Skandapurana 2.9.27.3

Śrī Nārāyaṇa said: / On the ground purified by digging, sprinkling, smearing, and the like, / and beautifully decorated with various colours, one should place a four-legged pedestal. / Facing east, the worshipper should arrange the legs of the pedestal at the corners. / Upon those four [legs] he should install the [principles], beginning with Dharma, in the form of lions: / he should place white Dharma in the south-east, and red Jñāna in the south-west; / yellow Vairāgya in the north-west, and black Aiśvarya in the north-east. / Then on the side-timbers of the pedestal, in the directions beginning with the east, in order, / he should place Manas, Dhī, Citta, and Ahaṅkāra, respectively green, red, white, and black. / The three qualities of Rajas, Sattva, and Tamas—red, white, and black—/ are to be installed, O best of sages, on the upper rim of the pedestal. / Then upon the four side-timbers in the form of the inner organs of mind, / he should place the śaktis beginning with Vimalā, two on each timber: / he should place two fair-limbed ones, Vimalā and Utkarṣiṇī, in the east, / playing a beautiful vīṇā, clad in green garments and well adorned; / he should place Jñānā and Kriyā in the south, clad in yellow garments and shining like dawn, / one playing cymbals and the other the mṛdaṅga drum; / he should place Yogā and Prahvī in the west, dark in complexion and wearing reddish-brown garments, / both playing flutes together, yet individually; / then he should place Satya and Īśānā in the north, gold-coloured, / clad in dark garments, both playing the parivādinī lute; / and one named Anugrahā, with folded hands, is to be placed upon the rim. / All of these [śaktis] should be made two-armed and adorned with fine ornaments. / Above the pedestal he should make a white island with a white cloth; / in the middle of it he should make an eight-petalled lotus with a radiant pericarp. / Leaving aside a twelfth portion beyond the field of the lotus, / he should divide its interior into equal parts with three circles: / the first [circle] there is the place of the pericarp; the middle one belongs to the filaments; / the third belongs to the petals, with the tips of the petals extending outward. / All around it he should construct a city with four gates.

With various colouring substances such as turmeric, saffron, and the like, / or with husked rice-grains, one should make the beautiful lotus and other designs there. / In the middle, the worshipper should make the pericarp of the lotus splendid with a golden colour, / and all around it, O sage, he should make the eight petals in the eight directions red, / or else golden in colour. / He should make the eastern gateway red, and the southern one black, / the western one yellow, and the northern one resembling crystal. / In the space between the city and the lotus having placed diverse flowers, / and having installed Śrī Kṛṣṇa in the middle, he should place Rādhikā on his left. / Then behind this Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa he should place Saṃkarṣaṇa, / four-armed, holding an umbrella, fair-limbed, and wearing blue garments. / To the right of the Lord he should place Pradyumna, wearing yellow garments, / four-armed, cloud-dark, standing and holding a fly-whisk. / And to the left of Hari he should place Aniruddha, wearing reddish-brown garments, / dark like a sapphire gem, standing and holding a fly-whisk. / All three of these should be made adorned with various ornaments, / with priceless gem-studded crowns, and enchanting with their youthfulness. / Then he should place the avatars of Hari on the eight filaments in order, / two on each one, thus indeed sixteen upon the eight: / he should install Vāmana and Buddha on the eastern filament in front, / both of them cloud-dark, compassionate, and observant of celibacy, / wearing white garments, holding an open lotus in the right hand / and the gesture of fearlessness in the left hand, peaceful, and wearing sacred threads; / then he should place Kalki and Paraśurāma in the south-east corner, / Kalki holding a sword in his hand there, and the other holding an axe in his hand; / both are to be made fair-skinned, red-eyed, with matted hair, wearing white garments, / wearing sacred threads, and with immense fury cast aside; / and he should install Hayagrīva and Varāha on the southern filament; / Hayagrīva should have the face of a horse, a human body, and four arms.

