Skandapurana 2.2.48

The sages said:

At the conclusion of the temple consecration, as for the boons that Hari

commanded for Indradyumna, and also those twelve pilgrimage festivals,

everything has been heard from your presence. Then, what did that ruler of the earth,

of great intellect, remaining as a devotee of Viṣṇu, do?

Jaimini said:

Having obtained boons from Jagannātha, who is the direct embodiment of Brahman,

that bull among men considered himself fulfilled.

Having had those festivals that bestow merit and liberation conducted according to command,

and having worshipped the guru of the universe in many ways with numerous offerings,

having transmitted the command of the deity to King Gāla in accordance with rule,

he spoke these sweet words endowed with dharma and justice:

Indradyumna said:

O King, you are deeply learned, committed to devotion to dharma;

your devotion also is directed to the Lord by deed, mind, and speech.

The Lord does not instruct for the sake of only one [person];

for he is the teacher of the moving and unmoving, and the universe has become his disciple.

With the purpose of bestowing grace upon me, the Lord of the universe has descended;

for the uplifting of those whose minds are distressed, he will remain here for a long time.

Endowed with devotion and faith, carry out his command;

do not regard him merely as an image, O king!

As became manifest before your eyes, the three worlds came down to the earth

at the entrance into the temple of this Lord of the universe.

The thirty [gods] beginning with Pitāmaha all arrived simultaneously;

at his universal form, all of us indeed lost consciousness.

Consisting of the moving and unmoving, he has directly assumed a wooden form;

know this [form] to be a wish-fulfilling tree arrived on earth, granting all desires.

Having worshipped him, one obtains the fruit of one's desire according to [one's intention].

Indeed, him whom ascetics, striving in many ways, do not know,

who is established beyond darkness, in the form of supreme light—

for the ascetics devoted to dharma, pure and chaste,

for yogins endowed with exclusive devotion, he is the only path.

Just as by diving into a deep, cool pool of water in summer

one attains supreme relief, so in this ocean of compassion

one casts off the misery of the threefold suffering, once Puruṣottama is reached.

Neither mother, nor father, nor friend, nor wife, nor son

is such a benefactor to the wretched who take refuge as He is.

Therefore, worship Him, who bestows the fruits of enjoyment and liberation.

Together with the citizens and subjects, conduct those festivals in an abundant manner.

This is the common path of dharma for kings, O best of kings:

what is instituted by a predecessor is maintained by his successor.

Worship Nṛsiṃha, O lord of kings, with grand offerings of rich splendor;

worship Him at the three junctures of the day, and attain supreme nirvāṇa.

They say that preserving what another has done is superior to one's own doing;

whoever protects what was given by another, that indeed is superior to what is given by oneself.”

Jaimini said:

Then, with folded palms, that Śveta, the best of kings,

placed those words upon his head, as though a garland possessing virtues.

The royal seer Indradyumna too, having propitiated Puruṣottama,

the glorious one went to the world of Brahmā.

Thus has been related to you this sacred, supreme māhātmya of the sacred field,

and the māhātmya of the Wooden Brahman who dwells there perpetually.

Whoever hears this being recited with devotion, O best of brahmins,

he shall obtain the entire fruit of a thousand horse-sacrifices.

Whatever astrological conjunction is known as Ardhodaya, described by Skanda,

a crore times multiplied is the merit from proclaiming the māhātmya of Viṣṇu.

Whoever hears it morning after morning becomes [equal to] the giver of a hundred tawny cows;

he obtains the fruit of an ablution with waters from the Gaṅgā and the Puṣkara lake.

It brings fortune, brings fame, grants long life, is sacred, increases offspring,

confers a place in heaven, and removes all sins.

This secret has been declared, well concealed in the Purāṇas;

it must never be told to anyone except Vaiṣṇavas.

Those who are corrupted by false logic, whose Vedic learning and scriptures are poorly studied,

nihilists, hypocrites, who constantly seek faults in others,

non-Vaiṣṇavas whose lives are in vain—from them it must always be concealed.

Thus ends the forty-eighth chapter of the Puruṣottamakṣetramāhātmya in the second section, the Vaiṣṇavakhaṇḍa, of the glorious Skandapurāṇa consisting of eighty-one thousand verses.