Skandapurana 2.7.2

Nārada said:

There is no month equal to Mādhava; there is no yuga equal to Kṛta;

there is no scripture equal to the Veda; there is no sacred ford equal to the Gaṅgā.

There is no gift equal to water; there is no happiness equal to a wife;

there is no wealth equal to agriculture; there is no gain higher than life.

There is no austerity equal to fasting; there is no supreme happiness other than giving;

there is no righteousness equal to compassion; there is no light equal to the eye.

There is no satisfaction equal to food; there is no trade equal to agriculture;

there is no friend equal to righteousness; there is no fame equal to truth.

There is no rising equal to good health; there is no protector higher than Keśava;

the wise know nothing in the world as purifying as the month of Mādhava.

Mādhava is the supreme month, ever dear to the one who reclines on Śeṣa.

Whoever passes the month dear to Mādhava without vows

promptly enters an animal womb, excluded from all righteousness.

For those mortal beings whose Mādhava passes without vows,

their sacrificial rites and public works are in vain, O best among upholders of dharma.

When a restriction is made in Mādhava concerning customary foods,

one certainly attains intimate union with Viṣṇu; of this there is no doubt.

In this world there are diverse vows requiring vast wealth,

which merely cause bodily exertion and grant yet another rebirth;

by a ritual ablution in Vaiśākha alone, one is not born again on earth.

Whatever merit is in all gifts, whatever fruit is in all sacred fords,

that fruit one attains completely from the gift of water in Mādhava.

One incapable of giving water, if desirous of prosperity,

should awaken others to do so—a beneficial deed surpassing all gifts.

All gifts placed on one side, and the gift of water on the other,

were formerly weighed in the balance: the gift of water proved superior.

Whatever mortal provides a water-booth on the road for travellers

delivers ten million members of his lineage and is glorified in the world of Viṣṇu.

For the gods, the ancestors, and the seers, O best of kings,

the gift of a water-booth truly brings supreme delight; there is no doubt.

The one by whom those exhausted from the fatigue of travel are gratified through the gift of a water-booth,

by him the gods—Brahmā, Viṣṇu, Śiva, and the rest—are pleased.

Water to those desiring water, an umbrella to those desiring shade,

a fan to those desiring a fan in the month of Vaiśākha, O king—

the gift of these: water, an umbrella, and a fan, is superior.

When the month of Mādhava has arrived, [if one lives] without giving to a householder brahmin

a water pot, he is reborn on earth as a cātaka bird.

Whoever gives cool water to an exalted soul tormented by thirst

attains by that alone, O king of kings, [the fruit of] ten thousand Rājasūya sacrifices.

Whoever fans with a fan a brahmin afflicted by the fatigue of heat

becomes free of sin by that alone and becomes king of the birds.

Without giving a fan to a twice-born in Vaiśākha, O king,

one is beset with a hundred wind-diseases and finds only hells.

Whoever fans an eminent twice-born weary on the road, even with a cloth,

is thereby liberated and attains intimate union with Viṣṇu.

Whoever, having given a palm-leaf fan with a pure mind...

shaking off all sins, he goes to the world of Brahmā. // 24

If a man does not give a fan, which instantly dispels fatigue and brings merit,

he suffers the torments of hell and is born on earth as a foul creature. // 25

For the pacification of afflictions, beginning with the personal ones, O lord of men,

one who makes a home should diligently give an umbrella in the month of Vaiśākha. // 26

A man who gives no umbrella in Vaiśākha, the month beloved of Mādhava,

is born on earth as a shadowless, exceedingly cruel piśāca. // 27

He who gives a pair of divine sandals in [the month of] Mādhava, beloved of Mādhava,

spurns the two messengers of Yama and goes to the world of Viṣṇu. // 28

He who gives footwear upon the arrival of Vaiśākha, the month of Mādhava,

has no hellish world [to face], nor any earthly afflictions. // 29

He who gives sandals to a begging brahmin

becomes a king on earth for ten million births; of this there is no doubt. // 2.7.2.30

He who erects a rest-pavilion on the road that relieves weariness,

even Brahmā cannot describe the fruit of his merit. // 31

If he feeds a brahmin guest who has arrived at midday,

even Brahmā has not fully defined the resting-place of that fruit. // 32

The gift of food brings immediate satisfaction to mortals, O king;

therefore, no gift equal to food exists in the worlds. // 33

He who provides shelter to a brahmin exhausted from the road,

even Brahmā is unable to declare the fruit of his merit. // 34

Wife, offspring, house, and the rest; clothing, adornments, and ornaments—

for a man who does not eat, these are intolerable; for one who has eaten, they are surely enjoyable. // 35

Therefore, a gift equal to food has never been nor will ever be.

If someone does not give [it] in Vaiśākha to a brahmin exhausted from the road,

he becomes a piśāca on earth and eats only his own flesh.

Therefore, food should be given to a twice-born according to one's means. // 37

The giver of food makes one forget mother, father, and other kin, O king;

therefore, the people dwelling in the three worlds praise food. // 38

Mothers and fathers are merely the causes of birth,

and the wise call the giver of food the [true] father in this world. // 39

All sacred fords abide in the giver of food; all deities abide in the giver of food;

and all dharmas reside in the giver of food, O conqueror of enemy kings! // 2.7.2.40

Thus ends the second chapter, named 'Description of Gifts', in the praise of the month of Vaiśākha, in the dialogue between Nārada and Ambarīṣa, in the second [book], the Vaiṣṇavakhaṇḍa, in the glorious Skanda Mahāpurāṇa, a compendium of eighty-one thousand verses. // 2