Skandapurana 2.7.22

The son of Mithilā said:
Which lunar days are holy in this month named Vaiśākha? / Which gifts are praised specifically on which of those days?
Which are famous in the world? Tell me this in detail.
Śrutadeva said:
All thirty lunar days are holy in Vaiśākha when the sun is in Aries.
Merit acquired on an Ekādaśī becomes multiplied a hundred millionfold. / Whatever merit there is in all gifts, whatever fruit in all sacred fords,
one attains it entirely when bathed in water on an Ekādaśī in Vaiśākha. / Bathing, gift-giving, austerity, oblation, pious acts of worshiping deities,
and listening to the narrative bring about immediate liberation. / Even one afflicted by diseases and the like, or oppressed by poverty,
becomes fulfilled upon hearing this holy narrative. / One by whom these auspicious [days] are spent without bathing and without giving,
is considered a slayer of cows, an ungrateful person, and a great slayer of his ancestors. / Reservoirs of water are accessible, and one's body is under one's control;
Mādhava is to be served with the mind, and the season is endowed with the best of virtues. / The virtuous are compassionate—who would not serve Mādhava?
By the poor, by the rich, by the lame, and by the blind, / by eunuchs, by widows, by women, and likewise by men,
by children, youth, and the elderly, and even by the sick, O protector of the earth: / the religious duty within the sphere of Vaiśākha is indeed extremely easy to perform.
Having reached this month, perform these auspicious duties. / Who does not make an effort? What other [month] could be more auspicious than this?
The lowest of men who does not perform these extremely accessible duties, / for him alone hellish worlds are easily attained; of this there is no doubt.
Now, therefore, I shall declare what is the best lunar day in that month, / that day which destroys all sins, extracted like the essence of curd.
In the exceedingly holy month of Caitra, when the sun is stationed in Aries, / destroying sins, having the ancestors as its deities, granting the fruit of ten million Gayās;
right here a holy ancient song about the ancestors is heard. / Listen, O king, to that true story: while Sāvarṇi was ruling the earth,
at the end of thirty Kaliyugas, when all religious duty was abandoned, / in Ānarta there was a certain twice-born known as Dharmavarṇa.
Seeing people engaged in sin in the Kaliyuga, O king, / in its very first quarter, bereft of the duties of caste;
he once went to the sacrificial session of the great-souled sages, / who were observing silence, in the sacred field of Puṣkara.
There, holy discourses of the seers pertaining to the scriptures were held; / there, certain ones steadfast in their vows praised the Kaliyuga:
'The merit pleasing Mādhava which in the Kṛtayuga takes a year to achieve, / in the Tretā takes a month, and in the Dvāpara a fortnight, O king;
therefore, from remembering Viṣṇu in the Kaliyuga, the merit is tenfold. / Even very little merit becomes ten millionfold in the Kaliyuga.
When [the world] is devoid of compassion and merit, and destitute of charity and duty, / if one exercises compassion and gives a gift, uttering the name of Hari even once,
he surely goes upward; and likewise one who gives food in a famine.' / On the occasion of this discourse, the sage Nārada arrived,
holding his penis with one hand and his tongue with the other, laughing, / and like a madman, that best of sages danced there.
The assembly members then asked him: 'What is this, O Nārada?' / That wise one, still dancing and laughing, replied to them all:

'What has been said here out of delight by you dancing ones whose minds are purified,

that "we have achieved our aim, there is no doubt, this holy Kali has arrived"—

that is true, without doubt; much is achieved through very little;

Keśava, the destroyer of distress, becomes pleased through mere remembrance.

Nevertheless, I shall tell you of two things that are certainly difficult to accomplish:

the control of the penis, O sons, and of the tongue constantly.

He who possesses both of these would indeed be Janārdana himself.

Therefore, you must not stay here upon the arrival of the Kaliyuga.

