Skandapurana 2.4.3

Brahmā said:

Listen further, best of brahmins, to the majesty of Kārtika:

Beginning on the tenth lunar day, one should conclude on the tenth lunar day; // 1

Beginning on the full moon day, one should conclude on the full moon day;

Or, beginning on the day of Hari in Āśvina, the devoted man, // 2

Bowing to Dāmodara, should formulate the resolve at the outset:

"O Dāmodara, salutations to you, destroyer of all sins! // 3

Be pleased to grant permission to perform the vow of Kārtika.

Make it free from obstacles, O Lord of gods, for a month, O Puruṣottama!" // 4

Having thus prayed, one should observe the vow of Kārtika according to rule.

Spoken by Bhāskara as he addressed Anūru, it was heard by me;

Let that cause of going to heaven in the Kali age indeed be heard! // 5

Sūrya said:

Of the twelve months, Mārgaśīrṣa bestows great merit; // 6

Greater in meritorious fruit than that is said to be Vaiśākha on the bank of the Narmadā;

A hundred thousand times greater than that is said to be the month of Māgha at Prayāga; // 7

Greater in fruit than that is said to be Kārtika in any water whatever.

On the one side, all gifts, vows, and observances, // 8

And on the other, the ritual ablution of Kārtika, were held in the balance by Brahmā.

Those to whom offspring and wealth are born in the Kali age— // 9

Know that they have certainly performed the ritual ablution of Kārtika with reverence.

Ritual ablution, offering of lamps, tending a grove of tulasī, // 2.4.3.10

Sleeping on the ground, celibacy, and abstaining from split pulses,

Singing praises of Viṣṇu, truthfulness, and listening to the Purāṇas— // 11

Those who practice these in the month of Kārtika are indeed liberated while living.

There is no duty equal to Kārtika; there is no wealth beyond Kārtika; // 12

There is no desire equal to Kārtika; there is no bestower of liberation beyond Kārtika.

By Yudhiṣṭhira for the sake of dharma, and by Dhruva for the sake of wealth, // 13

By Śrī Kṛṣṇa for the sake of desire, and by Nārada for the sake of liberation,

Was this vow performed; therefore it is the best and dear to Kṛṣṇa. // 14

Aruṇa said:

Tell me, Bhāskara, soul of all, beginning when is the vow performed

So that it becomes fully fruitful, and which deity is to be worshiped here? // 15

Bhāskara said:

I, Viṣṇu, Śarva, the Devī, and Vighneśvara:

I, one, have become fivefold, like the stage-manager in a dramatic performance. // 16

Know, lord of birds, that all these are divisions of ourselves.

Therefore by Sauras, Gāṇeśas, Śāktas, Śaivas, and Vaiṣṇavas // 17

The ritual ablution of Kārtika must be performed for the removal of all sins.

It should be performed for the pleasure of Sūrya when the day-maker is in the sign of Tulā. // 18

Beginning from the full moon of Iṣa until the full moon of Kārtika,

So long must ritual ablution be performed by men for the satisfaction of Śiva. // 19

Beginning with the fortnight of the Devī until the fourteenth day of Mahārātri,

So long must ritual ablution be performed, [praying]: "May the Devī be well pleased!" // 2.4.3.20

Beginning with the fortnight of Gaṇa, up to the dark

Fourth lunar day in Kārtika, ritual ablution should be for the satisfaction of Gaṇapa. // 21

Beginning with the eleventh lunar day of the bright fortnight of Āśvina—

[and] it is completed on the bright eleventh of Kārtika.

