Skandapurana 3.1.36

Glorious Sūta said:

"I shall declare once again the māhātmya of Dhanuṣkoṭi,

where a man named Durācāra, having bathed, was liberated, O brahmins."

The sages said:

"Who is this man named Durācāra, O Sūta, knower of ultimate truth?

And what sin was committed by that Durācāra, O sage?

Or how was he freed from sin through immersion in Dhanuṣkoṭi?

Tell this in detail to us who are eager to hear, O sage!"

Glorious Sūta said:

"O sages, let the sin of that Durācāra be heard,

and how he was freed from sin by a ritual ablution at the point of the bow (Dhanuṣkoṭi).

There was a certain brahmin named Durācāra residing on the bank of the Gautamī,

a sinner, O brahmins, constantly devoted to cruel deeds.

Corrupted by association with killers of brahmins, drinkers of liquor,

thieves, and violators of the guru's bed, he lived with them, O brahmins.

Because of the fault of associating with great sinners, of this twice-born,

all brahminhood was lost completely, O best of brahmins.

The twice-born who respectfully lives with great sinners

for even a single day—from that very moment, of that twice-born

brahmin, a fourth part is destroyed indeed; of this there is no doubt.

From two days of serving, touching, seeing, sleeping with,

and dining in the same row with great sinners, O brahmins,

the second portion of a brahmin is destroyed; of this there is no doubt.

From three days, the third part is destroyed indeed; of this there is no doubt.

From four days, the fourth part certainly dissolves.

Beyond this, however, by sleeping, sitting, and dining with them,

he becomes an equal sinner to them, owing to the emergence of a great sin.

Because of that, this man named Durācāra was stripped of his brahminhood, O brahmins.

[he] was seized by a fearsome, mighty vetāla.

He, helpless and terribly tormented by that vetāla,

wandered from country to country, O brahmins, and from one forest to another.

Through the ripening of former merit and through the working of destiny, that twice-born man,

pursued and possessed by that piśāca, O brahmins,

went to Rāmacandra’s Dhanuṣkoṭi, which destroys great sins.

That vetāla submerged him into the waters of Dhanuṣkoṭi.

Having been made to enter the waters of Dhanuṣkoṭi by the vetāla,

he emerged in an instant, freed by the vetāla.

Having risen then from the waters of Dhanuṣkoṭi, O brahmins,

that twice-born man, restored to health, reflected: “What region is this on the seashore?

How have I, a dweller on the banks of the Gautamī, arrived here?”

Thus perplexed with anxiety, he approached the great-souled Dattātreya,

the foremost and highest of yogins, who resided at Dhanuṣkoṭi;

bowing down to him, that Durācāra spoke:

“I do not know, O Lord, what country this is. Tell me now!

I am indeed Durācāra by name, residing on the bank of the Gautamī.

Out of compassion, tell me, O holy one: how did I come here?”

Thus asked by that Durācāra, the sage of noble vows,

a treasury of compassion, meditated for a moment and said to Durācāra:

“O Durācāra, when contact with a great sinner was made formerly,

[your] brahminhood was lost, and then a vetāla seized you.

Possessed by him, helpless and bewildered in mind, you arrived here.

The vetāla plunged you into the waters of Dhanuṣkoṭi here;

and by the mere immersion there, you were freed from sin.

Those men who take a ritual ablution at sacred Dhanuṣkoṭi—

truly, their accumulations of the five great sins are destroyed.

By the mere immersion here at Rāmacandra’s Dhanuṣkoṭi,

the fault of contact with a great sinner has gone to dissolution.

Through that very destruction, the vetāla released you and vanished.

The vetāla who seized you was formerly a brahmin.

In the month of Bhādrapada, during the dark fortnight, he did not perform

the Mahālaya rite for the ancestors with joy, according to the rule of the Pārvaṇa rites.

Therefore, cursed by his ancestors, he became a vetāla.

Yet even he, by merely beholding this Dhanuṣkoṭi,

abandoned his vetāla state here and attained the world of Viṣṇu.

Therefore, in the month of Bhādrapada, during the dark fortnight,

those who, out of excessive greed, do not perform the Mahālaya rite intended for their ancestors—

filled with immense greed, they will certainly become vetālas; there is no doubt.

Therefore, in the month of Bhādrapada, during the dark fortnight,

those who, according to their ability, feed brahmins who have mastered the Vedas

with abundant food for the sake of the ancestors, do not suffer an evil state.