Leave this heretical Bhārata and wander about at your ease,

anywhere in whatever lands your mind finds peace.'

Having heard those words of his, the sages celebrated for their vows...

Completing the sacrificial session, they quickly went away at their ease.

Hearing that, Dharmavarṇa also resolved in his mind to leave the earth.

Assuming an ascetic observance of lofty splendour, taking a staff and water pot,

wearing matted hair and bark garments, he departed once again,

his mind astonished, to see the immoral ways in the Kali age.

There he saw dreadful people, wicked and intent on sinful conduct:

all the twice-born were heretics, and śūdras were wandering ascetics;

the wife hates her husband, and the disciple hates his teacher;

the servant kills his master, and the son is intent on murdering his father;

all the twice-born are practically śūdras, and cows are like goats;

the Vedas are reduced to mere popular songs, and sacred rites are treated as ordinary actions;

ghosts, spirits, goblins and the like are the deities granting fruits there,

and these alone do people, devoted to sin and sharp [in deceit], worship with faith;

all are devoted to sexual intercourse, staking their lives for its sake;

giving false testimony, with minds always deceitful;

one thing is in the mind, another in speech, and another in deed, always in the Kali age;

the learning of all is rationalistic debate, and that is honoured in the royal palace;

the arts and knowledges such as singing bring delight to kings;

the low attain honour, and not the noble, in the Kali age;

all the twice-born learned in the Veda become impoverished in the Kali age;

devotion to Viṣṇu scarcely exists among men;

sacred fields will mostly be full of heretics;

śūdras are expositors of dharma, and ascetics have matted locks in Kali;

all mortals are short-lived, devoid of compassion, and deceitful;

all are expositors of dharma, and all delight in receiving [gifts];

they desire worship for themselves, and are given to baseless slander;

all are given to envy when their master arrives at his own house;

a brother violates his sister, and a father indeed his daughter, in Kali;

all are devoted to śūdra women, and all consort with courtesans;

they do not recognize the virtuous, and regard them as great sinners;

in their stubborn malice they expose a single fault of the good;

they speak of the collection of faults of the sinful as virtues;

the devoid of virtues in Kali grasp only at faults;

a leech possessing its nature drinks blood, not milk;

medicinal herbs are destitute of potency, and the seasons are inverted;

famine reigns in all kingdoms; a maiden does not give birth at the proper time;

men take pleasure in the arts of actors and dancers in Kali;

those devoted to the learning of the Vedas and the Upaniṣads, possessing superior virtues,

fools view as servants; they are completely fallen, O king;

all have abandoned funeral rites, and abandoned the rites prescribed by the Veda;

the names of Viṣṇu are never on their tongues;

immersed in erotic sentiment, they sing only its songs;

no service to Viṣṇu, no discourse on scriptures, no consecration for sacrifice, not the least reflection,

no pilgrimage to sacred fords, no virtues of giving—wonderfully, none existed anywhere among the people in Kali.

Seeing them, Dharmavarṇa was greatly frightened and utterly astonished.

Seeing his lineage going to destruction through sin, he went to another continent.

Wandering through all the continents and worlds everywhere,

the wise man once, moved by curiosity, went to the realm of the ancestors.

There he saw [beings] extremely terrible, worn out by their deeds,

running, crying out, falling, and already fallen.

There he saw his own ancestors fallen down into a blind well,

wretched, hanging from the tip of a blade of dūrvā grass, trembling at the thought of the dūrvā breaking.

Then a certain rat came upon the root of that dūrvā grass which was their support;

by it three parts were eaten away, and only one part remained.

Seeing that root diminishing, they were tormented with distress.

Looking down, they saw the blind well, terrifying with crumbling edges and the like,

hard to cross, very dreadful, attained by their action, exceedingly miserable.

Ahead too, it was hard to escape, devoid of any support.

Seeing them, the compassionate man, filled with wonder, spoke [these] words:

"Who are you that have fallen into this, by what deed hard to overcome?"

