Skandapurana 2.3.3

Skanda said:

O Lord among all beings, conversant with all duties,

tell me, O father, out of compassion, the māhātmya of Agnitīrtha. (1)

Śiva said:

This most secret sacred ford is served by all sacred fords.

Out of regard for you, I shall describe it in brief: (2)

Those guilty of great sins and those guilty of the highest sins

are purified by mere ritual ablution, without exertion, O son. (3)

Whatever sin cannot be removed by expiation until death

is purified by a mere ritual ablution in the sacred ford of Agni. (4)

Just as gold covered with excessive impurity becomes purified,

even so an embodied soul, having reached Agnitīrtha, is purified of sins. (5)

What a man [achieves] by drinking a drop of water from the tip of a kuśa grass for three years,

performing austerity in another sacred field, that [is attained] here by mere ritual ablution. (6)

Having fed brahmins in this place according to one's means,

poverty never arises in their family. (7)

The man who yields up his life-breaths through fasting at Vahnitīrtha,

piercing through the worlds of the Sun and the rest, reaches the world of Viṣṇu. (8)

Whatever fruit a mortal attains by thousands of Cāndrāyaṇa fasts and by crores of Kṛcchra penances,

that [is gained] from a ritual ablution at Vahnitīrtha. (9)

Those who commit a fivefold sin in this place, O six-faced one,

purification [comes] through recitation and breath-restraints: such is my view. (10)

Those vile ones who, knowingly, under the influence of delusion, commit a sin,

enter the womb of a piśāca for as long as the fourteen Indras [endure]. (11)

Whether outside the stages of life or in a stage of life, as long as one sustains the body,

one should not intentionally commit a sin in the sacred ford of Agni. (12)

Ritual ablution, charity, recitation, fire offering, twilight worship, and worship of the gods—

here these are said to be infinitely multiplied beyond any other sacred ford, O six-faced one. (13)

Many are the purifying and great sacred fords;

yet equal to Vahnitīrtha there has been none, nor will there ever be. (14)

Neither Brahmā, nor Śiva, nor Śeṣa, nor the gods, nor the ascetics

are able or competent to describe the fruit arising from the sacred ford of Agni. (15)

What need have they of numerous sacrifices, what of gifts, observances, and restraints,

for whom there is ritual ablution in this sacred ford of Agni for ten days? (16)

The man who conquers his vital breaths through fasting at Vahnitīrtha,

having observed a fast for three days and worshipped Janārdana,

that man in this sacred ford of Agni becomes equal to fire. (17)

There is the perpetual presence of Hari situated among the five rocks;

and right there is the purifying sacred ford that destroys all sins. (18)

Skanda said:

How are the five rocks there, or by whom were they fashioned there?

What is their merit, what is their fruit? You ought to tell me entirely. (19)

Śiva said:

Nāradī, Nārasiṃhī, Vārāhī, and Gāruḍī,

[and] the Mārkaṇḍeya [rock]—these celebrated rocks grant the fulfillment of all aims.

The blessed Nārada performed most severe austerity,

subsisting on air upon the rock to obtain the darśana of Mahāviṣṇu.

For sixty thousand years, he lived like a tree upon the rock.

Then the blessed Lord Viṣṇu, assuming the form of a brahmin there,

went out of compassion before that best of sages.

He spoke charming words: “Why do you torment yourself, O seer?

Tell [me], what do you desire, O you whose sins have been wiped out by austerity?”

Nārada said:

“Who are you, intent on favoring me in this desolate forest?

My mind attains clarity from the darśana of you, O best of brahmins.”

Having been spoken to thus by Nārada, [Viṣṇu], who bears the conch, discus, and mace,

adorned with yellow garments, a radiant lotus, and a garland of forest flowers,

the spotless abode of Lakṣmī shining with the Śrīvatsa mark and the Kaustubha jewel,

that Janārdana, being praised by Sunandana and other foremost [attendants],

moved by compassion, showed his own form to Nārada.

Beholding him, [Nārada] rose up at once, as if breath had returned to his body.

Joining his palms in reverence and bowing down again and again,

prostrating himself, he praised the Lord of lords of the worlds.

Nārada said:

“May he who is the witness of all, the supreme lord of the worlds, who assumes the perfection of a body through the wish of his devotees,

the great ocean of compassion for those who take refuge in him, whose divine form is purifying, be pleased.

For the welfare of the world and to delight the minds of the virtuous without delay by [his appearances as] Utkala and the rest,

he whose playful glance is serene and smiling, who embodies the realm of sattva, may he be pleased.

Charming in the graceful beauty of love's desire, the joy of Lakṣmī with his serene and deep voice,

an excellent wish-fulfilling tree for those who take refuge in him, whose heart is moist with pity for the wretched, may he be pleased.

They whose inner beings are purified by worshiping his lotus feet, who have severed the causes of bondage with the sword of knowledge,

know the bliss of Brahman, their fatigue departed—may he whose heart is moist with pity for the wretched be pleased.

He who is the bridge constructed across the ocean of saṃsāra, the cause of the creation, protection, and destruction [of the universe],

whose names are boundless, who has assumed forms through the qualities, who is the experience of the bliss of Brahman, may he be pleased.

He who is the cause of the evolution from subtle elements presided over by the senses, the foremost radiant one,

who enters into the condition of an individual soul through his own māyā—may that one Lord, the Blessed One, be pleased.