holding a conch and other attributes, golden-colored, wearing divine white garments. / Varāha, however, should have a boar's face, a human body, and four arms, / holding a conch, discus, mace, and lotus, and wearing yellow garments; / he may be honey-tawny in color, or else two-armed. / Then one should install Matsya and Kūrma in the southwest filament; / below the waist they have their [creature] forms, but above they have human shape, / both holding a conch in the left hand and a mace in the right, / with dark and beautiful bodies, adorned with ornaments. / One should place Dhanvantari and Nṛsiṃha in the western filament; / Dhanvantari wears white garments, is fair-limbed, and holds a pot of nectar. / Nṛsiṃha has a lion's face, a human body, and is endowed with a mane; / he has the hue of a blue lotus, is two-armed, and bears a mace and a discus. / In the northwest one should place both Haṃsa and Dattātreya wearing matted hair, / in the garb of yogins, white, holding a staff and water pot in their hands. / Then one should place Vyāsa and Gaṇapati in the northern filament; / there Vyāsa is large-eyed, dark in color, wearing white garments, / two-armed, holding the Vedas, possessing very reddish-brown matted locks, / wearing a white sacred thread, and equipped with a pavitra ring. / Gaṇapati should have an elephant's face, a single tusk, and be red, / wearing red garments, and possessing a serpent for a sacred thread, / pot-bellied and four-armed, holding a noose, goad, and the gesture of bestowing boons, / and with one hand holding a delightful book and writing pen. / Then the worshipper should place Kapila in the northeast filament, / and the sage Sanatkumāra, a lifelong celibate. / Kapila should be made fair-limbed, wearing charming white garments, / holding a lotus and the gesture of fearlessness with his two hands, with a peaceful form. / The sage Sanatkumāra should be made by the worshipper / resembling a five-year-old child, sky-clad, and bearing small matted locks. / Having thus established the deities in the filaments of the lotus,

the worshipper should place the attendants in the middle of the eight petals. / There, first in the east, one should place Viṣvaksena and Garuḍa; / then in clockwise order, one should place Prabala and Bala, / Kumuda and Kumudākṣa, Sunanda and Nanda, / Śrutadeva and Jayanta, and one should install Vijaya and Jaya; / then Pracaṇḍa and Caṇḍa, and Puṣpadanta and Sātvata. / Thus two by two in regular order one should install them in the eight positions. / All of these are four-armed, bearing a conch, discus, lotus, and mace; / they should be crowned, dark-complexioned, wearing yellow garments, and well-ornamented. / In the intervals between the middles of the petals, one should install the eight supernatural powers, / skilled in order at playing various auspicious musical instruments: / aṇimā, laghimā, prāpti, prākāmya, and mahimā, / īśitā, vaśitā, and the eighth, kāmāvasāyitā. / These have the luster of golden color, are adorned with all ornaments, / hold flutes, vīṇās, and the like in their hands, and are dressed in multicolored garments. / Then on the eight petal-tips one should install the Vedas and the treatises; / there he should install the Vedas in the cardinal directions, and the treatises in the intermediate directions. / In the east one should place the Ṛgveda, holding a rosary, white, / dwarfish, pot-bellied, gentle, lotus-eyed, and clad in white garments. / In the south one should place the Yajurveda, of medium limbs, slender-waisted, / yellow-eyed, thick-necked, yellow-complexioned, and wearing reddish garments, / bearing a garland of beads in the left hand and a thunderbolt in the right. / In the west one should place the Sāmaveda, tall, with the splendor of the sun, / holding a rosary in the right hand and a conch in the left, / dressed in gold cloth, large-eyed, intent on singing. / In the north one should place the Atharva[veda], white-limbed, wearing blue garments, / bearing a rosary in the left hand and a club with a skull in the right, / with the radiance of fire, copper-colored eyes, and aged in years. / In the southeast corner one should place the Dharmaśāstra, seated on a lotus,

white, and bearing with his two arms an incomparable pearl necklace. / In the southwest one should place Sāṃkhya, pot-bellied, with long hair and nails,