Skandapurana 3.1.11

Glorious Sūta said:

Having bathed at Pāpanāśa, which destroys all sins,

a man should then go to Sītāsaras to bathe according to rule. // 1

Whatever sacred places exist within the egg of Brahmā,

those sacred fords, Gaṅgā and the rest, for the purification of their own sins, // 2

reside in Sītāsaras, which destroys great sins.

Even highly venerable sacred fields, such as Kāśī and others, day and night // 3

resort to Sītāsaras here for the appeasement of their own sins.

Drawn to her lake by the excellence of singing, [like] an innocent child, // 4

even the Five-Faced One, the destroyer of the five great sins, resides [there].

Having come to this sacred ford and bathed with faith,

Puraṃdara of old, O brahmins, was freed from the murder of a brahmin. (5)

The seers said:

How did the murder of a brahmin attach to Vāsava long ago, O sage?

How was he freed from it by bathing in the lake of Sītā? (6)

Śrī Sūta said:

Long ago, O twice-born ones, there was a rākṣasa named Kapālābharaṇa. (7)

He had become unslayable by all the gods through a boon from Brahmā.

His excellent minister was named Śavabhakṣaṇa. (8)

He had a hundred akṣauhiṇīs teeming with horses, elephants, and chariots.

He also had a city famed as Vaijayanta. (9)

Dwelling in that city, this mighty Kapālābharaṇa

summoned the minister Śavabhakṣa and spoke, O twice-born ones: (10)

“O Śavabhakṣa of great prowess, skilled in the sciences of counsel,

let us go to the city of the gods, defeat the deities in battle, (11)

and dwell in Śakra's delightful palace along with our troops.

Let us take delight in his Nandana [garden] with hosts of apsarases headed by Rambhā.” (12)

Hearing these words of Kapālābharaṇa at that time,

Śavabhakṣa replied on that matter, O brahmins: “So be it.” (13)

Then the mighty Kapālābharaṇa installed his heroic son

Durmedhas in the city, and surrounded by his army, (14)

set out for Amarāvatī, eager to fight with the immortals,

drying up seas and rivers with the mass of dust raised (15)

by elephants, horses, chariots, and foot-soldiers, and crushing even mountains,

and making heaven and earth resound, O brahmins, with the sound of kettle-drums, (16)

with the neighing calls of horses and the trumpeting of elephants,

with the fierce rumblings of chariot wheels and the lion-roars of foot-soldiers. (17)

Making deaf the ears of the elephants of the quarters,

he marched to the city of the gods, desiring to fight with the immortals. (18)

Then Indra and the other gods, hearing the clamorous uproar of the army,

sallied forth from the city, O twice-born ones, their minds bent on battle. (19)

Then a battle took place between the gods and the rākṣasas,

the like of which had never been seen before in the world, nor ever heard of. (20)

Then Indra and the other gods slew the rākṣasas in the fight,

and the rākṣasas, striving for victory, struck down the gods in the fray. (21)

Single combats also broke out mutually between the gods and the rakṣases:

the slayer of Bala and Vṛtra fought in battle against Kapālābharaṇa; (22)

Śavabhakṣa fought with Yama, and Kauśika with Varuṇa;

Kubera fought with Rudhirākṣa, O best of brahmins. (23)

Māṃsapriya, Madyasevin, Krūradṛṣṭi, and Bhayāvaha—

these four valiant younger brothers of Kapālābharaṇa— (24)

fought against each other in battle with the two Aśvins, Agni, and Vāyu.

Then the mighty, swift Yama, with his staff of death, (25)

struck down Śavabhakṣa in battle and sent him to the abode of Yama,

and Yama slaughtered his thirty akṣauhiṇīs in the fray. (26)

In the battle, Varuṇa struck off Kauśika's head with a dart;

Kubera severed Rudhirākṣa's head with a lance. (27)

The younger brothers of Kapālābharaṇa, slain in battle, O brahmins,

by the two Aśvins, Agni, and Vāyu, departed to Yama's abode. (28)

The hundred akṣauhiṇīs, O twice-born ones, slaughtered in battle by the lord of the gods

within half a watch of the day, departed to Yama's abode. (29)

Then Kapālābharaṇa, seeing his army slain,

took up his bow and sharp, swift-flying arrows, (30)

rushed against Śakra in the battle, and shouted: “Halt! Halt!”

Then he struck at Śakra's head with five arrows. (31)

The slayer of Vṛtra cut them down with arrows in the battle before they reached him.

Then taking up a trident in the fray, Kapālābharaṇa (32)

hurled it at the lord of the gods, who shattered it with his spear.

Then Kapālābharaṇa [lifted] a mace a hundred cubits long, (33)

made of iron, fashioned with the weight of five thousand tulās.

[Kapālābharaṇa] seized [it] in battle and struck Śakra upon the chest. (34)

Then Śakra fell unconscious and sank down onto the floor of his chariot.

Then, having recited the Mṛtasaṃjīvinī spell, Bṛhaspati (35)

wonderfully revived the lord of Pulomā's daughter in the battle.

Then, mounting Airāvata, Śacī’s husband approached Kapālābharaṇa (36)

in order to strike him with his thunderbolt.

Then, with a single blow, great Indra, the slayer of Pāka, (37)

enraged, pulverized Kapālābharaṇa in battle with his thunderbolt,

together with his chariot and horses, his bow, banner, quiver, and armor, (38)

into pieces as small as sesame seeds and grains.

When that great hero Kapālābharaṇa was slain in battle, (39)

happiness arose for all the world, which had long been in distress.

