Skandapurana 3.1.4

The seers said:

O venerable Sūta, best of knowers of the Purāṇas, who was that rākṣasa

Who afflicted the great-souled Gālava, a devotee of Viṣṇu?

Glorious Sūta said:

I shall tell of that cruel rākṣasa, O brahmins; listen with respect

To how he became a rākṣasa through the power of a curse of the sages.

Formerly, in the peak of Kailāsa, at Hālāsya, the temple of Śiva,

There were twenty-four thousand sages who expounded the Veda,

Headed by Vasiṣṭha and Atri, all devotees of Śiva, endowed with great splendor.

All their limbs were smeared with ashes, their foreheads marked with the tripuṇḍra,

Adorned with garlands of rudrākṣa beads, devoted to the chanting of the five-syllable mantra;

Inhabitants of the city of Madhurā, they worshipped the lord of Hālāsya,

The master of beings, the moon-crested consort of Umā, for the sake of liberation.

Once, at that place, a mighty gandharva, the son of Viśvāvasu,

Named Durdama, O lords among brahmins, devoted to gatherings of profligates,

Surrounded by a hundred women, naked in a reservoir of water—

he sportively played with those unclothed young women with delight.

To that sacred ford of the Lord of Hālāsya, Vasiṣṭha, along with other sages,

departed from the temple of Śaṃkara, intending to perform his midday rites.

Then, beholding those seers, those women, overcome with fear,

covered themselves with garments; but the reckless Durdama did not.

Then Vasiṣṭha, enraged, cursed that shameless one:

Vasiṣṭha said:

"Because, O gandharva Durdama, upon seeing us, out of shame

you did not cover yourself with clothing, swiftly become a rākṣasa on that account!"

Having said this, Vasiṣṭha, the foremost of sages, addressed those women:

"Because you covered yourselves with garments upon seeing us, O excellent women,

therefore I shall not curse you. Go hence to heaven!"

Thus addressed by Vasiṣṭha, the women then, with palms joined,

bowed down to Vasiṣṭha with minds humbled by devotion,

and amidst the circle of sages spoke thus to Vasiṣṭha:

The women said:

"O venerable one, knower of all righteousness, son of the four-faced Brahmā,

O ocean of compassion, looking upon us, you should not be angry.

A husband alone is declared to be the supreme ornament of women.

The woman who is bereft of her husband, O sage, even if she has a hundred sons,

is called a widow in the world; that is considered death for women.

Therefore, O sage, show favour with regard to our husband, out of respect.

A single offense ought to be forgiven by sages who perceive the truth.

Grant forgiveness, O ocean of compassion, to your disciple here, Durdama!"

Being thus besought by the women of Durdama,

Vasiṣṭha, pleased, spoke these words again, O best of brahmins:

"My word can never be false, O fair-browed ones.

I shall tell you a remedy; listen with faith.

The curse of your husband will certainly have a duration of sixteen years.

At the expiration of the sixteen years, this Durdama in the form of a rākṣasa

will go by chance to Cakra tīrtha, O celestial damsels.

There resides the great yogin Gālava, devoted to Viṣṇu.

This rākṣasa will approach that sage in order to devour him.

Then, to protect Gālava, the excellent discus dispatched

by Viṣṇu will sever his head, O women, without doubt.

Then, regaining his true form, liberated from the curse, the noble Durdama,

your husband, will go again to heaven; there is no doubt about this.

Then, having reached heaven, this Durdama, your husband,

bearing a handsome guise, will take his pleasure with you, O lovely ones."

The auspicious Sūta said:

Having spoken thus to those excellent women of Durdama,

Vasiṣṭha, devoted to the Lord of Hālāsya, swiftly departed to his own hermitage.

Then the women, embracing their husband Durdama, distressed,

wept, agitated by sorrow and plunged into the midst of an ocean of grief. / Even as they were looking on, Durdama became a rākṣasa,

with huge fangs, a massive body, and red beard and hair.

Seeing him, the women, agitated by fear, departed for heaven.

Then, in the guise of a rākṣasa, this Durdama of terrifying form,

devouring all living creatures, from country to country, from forest to forest,

wandering with the speed of the wind, then went to Dharma tīrtha.

Thus sixteen years passed while he was wandering.