And in the month of Bhādrapada, during the dark fortnight,

even a destitute man who feeds one, two, or three brahmins according to his ability

for the Mahālaya, shall never suffer misfortune.

This brahmin who seized you, a sinner, went to the state of a vetāla

due to neglecting the worship of the ancestors in the month of Bhādrapada.

The time for the Mahālaya, starting from the month of Bhādrapada up to Vṛścika,

has been declared by sages who see reality.

Even therein, the month of Bhādrapada is distinguished as the proper time;

and therein, O Durācāra, the dark fortnight is superior.

In that auspicious dark fortnight, on the first lunar day,

whichever man performs the Mahālaya ancestral rite with devotion,

the Lord Fire, purifier of all, is pleased with him.

He attains the realm of Fire and rejoices together with Fire.

And the blazing god grants him all sovereignty.

Whichever mortal does not perform the Mahālaya rite on the first lunar day,

fire will burn his house, as well as his wealth, fields, and so forth.

When a Veda-knowing brahmin has eaten at the Mahālaya on the first lunar day,

the ancestors attain satisfaction for ten thousand kalpas.”

Moreover, he who performs the Mahālaya śrāddha with devotion on the second lunar day—

the blessed Lord, the consort of Bhavānī, is pleased with him.

He reaches Kailāsa and rejoices together with Śiva.

Pleased, Maheśvara would bestow abundant prosperity upon him.

The mortal who does not perform the Mahālaya [rite] on the second lunar day—

Śambhu, indeed enraged, will destroy his spiritual radiance,

and will cast him into the hell named Raurava and Kālasūtra.

When a Veda-knowing brahmin is fed in the Mahālaya on the second lunar day,

the ancestors attain satisfaction for twenty thousand kalpas.

And through the grace of the ancestors, his lineage increases.

If a man performs the Mahālaya śrāddha with devotion on the third lunar day,

the blessed Lord, the world-guardian and master of wealth, is pleased with him.

The treasures beginning with Mahāpadma truly remain under his control.

The three gods—Brahmā, Viṣṇu, and Maheśvara—favour him.

The mortal who does not perform the Mahālaya [rite] on the third lunar day—

the blessed Giver of Wealth strips away his prosperity in an instant,

and gives him poverty filled with much suffering.

The mortal who performs the Mahālaya [rite] on the third lunar day—

his ancestors are satisfied for thirty thousand kalpas.

If a man performs the Mahālaya śrāddha with devotion on the fourth lunar day,

the blessed Lord Heramba, the son of Pārvatī, is pleased with him.

His obstacles are destroyed by the grace of the Elephant-Faced One.

The mortal who does not perform the Mahālaya [rite] on the fourth lunar day—

the blessed Lord of Obstacles constantly places obstacles before him,

and then he falls into the hell known as Caṇḍakolāhala.

The mortal who performs the Mahālaya [rite] on the fourth lunar day—

the ancestors, exceedingly delighted for forty thousand kalpas,

will continuously grant many sons to the performer of the śrāddha.

He who does not perform the Mahālaya [rite] with devotion on the fifth lunar day—

the blessed Lady Lakṣmī abandons his home,

and Alakṣmī, the foundation of discord, appears in his house.

The mortal who performs the Mahālaya [rite] on the fifth lunar day—

his ancestors are satisfied for fifty thousand kalpas,

and, being gratified, they will grant him an unbroken lineage;

and Pārvatī, granter of great sovereignty, becomes propitious.

If a man performs the Mahālaya śrāddha with devotion on the sixth lunar day,

the blessed Six-Faced One, the son of Pārvatī, is pleased with him.

Through the grace of the Six-Faced One, his sons and grandsons

are never afflicted by planetary spirits or childhood seizures.

The man who does not perform the Mahālaya [rite] with devotion on the sixth lunar day—

Skanda Mahāsena will turn away from him, without a doubt.

His offspring perishes as soon as it emerges from the womb,

and is constantly afflicted by the host of seizing spirits such as Pūtanā.

And he falls down into the hell known as Entry into Blazing Fire.

He who, full of faith, performs the Mahālaya śrāddha on the sixth lunar day—

the ancestors attain satisfaction for sixty thousand kalpas,

and they will grant him sons as well as abundant prosperity.

The mortal who performs the Mahālaya śrāddha on the seventh lunar day—

the blessed golden-handed Āditya is pleased with him.

