Skandapurana 2.7.22.254

2.7.22.254

.. maithileya uvāca .. ..
kā hyasmiṃstithayaḥ puṇyā māse vaiśākhasaṃjñake ..
kāni dānāni śastāni tāsu tāsu viśeṣataḥ .. 1 ..
kāḥ prakhyātāśca vai loka etadācakṣva vistarāt ..
.. śrutadeva uvāca .. ..
triṃśacca tithayaḥ puṇyā vaiśākhe meṣage ravau .. 2 ..
ekādaśyāṃ kṛtaṃ puṇyaṃ koṭikoṭiguṇaṃ bhavet ..
sarvadāneṣu yatpuṇyaṃ sarvatīrtheṣu yatphalam .. 3 ..
samavāpnoti vaiśākha ekādaśyāṃ jalāplutaḥ ..
snānaṃ dānaṃ tapo homo devatārcanasatkriyāḥ .. 4 ..
kathāyāḥ śravaṇaṃ caiva sadyo muktividhāyakam ..
rogādyupahato yastu dāridryeṇā'pi pīḍitaḥ .. 5 ..
śrutvā kathāmimāṃ puṇyāṃ kṛtakṛtyo bhavennaraḥ ..
asnātvā cāpyadattvā ca yena nītā imāḥ śubhāḥ .. 6 ..
sa goghnaśca kṛtaghnaśca pitṛghnaśca mahānsmṛ taḥ ..
jalāśayāśca svādhīnāḥ svādhīnaṃ ca kalevaram ..7..
mādhavo manasā sevyaḥ kālaśca suguṇottamaḥ ..
sādhavaśca dayāvaṃtaḥ ko na seveta mādhavam .. 8 ..
daridraiśca dhanāḍhyaiśca paṃgubhiścāṃdhakaistathā ..
ṣaṃḍhaiśca vidhavābhiśca nārībhiśca naraistathā .. 9 ..
kumārayuvavṛddhaiśca rogārtairapi bhūmipa ..
atīvasukhasādhyo hi dharmo vaiśākhagocaraḥ .. 2.7.22.10 ..
māsamenamanuprāpya dharmānkuru imāñcchubhān ..
ko na yatnaṃ ca kurute tasmātko nvaparaḥ śubhaḥ .. 11 ..
yo'tīva sulabhāndharmānna karoti narā'dhamaḥ ..
tasyaiva sulabhā lokā nārakā nātra saṃśayaḥ .. 12 ..
athātaḥ saṃpravakṣyāmi tasminmāse ca kottamā ..
tāṃ tithiṃ sarvapāpaghnīṃ dadhnaḥ sāramivoddhṛtām ..13..
caitre māsi mahāpuṇye meṣasaṃsthe divākare ..
pāpaghnī pitṛdaivatyā gayākoṭiphalapradā .. 14 ..
atraiva śrūyate puṇyā pitṛgāthā purātanī ..
śṛṇu tāṃ satkathāṃ rājansāvarṇau śāsati kṣitim .. 15 ..
triṃśatkaliyugasyāṃte sarvadharmavivarjite ..
ānarte tu dvijaḥ kaściddharmavarṇa iti śrutaḥ .. 16 ..
dṛṣṭvā kaliyuge rājañjanānpāparatānmuniḥ ..
tasyaiva prathame pāde varṇadharmavivarjite ..17..
sa kadācitsatrayāgaṃ munīnāṃ tu mahātmanām ..
agamatpuṣkare kṣetre kurvatāṃ maunadhāriṇām ..18..
tatra cāsanpuṇyakathā ṛṣīṇāṃ śāstragocarāḥ..
tatra kecitkaliyugaṃ praśaśaṃsurdhṛtavratāḥ ..19..
kṛte yadvatsarātsādhyaṃ puṇyaṃ mādhavatoṣaṇam ..
tretāyāṃ māsataḥ sādhyaṃ dvāpare pakṣato nṛpa .. 2.7.22.20 ..
tasmāddaśaguṇaṃ puṇyaṃ kalau viṣṇusmṛterbhavet ..
atyalpamapi vai puṇyaṃ kalau koṭiguṇaṃ bhavet .. 21 ..
dayā puṇyavihīne tu dānadharmavivarjite ..
dayādānaṃ ca kurute sakṛduccārya vai harim .. 22 ..
sa eva cordhvago nūnaṃ durbhikṣe cānnadastathā ..
etatprasaṃgāvasare nārado'bhyetya vai muniḥ .. 23 ..
kareṇaikena śiśnaṃ ca jihvāṃ caikena vai hasan ..
pragṛhyonmattavattatra nanarta munisattamaḥ .. 24 ..
sabhyāstadā tamityūcuḥ kimetaditi nārada ..
pratyuvāca sa tānsarvānnṛtyaṃ kurvanhasansudhīḥ .. 254

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: