Skandapurana 2.4.33

Īśvara said:

Listen, O best of the gods, to the māhātmya of Prabodhinī, which destroys sin and increases merit,

granting liberation to those whose intellect is fixed on truth.

The Gaṅgā, the Bhāgīrathī, roars on the earth only so long,

until Haribodhinī, which destroys sins, arrives in Kārtika.

The sacred fords and the lakes reaching as far as the ocean roar only so long,

until Prabodhinī, the lunar day of Viṣṇu, arrives in Kārtika.

[The fruit of] thousands of horse sacrifices and hundreds of Rājasūya sacrifices

is obtained by a single fast on Prabodhinī.

Whatever is rare and hard to obtain in the three worlds, with its moving and unmoving beings,

even that, when sought, O twice-born one, Pratibodhinī bestows.

Sovereignty, offspring, knowledge, kingdom, and the fortunes of happiness—

all these Haribodhinī, when fasted upon, easily bestows, O twice-born one.

Even sins accumulated that are equal to Mount Meru and Mandara,

Haribodhinī burns away by a single fast.

A man who fasts on Prabodhinī by his very nature,

according to the rules, O tiger among men, obtains the stated reward.

Whatever sin has been accumulated during thousands of previous births,

is burnt away by keeping vigil on Prabodhinī, like a heap of grass.

Listen, O six-faced one, I will describe the characteristics of the vigil,

by merely knowing which Janārdana is not hard to attain:

Song, musical instruments, dance, and the recitation of the Purāṇas;

incense, lamps, food-offerings, flowers, perfumes, and unguents;

fruits, guest-water, faith, charity, and restraint of the senses;

accompanied by truth, free of censure, full of joy, and accompanied by ritual acts;

with wonder and great enthusiasm, free of laziness and the like;

joined with circumambulation and other rites, preceded by prostrations;

accompanied by the waving of lamps, with a despondency-free mind;

performing the waving of lamps to Hari at every watch of the night, O fortunate one—

one should keep the vigil of the Lord endowed with these qualities.

He who [does so] with a one-pointed mind is never born again on earth.

Whoever performs the vigil thus with devotion, free from deceit regarding wealth,

on the day of Viṣṇu, merges into the Supreme Self.

Whoever constantly worships Hari in Kārtika with the Puruṣasūkta,

by him Keśava has been worshipped for thousands of crores of years.

According to the procedure declared in the Pañcarātra,

if a man worships daily in Kārtika, he becomes a partaker of liberation.

Whoever worships Hari in Kārtika with the mantra “Obeisance to Nārāyaṇa”

is freed from hellish sorrows and goes to the sorrowless abode.

And the thousand names of Hari and the Liberation of the King of Elephants:

one who recites [these] in Kārtika experiences no rebirth.

For thousands of crores of yugas and hundreds of manvantaras,

one who keeps a night-vigil on the twelfth lunar day in the month of Kārtika dwells in heaven.

And those born in his family, by hundreds and by thousands,

attain the abode of Viṣṇu; therefore one should keep a night-vigil.

Whoever performs praise and singing during the final watch of the night in Kārtika,

O one of virtuous vows, dwells on Śvetadvīpa along with his ancestors.

For as many food offerings as are made to Hari at twilight in Kārtika,

for so many yugas one dwells in heaven, O best of sages.

Worship with mālatī jasmine and lotus is imperishable, O tiger among sages;

whoever worships the God of the gods goes to the supreme abode.

Having observed the eleventh lunar day in the bright fortnight of Kārtika,

a man who gives auspicious water pots in the morning goes to my abode.

Right at this time, indeed, the awakening of Hari is to be performed, O bird.

The Daitya Śaṅkhāsura was slain during the bright fortnight of Nabhas [Śrāvaṇa].

Then, on the eleventh lunar day, Viṣṇu fell fast asleep for the four months of the rainy season;

he awakens in the ocean of milk on the eleventh lunar day in Kārtika.

Therefore, the awakening ceremony should be performed on the eleventh lunar day by Vaiṣṇavas:

“Arise, arise, Govinda! Arise, O Garuḍa-bannered Lord!

Arise, O beloved of Kamalā, and bring auspiciousness to the three worlds!”

Having spoken thus, one should sound conches, kettle-drums, and other instruments in the morning;

one should cause vīṇās, flutes, mṛdaṅga drums, dancing, singing, and other arts to be performed.

Having awakened the Lord of the gods and having performed his worship,

in the evening one should perform the rite belonging to the wedding of the tulasī plant.

The eleventh lunar day is always meritorious, especially known as such in Kārtika.

Whatever sins there are, such as the killing of a brahmin,

take shelter and reside in food when the day of Hari arrives.

Whoever eats on the day of Hari eats pure sin.

Therefore, by every effort, one should observe the vow of the eleventh lunar day.

If out of delusion the lowest of men does not fast,

his dwelling in hell along with his ancestors is certain indeed.

A wise person should not abandon the fast even in times of birth-pollution or death-pollution.

And the eleventh lunar day overlaps with the tenth must be avoided in the vow.

Anciently, even Gāndhārī kept a fast on such a day, O Guha;

her hundred sons were destroyed, therefore one should abandon that day born of ruin.

One should fast on the eleventh lunar day preceded by ritual ablution and giving of gifts.

Even the royal seer Rukmāṅgada, despite his union with Mohinī,

enjoyed happiness in this world and in the end went to the city of Viṣṇu.

Thus ends the Festival of Awakening.

Now begins the māhātmya of the twelfth lunar day.

The twelfth lunar day is declared to bestow merit and to destroy the whole mass of sins.

What need is there for gifts, what for austerities, and what indeed for vows that must be maintained?