He by whose own gaze the great [intellect] is not tainted by the qualities, and by whom the material world of five elements, the receptacle of qualities, [is pervaded],

though one, endowed with manifold qualities—may that best of the compassionate to the wretched be pleased.

The gods who are devoted to him, having made the ocean of misfortunes

[as small as] a calf's footprint, dwell in heaven free from fear.

Homage to you, Vāsudeva; homage to Saṃkarṣaṇa;

homage to Pradyumna and Aniruddha, to the Self of all beings.

Today my life is blessed; today my austerity has borne fruit;

today my knowledge has borne fruit, through the darśana of you, O Janārdana.”

The Blessed Lord said:

“I am pleased with this austerity and with this hymn of praise of yours, O Nārada.

There is no devotee of mine in the three worlds [dearer than] you.

Choose a boon, may you be blessed! I am here before you, a granter of boons.

Know, O Nārada, that from seeing me, your desire shall be fulfilled.”

Nārada said:

“If you are a granter of boons to me, O Lord, and if I am worthy of a boon,

grant me unwavering devotion at your lotus feet, O all-pervading Lord.

And your presence at the foot-rock must never be abandoned by you.

From the darśana, touch, ritual ablution, and sipping of the water of my tīrtha,

let [creatures] not be joined again with bodies—let this be granted as my third boon.”

The Blessed Lord said:

“So be it! Out of affection for you, I shall dwell in your tīrtha,

for the bodiless [liberation] of moving and unmoving beings, without doubt.”

Having spoken thus, Hari visibly vanished right there.

Nārada too, possessed of great splendor, having dwelt at Badarī

for some days, delighted, then went to Madhupurī.

Skanda said:

“Tell me the greatness of the Mārkaṇḍeya rock:

what is its merit, what is its fruit, and how did it acquire such a name?”

Śiva said:

Long ago, at the end of the Tretāyuga, the great son of Mṛkaṇḍu,

knowing his own life to be very short, muttered the supreme prayer.

Worshipped with the twelve-syllable mantra, imperishable Hari,

knowing [the boy now to have] a life of seven kalpas, vanished right there.

Then Mārkaṇḍeya, having heard of the toil of wandering to sacred fords,

had a darśana of Nārada in Mathurā, O six-faced one!

Worshipped and saluted by him, Nārada, best of sages,

related the māhātmya of Badarī, where Keśava resides.

Nārada said:

“Why suffer, O holy man, from the toils of wandering to sacred fords?

The great sacred field called Badarī is the eternal presence of Hari.

Go there, where you will see Hari directly with your own eyes.”

Hearing that, filled with wonder, the seer went to Viśālā.

Having bathed, sitting down on the rock, he muttered the supreme eight-syllable [mantra].

Then, at the end of three nights, the blessed Lord Janārdana was pleased,

adorned with conch, discus, mace, lotus, and a forest garland.

Seeing him, rising up at once, with a voice faltering from love,

bowing low, Mārkaṇḍeya praised Janārdana:

Mārkaṇḍeya said:

“In this transient saṃsāra, your lotus feet are the [only] essence; / how can men be delivered? Save me, O supreme Lord!

How can there be salvation for men? Protect me, O Supreme Lord!

Exhausted by the three afflictions, distended by manifold ignorances,

wandering in the cavern of worldly existence, save me by your grace, O Acyuta!

Suffering bodily pain upon issuing forth from the machines of many wombs,

having undergone dwelling in the womb, save me, O ocean of compassion!

With all limbs devoured by worms, and agitated by hunger and thirst,

in a womb crowded with coils of entrails—save me, O Madhusūdana!

Smeared with foul matter and the like, motionless, overwhelmed by fatigue,

remembering [the pain] arising from my own deeds—save me, O Madhusūdana!

Incapable of speaking, taking, or breathing, overcome with terror,

[amid] the great misery of dwelling in the womb—save me, O Madhusūdana!

Tormented by worldly existence with its miseries of old age, death, childhood, and the like,

holding the illusion of happiness in an ocean of sorrow—protect me, O ocean of grace!

Sometimes having become a worm, sometimes born from sweat,

sometimes sprouting as a plant, and sometimes having attained human state,

fallen into every womb, afflicted, devoid of splendor,

helpless, I have taken refuge in you: save me by your grace, O Acyuta!”

Thus praised by the wise Mārkaṇḍeya, Kṛṣṇa,

pleased, said to him: “O brahmin-seer, choose a boon from me.”

The venerable Mārkaṇḍeya said:

“If you are pleased with me, O Lord, compassionate to the wretched,

grant me unwavering devotion in your worship and darśana;

and your presence at this rock—this alone is my boon.”

Sūta said:

Saying “So be it,” Mahāviṣṇu vanished, O twice-born.

Mārkaṇḍeya, then satisfied, went to his father's hermitage.

This holy hymn of praise destroys all sin.

A mortal who hears it or causes it to be heard attains the goal in Govinda.

Thus ends the third chapter, named 'Description of the Māhātmya of Agnitīrtha, Nāradaśilā, and Mārkaṇḍeyaśilā', in the conversation between Śiva and Kārtikeya in the second, Vaiṣṇava Section, of the venerable Skandapurāṇa, an eighty-one-thousand-verse collection.