Skandapurana 3.1.29

The glorious Sūta said:
Having bathed in the Sādhyāmṛta sacred ford, which releases the king from his curse, / a person observing vows should then go to Sarvatīrtha. (1)
Sarvatīrtha is of great merit, the destroyer of grave sins; / whether one is tainted with grave sins or tainted with all sins, (2)
one is purified that very moment from plunging into Sarvatīrtha. / All sins remain in the body, O you of noble vows, (3)
only as long as a sinful person does not plunge into this Sarvatīrtha.

Seeing a man going to this Sarvatīrtha for a ritual ablution, O twice-born,

all his sins tremble, thinking, ‘Our destruction will occur!’

A man on earth experiences sufferings such as dwelling in the womb only so long (5)

as he does not bathe in this Sarvatīrtha, O foremost of brahmins.

Whatever fruit a mortal obtains by performing great sacrifices and attending upon sacred fords, (6)

by reciting great mantras such as the Gāyatrī according to rule,

by repeating all four Vedas a hundred times, (7)

by worshiping the deities headed by Śiva and Viṣṇu with devotion,

and likewise by fasting on lunar days such as the eleventh,

that fruit he obtains here from plunging [into its waters]. (8)

The seers said:

How did this obtain the fame of being called ‘Sarvatīrtha’, O Sūta?

Tell this merit to us, O sage, as we listen at length. (9)

The glorious Sūta said:

Formerly there was a sage named Sucarita, endowed with vows, (10)

born in the lineage of Bhṛgu, blind from birth, and afflicted with old age.

Incapable of pilgrimage to sacred fords because of his lack of eyes, O twice-born, (11)

that great sage, desiring to bathe in all sacred fords,

went to the holy mountain Gandhamādana at the southern ocean, (12)

and performed exceedingly difficult austerity dedicated to Śaṃkara.

Worshiping Śambhu at the three junctures of the day, fasting, with senses subdued, (13)

and performing ritual ablution at the three ritual times, and likewise honoring guests,

standing in water in the cold season, standing amidst the five fires in the summer, (14)

enduring torrential downpours in the rainy season, subsisting on water, feeding on air,

always wearing the dusting of ashes and the three-striped mark made with ash, (15)

and wearing rudrākṣa beads according to the rule of the Jābāla Upaniṣad,

the twice-born performed fierce austerity thus for ten years. (16)

Pleased by his austerity, Śaṃkara, who bears the crescent moon upon his crest,

manifested before that sage Sucarita, O twice-born, (17)

mounted upon a great bull, served by a host of spirits,

half of his body the daughter of the mountain, wielding a trident, equal in radiance to ten million suns, (18)

illuminating all quarters with his own luster, dispelling the darkness,

all his limbs pale white with ash, adorned with a mass of matted hair, (19)

bedecked with ornaments of great serpents such as Ananta.

Śambhu, having then manifested, gave him two eyes (20)

so that he might behold him, Śaṃkara, the lord of the mountain’s daughter.

Then, O brahmins, Sucarita, given a pair of eyes by Śambhu,

beheld the supreme lord, and with a serene mind praised him: (21)

Sucarita said:

Hail, O god, supreme lord! Hail, O Śaṃkara, O you with matted hair! (22)

Hail, you who are worshiped by Brahmā and the rest, destroyer of Tripura, ender of Yama!

Hail, lord of Umā, great god, slayer of Kāma, hail, spotless one! (23)

Hail, physician of worldly existence, protector of beings, benevolent and imperishable!

Homage to you, three-eyed one, dedicated to protecting devotees! (24)

Homage to you, whose hair is the sky! Hail, embodiment of compassion!

Homage to you, blue-throated one! Hail, liberator from worldly existence! (25)

Homage to you, supreme lord, embodiment of supreme bliss!

