Skandapurana 3.2.27

Sūta said:

Near to it was the sacred ford observed by Mārkaṇḍeya,

named Govatsa, renowned everywhere on earth.

Having descended there in the form of a calf, the husband of Ambikā,

the Lord of the worlds, stood established in the form of a self-manifest liṅga.

There was a king named Balāhaka, a devotee of Rudra, endowed with great strength,

engaged in hunting, a conqueror of the cities of his foes.

Having seen a calf standing in a herd of deer, by his foot-soldier

the king was told: 'A wonder has been seen by me, O best of kings!

A calf standing in the midst of a herd of deer was seen by me;

it is affectionate toward them, and devoid of its mother.'

Desiring to see the wonder, the king spoke to that foot-soldier standing before him:

'Show me!' and he approached the calf.

Having gone to the forest then, it was shown to the king by the foot-soldier.

When the herd of deer, frightened by the foot-soldiers, fled,

and departed toward a pīlu thicket, the calf then set out.

The king, desiring to capture it, entered the thicket with eagerness.

The king himself saw that calf standing there;

as he took hold of it, it became a blazing liṅga.

Seeing that, the king was astonished and thought, “What is this?”

Indeed, while he was thus thinking, he left his body and went to heaven.

At that moment, the roar of the gods' shouts of victory was heard everywhere in the sky.

A shower of flowers fell from the sky, and instantly the king reached the realm of Śiva.

Meanwhile, [another] sees standing there that navel-born, youthful calf.

“Surely this is Mahādeva, Maheśvara in the form of a calf.”

Determined to bring it along, the king raised it up.

Then indeed that divine liṅga would not rise by any means.

Thereupon, the gods along with him prayed to Īśvara.

The gods said:

“O Lord, ruler of all the gods! You must remain [here], O all-pervading one,

in the form of a white liṅga, desiring the welfare of all the worlds.”

The venerable Mahādeva said:

“I will always remain here, O deities, in the form of a liṅga.

Because on the new-moon day of the dark fortnight in the month of Bhādrapada,

those who perform a ritual ablution there on that day according to rule,

and worship the liṅga—for them there is no fear.

And without the offering of a funeral ball, ancestors for eternal years

who have gone to the dreadful hell of Raurava and to Kumbhīpāka,

and those dwelling in many hells or gone into animal wombs,

by offering a funeral ball just once, their destination shall become imperishable.”

Then King Balāhaka, accompanied by all the gods,

installed that liṅga in the presence of all the deities.

He made numerous gifts wishing for the welfare of the worlds.

Indeed, as he was worshiping in this manner, Rudra himself arrived.

Rudra said:

“On this night, those men endowed with faith and devotion

who worship the lord of the gods—their merit is boundless.

Those who keep a vigil, accompanied by songs and scripture,

those mortals will redeem one hundred and one generations of their family.

The sacred fords—Naimiṣa, Puṣkara, Gayā,

Prayāga, Prabhāsa, Dvārakā, Mathurā, and Arbuda—roar only as long

as this most wondrous calf-liṅga is not seen.

For whenever one sets his mind toward going to the calf [liṅga],

then all those born of his lineage surely dance rejoicing.”

Sūta said:

“Listen, O twice-born ones, to another wondrous event that took place there,

by the mere hearing of which destruction of all sins occurs.

When that ancient liṅga was established by all the gods,

due to the power of the consecration by Viṣṇu and by all the celestials,

it expanded each day by the measure of an atom.

Then those men and gods, being afraid, went to him for refuge.

The gods said:

“O lord of the gods, check the growth! Let there be well-being for the worlds!”

When this was spoken, a bodiless voice then spoke from the liṅga.

Śiva's voice said:

“O people, do not fear! Let this remedy be heard:

bring a certain caṇḍāla and place him firmly before me.”

And having brought caṇḍālas, they placed them before the deity;

nevertheless, its growth did not cease at all.

The voice said:

“O people, let one who is a caṇḍāla by deed be placed before me.”

Hearing that, being greatly astonished, they set their minds to searching.

Then, searching the villages and towns,

they saw a wicked pseudo-brahmin engaged in [cruel] actions.

At midday he was driving bulls laden with heavy burdens,

afflicted by hunger, thirst, and fatigue, and weak, being cruel-minded.

[O Brahmins, here eating stale food without even bathing,]

taking that lord of the gods, they went to where the guru of the universe was;

respectfully, they placed him on the ground in front of the temple.

Placed in front of Govatsa, he instantly turned to ashes. // 36

This [place] became known upon earth as Caṇḍālasthala.

Even today, that temple cannot be seen by those standing there. // 37

From that time forward, that liṅga assumed an ordinary nature.

His sins washed away by looking upon the liṅga, the twice-born went to the tīrtha. // 38

Freed from sin, he worshipped Govatsa every day,

having arrived especially on the fourteenth day of the dark fortnight. // 39

Whatever man hears with devotion this wonder of that god

who bears the trident is freed from all sins. // 3.2.27.40

The ghost said:

Known as Govatsa, it bestows supreme merit upon mortals,

destroying the sins of many births, as related by Mārkaṇḍeya. // 41

A single ritual ablution in that tīrtha grants the realm of Rudra to mortals;

it serves to purify the sinful body of those whose minds are struck down by sin. // 42

By offering libations at the well and by śrāddha, satisfaction is attained,

especially in the month of Bhādrapada, at the close of the fortnight, in the Kali age. // 43

The supreme satisfaction of the ancestors that is gained

by offering libations twenty-one times at Gayā, is gained at once indeed at the Gaṅgākūpaka. // 44

Near that Govatsa stands the Gaṅgākūpaka;

satisfied with even water and sesame seeds offered therein,

ancestors go to a good realm, or [are freed] from hell, through the good merit of a wise descendant.

The foremost sages praise the gift of a cow at that tīrtha. // 46

A gift of gold to a brahmin leads a man to the realm of Rudra.

The Sarasvatī in the sacred field of Śiva, and the Gaṅgā in Gaṅgākūpaka—

this triad situated in one place is the cause of heaven and liberation.

Resorted to by seers and perfected beings, the tīrtha is celebrated everywhere. // 48

A pair of Pīlu trees stands there; that tīrtha is frequented by sages;

by ablution it bestows heaven, and by drinking it gives purification from sin. // 49

From reciting [its name] it generates merit, and from serving it, it bestows supreme liberation.

Those who behold it with devotion, even if one be a slayer of a brahmin, or a slayer of a mother, // 3.2.27.50

a slayer of a child, a killer of a cow, or killers of women or śūdras,

poisoners, arsonists, those intent on betraying their guru, // 51

revilers of ascetics, and one who gives false testimony,

one who speaks of another's fault, and one who erases another's virtues— // 52

though composed of all sins, here one is freed by the darśana of the liṅga. // 53

Thus ends the twenty-seventh chapter, entitled 'The Description of the Story of Balāhaka' in the Dharmāraṇyamāhātmya, in the Pātālakhaṇḍa of the third Brahmakhaṇḍa, in the glorious Skandapurāṇa consisting of eighty-one thousand verses. // 27