In whose gotra were you born? How can your powerful liberation be attained?

Tell me this; then welfare will come to you."

Addressed in this manner by him, the ancestors, deeply afflicted with sorrow,

Spoke compassionate words to him, preceded by [teachings of] righteousness and the scriptures:

The ancestors said:

"We belong to the Śrīvatsa gotra, bereft of offspring on earth,

And deprived of rice-ball offerings and śrāddhas; therefore, we are tormented.

Our lineage too has become childless through sins in the Kali age;

We have no one to offer rice-balls, since the lineage has gone to ruin through sin.

Therefore, there is a fall into a blind well for us wicked ones, left without descendants.

Indeed, one alone remains in the lineage, named Dharmavarṇa, of great renown.

Dispassionate, wandering alone, he has not entered upon householdership.

Supported by him as our thread, we hang suspended by a reed of dūrvā grass.

Because there are no other threads, a rat daily gnaws at its root.

Since only one [descendant] remains, a little of the reed is left;

And it is being eaten away by the rat, gentle one, as we look on.

When his lifespan ends, dear one, the rat will devour the rest;

Afterwards we will fall into the blind, dark well from which it is hard to cross.

Therefore, go to earth and awaken Dharmavarṇa,

The sage averse to householdership, with our words that evoke compassion:

'Your ancestors, intensely afflicted, have fallen into hell,

Seen by me in a blind, impassable well, hanging from a dūrvā reed.

That dūrvā reed has the form of the lineage, O sage, and constantly at its root,

A rat named Time daily gnaws its base.

By the destruction of the lineage in succession, you alone are left behind.

By this, O sage, three quarters of the root of the dūrvā are destroyed.

One part remains here, because you exist on earth.

The rat indeed nibbles at you slightly, in the gradual diminution of your life.

When you have passed away, our fall and yours as well will take place

Into the very well of blinding darkness, when the lineage is fully extinct.

Therefore, taking up householdership, bring about the growth of descendants.

Thereby our higher realm and yours too will come to be, without doubt.

Many sons should be desired, in case even one might go to Gayā,

Or perform a horse sacrifice, or release a dark blue bull;

Or if even one, in the month of Vaiśākha, Māgha, or Kārtika,

Will perform ritual ablution, śrāddha, and donation on our behalf;

By that, an upward path and rescue from hell would come to us.

Or let one be a devotee of Viṣṇu, or let one observe the day of Hari,

Or let one listen to the story of Viṣṇu that destroys sin:

His past hundred generations and a future hundred generations as well,

Even if surrounded by sin, never see hell anywhere.

What is the use of other numerous sons who are devoid of compassion and virtue,

Who, when born into a family, do not truly worship Viṣṇu Nārāyaṇa?

For there is no heavenly world for one without a son; people know all this.

Even there, such offspring endowed with compassion is rare.'

Having thus awakened him with these truthful words,

Direct the mind of him, dispassionate and chaste, toward householdership."

Hearing the words of the ancestors, Dharmavarṇa was greatly astonished.

Bowing with folded hands, weeping and trembling, he spoke:

"I am Dharmavarṇa by name, born of your lineage, stubborn in purpose.

Having heard the words of the great-souled Nārada at the sacrifice:

'No one possesses control of the tongue or control of the genitals in the Kali age';

And seeing those most sinful people on earth, filled with doubt,

Afraid of association with wicked people, I have lived wandering among other islands.

Three quarters of this Kali age have passed, and even in this final quarter,

Three and a half portions have gone by now, O forefathers.

I did not know your suffering; my life has passed in vain,

Since in the lineage in which I was born, I have not removed the debt to my parents.

What is the use of him who is merely born as a burden to the earth, an enemy here,

Who, having been born, does not worship Viṣṇu, the ancestors, the gods, and the seers?"

"I will carry out your command; command me on earth,

so that there will be no affliction from the Kali [age] there, or from worldly existence either.