Then, at the end of the sixteen years, O lords of sages, this rākṣasa,

in order to devour the sage Gālava who resided at Dharma tīrtha,

rushed forward with the speed of the wind; and he [Gālava] praised Janārdana.

Praised by Gālava, Viṣṇu then impelled his discus

to protect the sage Gālava who was oppressed by the rākṣasa.

Then, arriving, the discus of Hari severed the head of the rākṣasa.

Then, abandoning his rākṣasa body and endowed with a divine form,

mounting an excellent aerial chariot and showered with flowers, Durdama,

bowing down with joined palms, paid homage to Sudarśana

and praised it with foremost words pleasant to the ear, with reverence.

Durdama said:

O Sudarśana, homage to you, sole ornament of Viṣṇu's hand!

Homage to you, destroyer of asuras, radiant with the splendor of a thousand suns!

By a fraction of your grace, having abandoned this rākṣasa body,

I have attained Viṣṇu's own form. O disc weapon, homage to you!

Permit me to go to heaven, O beloved of Viṣṇu;

my wives are grieving, their hearts anguished by separation.

Indeed, so that my mind may remain fixed on you as long as I live,

grant your grace unto me in that way. O disc, homage to you!

Thus praised with devotion by Durdama, Viṣṇu's disc,

O best of sages, immediately granted him favor, saying: "So be it."

Permitted by the disc weapon, Durdama bowed to the sage Gālava,

and, permitted by him, the gandharva went to heaven.

When Durdama had gone to heaven, Gālava, the best of sages,

prayed to the disc, the unexcelled weapon of Viṣṇu:

"O disc weapon, crusher of great asuras, I bow to you!

On the border of Devīpaṭṭana, in this unexcelled sacred ford of Dharma,

manifest your presence, which destroys all sins.

Due to your presence here, for all sinners who bathe [in it],

destroy their sins, and bestow eternal liberation.

Ordain for the world its renown as Cakratīrtha.

From your presence, let there be the destruction of fear for the sages here

from now on, O noble one. O disc weapon, homage to you!

Let there be no fear of bhūtas, pretas, and piśācas, O lord!"

Thus entreated by Gālava, O best of sages,

the disc said, "So be it," and vanished into that sacred ford.

The venerable Sūta said:

Thus, O brahmins, the origin of that rākṣasa has been told to you by me,

and the māhātmya of Cakratīrtha, which removes impurity, has been narrated,

hearing which a mortal on earth is freed from all sins.

The seers said:

O disciple of Vyāsa, O great sage, O Sūta, best of mythologists!

Beginning from Darbhaśayana up to the limit of Devīpattana,

the unexcelled Cakratīrtha extends over a great expanse;

tell us now how it became broken in the middle.

You ought to dispel this doubt that resides in our minds.

The venerable Sūta said:

In ancient times, indeed, all the mountains possessed wings and were swift as thought;

along with the surrounding hills they roved, traveling through the skyways.

In cities, in realms, in villages, and in forests,

the mountains continually leaped down and rested everywhere on the earth.

Wherever the mountains swooped down and came to rest,

there men, cattle, and likewise hosts of other living beings

instantly met death, being crushed by the mountains.

When the classes of people, beginning with the brahmins, were destroyed straightway,

the gods quickly fell into distress due to the absence of sacrifices and other rites.

Then Indra, intensely enraged, seized the thunderbolt and, moving swiftly,

suddenly cut off the wings of the powerful mountains.

All the mountains, their wings being cut off by Indra,

having no other refuge, plunged into the ocean out of fear.

And while all the mountains were falling into the salt ocean,

some fell into Cakratīrtha as well, mistaking it for the ocean.

Its interior filled in the middle by those various fallen mountains,

the greatly sacred Cakratīrtha suffered a breach in its middle.

By chance, the great mountains did not fall on the two sides there;

therefore, indeed, at Darbhaśayana and likewise at Devīpura,

it appears broken in the middle, as if divided in two,

for Cakratīrtha was turned into dry ground by the mountains falling in its middle.

The venerable Sūta said:

Thus it has been related to you, O chief sages, how this sacred ford was made into dry land in the middle.

just as once the towering mountains suddenly fell here, their wings severed by Indra. (64)

Thus ends the fourth chapter, titled “Liberation from the Curse of the Gandharva Durdama,” in the Setumāhātmya of the third [part], the Brahmakhaṇḍa, in the Skandapurāṇa comprising eighty-one thousand verses. (4)