What need for sacrifices and even sons for someone by whom the twelfth lunar day has been observed?

Whatever fruit [one earns] by feeding a crore of people every day at the Gaṅgā during a famine,

that fruit one obtains by taking a single meal on the twelfth lunar day.

Whatever gift is given to a worthy recipient on the bright, auspicious twelfth lunar day,

how many brahmins are fed with each single grain of cooked rice [given] by someone—

that greatness I truly cannot even know, O one of virtuous vows.

Whoever makes a gift of a Śāligrāma stone on the twelfth lunar day

obtains that fruit which a man gains by giving the earth with its seven continents

at the Gaṅgā during a solar eclipse.

Whoever bathes Viṣṇu with the five nectars with devotion, O twice-born,

he, having redeemed his whole family, is honored in the world of Viṣṇu.

On the supreme festival of the twelfth day of the bright fortnight in the month of Kārtika,

whoever performs ritual ablution, giving of gifts, and the like, beginning in the morning,

attains liberation; no doubt should be entertained on this matter.

Rites such as ritual ablution and twilight devotion on the twelfth lunar day in the month of Kārtika...

having performed [them], worships Dāmodara endowed with devotion and faith.

That lowest of men who does not offer a food offering of soup on that [day],

his dwelling is surely in hell—so we have heard.

Therefore, on the auspicious Dvādaśī in Kārtika, an offering of soup

one should offer, endowed with devotion, O Brahmā; otherwise he would go to hell.

That man who feeds married couples on that day,

the boundless extent of his fruit cannot be told by me.

He who goes into the shade of an āmalakī tree and worships Hari on the Dvādaśī,

and who feeds brahmins right there,

and himself eats soup, delicacies, and the like there,

for him there is no return [to rebirth] even in hundreds of millions of kalpas.

Having thus performed the worship of Dāmodara in the morning,

the ritual of worship of Hari must be performed again at night, O twice-born one.

Having erected in the presence of the tulasī [plant] an excellent pavilion adorned with pennants and banners,

strewn with flower garlands, embellished with various gems,

[and] covered with strands of pearls,

one should worship Viṣṇu calmly, with one's mind focused entirely on him,

according to the method spoken in the Pāñcarātra, with perfume, flowers, unbroken grains, and the like.

Fresh butter, curds, milk, and likewise solid ghee,

along with various edible offerings and fragrant water,

he should offer to Viṣṇu, combined with betel accompanied by clove.

And having sprinkled varied and abundant fragrant flowers according to rule,

and having offered them with auspicious leaves,

he should also worship with leaves and fruits of the tulasī and of the āmalakī.

Then, having performed the waving of lamps, he should offer mantra-flowers.

Having performed the whole worship according to rule, without the consecration bath,

and having concluded the worship of Viṣṇu, he should worship the brahmins

endowed with devotion, O brahmin, and give them fruit and other gifts.

Then, having given betel, he should offer a priestly fee according to his ability.

Then, having worshipped the elders, fathers, and mothers according to rule,

the wise man may then himself partake of the food offering together with his wives.

He who observes the Dvādaśī vow in this manner according to the ritual,

his heavenly worlds do not diminish even in hundreds of millions of kalpas.

Surrounded by sons and grandsons, having enjoyed delightful pleasures,

at the end of his pleasures he attains liberation along with seven preceding ancestral generations.

Therefore, O Nārada, the māhātmya of Dvādaśī and of Kārtika

cannot be fully spoken by me, much less by other men.

The man who reads this supreme, meritorious māhātmya of the Dvādaśī,

or hears it, O best of sages, goes to the supreme state.

The royal seer Ambarīṣa also observed this auspicious vow

according to the rules, steadfast in austerity; by that he attained liberation.

Thus ends the thirty-third chapter, named 'Description of the Duties on the Awakening Festival Dvādaśī Tithi', in the Kārtikamāsamāhātmya, in the second section, the Vaiṣṇavakhaṇḍa, of the Skandapurāṇa comprising eighty-one thousand verses.

Other passages concerning Prabodhinī Ekādaśī:

Garuḍa 1.123 (Kārtika Śukla Ekādaśī: instruction on the Bhīṣmapañcaka vow; the conjunction of Ekādaśī, Dvādaśī, and Trayodaśī being auspicious, and the conjunction of Ekādaśī and Daśamī being stated as demonic); Nārada 1.19 (Kārtika Śukla Ekādaśī: the vow of raising the flag); Padma 6.30.91 (Kārtika Śukla Ekādaśī: the yearly lamp vow, memory of previous birth given to the king and queen in a temple at Puṣkara); 6.61 (Kārtika Śukla Ekādaśī: the māhātmya of the Ekādaśī named Prabodhinī); 6.90.19 (Kārtika Śukla Ekādaśī: the awakening of Viṣṇu and of the Vedas asleep in the ocean); 6.124 (Kārtika Śukla Ekādaśī: the name Prabodhinī, its māhātmya, commencement of the Bhīṣmapañcaka vow); Skanda 6.190 (Kārtika Śukla Ekādaśī: commencement of the Pāñcarātra, concluding with the ceremonial bath and related rites); 6.231 (Kārtika Śukla Ekādaśī: Viṣṇu rising from above the wolf and going to the Ocean of Milk, the Aśūnyaśayana vow); 7.3.13 (Kārtika Śukla Ekādaśī: Ambarīṣa's worship of Hṛṣīkeśa, reception of instructions concerning jñānayoga and kriyāyoga); Lakṣmīnārāyaṇa 1.261 (māhātmya of the Kārtika Śukla Prabodhinī Ekādaśī vow: liberation of the base brahmin and the rākṣasa).

Note on Ekādaśī