He becomes free from disease and of firm limbs by the grace of the Sun.

The blessed golden-handed [god], with a delighted mind,

himself gives gold with his own hand to the performer of the Mahālaya śrāddha.

He who does not perform the Mahālaya [rite] with devotion on the seventh lunar day—

he is tormented day and night by diseases, beginning with consumption,

and he falls down into the hell known as Bed of Sharp-Edged Weapons.

The man who performs the Mahālaya śrāddha with devotion on the seventh [lunar day]—

his ancestors are indeed pleased for seventy thousand kalpas.

And the hosts of ancestors will always grant an unbroken lineage.

The mortal who performs the Mahālaya śrāddha on the eighth lunar day—

Śaṃkara, conqueror of death, clad in an animal pelt, is pleased with him.

Liberation is in his hand by the grace of Śaṃkara.

When the three-eyed Lord Himself is pleased by the Mahālaya śrāddha,

what could be hard to obtain for him in the fourteen worlds?

He of foolish mind who does not perform the Mahālaya [śrāddha] on the eighth [tithi]

ever sinks, sorrowful, in the terrible ocean of cyclic existence.

Never does what he desires come to pass on the earth;

he falls into the hell named Vaitaraṇī as long as the moon and stars endure.

The man who with faith performs the Mahālaya śrāddha on the eighth [tithi]—

his ancestors are indeed satisfied for eighty thousand kalpas.

They prosper him with blessings, and his obstacles are dispelled;

the hosts of ancestors always grant him unbroken lineage.

And if a mortal performs the Mahālaya śrāddha on the ninth tithi,

the venerable Goddess Durgā, the consort of Śambhu, is pleased with him.

Consumption, epilepsy, leprosy, and the like, as well as petty spirits and piśācas—

Durgā, the slayer of Mahiṣa, destroys them for him when she is pleased.

The mortal who does not perform the Mahālaya [śrāddha] on the ninth tithi

will be afflicted with epilepsy as well as by a brahmarakṣasa,

and will be continually tormented by malignant spirits invoked through sorcery.

The mortal who performs the Mahālaya śrāddha on the ninth tithi—

his ancestors are indeed satisfied for ninety thousand kalpas,

and the hosts of ancestors always grant him unbroken lineage.

If a mortal performs the Mahālaya śrāddha on the tenth tithi,

the sixteen-fold Moon, whose rays are nectar, is pleased with him.

When this lord of medicinal plants is satisfied by this śrāddha,

the plants always bestow paddy and other grains.

He who does not perform the unsurpassed Mahālaya [śrāddha] on the tenth,

his medicinal plants are fruitless, and his agriculture too is fruitless.

The mortal who performs the Mahālaya śrāddha on the tenth tithi—

his ancestors are indeed satisfied for a hundred thousand kalpas,

and the hosts of ancestors always grant him unbroken lineage.

If a man with devotion performs the Mahālaya śrāddha on the eleventh [tithi],

Rudra, the destroyer of all the worlds, is pleased with him.

By the grace of Rudra, the destroyer of all, the lord of the universe,

this performer of the śrāddha constantly defeats his enemies,

and even ten thousand sins of killing a brahmin are destroyed in an instant.

He attains the full fruit of sacrifices such as the Agniṣṭoma.

The man who does not devotedly perform the Mahālaya [śrāddha] on the eleventh [tithi]—

to him Rudra is turned away and is never pleased.

Enemies increasing on all sides afflict him indeed.

Sacrifices such as the Agniṣṭoma performed with generous priestly fees

would be entirely fruitless for him, like an oblation poured into ashes.

He would become equal to a slayer of a brahmin from the fault of not performing the śrāddha.

He who performs the Mahālaya śrāddha on the eleventh tithi—

his ancestors are indeed satisfied for two hundred thousand kalpas,

and the hosts of ancestors always grant him unbroken lineage.

If a mortal performs the Mahālaya śrāddha on the twelfth tithi,
Janārdana, the Lord of Lakṣmī, is directly pleased with him.

When the Lord of the gods, the God of gods, Janārdana, is pleased,

the entire world, moving and unmoving, is pleased beyond doubt.

The Earth, beloved of Hari, also makes his crops flourish,

and Lakṣmī, the beloved of Hari, increases in his house.

The mace named Kaumodakī, held in Nārāyaṇa's hand,

always destroys spirits that cause epilepsy and the like.