Skandapurana 3.2.8

Yudhiṣṭhira said:

Hearing the holy story of Dharmāraṇya, there is no satiety in me, O lord.

Whenever you tell it, then my mind is filled with eagerness.

What happened after this? Great curiosity indeed is mine.

Vyāsa said:

Listen, O son of Pṛthā, to the most holy narrative arising from the Skandapurāṇa,

spoken by Sthāṇu to Skanda, auspicious, arising from Dharmāraṇya,

yielding the fruit of every sacred ford, destroying all afflictions.

To the god of gods, teacher of the universe, seated on the peak of Kailāsa,

five-faced, ten-armed, three-eyed, holding the trident in hand,

with a skull and khaṭvāṅga in his hands, having a serpent as his sacred thread,

surrounded there by his gaṇas, bowed to by gods and asuras,

sung with diverse melodies and virtues, accompanied by Nārada and others,

served by gandharvas and apsarases—to that husband of Umā

dwelling there, the son bowed down to Mahādeva and said:

Skanda said:

O Master, Indra and the other gods, Brahmā and the rest, entirely,

have arrived at your door, desiring only your darśana.

What do you command, O god? What shall I do before you?

Vyāsa said:

Hearing the words of Skanda, Hara rose from his seat;

not mounting the bull, he was desirous of departing then.

Seeing Śiva desirous of departing, Skanda then spoke these words:

Skanda said:

What business of the gods is it, O god, that you are summoned in haste?

Leaving aside your bull, O ocean of compassion, tell me if there is compassion for me:

Is it a battle between gods and dānavas, or what greater task is it?

Śiva said:

Listen with one-pointed mind to that on account of which my thoughts are distracted:

There is a most holy place on the earth, Dharmāraṇya.

Even there I wish to go together with the gods, O six-faced one.

Skanda said:

Having gone there, O Mahādeva, what will you do now?

Tell me that in its entirety, O Lord of the Universe—the whole task.

Śiva said:

Let my words be heard, O son, which cause joy to the mind,

the great [narrative] from the beginning of all events, bringing about creation and preservation.

When the dissolution had occurred, enveloped on all sides by darkness,

there existed then the one Brahman, beyond the qualities, the imperishable seed.

First created indeed by the qualities is that declared to be the great substance.

When the great cosmic age had arrived, and the moving and unmoving had gone to destruction,

the Lord of the Universe, having the form of water, sporting in play,

after a long time had passed, produced with the true principles beginning with earth

a tree charming with ten thousand branches,

laden with vast fruits, adorned with a trunk, stem, and the like:

rich with an abundance of fruits, possessing hanging aerial roots—a great banyan tree.

Then, having assumed the state of a child, Vāsudeva Janārdana

lies upon the leaves of the banyan tree, eager to fashion the universe.

In the navel-lotus of Viṣṇu, Brahmā, the creator of the worlds, was born,

seeing everything made of water, formless, without shapes.

Seeing that, suddenly in agitation, Brahmā, the grandfather of the worlds,

then said this, O son: 'What shall I do for certain?'

Then from the god, an incorporeal voice arose in the sky:

'Perform austerity, O creator, O maker, so that you may have vision of me!'

Hearing that speech there, Brahmā, the grandfather of the worlds,

practised terrible, supreme, most arduous, and great austerity.

Then the lord of Kamalā, smiling in the form of a child,

the compassionate one, spoke sweet words in childlike play:

Śrī Viṣṇu said:

"Son, according to rule, create today within the cosmic egg

Pātāla, the surface of the earth, the seas, oceans, and forests,

trees, mountains, two-footed beings, and animals,

birds, gandharvas, siddhas, yakṣas, and rākṣasas,

beasts of prey and whatever living beings there are across eighty-four [hundred thousand] wombs:

plant-born, sweat-born, womb-born, and egg-born,

twenty-one hundred thousand wombs of each.

Create all of this swiftly." Having spoken thus, he vanished.

Everything and the cosmic egg were fashioned by Brahmā just as instructed,

in which the grandfather, the single sovereign Prajāpati, was born:

Sthāṇu, the preceptor of the gods, the sun, and the Pracetases of Parameṣṭhin,

as well as Dakṣa, Dakṣa's sons, and the seven seers.