Janārdana becomes fully pleased with him by whom it is performed. // 22

There is no month equal to Kārtika; there is no city equal to Kāśī;

there is no sacred ford equal to Prayāga; there is no god higher than Keśava. // 23

Whether performed incidentally, under compulsion, knowingly or unknowingly,

one who takes the ritual ablution of the month of Kārtika shall not see the tortures of Yama. // 24

If one has no capacity for ritual ablution, then having given wealth or the like to another,

by taking the hand of that bathed person, one becomes a sharer in religious merit. // 25

Or else, those twice-born who perform the Kārtika ablution—

by giving them clothing, one obtains the fruit born of ritual ablution. // 26

Rādhā and Dāmodara are especially to be worshipped in Kārtika. // 27

Even an image made of copper, or in the absence of gold or silver,

or made of clay, or painted in a picture, or fashioned from flour: // 28

those men who worship the image of Dāmodara and Rādhā beneath a tulasī plant,

they are to be known as liberated while living, without doubt. // 29

Even a man rich in a thousand sins,

by the Kārtika ablution necessarily becomes liberated; no doubt should be entertained here. // 2.4.3.30

In the absence of a tulasī plant, O bird, worship should be performed beneath an āmalakī tree.

The foremost rite of worship, however, should be performed toward the solar orb. // 31

All gods are imperceptible; this Blessed One is perceptible.

All gods are subject to Time; the sun is the Death of Time. // 32

A man unable to worship this should worship an icon;

yet greater religious merit than [worshipping] an icon lies in worshipping a brahmin. // 33

A poor person should be a recipient of gifts, especially a learned one.

In the absence of a vipra, charming black cows should be worshipped. // 34

The stationary image of Viṣṇu is commended over the moving one.

He who makes prostration to images installed by a Śūdra

goes to hell along with ten previous and ten subsequent ancestors. // 35

From the touch of what is worshipped by a Śūdra, one burns the family up to the seventh generation. // 36

Therefore, having discerned, one should worship that which is installed by vipras;

higher even than that, one made by the deities bestows enjoyment and liberation. // 37

In the absence of an image, the sacred fig tree (aśvattha) or the banyan tree (vaṭa) should be worshipped,

since Viṣṇu has the form of the aśvattha and Śiva has the form of the vaṭa. // 38

In Kārtika, the lowest of men who eats tulasī leaves or betel leaf,

knowingly or unknowingly, goes to hell. // 39

Hari is constantly present in the discus of the śālagrāma stone.

Therefore, with every effort, one should worship the śālagrāma. // 2.4.3.40

Due to Rudra's curse, cows are intent on eating excrement;

even so, they should be worshipped, granting the fruits of both worlds. // 41

Whoever takes food on a leaf of the palāśa tree, which sprang from a portion of Brahmā,

in the month of Kārtika, will go to Viṣṇu's world. // 42 // *
The Blessed One has the form of the aśvattha; Sadāśiva has the form of the vaṭa;

therefore, with every effort, one should worship the aśvattha in Kārtika. // 43

That woman who, in the month of Kārtika, performs a hundred thousand circumambulations,

and on Saturday worships Rādhā and Dāmodara beneath its base, // 44

and feeds a married couple who embody Rādhā and Dāmodara—

having fed those with their wives, she should afterward eat, restrained in speech. // 45

Even a barren woman obtains a son; what then of other women?

Viṣṇu is always present in two-legged beings, namely in a brahmin, // 46

in the Bodhi tree among trees, and in the śālagrāma among stones.

Therefore the worship of Viṣṇu should indeed be performed at the foot of an aśvattha. // 47

The worship of the aśvattha with touch should be performed on a Saturday.

On another day, through contact with the aśvattha, a man becomes impoverished. // 48

Ritual ablution, keeping vigil, lighting lamps, tending a grove of tulasī:

those men who do [these] in the month of Kārtika are forms of Viṣṇu. // 49

Sweeping in the house of Viṣṇu, presenting auspicious symbols such as svastikas,

and worship of Viṣṇu: those men who perform these are liberated while living. // 2.4.3.50

I shall declare the proper time for ritual ablution and the fruit gained at sacred fords and elsewhere,

and whatever rules of ritual ablution there are: hear them all from me! // 51

Thus ends the third chapter, named 'Description of the Grandeur of Kārtika,' in the Kārtikamāsamāhātmya, in the second section, the Vaiṣṇavakhaṇḍa, of the glorious Skanda Mahāpurāṇa consisting of eighty-one thousand verses. // 3

Purāṇic references on Dāmodara.

Note on Dāmodara

Note on Udara

Note on Ulūkhala

Note on Uddhava

Note on Damanaka