Skandapurana 2.5.17: adhyāyaḥ 17

Brahmā said:

In which sacred field, O Lord of the gods, is Mārgaśīrṣa remembered as most superior?

And what fruit arises therein? Tell all this, O Lord.

The Blessed Lord said:

There is a supreme sacred field of mine, renowned as Madhurā.

It is delightful, praiseworthy, and my beloved birthplace.

At every step in Madhurā there is the fruit of a sacred ford, O four-faced one,

wherever a man has bathed, he is freed from dreadful sin.

For evil-minded men devoid of all righteousness,

Madhurā relieves the suffering of hell, O son, and destroys sin.

An ungrateful person, a liquor-drinker, a thief, and likewise one whose vows are broken—

having reached Madhurā, a person is freed from terrible wicked deeds.

Just as darkness is destroyed at the rising of the sun; just as mountains [flee] out of fear of the thunderbolt;

just as snakes upon seeing Garuḍa; just as clouds struck by the wind;

just as sorrow [perishes] through knowledge of the truth; just as elephants [scatter] upon seeing a lion;

so sins perish upon the darśana of Mathurā, O son.

A man endowed with devotion who beholds Madhupurī with faith,

even if a killer of a brahmin, would be purified; how much more so any other sinner?

For one desirous of bathing in Mathurā, as he proceeds at every step,

sins depart in despair from his body.

Those who go incidentally, or for trade, or even for service,

go to heaven, freed from sins, merely by taking a ritual ablution in Mathurā.

For those who even utter its name, there is always liberation; there is no doubt.

There it is always the Kṛtayuga, and always the northern solstice.

O Four-faced One, whoever hears of my abode at Mathurā

when it is uttered by another, is also immediately freed from sin.

O son, as for the men who dwell there even for three nights,

the dust of their feet, touched by joyful people, purifies them.

Just as sparks ignite a heap of grass,

so the city of Mathurā burns away great sins.

Whatever accumulation of merit is gained by ritual ablution at all sacred fords,

Mathurā is declared to be superior to that across the whole world.

Whatever merit arises from the study of even the four Vedas,

that merit is produced there for men who remember Mathurā.

For a sin committed elsewhere is destroyed upon reaching a sacred ford;

a sin committed at sacred fords becomes an indelible stain.

A sin committed in Mathurā is destroyed in Mathurā itself.

Dwelling there, a man attains that which is named dharma, wealth, pleasure, and liberation.

For the commenced karma that is experienced in ten years elsewhere,

as well as sin, O Four-faced One, [is exhausted] in ten days in Mathurā.

Neither in heaven, nor in Pātāla, nor in the intermediate region, nor among mortals

is there anything equal to Mathurā, which is indeed always dear to me.

Mathurā is the greatest and supreme among all sacred fords;

there childlike sports were performed [by me] together with the cowherd boys.

Whatever fruit is attained in Bhāratavarṣa in thirty thousand years

and three hundred years, that same fruit is attained by remembering Mathurā.

Whatever merit there is at Sannihitī when the sun is eclipsed by Rāhu,

greater than that, O son, one obtains day after day in Mathurā.

Whatever fruit is gained at the King of Fords during a full thousand years,

that fruit one obtains, O son, in the city of Madhu in the month of Sahas.

Whatever fruit is gained at Vārāṇasī during a full thousand years,

that fruit one obtains, O son, in Mathurā in a single day of Sahas.

A man who gives land at the Godāvarī, at Dvārakā, or in the Kurukṣetra,

or who performs rites at Gayā for six months—none of this equals a single day in Mathurā.

Neither Dvārakā, Kāśī, Kāñcī, nor Māyā, nor Gadādhara is a sacred ford equal to it.

If satiated with the water of the Yamunā, the ancestors indeed do not desire the offering of rice-balls.

Those who regard Mathurā

as an ordinary city—those men should be known as possessed of heaps of sins.

By whom Mathurā has not been seen, but in whom the desire to see it arises,

even if he dies anywhere else, his birth takes place in Mathurā.

One might in time count the dust particles of the earth, O Four-faced One,

but there is no counting the sacred fords in Mathurā.

Make, O make your dwelling in the city named Mathurā!

I dwell constantly in it, surrounded by the cowherd maidens.

O you who are submerged in saṃsāra, and you, my disciples, and others, listen!

If you desire intense happiness, make your dwelling in my city.

Alas, this utterly blinded world, though endowed with eyes, does not see!

Even while Mathurā exists, it constantly resorts to mundane existence.

Having attained an incomparable human birth through the conjunction of good fortune,

the life of those by whom the city of Mathurā has not been seen has passed entirely in vain.

Alas, the great weakness of intellect! Alas, the adverse fate of good fortune!

Alas, the power of delusion, that Mathurā is not served at all!

He who, having abandoned Mathurā, sets his mind elsewhere,

wanders foolishly in saṃsāra, deluded by my māyā.

He who, even having reached Mathurā, directs his longing elsewhere—

what knowledge can that foolish person have? He is puffed up with ignorance.

Those who are abandoned by mother and father, who are abandoned by their own kinsmen,

those who have no refuge anywhere—my city is their refuge.

Those overcome by heaps of sins, those defeated by poverty,

those who have no refuge anywhere—my city is their refuge.

A place more essential than the essential, more secret than the secret, supreme —

For those seeking a refuge, Mathurā is the ultimate refuge.

It is not [attained] by merits, nor by gifts, nor by austerities, nor indeed by hymns;

It cannot be reached through various yogas; it can be reached through my divine power.

Those who have firm devotion to me, upon whom my great grace rests —

For those fortunate ones alone is there an arrival in Mathurā.

The destination attained by a wise man established in yoga who knows Brahman,

Is the same destination attained by a man who gives up his life-breaths in Mathurā.

Though there are cities such as Kāśī in the world, among them Mathurā alone is blessed,

Which grants liberation to men in four ways: through birth, the mauñjī investiture, vows, and death.

That destination which cannot be attained elsewhere through yogas even in hundreds of manvantaras,

Is attained here effortlessly through my grace.

Where there is no fear of sins, where there is indeed no fear of Yama,

Where there is no fear of dwelling in a womb — who would not take refuge in that sacred field?

Hear the fruit of that merit which exists in Mathurā:

Those who have reached Mathurā and died in Mathurā,

Even worms, insects, and the like, are reborn four-armed.

Even trees falling from the riverbank attain the supreme state.

The mute, the dull-witted, the blind, and the deaf, destitute of austerities and observances,

Who die naturally in the course of time, go to my world.

Those bitten by snakes, killed by beasts, destroyed by fire or water,

Who meet an untimely death in the territory of Mathurā, go to my world.

Truly, truly, O best of sages, I declare with an oath:

Nowhere is there anything equal to Mathurā in granting all desires.

It grants the three aims of life to the desirous, liberation to those seeking liberation,

And devotion to the seeker of devotion. What wise person would not take refuge in that Mathurā?

Such a city of Madhu should be visited in the month of Mārgaśīrṣa;

In its absence, Puṣkara should indeed be visited according to rule.

Know, O wise one, that the senior pool belongs to Brahmā, the middle pool belongs to Viṣṇu,

And the junior pool has Rudra as its deity.

In these, ritual ablution, gifting, and śrāddha should be performed according to rule,

And a great worship pleasing to me should be performed, O son.

The full-moon day that occurs in the month of Saha is dear to me, O son;

Whatever merit is performed on it becomes pleasing to me.

The gift of a cow, the gift of food, and the gift of gold, dear son,

And the gift of land should be made on the full-moon day according to rule.

On the full-moon day in the month of Saha, one should also make a gift of a house;

Whatever is performed on the full-moon day yields inexhaustible fruit.

The feeding of brahmins should be performed according to the measure of one's wealth;

A festival should be celebrated on the full-moon day itself to complete the vow.

Just as Mathurā is dear to me in the month of Saha, O son,

Not so are the king of sacred fords and the others; and in its absence, Puṣkara.

Wise men should observe the full-moon day in Puṣkara or in Mathurā;

Or the full-moon day endowed with rites should be observed wherever one may be.

He who does not perform ritual ablution, gifting, and worship on the full-moon day,

Is cooked in Raurava and other hells for sixty thousand years.

Therefore, the full-moon day should be honoured by wise men with every effort;

Occurring in Mārgaśīrṣa, it bestows endless fruits.

Just as has been told to you, dear child, Mārgaśīrṣa is dear to me;

Hear the fruit of merit of that man who observes it with devotion:

Whatever merit is obtained in ten thousand sacred fords, whatever merit by tens of millions of vows,

Whatever merit is obtained in all sacrifices, that merit he completely obtains.

One without a son gains a son, and one without wealth gains wealth;

One desiring knowledge gains knowledge, and one desiring beauty gains beauty.

A brahmin becomes endowed with brahminical splendour, a kṣatriya becomes victorious,

A vaiśya gains possession of treasures, and a śūdra is cleansed of sin.

Whatever is rare and hard to attain in the three worlds, O honour-giver,

All that a mortal obtains in the month of Saha, without a doubt.

Even if men are attached to these desires, O son,

They are satisfied in the end, O four-faced one, and no longer crave desires, O mighty-armed one.

For true devotion to me is exceedingly rare, brings me under control, and is auspicious.

It is indeed obtained, O son, when the month of Sahas is likewise heard.

This month brings delight to me and is always dear to me.

Everything is obtained from it through my grace, O four-faced one [Brahmā].

Thus ends the seventeenth chapter, titled 'Description of the Māhātmya of Mathurā', in the Māhātmya of the Month of Mārgaśīrṣa, in the dialogue between Brahmā and Viṣṇu, in the second [section], the Vaiṣṇavakhaṇḍa, in the glorious Skanda Mahāpurāṇa, in the compendium of eighty-one thousand [verses].

Thus ends the fifth [sub-section], the glorious Māhātmya of the Month of Mārgaśīrṣa, in the second [section], the Vaiṣṇavakhaṇḍa, in the glorious Skanda Mahāpurāṇa. (2.5)

May this be offered to glorious Kṛṣṇa.