The duties too must be performed by me, your son, on the earth's surface."

Having been spoken to in this way by that descendant, the wise Dharmavarṇa,

their minds somewhat comforted, O king, they said this:

"Son, behold this state of your noble ancestors,

falling due to lack of progeny, hanging on merely to a blade of dūrvā grass.

Take up the householder's life and deliver us through offspring!

Those who delight in narratives of Viṣṇu, who remember Hari day and night,

and who are devoted to right conduct—Kali indeed does not afflict them.

He in whose house a śālagrāma stone remains, O honour-giver,

or in whose home the Mahābhārata [is kept]—Kali indeed does not afflict him.

And he who is devoted to [the observances of] Vaiśākha, and intent on the ritual ablution of Māgha,

and he who gives a lamp in Kārtika—Kali indeed does not afflict him.

And whoever listens daily to the narrative of noble Viṣṇu,

which destroys sin and grants liberation, which is divine—Kali indeed does not afflict him.

In whose house the Vaiśvadeva [offering is made], and in whose house the auspicious tulasī [stands],

and in whose courtyard there is an auspicious cow—Kali indeed does not afflict him.

Therefore, there is no fear here, even in an age whose nature is sin.

Go quickly to the earth, son; this month is named Mādhava (Vaiśākha).

For the benefit of all, when the sun is stationed in Aries,

all thirty lunar days are meritorious when the sun is stationed in Aries.

The merit acquired on each single one is multiplied ten millionfold.

Even there, the new-moon day of the dark fortnight of Caitra grants liberation to men.

It is dear to the ancestors and gods, bestowing immediate liberation.

Those who perform a śrāddha dedicated to the ancestors on that day,

along with a water-pot and an offering of piṇḍas, obtain an inexhaustible fruit.

And those who perform a śrāddha on the new moon in spring (Madhu), O son,

a śrāddha performed by them in the sacred field of Gayā becomes ten million times greater.

If one performs a śrāddha on the new moon in spring, even with mere vegetables,

ten million śrāddhas are performed by him at Gayā, without doubt.

A pot filled with sweet drinks, scented with camphor and aloe-wood—

he who does not give [this] on the new moon in spring is a slayer of his ancestors, without doubt.

And he who gives a small water-jar with water on the new moon in spring,

and performs a śrāddha filled with devotion, effects the elevation of his family.

And likewise in the realm of the ancestors, a river raining nectar

flows from the gift of a pot, for those who give gifts of śrāddha and the like,

with mud of cooked rice, soup, ghee, cakes, electuaries, and milk-rice.

Therefore, go at once; when the new-moon day arrives,

perform the śrāddha, the offering of piṇḍas, together with a water-pot, O highly wise one!

Take refuge in the householder's life for the benefit of all;

satisfied with duty, wealth, and desire, having obtained excellent offspring,

you may again adopt the sage's way of life and roam happily through the continent."

Thus instructed by his ancestors, the sage went swiftly to the earth.

In the month of Caitra, when the sun was stationed in Aries in that holy month,

having bathed in the morning and offered libations to the ancestors, gods, and seers,

and having performed the śrāddha with a water-pot, which destroys sin,

by that he granted to his ancestors liberation from which there is no return.

He himself married, obtained virtuous offspring,

and made known in the world that lunar day which destroys sin.

He himself returned again with joy and devotion to Gandhamādana.

Therefore, most holy is this lunar day called the new moon of spring;

no lunar day equal to it has been seen or even heard of in the world.

Thus ends the twenty-second chapter, named "The Liberation of the Ancestors", in the exposition of the duties of the Kali age, in the dialogue between Nārada and Ambarīṣa, in the Māhātmya of the Month of Vaiśākha, in the second [section, the] Vaiṣṇavakhaṇḍa, in the Śrī Skanda Mahāpurāṇa consisting of eighty-one thousand verses.