Skandapurana 3.2.15

Vyāsa said:

Then Brahmā and the other gods did not see the head.

Saying 'Alas, what shall we do?' those wise ones reflected.

Then Brahmā, accompanied by the gods, spoke to Viśvakarman:

Brahmā said:

"O Viśvakarman, you alone are ever the performer of deeds, O lord!

Quickly indeed make a solid face for the bowman!"

Then, having bowed to him, that divine architect was praised.

he spoke with supreme devotion to Brahmā, the lotus-born:

"Having brought about the sacrificial rite, the various gods speak quickly [of their shares].

Deprived of a share in the sacrifice, what further can I say before you?

O Lord, in this way may I also obtain a share in the sacrifice along with the gods!"

Brahmā said:

"I shall give you a share in all sacrifices, O carpenter of the gods!

In the Soma [sacrifice], O hero, you will be worshipped first by those learned in the Vedic scriptures.

Therefore, first join the head of Viṣṇu, O carpenter of the immortals!"

Viśvakarman said to the gods: "Bring the head then!"

"It is nowhere to be found," all the gods said, O best of kings.

When midday arrived, the sun was shining in the sky mounted on his chariot.

It was seen then by all the gods, and they brought a horse from the chariot.

Severing the head from the torso of the horse of the sun, O ruler of the earth,

the exceedingly clever Viśvakarman joined it to the headless torso [of Viṣṇu].

Beholding that Lord of the gods of gods, the gods offered praise:

The gods said:

"Salutations to you, O seed of the universe! Salutations to you, O lord of Kamalā!

Salutations to you, O ruler of the gods! Salutations to you, O lotus-eyed one!

You are the sustenance of all beings; you alone are the refuge of the righteous.

You are the slayer of all wicked ones. O Hayagrīva, salutations to you!

You are the syllable Om, the vaṣaṭ-call, the svāhā, and the fourfold svadhā.

You are primordial, O ruler of the gods! You alone are the eternal refuge.

You are the sacrifice, the lord of the sacrifice, the sacrificer, the offering, the hotṛ priest, and that which is offered.

For your sake the oblation is poured, O Lord; you alone are our refuge and friend.

You are Time, of terrifying form; you are the sun and the cool-rayed moon.

You are fire and Varuṇa, and you bring about the destruction of Time.

You alone are the three guṇas here, and you are indeed devoid of guṇas.

You are the abode of virtues, and the protector among all living beings.

You are twofold as female and male, among beasts, birds, and other creatures, and humans.

You are the fourfold race of beings, characterized by the eighty-four [hundred thousand species].

You are the end of day, the end of the fortnight, the end of the month, the year, the yuga,

the end of the kalpa, the great end, and the end of time, O Hari!

Being praised with such exceedingly celestial [hymns] by the gods, O king,

the satisfied Lord spoke before all the gods:

The Blessed Lord said:

"For what purpose have all the hosts of gods arrived here on the earth?

What is the reason for this, O gods? Are you oppressed by Daityas?"

The gods said:

"No fear has arisen from a Daitya; we were eager to perform sacrificial rites.

Intent on seeing you, we all searched the ten directions.

Deluded by your māyā, we were all agitated in mind and overcome with fear.

And then your supreme form absorbed in yoga was seen by us.

An ant was impelled by us to awaken you, O Lord;

then something unprecedented occurred, and your head was cut off.

Bringing the head of the sun's horse, the exceedingly clever Viśvakarman

joined the head to you, O Viṣṇu; therefore, O Lord, you have become Hayagrīva."

Viṣṇu said:

"I am pleased, O dwellers of heaven all! I grant your desired boon.

I have become Hayagrīva, the god of gods, the lord of the universe.

Neither wrathful nor misshapen, [this form is] served even by the gods.

I have become the giver of boons, O gods, pleased to be called Hayānana."

Vyāsa said:

When the sacrificial session was completed, the wise Creator, with a satisfied mind,

then gave a share of the sacrifice to the ants and to Viśvakarman.

