sages, with folded hands,

following that divine [stream] newly descended, worshipped her with hymns of praise.

Siddhas, cāraṇas, and gandharvas, assembled by the thousands,

praised that river and that prince of sages with auspicious hymns.

"By good fortune has this pure water, resembling nectar, been obtained!"

saying thus, the people of the earth rejoiced, overcome by eager longing.

Then, by the command of the lotus-born god [Brahmā], the Wind

spoke these words while all the gods were listening:

Now follows the derivation of the name Suvarṇamukharī as declared by Vāyu.

Vāyu said:

"Like gold, through the good fortune of the worlds, this river,

making the quarters of the sky resonant, has been brought to earth by Agastya.

Therefore she will attain worldwide renown, applauded by all the worlds,

by the name of Suvarṇamukharī, an abode of the riches of absolute liberation.

This Suvarṇamukharī, among all the rivers,

is distinguished and worthy of being served; such is the word of Brahmā."

Now follows the description of the greatness of the Suvarṇamukharī brought by Agastya.

Bharadvāja said:

Hearing these words spoken thus by the Wind, the pot-born [Agastya],

filled with wonder, was pleased, his limbs horripilating within.

In this manner, this divine river, by providing for bathing, drinking, and the like,

bringing happiness to human beings, became established on earth.

By command of the lotus-born [Brahmā], the river flowing from the sky,

under the name of Suvarṇamukharī, purifies those who seek refuge in her alone.

Traversing in succession many great mountains, expanses of forest, and many regions, this best of rivers,

attended by great rivers born of mountains,

carrying waters that bestow singular freedom from disease upon those stricken with sickness and exceedingly distressed,

which remove the intense inner and outer heat and cause delight,

and with a multitude of spray risen from the swift and mighty blows of the trunks of lordly elephants sportive in their play,

as if joyfully presenting an offering of flowers to the maker of the day [the sun],

which are clear against their source, fragrant with the perfume of blue water-lilies, lotuses, and white water-lilies that scent the quarters of the sky,

the sole abodes of good fortune for bees;

reddened by the red vermilion dust from the partings of the hair of celestial nymphs eager for playful plunges,

perfumed with the fragrance of pārijāta blossoms fallen from their masses of hair;

she, bearing waters filled with auspiciousness, sweet, free of mud, exceedingly clear,

resembling nectar, born of the son of the lord of the gods [Indra], and destroying sins,

having taken her birth from Mount Agastya, brought to earth by the pot-born sage [Agastya],

resplendent with hosts of celebrated sacred fords, reached the southern ocean.

With scatterings of spray for unbroken grains and the presentation of gems for lamps,

the advancing waves of the ocean went forth to welcome her.

Embracing her with wave-hands and honouring her as she arrived,

the lord of rivers showed affection with loud-resounding speeches.

When she, being gracious, had reached that reservoir of waters,

his water swelled greatly with delighted waves.

Having thus united the river with the ocean,

Agastya praised [her], bid farewell, and, having accomplished his task, went on at his pleasure.

Arjuna said:

"This origin of the great river has been recounted by you, O holy one;

I am eager now, O venerable lord, to hear her power."

Now begins the māhātmya of the Suvarṇamukharī, as described by Bharadvāja.

Bharadvāja said:

Ah, the destroyer [of sins], the sole cause of all highest goods!

Listen, O Pāṇḍava, I shall declare to you its māhātmya.

Having attained their final birth, when the karma of the wise is exhausted,

a bath in the Suvarṇamukharī, which causes the state of Brahman, succeeds.

Even from hundreds of yojanas away,

a person who remembers this Suvarṇamukharī is freed from sins; there is no doubt about this.

A bone of living beings cast into the waters of the Suvarṇamukharī

becomes a step for ascending to the world of Brahmā.

Remembering the Svarṇamukharī wherever they may be,

men, even when bathing in other waters, obtain the supreme fruit.

Men are overcome by tens of millions of sins only so long

as that auspicious bath in the Suvarṇamukharī is not obtained.

The celestial, atmospheric, and terrestrial sacred fords, for their own perfection,

remember the river Suvarṇamukharī every day at dawn.

Arising from Agastya's mountain, flowing to the southern ocean,

the Svarṇamukharī destroys sins merely by being remembered.

With an inner self eager to bathe in the Suvarṇamukharī,

the gods, led by Śakra, desire mortal birth itself.

Those who eat grains and food nourished by the waters of the Suvarṇamukharī

are not tainted by great sins arising from hundreds of improper meals.

Even a drop of the water of the Suvarṇamukharī that is drunk

would quickly destroy sins of embodied beings that are equal to mountains.

Even having attained human birth, those who do not bathe

in the waters of the Suvarṇamukharī—their birth is in vain.

A single bath in the Suvarṇamukharī performed according to the rule

is equal to tens of millions of baths in the Jāhnavī on auspicious conjunction days.

Just as Govinda is among the gods, just as the moon is among the asterisms,

just as a king is among men, just as the wish-fulfilling tree is among trees,

just as space is among the great elements, just as Māyā is among all powers,

just as the Gāyatrī is among mantras, and the thunderbolt among the weapons of the gods,

just as the reality of the Self is among principles, just as the Rudrādhyāya is among Yajur verses,

just as Ananta is among serpents, just as the Himālaya is among mountains,

just as the sacred field of the Boar is among sacred fields, and the mind among the senses,

so too, among all rivers, the Suvarṇamukharī is supreme.

