Skandapurana 2.2.15

Jaimini said:

Then those [people] set out with joy towards the presence of Nīlakaṇṭha, O brahmins,

and having worshiped that Mahādeva and bowed down to holy Durgā,

leaving their excellent chariot, on foot together with their attendants,

with senses subdued, they proceeded to climb the blue mountain [Nīlācala],

covered with various trees and creepers, crowded with flocks of various birds,

hedged all around by an impassable barrier of rocks,

having massive boulders that induced dizziness caused by wandering bees,

its slopes enveloped by the surging waters of the southern ocean,

ever inconceivable to mortals, difficult to enter for great serpents,

its interior made terrifying by the trumpetings of herds of rutting elephants,

thronged with wild beasts that had dwelt there long and knew not the blow of weapons,

filled all around with numerous herds of deer devoid of fear.

When they, wishing to enter, could find no path into its interior,

then, having learned the summit of the mountain through the company of Nārada,

they reached where the all-pervading Lord dwells beneath a black agallochum tree,

possessing a celestial lion's body, the destroyer of all perils and fears,

beholding whom, crores of sins of killing a brahmin dissolve away for men;

with open mouth, terrifying fangs, and thick reddish-brown mane,

fierce, three-eyed, tearing the chest of the demon

lying supine on His own lap, with claws terrible as thunderbolts,

the all-pervading Lord, radiant as dawn, with flickering tongue and a face loud with boisterous laughter,

whose arms shone with conch and discus, resplendent with a diademed crown,

terrifying the quarters with sparks of fire flashing from His eyes,

whose lotus feet had penetrated into the earth under violent impact.

Then, seeing before Nārada that primal form, Hari,

they, free from fear, beheld Him from afar and bowed down, relieved of feverish anxiety.

Indradyumna too, having beheld Him, placed his faith in Nārada's words.

Trusting in what was to come, he said this to the great sage:

“O great seer, my purpose is fulfilled! You are indeed the supreme treasure of knowledge.

Difficult to worship is this Nṛsiṃha, terrifying even to look upon.

He may well be served by people like you, but by people like me only from afar.

From his darśana my purpose is fulfilled, all my sins dissolved.

It is only through your presence, O sage, that we stand here without fear.

How can the Lord of exceedingly fierce form be worshipped

by men of little power, tearing apart the king of daityas, the master of the three worlds?

In what place does the form made of sapphire of that ocean of mercy reside,

O best of sages, which grants liberation merely upon darśana?

Show that to me, O best of brahmins, which is considered to grant me liberation.”

Addressed thus, Nārada showed him the purifying

place where the god stayed, covered with golden sand:

“Behold this banyan tree, one yojana in breadth and two yojanas high,

which lasts until the end of the kalpa, O king, granting liberation to men.

From stepping into its shade, one is freed from the slough of sin;

a man giving up his life-breaths at its root would attain liberation.

Even upon merely seeing spotless Nārāyaṇa in the form of a banyan tree,

a mortal becomes sinless—how much more so worshipping and praising him?

To the west of its root and to the north of Nṛsiṃha, O king,

where the all-pervading Mādhava, bearing four forms, once stood—

in order to favor you alone, he will manifest here again.

Just as Viṣṇu has his own abode in Śvetadvīpa, the realm of enjoyment,

so this is remembered as his own place in Jambudvīpa, the realm of action.

Because it is supremely secret even to himself, its revelation is not widely granted.

Only one entitled to liberation knows this place, O king;

it is an object of disbelief to men, especially to evildoers.

Even another image of Viṣṇu consecrated here by citizens

grants liberation, O king—how much more one [consecrated] by the self-manifest [Lord]?

The disappearance and appearance of the Lord of the universe occur for an auspicious cause

in each age, for the sake of favoring the virtuous.

The Lord [appears] in various incarnations, such as the fish and the tortoise, O king,

and when the cause ceases, the Supreme Lord disappears.

Without any cause, the ocean of compassion abides here eternally.

Just as the Lord Viṣṇu descends elsewhere from Śvetadvīpa,

so, though remaining here, he becomes manifest out of compassion in Dvārakā, Kāñcī, Puṣkara, and other places,

like shoots from the root of a tree.

In various sacred fords, regions, sacred fields, and shrines,

there are partial incarnations of him; let there be no doubt in you, O king.

The Lord does not leave this sacred field for an instant, just as [a husband does not leave] his own wife.

Yet, initiated by you, O king, another manifestation will occur.”

When the place was thus shown by the high-souled Nārada,

Indradyumna prostrated himself on the ground with all eight limbs.

Conceiving the god to be present before him, as if manifest, he praised him:

Indradyumna said:

“O God of gods, Lord of the world, destroyer of the distress of those bowed down,

save me, O lotus-eyed one, fallen into the ocean of worldly existence!

You alone are the destroyer of the flood of sorrows, O Supreme Lord!

The petty indeed serve the petty, desiring a tiny fraction of happiness,

of their own great sin, a beginningless three-fold flood,

a heap hard to cut off, constantly fulfilled through rebirth.

How much more [is it achieved] by devotion to him who directly grants liberation to men?

Those fools who describe you, the treasure of compassion, as subordinate to karma

do not know, O Lord, that karma itself is impelled by you.

By the brahmin Ajāmila, abandoning what is prescribed for class and life-stage,

what sin was not committed, O Master? Yet even he, from reciting your name,

became liberated; merely by remembrance, he was freed by the snare-handed [attendants of Yama].

All spiritual means, O Lord of gods, are said to [culminate in] seeing you;

for when you are seen, the doubts residing in the heart are shattered.

One becomes instantly free of doubt, and sin and merit are surely destroyed.”

You alone are my refuge; have mercy on me, a miserable soul, O omnipresent Lord!

Whatever [circumstances] were determined by you, O God, while I was in the womb,

my birth is indeed through them alone; yet I beg this one thing of you:

that form of yours which grants liberation to animals, which stood here—

may I behold it again with these eyes, O Lord; I have no other purpose!

Having thus praised Madhusūdana with folded hands,

the king bowed down again to the surface of the earth, his eyes filled with tears.

Then an incorporeal voice traveling through the sky, speaking in the sweet tones of the Sāmaveda,

resounded in the midst of the heavens while Indradyumna listened:

“Do not worry, O king; I shall come into the path of your sight.

Perform that which Nārada told you, the instruction of the Grandfather [Brahmā].”

Having heard that divine voice and the utterance of Nārada,

he placed his faith in the horse sacrifice, eager to please the Lord.

And he spoke again to Nārada with words choked with joy:

“O sage, that which was commanded by you at the direction of the four-faced [Brahmā]—

this bodiless voice has indeed confirmed precisely that.

Between the Grandfather and Jagannātha there is never any difference.

You are indeed the son of the lotus-born [Brahmā]; your word is the Lord's word.

That which brings about the highest good must be carried out with great effort.”

Thus ends the fifteenth chapter in the dialogue between the sage Jaimini in the Puruṣottamakṣetramāhātmya, in the second section, the Vaiṣṇavakhaṇḍa, of the glorious Skandapurāṇa consisting of eighty-one thousand verses.