Homage to you, bearer of the Gaṅgā, lord of the universe, Mṛḍa, imperishable one! (26)

Homage to you, the Lord, to Vāsudeva, to Śambhu,

to Śarva, to the fierce one, to the source, homage to the lord of Kailāsa! (27)

Protect me, ocean of compassion, through the glance of your merciful gaze!

Without examining my conduct, save me through mercy, O Hara! (28)

The glorious Sūta said:

Puffed with praise in this manner, Mahādeva said this to him,

to the sage Sucarita, O brahmins—[Mahādeva,] the lord of Umā, an ocean of compassion: / 29

Mahādeva said:

“O sage Sucarita, choose today the boon you desire.

I have come to this meritorious, auspicious hermitage to grant you a boon.”

Addressed thus, the sage spoke to Mahādeva, the treasure of compassion: / 3.1.29.30

Sucarita said:

“O Lord, if you are pleased with me, O crescent-crested one, / 31

then I truly choose from you the boon desired by me:

My body is worn out by old age and gray hair; I am unable to go anywhere, / 32

and yet my desire is to bathe in all sacred fords.

Therefore, tell me the means of obtaining that fruit

which a mortal attains by bathing in all sacred fords.” / 33

Mahādeva said:

“I shall summon all the sacred fords right here in their entirety, / 34

on this mountain Gandhamādana, purified by Rāma's causeway.”

Having spoken thus on Mount Gandhamādana, that Mahādeva, / 35

the supreme one, summoned the sacred fords for the pleasure of the sage.

Then Śaṃkara, the treasure of compassion, spoke to Sucarita: / 36

“O sage Sucarita, this [pool] indeed destroys great sins.

Because of the presence of all the sacred fords, it is known by the name Sarvatīrtha. / 37

Since all the sacred fords were drawn here by me mentally,

it shall obtain the name Mānasa sacred ford, bestowing enjoyment and liberation. / 38

Therefore, Sucarita, bathe here immediately for liberation—

in this [ford] possessing a splendour like a forest fire to the masses of great sins, / 39

in that which destroys lust, delusion, fear, anger, greed, disease, and the rest,

in that which causes immediate emancipation without the knowledge of Vedānta, / 3.1.29.40

in that which carries one across the ocean of worldly existence filled with crocodiles such as birth and death,

in that which extinguishes the fire of all hells such as Kumbhīpāka.” / 41

Thus addressed by Śambhu, the enemy of Madana,

Sucarita bathed in Sarvatīrtha, O brahmins, in the presence of Mahādeva. / 42

Emerging after his ritual ablution, Sucarita was beheld by all people

freed from old age and gray hair, young and exceedingly handsome. / 43

Then, seeing the beauty of his own body, the sage Sucarita

praised that sacred ford in many ways, as did the other ascetics. / 44

After that, Mahādeva spoke to Sucarita:

“Dwelling on the bank of this sacred ford, O Sucarita, O twice-born, / 45

perform your ritual ablution constantly, remembering me, the giver of liberation.

Do not wander to sacred fords in other regions, O best of brahmins! / 46

Through the māhātmya of this sacred ford, you will surely reach me at the end.

Others too who will bathe here shall also attain me, O twice-born.” / 47

Having said this, the Lord, the Ruler, vanished right there.

When Rudra had disappeared, the sage Sucarita, / 48

dwelling for a long time on the bank of Sarvatīrtha,

performing his ritual ablution in the Mānasa sacred ford with vows observed, / 49

at the end of his physical existence attained Śaṃkara, freed from all fetters,

and attained intimate union by virtue of the power of Sarvatīrtha. / 3.1.29.50

Thus the power of Sarvatīrtha has been told to you, O brahmins.

One who recites or hears this is freed from all sins. / 51

Comments on Koṭi/Dhanuṣkoṭi

Thus ends the twenty-ninth chapter, entitled “Description of the Nature of Sarvatīrtha” in the Praise of Sarvatīrtha, in the Setumāhātmya of the third section, Brahmakhaṇḍa, in the glorious Skanda Mahāpurāṇa of eighty-one thousand verses. // 29