Born from the slaughter of the rākṣasa, a terrible brahmahatyā (40)

then pursued Puraṃdara, making the ten directions resound.

The ṛṣis said:

O Sūta, O sage, Kapālābharaṇa was not a brahmin, but a rākṣasa.

How then did a brahmahatyā attack Indra on account of slaying him? (41)

The venerable Sūta said:

I shall declare a supreme secret, O foremost sages, exceedingly wondrous; (42)

listen with faith, having concentrated your minds.

Formerly, in the regions of the Vindhya [mountains], there was a rākṣasa named Trivakra. (43)

His wife, endowed with virtues and possessing the quality of beauty,

was named Suśīlā, shapely-hipped and marked with all auspicious signs. (44)

Once, that charming woman with lovely limbs, beautifully dressed and smiling sweetly,

wandered about the forest region at the foot of the Vindhya mountains. (45)

In that forest lived a great sage named Śuci,

devoted to austerity and contemplation, intent upon the study of the Vedas. (46)

That fair-complexioned woman approached the vicinity of his hermitage.

Seeing her, the sage lost his composure, afflicted by the god of love.

Approaching that shapely woman, the best of sages spoke: (47)

Śuci said:

Welcome to you, beautiful lady! Whose wife are you, O sweetly smiling one? (48)

What is your purpose in coming to this most terrifying forest?

You are weary, O lovely lady; rest in this leaf-hut of mine. (49)

Addressed in this manner, that fair-hipped woman replied to that sage:

I am the wife of the rākṣasa Trivakra, named Suśīlā, O sage. (50)

Desiring to gather flowers, I have come to this forest.

I am childless, O sage, sent by my husband who desires a son, [saying]: (51)

‘Propitiate the sage Śuci, and obtain a son from him.’

Thus commanded by my husband, I have come to you. (52)

Beget a son for me; have mercy on me, O sage!

Addressed thus, Śuci spoke to that Suśīlā: (53)

Śuci said:

Having seen you, O Suśīlā, love has arisen in me now.

Fill up the great ocean of my desire! (54)

Having spoken thus, the sage sported with her there for three days.

Pleased, the sage spoke to Suśīlā of beautiful form: (55)

In your womb will be [a son] of great valor, named Kapālābharaṇa.

He will rule the earth, maintaining a kingdom for a long time. (56)

Pleasing Brahmā with austerity for a thousand years, my child,

he cannot be slain by any gods except Puraṃdara. (57)

May such a son be yours, whose prowess is equal to Indra’s!

Having said this to the woman, the sage departed for Kāśī, the city of Śiva. (58)

That Suśīlā also gave birth to a son, Kapālābharaṇa.

Śakra struck him down in battle with his thunderbolt, O best of sages. (59)

Since Indra killed him who was born from the seed of Śuci,

Śakra Puraṃdara was therefore seized by a brahmahatyā. (60)

Agitated with fear, Śakra then fled through all the worlds.

As he fled, the brahmahatyā followed after him, pursuing him. (61)

Indeed, O foremost brahmins, this Śakra was pursued by the brahmahatyā.

With an intensely tormented heart, he reached the assembly of the Grandfather [Brahmā].

That Puraṃdara reported [the pursuit of] the sin of killing a brahmin to Brahmā:

“O Lord, Protector of the World, this most terrifying sin of killing a brahmin

torments me, O Lord of Creatures! Tell me of its destruction.”

Addressed thus by Puraṃdara, Brahmā said to the Lord of Heaven:

Brahmā said:

“Go, O Indra, to Sītākuṇḍa on Mount Gandhamādana.

Having worshipped Sadāśiva with sacrifices on the shore of Sītākuṇḍa,

you must bathe in that auspicious lake which removes all sins.

Then, O Śakra, purified, you will be freed from the sin of killing a brahmin,

and, freed from all sorrow, you will return to the realm of the gods.

Holy Sītākuṇḍa removes all sins and grants liberation;

it destroys hordes of great sins and is the supreme nectar.

It appeases all sorrows and removes all poverty;

it bestows wealth and grain, is pure, and grants the realm of Vaikuṇṭha and others.

Therefore, O slayer of Vṛtra, perform a sacrifice there at Sītāsaras.”

Thus addressed, the king of gods set out for Gandhamādana.

Having reached Sītāsaras, O brahmins, having bathed and sacrificed near it,

he returned again to his own city, freed from the sin of killing a brahmin.

Such is the power of that excellent sacred ford, Sītā’s pool.

Indeed, having entered the fire to produce conviction in the descendant of Raghu [Rāma],

Maithilī, the daughter of Janaka, in the presence of all the gods,

emerged once more from the fire, standing radiant in all her limbs,

and fashioned for the protection of the worlds an excellent sacred ford under her own name.

Sītā bathed there herself; therefore it is remembered as Sītāsaras.

Whatever man bathes there, he shall obtain all desires.

Having bathed in it, O best of brahmins, having given various gifts,

and having performed sacrifices with abundant sacrificial fees, a man will go to the world of the Supreme Lord.

Thus has this majesty of Sītāsaras been proclaimed and recounted to you, O best of sages;

hearing or reading it, one enjoys pleasures here in this world and finds happiness in the next world as well.

Thus ends the eleventh chapter, titled “Release of Indra from the Sin of Brahmin-slaughter in the Praise of Sītāsaras,” in the Setumāhātmya of the third Brahmakhaṇḍa in the glorious Skandapurāṇa, a collection of eighty-one thousand verses.