Skandapurana 2.4.22

Nārada said:

Then Jalandhara, seeing Rudra of wonderful valor,

created Gaurī by illusion, as if deluding Tryambaka.

Bound upon a chariot and weeping, Śiva saw Pārvatī

being beaten by Niśumbha and other leaders.

Seeing Gaurī in such a state, Śiva too became agitated in mind;

he stood silent with his face cast down, forgetting his own valor.

Then Jalandhara swiftly pierced him with three arrows

up to their feathered shafts—Rudra—in the head, chest, and belly.

Then he recognized that illusion and, awakened by Viṣṇu,

he assumed a terrible form, utterly terrifying with garlands of flames.

Seeing his exceedingly terrible form, the great asuras

could not stand before him; they fled in the ten directions.

Then Rudra pronounced a curse on both of them, Śumbha and Niśumbha:

"Having fled from my battle, you two shall be slain by Gaurī!"

Again Jalandhara swiftly rained sharp arrows [upon him].

Then the vast surface of the earth was covered by the darkness of arrows.

And while Rudra swiftly severed his host of arrows,

meanwhile that powerful one quickly struck the bull with an iron club.

Turned back from the battlefield by that blow,

the bull did not remain on the field of battle, even though pulled back by Rudra.

Then Rudra, exceedingly enraged, assuming a terrifying form,

swiftly hurled the Sudarśana discus possessing the radiance of the sun.

Burning heaven and earth, it fell with speed upon the surface of the earth;

it severed his head, large and wide-eyed, from his body.

His body fell from the chariot, making the earth's surface resound,

and the fiery splendor that emerged from his body merged into Rudra.

The fiery splendor arisen from Vṛndā's body dissolved into Gaurī.

Then the gods, led by Brahmā, their eyes wide with joy,

bowed their heads to Rudra and recounted Viṣṇu's conduct.

The gods said:

“O Mahādeva, the gods have been protected by you from fear born of the enemy.

Something else has arisen; what shall we do about that?

Bewildered by Vṛndā's loveliness, Viṣṇu remains deluded.”

Īśvara said:

“O gods, go for refuge, for the removal of Viṣṇu's delusion,

to the refuge-granting, enchanting Māyā; she will accomplish your task.”

Nārada said:

Having spoken thus, the god then disappeared along with all the hosts of beings,

and the gods praised Mūlaprakṛti, who is affectionate to devotees.

The gods said:

“She from whom originate the qualities of sattva, rajas, and tamas, the causal agents of creation, maintenance, and destruction,

by whose will this universe unfolds its existence and nonexistence—to that Mūlaprakṛti we bow.

She who is designated as having twenty-three distinctions, presiding supreme over the entire universe,

whose form and deeds even the three inert gods do not know—to that Prakṛti we bow.

Men endowed with devotion to whom never indeed encounter

poverty, fear, delusion, defeat, and the like—to that Mūlaprakṛti, always affectionate to devotees, we bow.”

Nārada said:

Whoever recites this hymn with a one-pointed mind at the three twilights,

poverty, delusion, and miseries never touch him.

While praising in this manner, those gods beheld

a sphere of light situated in the sky there, the quarters of space pervaded by flames.

From the middle of it, all heard a voice moving through the sky.

The Śakti said:

“I alone abide divided into three by the three qualities:

as Gaurī, Lakṣmī, and Svarā, through the qualities of rajas, sattva, and tamas.

Go there; they will accomplish your purpose, O gods.”

Nārada said:

As the gods were hearing that speech, O king,

that splendor disappeared, while their eyes expanded with astonishment.

Then all those gods, impelled by her words, went

and bowed to Gaurī, Lakṣmī, and Svarā, intent on devotion.

Then, seeing those bowed gods, those goddesses, affectionate to devotees,

gave them seeds and spoke these words, O king.

The goddesses said:

“Scatter these seeds there where Viṣṇu stays;

thereupon your purpose will attain fulfillment.”

Nārada said:

Then the delighted hosts of gods and siddhas, taking the seeds, scattered them

on the surface of the earth where Viṣṇu, joined with Vṛndā, constantly remains devoid of happiness.

Thus ends the twenty-second chapter, titled “The Description of the Liberation of Jalandhara,” in the Kārttikamāsamāhātmya of the second section, the Vaiṣṇavakhaṇḍa, in the glorious Skanda Mahāpurāṇa consisting of eighty-one thousand verses.