And at the conclusion of the sacrifice, having bowed to the foremost among the gods, he departed to heaven.

Know this to be the reason why Hari has the face of a horse.

Yudhiṣṭhira said:

"By whom the entire earth was truly encompassed with a single stride,

and in every pore of whose bodily hairs there exist, one by one,

thousands of cosmic eggs, visible, O you of great splendor—"

The Veda does not know whose limit; how indeed could there be the severing of [his] head?

Vyāsa said:

Listen, O best of the Pāṇḍavas, to the auspicious ancient tale.

Indeed, no one among the moving and unmoving knows the conduct of Īśvara.

Once the gods, along with Indra, went to the assembly of Brahmā,

along with all [beings] from the earth-world onwards, both unmoving and moving,

all the gods and divine seers, to bow down to the grandfather [of the worlds].

Viṣṇu also came there to the assembly for the purpose of counsel.

And Brahmā, exceedingly arrogant, then spoke these words:

“O gods, listen! Who is the great cause among the three?

Let the gods truly say who [is greatest] among Brahmā, Īśa, and Viṣṇu.”

Hearing those words, the gods were filled with astonishment.

Then the gods said: “We gods do not know.”

Then Brahmā's wife spoke to Viṣṇu, the lord of the gods:

“Tell me who is the greatest even among the three gods.”

Viṣṇu said:

“The three worlds are deluded solely by the power of Viṣṇu's māyā.”

Then Brahmā said this: “You do not know, O lord!

One is not at all deluded by the power of your māyā, not like that at all.

The god who is the sustainer of the universe, the lord of the universe, is intent on pride and violence.

All these [beings], enveloped by Viṣṇu's māyā, do not recognize you as the eldest.”

Then Brahmā, enraged with fury, his face trembling,

spoke words in anger: “O Viṣṇu, listen to my words!

That mouth with which these words were uttered in the assembly—

may that head fall quickly in a short time!”

Then a cry of woe arose from all, led by Indra and the seers.

The foremost gods begged Brahmā for pardon on behalf of Viṣṇu.

And Viṣṇu, hearing those words, [said:] “True, it will truly happen.”

Then Viṣṇu of great splendour, by producing a sacred ford,

practised austerity there in Dharmāraṇya, the lord of the gods.

Seeing his face become a horse's head, Janārdana became Hayagrīva.

He practised austerity, O fortunate one, together with Brahmā, O descendant of Bharata.

It could not be done by anyone else; by himself alone he was pleased.

Brahmā also, engaged in austerity, performed tapas for three hundred years.

Standing right in front of Viṣṇu, [he was] deluded by Viṣṇu's māyā.

Pleased, the god of gods, the lord of the universe, said for the sake of the sacrifice:

“O Brahmā, today you have freedom; my māyā is indeed difficult to endure.”

Then Brahmā obtained a boon; with a joyful heart Janārdana

spoke sweet words for the benefit of all:

“Here has arisen a great sacred field, holy and destroying sin.

And let this be imbued with Brahmā and Viṣṇu; of this there is no doubt.”

Such is the majesty of the sacred ford, O king! Then Hari, the horse-headed one,

became one with an auspicious face, through [restoring] his former face indeed.

Kṛṣṇa then became endowed with the beauty of ten million Kandarpa gods, O king.

Brahmā also, engaged in austerity for three hundred divine years,

where [austerity] was performed with Sāvitrī, Viṣṇu's māyā does not torment [him].

A fifth head, or like that of a tiger, was made by māyā;

made charming in Dharmāraṇya, it was severed long ago by Hara.

Having granted a boon to him, Viṣṇu then vanished from sight.

Brahmā, having established there a sacred ford and Trilocana,

the god named Mukteśa, and the Mokṣatīrtha, O subduer of enemies,

that best of gods also went to his own abode served by the gods.

There the departed spirits go to heaven, fully gratified by libation.

The fruit of a horse sacrifice is obtained in bathing, and the fruit born of the gift of a cow in drinking.

