Skandapurana 2.7.4

Nārada said:

Anointing with oil, sleeping by day, and eating from bronze vessels,

sleeping on a bed, bathing at home, and eating what is forbidden—

in Vaiśākha one should avoid these eight: [along with] eating twice, and eating at night.

Whoever, established in his vow, eats from a lotus leaf in Vaiśākha,

freed from sin, he goes to the world of Viṣṇu.

At midday in the month of Vaiśākha, one should wash the feet

of twice-born men learned in the Vedas; that vow is the highest of good vows.

Whoever, when a twice-born tired from travel comes to his home at midday,

seats him on a pleasant seat and washes his feet,

and places that water upon his head, having shattered all bonds,

has surely bathed in all the sacred fords beginning with the Gaṅgā.

If one spends Vaiśākha without bathing or without eating from a leaf,

he enters the womb of a she-ass and afterward becomes a mule.

Even a man of strong limbs, free from disease, and healthy,

if he bathes at home in Vaiśākha, attains birth as an outcaste.

In the month of Vaiśākha, O king of kings, when the sun stands in Aries,

if one does not bathe outdoors, he undergoes a hundred births as a dog.

He by whom Vaiśākha is spent without bathing and without giving gifts,

he surely becomes a ghost, and then goes [to ruin] from neglecting Vaiśākha.

Whoever, with a greedy mind, does not give water and food in Vaiśākha,

he never obtains the destruction of sin or the destruction of sorrow, without a doubt.

Whoever, devoted to Viṣṇu, bathes in a river during Vaiśākha,

is freed from sin accumulated over three births; there is no doubt in this.

One should bathe in an ocean-going river at dawn when the sun rises;

he is instantly freed from sins accumulated over seven births.

A man who bathes at dawn in the seven Gaṅgās

is freed from sin accumulated over ten million births; there is no doubt in this.

The Jāhnavī, the Vṛddhagaṅgā, the Kālindī, and the Sarasvatī,

the Kāverī, the Narmadā, and the Veṇī are proclaimed as the seven Gaṅgās.

Whoever bathes in the morning during Vaiśākha in natural ponds made by gods

is freed from sin committed since birth; there is no doubt in this.

When the month of Vaiśākha has arrived, he who in the morning

takes a dip in step-wells, O great king, [effects] the destruction of great sins.

Even in waters situated outside that are merely the size of a cow's footprint,

all rivers beginning with the Gaṅgā reside—this is certain.

Knowing this, he obtains a fruit greater than that of all sacred fords.

Milk is superior to juices, O protector of the earth; curd is superior to milk;

just as clarified butter is superior to curd, so too is the month of Ūrja superior.

Māgha is superior to Kārtika; Vaiśākha is the best, superior to Māgha.

Dharma performed in that month increases like a banyan seed.

Whether rich, utterly impoverished, or dependent on others,

whatever object a person obtains, by means of that he should give to a twice-born.

Tubers, roots, fruit, vegetables, salt, or even raw sugar,

jujube fruit, a leaf, water, or buttermilk serves for infinite [reward].

What is not given is never obtained anywhere, even by the gods beginning with Brahmā.

For one lacking gifts becomes destitute, and from destitution he commits sin;

from sin he inevitably goes to hell; therefore, gifts must be given by one desiring happiness.

Just as a house endowed with all good qualities is unpleasing when devoid of furnishings,

so dharma performed in all the months goes utterly in vain if devoid of Vaiśākha.

Just as a maiden, even though endowed with all auspicious marks, lacks the mark of a living husband,

so too a rite, even complete in all its limbs, O king, they know to be in vain if devoid of Vaiśākha.

Just as virtues without compassion are futile, so are rites without the dharma of Vaiśākha;

just as vegetable food, though endowed with every quality, is unpalatable when devoid of salt,

just so merit devoid of Vaiśākha is neither cultivated by the virtuous nor the cause of obtaining fruit.

Just as a beautiful woman, though possessing ornaments, does not shine when devoid of clothing,

so the collection of rites, even well-performed by men, does not shine when devoid of that spring month.

Therefore, by every effort, by whatever living being,

dharma is certainly to be performed in the month of Vaiśākha; this is the conclusion.

Dedicated to Madhusūdana, when the sun is in Aries,

having bathed in the morning, one should worship Viṣṇu; otherwise, one would go to hell.

A certain king named Mahīratha, though attached to desires, subdued his senses;

through the observance of the Vaiśākha ritual ablution, he went to Vaikuṇṭha in person.

Vaiśākha is a fruitful month whose presiding deity is Madhusūdana,

yielding more fruit than pilgrimage to sacred fords, austerity, sacrifice, gifts, and oblations.

Prayer mantra:

“O Madhusūdana, Lord of the gods, in Vaiśākha, when the sun is in Aries,

I shall perform my morning ritual ablution; make it free of obstacles, O Mādhava.”

Mantra for offering water (arghya):

“In Vaiśākha, when the sun is in Aries, devoted to the morning ritual ablution,

I offer you this arghya; accept it, O Madhusūdana.

All rivers beginning with the Gaṅgā, and whatever sacred fords and lakes there are,

accept the arghya offered by me and be fully pleased.

You are the bull, the punisher of sinners, Yama of impartial vision;

accept the arghya offered by me, and grant the fruits as proclaimed.”

Having thus offered the arghya, one should then perform the ritual ablution.

Then, having put on two garments and performed all religious duties,

having worshipped Madhusūdana with flowers blossoming in the spring month,

and having listened to the divine narrative of Viṣṇu praising this month,

freed from sins accumulated across tens of millions of births, one attains liberation.

He never suffers on earth, nor in heaven, nor in Rasātala;

he is never born in a womb anywhere, nor does he become a nursling of breasts again.

One who eats from a bell-metal vessel in Vaiśākha, and likewise does not listen to virtuous discourses,

who neither bathes nor gives gifts, goes only to the hells.

The sin of a thousand slaughters of brahmins may somehow be appeased;

but the sin of one who has not bathed in Vaiśākha never departs.

With one's body under one's control, while water is freely accessible,

with a tongue under one's control, the two syllables 'Ha-ri' are to be pronounced.

If a vile man does not perform the morning ritual ablution in Vaiśākha,

even while living he has attained death; there is no doubt about this.

If by any means whatsoever in the month of Mādhava a foolish-minded man

does not worship Madhusūdana, he enters the womb of a sow.

Whoever worships Madhusūdana in Vaiśākha with tulasī leaves,

having become a sovereign king enjoying pleasures for tens of millions of births,

subsequently attains union with Viṣṇu, accompanied by tens of millions of his kin.

Through diverse paths of devotion and through vows, whoever serves Viṣṇu,

with undistracted mind, should constantly meditate upon him, whether with attributes or beyond attributes.

Thus ends the fourth chapter, titled "Praise of the Dharmas of Vaiśākha," in the dialogue between Nārada and Ambarīṣa, in the glorification of the month of Vaiśākha, in the Vaiṣṇava Section, in the second part of the glorious Skanda Mahāpurāṇa consisting of eighty-one thousand verses. (4)