Skandapurana 2.5.7: adhyāyaḥ 7

Brahmā said:

Tell me, O Lord of gods, the māhātmya arising from the classes of flowers,

and what fruit a man obtains by each particular flower. // 1

The Blessed Lord said:

Listen, O son, I shall declare the māhātmya originating from flowers,

by which flower my complete pleasure is aroused, without doubt. // 2

Mallikā, mālatī, yūthikā, and atimuktakā,

pāṭalā, karavīra, jayantī, and vijayā; // 3

kubjaka, stabaka, karṇikāra, kuraṇṭaka,

campaka, cātaka, kunda, bāṇa, karcūramallikā, // 4

aśoka, tilaka, and likewise aparayūthikā,

These varieties of flowers are praised for my worship, O son.

And the leaf and flower of the ketakī, and likewise the bhṛṅgarāja,

and the leaf and flower of tulasī bring me immediate delight.

Water-born lotuses, as well as red and blue water-lilies,

[and] the white water-lily are indeed exceedingly dear to me in the month of Saha.

And those very flowers are praised for me, O son,

which possess color, taste, and fragrance.

Scentless flowers are also considered commendable to me,

as well as other fragrant ones, but excluding the ketakī.

The bāṇa, campaka, aśoka, karavīra, yūthikā,

pāribhadra, pāṭalā, bakula, and the mountain-dwelling [creeper],

the bilva leaf, śamī leaf, and the leaf of the bhṛṅgarāja,

the tamāla and āmalakī leaf are commended in my worship, O son.

With flowers born in the forest or leaves grown on mountains,

not stale, undamaged, sprinkled with water, and free from insects,

or indeed with flowers grown in a garden, one should worship me.

According to the excellence of the kind of flower, religious merit especially arises.

To a worthy recipient endowed with austerity, good conduct, and virtues, who has mastered the Veda,

whatever reward a man obtains by giving ten gold coins,

that reward a mortal obtains in [the month of] Saha by giving a flower.

And when a single droṇapuṣpa flower is offered to me,

the fruit is greater than that of giving ten gold coins, O son.

Learn from me how the difference exists from one flower to another:

Superior to a thousand droṇapuṣpa flowers is the flower of the khadira;

superior to a thousand khadira flowers is the śamī flower;

superior to a thousand śamī flowers is the bilva flower;

superior to a thousand bilva flowers is the baka flower;

superior to a thousand baka flowers is the nandyāvarta;

superior indeed to a thousand nandyāvartas is the karavīra.

The white flower is best among a thousand karavīras;

better than the white karavīra flower is the pālāśa flower.

Superior to a thousand pālāśa flowers is the kuśa blossom;

superior indeed to a thousand kuśa blossoms is the wild garland.

Superior indeed to a thousand wild garlands is the campaka;

superior to a hundred campaka flowers is the aśoka flower.

Superior to a thousand aśoka flowers is the śevantī flower;

superior to a thousand śevantī flowers is the kujaka flower.

Superior indeed to a thousand kujaka flowers is the mālatī flower;

superior to a thousand mālatī flowers is the sandhyā flower.

Superior indeed to a thousand sandhyā flowers is the trisandhyā flower;

superior to a thousand red trisandhyās is the white trisandhyā;

superior to a thousand white trisandhyās is the kunda flower.

Superior indeed to a thousand kunda flowers is the jātī flower;

among all classes of flowers, the jātī flower is best here.

Whoever gives a very beautiful garland made of a thousand jātī flowers

duly to me—hear the fruit of his merit:

For thousands of crores of kalpas and hundreds of crores of kalpas,

he dwells eternally in my abode, equal in prowess to me.

And of those [plants] whose flowers are commended in my worship,

their leaves are commended, and in their absence, their fruits.

Worshipping me with these leaves, flowers, and fruits as well,

one obtains for each of them the reward of ten gold coins.

Those who worship with these kinds of flowers in the month of Saha,

being pleased, I grant them devotion; of this there is no doubt.

Wealth, sons, and a wife—whatever indeed he desires,

all that I bestow, O lord of gods, when gratified by these flowers.

Thus ends the seventh chapter, named "Description of the Fruit of Placing a Garland of a Thousand Flowers around the Neck of Viṣṇu following the Statement of the Pre-eminence of the Jātī Flower", in the Mārgaśīrṣamāhātmya, in the dialogue between Brahmā and Viṣṇu, in the second section, the Vaiṣṇavakhaṇḍa, in the Skandapurāṇa comprising eighty-one thousand verses.