Skandapurana 2.2.18

Jaimini said:

Then the pressing of soma in the horse sacrifice of the king began.

In it, O twice-born, the three worlds became like a single abode. // 1

By the sacred texts and hymns reaching to the sky, brilliant with the order of syllables,

having the proper arrangement of words and accents, other sounds were drowned out. // 2

There, desired things were given to the wretched without restriction;

to actors, dancers, and bards, it was like the wish-fulfilling tree. // 3

In the midst of it, where a tent had been erected for bathing at the concluding ablution,

on the southern shore near Bilveśvara, // 4

the servants appointed by the king, arriving in haste,

with folded hands reported to the king, O twice-born: // 5

"O lord, a huge tree has been seen on the shore of the great ocean,

its top having entered the sea, its base floating on the billows, // 6

madder-red in color all over, marked with the conch and discus, floating.

Near the bath pavilion, this most wonderful [tree] was seen by us. // 7

This tree has never been seen before, resembling the rising sun in brilliance,

scenting the entire shore with fragrant perfume. // 8

This is perceived to be no ordinary tree, [but] a celestial tree;

some god, surely, seems to have arrived under the guise of a tree." // 9

Having heard the words of the appointees, the king said to Nārada:

"What then is the cause of that excellent tree which they say was seen?" // 2.2.18.10

Nārada, smiling, spoke words to the best of kings:

"Let the final oblation be completed, so that the sacrifice may bear fruit. // 11

That good fortune has arrived for you which you saw previously in your dream.

The imperishable Viṣṇu whose form is the universe, who was seen in Śvetadvīpa— // 12

a hair fallen from his body has attained the state of a tree.

The enduring partial descent of the Supreme Lord upon the earth— // 13

into that form the Blessed One, affectionate toward devotees, descends.

For that superhuman tree—no one is worthy to behold it // 14

except you on earth, O tiger among men, best of kings.

Through the power of your good fortune, he will become a guest to the eyes of all people, // 15

O great king, destroying all impurities.

Having concluded the avabhṛtha bath on the shore of the lord of rivers,

and having performed a great festival with celebratory auspicious rites,

install here upon the great altar the Lord of Sacrifice who has assumed the form of a tree.”

Having thus deliberated, filled with joy, both the king and Nārada,

richly equipped, went to the place where that divine tree stood.

Beholding it, all rejoiced, as if the Absolute itself had manifest before them;

those exalted men, liberated while alive, deemed their birth to have borne fruit.

King Indradyumna too plunged into an ocean of ambrosia.

Just as that beloved of the Lord had seen Jagannātha in a dream,

so he beheld that tree, four-armed, with branches resembling eyes.

Deeming his own labor to have borne fruit, the best of kings,

O brahmins, cast off the grief born of Nīlamaṇimādhava’s disappearance.

Bowing to it again and again, his eyes filled with tears of joy, the king

had the brahmins fetch the tree that was tossed by the waves,

to the accompaniment of conches, kāhālas, murajas, ḍhakkās, and paṭahas,

with the sounds of songs and musical instruments, and thousands of shouts of victory,

amidst recurrent showers of fragrant flowers falling from the sky,

and incense burners all around, fuming with black aloe,

being swayed by beautiful courtesans intoxicated with youth,

fanned on all sides with chowries having jeweled handles,

splendidly adorned with banners of celestial silk and dukūla cloth,

surrounded by hosts of royal sages and kings, by horses and foot soldiers,

extolled by bards and praised by great seers,

and served by officiating priests, brahmins, learned men, Vedic scholars,

nobles, men born of Vaiśya families, and virtuous Śūdras.

With manifold hymns from the Vedic, Smṛti, and Purāṇic traditions,

the tree of Viṣṇu was praised, surrounded on the earth;

adorned with garlands and perfumes, the two brought that divine [tree] to the great altar.

Enclosed completely under an excellent, variegated canopy,

upon the altar they placed it by order of Indradyumna.

According to Nārada’s instruction, the king worshipped it

with thousands of divine-like offerings, that best of kings.

At the conclusion of the worship, he asked Nārada, the best of sages:

“What kind are the images of Viṣṇu? And who will fashion them?”

Hearing that, the sage said to him: “Inconceivable is the majesty of the Guru!

Who indeed knows his deeds, O king, which transcend all the worlds?

Even for the creator of the worlds, this is an object of doubt.”

While the two of them, Nārada and the king, were thus pondering,

a bodiless voice was then heard from the sky:

As all who were listening marveled at it, [the voice said:]

“The Lord is not made by human hands; he remains beyond the path of speculation.

Upon the well-concealed great altar, he will descend of his own accord.

Let it remain covered for fifteen days.

This old carpenter who has arrived, tool in hand—

having led him inside, bar the door with care.

Let them play musical instruments outside as long as the fashioning takes place.

For the sound of the carving, if heard, causes deafness and blindness,

causes dwelling in hell, and destroys offspring.

One must not enter within, nor should one ever look.

If anyone other than the appointed one should look, for the king and the kingdom,

and for the beholder as well, there will be great dread and blindness in both eyes.

Therefore, no looking should be done until the completion of the images.

The divine one, having emerged himself, will tell at the end of the work

what must be done with effort to bring happiness to all the world.”

Hearing that, Nārada and the others, exactly as spoken by Viṣṇu himself,

wished to act accordingly; and a carpenter arrived there.

He then said to the king: “Those which were seen by you in your dream,

those very ones I will fashion out of this divine-formed wood.”

Having spoken thus, assuming the form of an old carpenter, he disappeared into the altar—

he, the all-pervading Nārāyaṇa in person, to delude mortals.

Thus ends the eighteenth chapter in the dialogue with the seer Jaimini, in the "Puruṣottamakṣetra-māhātmya", in the second section, the Vaiṣṇavakhaṇḍa, of the eighty-one-thousand-verse collection of the glorious Skandapurāṇa.