Skandapurana 2.4.34

Nārada said:

For all vows, O Brahmā, a concluding ceremony has been heard of;

in the absence of a concluding ceremony, one never attains the fruit at any time.

In order to obtain the fruit of an observed vow, a wise person should perform the concluding ceremony;

otherwise, an observed vow, even if peerless, becomes completely fruitless.

Even the best vow among vows observed in Kārtika, O lord,

in the absence of its concluding ceremony, one would not attain the fruit declared for the vow.

Therefore, the ritual of concluding the month of Kārtika, O lord,

tell me, your best disciple, who have surrendered and am obedient to you.

Brahmā said:

Now I shall declare the concluding rite of Ūrja, which destroys all sins.

Listen to that with great devotion, together with its ritual, in brief.

On the bright fourteenth of Ūrja, the vow-keeper should perform the concluding ceremony,

in order to complete the vow and for the sake of pleasing Viṣṇu.

Over the tulasī plant he should erect an auspicious canopy.

[A pavilion] fitted with banana pillars, variegated with various minerals,

And in the four directions there a very beautiful row of lamps should be made,

With fine archways, four doorways, and adorned with flowers and chowries. // 8

At the doorways he should worship separately the clay gatekeepers:

Jaya and Vijaya, and Caṇḍa and Pracaṇḍa, // 9

Nanda and Sunanda, Kumuda and Kumudākṣa—

These he should worship at the four gates, endowed with devotion. // 10

At the base of the tulasī plant, [a diagram] called Sarvatobhadra

Should be well adorned and richly beautified with four colors. // 11

Above it, a water jar filled [with water] and endowed with jewels—

There he should worship the god bearing the conch, discus, and mace; // 12

He should worship him clad in yellow silk garments, accompanied by Lakṣmī.

And the observer of the vow should worship the world-guardians, beginning with Indra, in the pavilion. // 13

On that [night], he should fast with devotion, calm and with a mind bowed low;

At night, he should keep a vigil with the auspicious sounds of song, instruments, and the like. // 14

Those who perform singing with devotion during the vigil of the Discus-Holder

Are freed from the heaps of sins arisen across hundreds of other births. // 15

Then on the full moon day he should invite the best of twice-borns with their wives—

Brahmin men numbering thirty, or even one. // 16

Having then performed the morning ritual ablution and likewise the worship of the god,

And having prepared an altar and deposited the fire right there, // 17

He should offer oblations of sesame and milk-rice with the mantra 'Ato devāḥ...',

For the pleasure of the god of gods, and individually for the gods. // 18

Having concluded the remainder of the fire sacrifice and then worshipped the brahmins with devotion,

A man should give a priestly gift to the brahmins according to his capacity. // 19

Then the observer of the vow should duly worship a brown cow there,

And likewise give a cow with its calf to a brahmin householder. // 20

Having worshipped the guru who instructed him in the vow, together with his wife,

With clothes, ornaments, and decorations, he should ask forgiveness of those brahmins: // 21

'Through your favor may the Lord of Gods be forever pleased with me;

And through this vow, whatever sin has been committed by me in seven births, // 22

May all that be destroyed, and may my lineage be enduring;

May my wishes bear fruit, and may devotion to Hari be mine; // 23

May I have association with the virtuous in birth after birth.'

Having thus asked forgiveness of those brahmins and propitiated them, he should dismiss them. // 24

He should give that image together with clothing to the guru, O foremost of sages;

Then, accompanied by friends and the guru, the devout man should eat himself. // 25

He was awakened on the twelfth day, accompanied by gods on the thirteenth,

And seen and worshipped on the fourteenth; therefore, he is to be worshipped on this lunar day. // 26

With the guru's permission, he should worship the golden Lord of the Gods;

On this full moon day, moreover, the pilgrimage to Puṣkara should take place, // 27

Because Viṣṇu, having granted boons, assumed the form of a fish from that [tīrtha].

Whatever is given, offered in fire, or chanted on that day brings imperishable fruit. // 28

This rite is indeed to be performed in the month of Kārtika, O Nārada;

The man who duly performs the vow of Kārtika in this manner— // 29

The fruit that he attains having performed the vow in Kārtika [is great]:

They are blessed, they are ever worthy of worship, and their prosperity is fruitful indeed! // 30

Those who practice the vow in Kārtika, devoted to devotion to Viṣṇu—

The sins residing in their bodies dissolve away in that very instant. // 31

'Where shall we go now, since this man has performed the Ūrja vow?'

Thus all the sins repeatedly cry out here. // 32

Therefore, there is nothing equal to the month of Kārtika;

In burning up all sins, it is said to be like fire. // 33

A man who listens with faith to the māhātmya of the conclusion of Ūrja,

Or who recites it to others, attains union with Viṣṇu. // 34

Nārada said:

How does one who is unable to perform the conclusion of the vow and the like in Ūrja attain accomplishment?

How is a creature liberated from the ocean of samsara filled with sorrow? // 35

Brahmā said:

A pure man should regularly listen to the Ūrja-māhātmya.

he obtains the fruit of concluding the observance and shall dwell in the world of Viṣṇu. // 36

Thus ends the thirty-fourth chapter, entitled "The Description of the Procedure for Concluding the Observance," in the section on the glory of the month of Kārtika, in the second part, the Vaiṣṇavakhaṇḍa, of the glorious Skandamahāpurāṇa consisting of eighty-one thousand verses. // 34