One who desires purification, well-being, and auspiciousness should constantly remember, bow to,

praise, and mentally worship the auspicious Suvarṇamukharī:

“Born of Agastya's mountain, flowing to the southern ocean,

destroyer of all sins: I take refuge in you, O Suvarṇamukharī!

My body, scorched by great sins, with your waters

I wash, O bearer of the world; endow me with the highest good!”

Having duly recited this pair of verses, a restrained person,

having bathed in the water of the Suvarṇamukharī, becomes purified and rejoices.

Created of old by Brahmā, brought down by Agastya,

the excellent Suvarṇamukharī is the Mandākinī herself in embodied form.

Endowed with such power, this divine [river] should be praised by those who seek auspiciousness;

she should be bathed in with a mind endowed with devotion by those who desire what is auspicious.

Ablution, gifting, and the like, performed during eclipses of the moon and sun

on the bank of the Suvarṇamukharī, O Pārtha, will yield immeasurable fruit.

At a solar transit, at a sacred solstice, on a Vyatīpāta day,

a bath in the Suvarṇamukharī redeems ten million generations.

In the waters of the Suvarṇamukharī, on one's birth asterism or birthday,

having bathed according to the rule, one attains well-being, health, happiness, and prosperity.

Sins arising from bad dreams and obstacles, and likewise from spirits, planets, and adverse positions,

one overcomes having bathed in the water of the Suvarṇamukharī.

Giving a piece of land measured by a cow's foot on the bank of the Suvarṇamukharī,

one obtains whatever fruit is gained from giving the entire earth.

Having given a cow along with cloth and ornaments on the bank of the Suvarṇamukharī

to a brahmin according to the rule, one goes to the eternal Brahman.

On auspicious occasions, all kinds of gifts should be made

on the bank of the Suvarṇamukharī, to attain fruit in this world and the next. // 53

Recitation, oblation, austerity, gift, rites for the ancestors, worship of the gods—

whatever is performed on the bank of the Suvarṇamukharī becomes a hundredfold. // 54

I shall tell you another excellent vow that should be observed

on the bank of the Suvarṇamukharī every year by those who desire happiness. // 55

When, having disappeared with the sun's rays in the rainy season,

the glorious sage, the son of Mitra and Varuṇa, rises, // 56

those who, self-controlled, take a ritual ablution in her on that day

dwell in the abode of the gods for an eon, O son of Kuru. // 57

Those who then give an image of Agastya made of gold

according to rule, O son of Pṛthā, go to the eternal Brahman. // 58

Arjuna said:

By what rule should this vow be performed, O great sage?

Tell all that to me, a noble one who is eager to know. // 59

Now the procedure for giving the image of Agastya.

Bharadvāja said:

Having learned the day of Agastya's rising, with a controlled mind

one should have an image of that great sage fashioned from gold according to one's means: // 2.1.33.60

possessing a luster brilliant as gold, charming with bound matted locks,

holding a rosary and a water pot in his two lotus-like hands, // 61

wearing soft bark-cloth, with a deer-skin upper garment,

gentle, lovely with marks of sacred ash, adorned with rudrākṣa beads. // 62

Having thus fashioned that image, having bathed, with a controlled mind,

having adorned the preceptor with fragrant pastes, flowers, and the like according to rule, // 63

one should worship that image placed upon an āḍhaka measure

of rice from winter crops, provided with two garments: // 64

"O restrainer of the Vindhya mountain, expert in swallowing the ocean in a sip,

greatly illuminated by the radiance of all the gods beginning with Brahmā, // 65

O Agastya born from a jar, bowed to by gods and asuras,

may the Lord obtain great delight from this gift of mine." // 66

Having uttered this mantra, having given [it] preceded by pouring water, along with a fee,

freed from sins, one goes to the eternal Brahman. // 67

From the floods of great sins and minor sins committed in other births

as well as those committed in this birth, one is surely liberated; there is no doubt about this. // 68

All the gods headed by Brahmā, the great seers headed by Sanaka,

and the moving and unmoving beings attain delight; there is no doubt. // 69

Having performed this holy vow, and for the satisfaction of the good sage Agastya,

one should feed brahmins according to one's ability, along with a fee. // 2.1.33.70

And if unable to perform that rite, one should, filled with devotion,

please the brahmins according to one's capacity by gifting gold, grain, and the like. // 71

One should not let that lunar day pass in vain; one should observe it with effort;

a person must perform even some small sacred act. // 72

The ripened fruit of the austerity of the great sage Agastya

is the river Suvarṇamukharī, worthy of being praised by gods and asuras. // 73

Thus the origin and power of the great river

have been fully told to you. Now declare what you wish to hear further.

Thus ends the thirty-third chapter, named "Praise of the Power of the Suvarṇamukharī", in the Venkaṭācalamāhātmya in the second section, the Vaiṣṇavakhaṇḍa, in the glorious Skanda Mahāpurāṇa consisting of eighty-one thousand verses. // 33