From him arose the twenty-one lords of creatures,

and the immeasurable Puruṣa; thus the seers of the lineages know [it].

The Viśvedevas, the Ādityas, the Vasus, and the two Aśvins,

yakṣas, piśācas, sādhyas, ancestors, and guhyakas,

then were born the eight wise, spotless brahmin-seers,

and many royal seers, all endowed with virtues;

sky, waters, earth, wind, the intermediate space, and the cardinal directions;

the year, seasons, months, fortnights, days and nights in succession;

kalās, kāṣṭhās, muhūrtas and the like, nimeṣas and the like, and lavas;

the circle of planets along with lunar mansions, the yugas, manvantaras, and the rest.

And whatever else there is, all that came into being, witnessed by the world.

This entire wheel that is seen, whatever is stationary or moving,

is contracted again, O son, when the destruction of the world arrives.

Just as in the change of seasons the seasonal signs and names and forms

are seen as the very same ones, so it is with the yugas and the rest, dear child."

Śiva said:

"Hereafter I shall tell an auspicious Purāṇic narrative,

and likewise, O son, the recital of Brahmā's lineage.

Known as the mind-born sons of Brahmā are six great seers:

Marīci, Atri, Aṅgiras, Pulastya, Pulaha, and Kratu.

Kaśyapa was the son of Marīci; from Kaśyapa the subsequent creatures

were born: the thirteen fortunate daughters of Dakṣa—

Aditi, Diti, Danu, Kālā, Danāyu, and Siṃhikā,

Krodhā, Provā, Vasiṣṭhā, Vinatā, and Kapilā,

and Kaṇḍū, and Sunetrā—he gave to Kaśyapa then.

In Aditi the twelve fair-faced Ādityas were born.

From Sūrya was born the king of dharma; by him this was fashioned of old.

Seeing that it was fashioned by Dharma, [he made] the unsurpassed Dharmāraṇya.

It is called Dharmāraṇya, which bestows merit, as told by me, O Skanda."

Skanda said:

"The supremely purifying account of Dharmāraṇya,

all that I wish to hear; tell it, O Maheśvara!"

Īśvara said:

"All the gods beginning with Indra followed along with Brahmā.

I shall indeed go to that sacred field which destroys sin."

Skanda said:

"I too shall come to see it, O moon-crested one!"

Sūta said:

Then Skanda, Rudra, Sūrya, the wind, and fire,

siddhas and gandharvas, and likewise the auspicious apsarases,

piśācas, all the guhyakas, Indra, and Varuṇa,

all the serpents, Śukra, and Vācaspati arrived,

all the planets with the lunar mansions, the eight Vasus beginning with Dhruva,

all those who roam the sky, and whatever others dwell on mountains,

and all the gods headed by Brahmā [came] to Vaikuṇṭha with great joy.

Then Brahmā [went] for deliberation to Viṣṇu of immeasurable splendour.

Having gone to that Vaikuṇṭha, Brahmā, the grandfather of the worlds,

meditated for a moment and, greatly delighted, spoke to Viṣṇu.

Brahmā said:

"Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa, O mighty-armed one, compassionate one, Supreme Lord!

You are the creator, you are the destroyer, and you alone are the father of the universe.

Homage to you, O Viṣṇu, gentle one! Homage to you whose emblem is Garuḍa!

Homage to you, beloved of Kamalā! Homage to you whose form is Brahman!

Homage to you who took the form of the Fish! Homage indeed to you whose form is the universe!

Homage to you, destroyer of Daityas, who grants fearlessness to devotees!

Homage be to you, slayer of Kaṃsa! Homage to the conqueror of the demon Bala!"

Thus praised by Brahmā, Janārdana became visible [before him]—

wearing yellow garments, dark as a raincloud, having the enemy of serpents as his vehicle,

four-armed, of great splendour, holding the conch, discus, and mace,

being praised by all the gods, that deity of immeasurable valor,

and praised on every side by Vidyādharas and Nāgas.

That god then stood up, possessing the boundless radiance of the sun,

adorned with a crown and other [ornaments] shining with the brilliance of ten million gems.

Thus ends the eighth chapter, titled 'The Meeting with Viṣṇu', in the Dharmāraṇyamāhātmya of the first part of the third Brahmakhaṇḍa in the glorious Skanda Mahāpurāṇa consisting of eighty-one thousand verses.