The sacred fords beginning with Puṣkara, and the rivers beginning with the Gaṅgā,

the deities and the ancestors come here for the purpose of bathing.

Whoever worships Mukteśa on the full moon of Kārttika under the conjunction of Kṛttikā,

having bathed in the charming divine lake and bowed to the god Janārdana,

the person who performs this with devotion is completely freed from all sins.

Having enjoyed pleasures as desired, he goes to the world of Viṣṇu.

[Whether] a woman is childless, one who has borne only one child, one whose children have died in infancy, or one whose offspring are stillborn,

if husband and wife bathe properly clad in a single garment according to the rules,

it will certainly destroy that fault which obstructs the attainment of progeny.

By the grace of Mokṣeśvara, one will increase sons, grandsons, and descendants.

Or, single-mindedly, endowed with truthfulness, she should give fruits;

having placed them in a bamboo vessel, the woman is freed from the fault.

And the gods attain the fruit of an Agniṣṭoma sacrifice, O king.

Brahmā, Hari, and Hara perform supreme austerity,

having bathed at the three junctures of the day in the divine lake in Dharmāraṇya.

There Mokṣeśvara Śambhu was established indeed by the gods.

Having performed complete recitation of mantras there, one will not suckle the breast again.

Thus, O great king, the sacred field is renowned in the three worlds.

Whoever performs the ancestral rite there for the ancestors, endowed with faith,

redeems seven lineages and one hundred and one ancestral families.

The divine lake is exceedingly delightful, filled with various flowers,

dark with all sorts of white water lilies and diverse aquatic creatures,

attended by Brahmā, Viṣṇu, Maheśa, and other gods and humans,

attended by siddhas, yakṣas, and sages, auspicious on all sides.

Yudhiṣṭhira said:

What is that lake celebrated as, in that place, O best of the twice-born?

Describe its form and character to me as it truly is.

Vyāsa said:

Well said, well said, O highly wise Yudhiṣṭhira, son of Dharma!

By reciting its praise, indeed, one is freed from all sins.

Exceedingly clear, cool, with a splendour like the water of the Gaṅgā,

its water is holy, sweet, and delicious, O best of kings.

It is very vast, deep, dug by the gods, and captivating to the mind,

deep with waves and the like, full of foam and whirlpools,

swarming with fish, frogs, turtles, and alligators,

rich in conches, pearl-oysters, and the like, well adorned with royal swans,

accompanied by banyan and plakṣa trees, surrounded by peepals and mango trees,

abounding in cakravākas, cranes, sārusa cranes, and lapwings,

adorned with lovely, fragrant, clear parasol-like lotus leaves,

frequented by all birds, well beautified by sārusa cranes and others,

attended by gods, sages, brahmins, and mortals, O ruler of the earth,

attended [by all], destroying sorrow, and eradicating all sins.

Its glory is without beginning or end; it is frequented by hosts of siddhas,

always with ablutions and the like, that lake, O best of kings.

Whoever duly performs the release of a dark bull on its bank,

no ghosts exist in his family for as long as the fourteen Indras reign.

And those who perform the gift of a maiden there according to the rules, O king,

they abide in the world of Brahmā until the dissolution of all beings.

A female buffalo, a household maidservant, and a milch cow along with her calf,

gold, learning, and likewise land, chariots, elephants, and garments—

whoever gives [these] there with faith attains imperishable heaven.

Whoever recites the māhātmya of the Devakhāta in the presence of Śiva

attains long life and happiness; there is no doubt about this.

Whatever man or woman listens to this wonder with devotion,

welfare will be in their family even at the end of a kalpa, O Yudhiṣṭhira.

All this has been narrated by me: the cause of Hayagrīva,

and the majesty of that sacred ford, for the destruction of all sins.

Thus ends the fifteenth chapter, titled 'The Description of the Account of Hayagrīva,' in the Dharmāraṇyamāhātmya, in the first part of the third Brahmakhaṇḍa, in the glorious Skandapurāṇa consisting of eighty-one thousand verses.