Skandapurana 4.29.42.1

4.29.42.1

... agastya uvāca .. ..
vinā snānena gaṃgāyā nṛṇāṃ janmaniratharkam ..
upāyāṃtaramastyanyadyena snānaphalaṃ labhet ..1..
aśaktānāṃ ca paṃgūnāmālasyopahatātmanām ..
dūradeśāṃtarasthānāṃ gaṃgāsnānaṃ kathaṃ bhavet .. 2 ..
dānaṃ vā'tha vrataṃvā'tha maṃtraḥstotrajapo'thavā ..
tīrthāṃtarābhiṣeko vā devatopāsanaṃ tu vā .. 3 ..
yadyastikiṃcitṣaḍvaktra gaṃgāsnānaphalapradam ..
vidhānāṃtaramātreṇa tadvada praṇatāya me .. 4 ..
tvatto na vedaskaṃdānyo gaṃgāgarbha samudbhava ..
paraṃ svargataraṃgiṇyā mahimānaṃ mahāmate .. 5 ..
.. skaṃda uvāca .. ..
saṃti puṇyajalānīha sarāṃsi sarito mune ..
sthāne sthāne ca tīrthāni jitātmādhyuṣitāni ca ..6..
dṛṣṭapratyayakārīṇi mahāmahima bhāṃjyapi ..
paraṃ svargataraṃgiṇyāḥ koṭyaṃśopi na tatra vai ..7 ..
anenaivānumānena buddhyasva kalaśodbhava ..
dadhre gaṃgottamāṃgena devadevena śaṃbhunā..8..
snānakāle'nya tīrtheṣu japyate jāhnavī janaiḥ ..
vinā viṣṇupadīṃ kvānyatsamarthamaghamocane..9..
gaṃgāsnānaphalaṃ brahmangaṃgāyāmeva labhyate..
yathā drākṣāphalasvādo drākṣāyāmeva nānyataḥ ..4.1.29.10..
astyupāya iha tvekaḥ syādyenāvikalaṃ phalam..
snānasya devasarito mahāguhyatamo mune.. 11..
śivabhaktāya śāṃtāya viṣṇubhaktiparāya ca ..
śraddhālave tvāstikāya garbhavāsamupukṣave .. 12 ..
kathanīyaṃ na cānyasya kasyacitkenacitkvacit ..
idaṃ rahasyaṃ paramaṃ mahāpātakanāśanam .. 13 ..
mahāśreyaskaraṃ puṇyaṃ manorathakaraṃ param ..
dyunadīprītijanakaṃ śivasaṃtoṣasaṃtati .. 14 ..
nāmnāṃ sahasragaṃgāyāḥ stavarājeṣuśo bhanam ..

Agastya said:
Without bathing in the Gaṅgā, the life of men is futile.
Is there any other means by which one may obtain the fruit of that bath? / 1
And for the incapacitated, the crippled, those crippled by indolence,
and those residing in distant lands, how can a bath in the Gaṅgā take place? / 2
Whether gift, vow, mantra, recitation of praise,
ablution at another sacred ford, or worship of a deity— / 3
if there is anything, O six-faced one, that grants the fruit of bathing in the Gaṅgā
merely through another ritual procedure, tell that to me who am bowed before you. / 4
No other than you, Skanda, born from the womb of the Gaṅgā,
knows the supreme majesty of the celestial river, O high-minded one. / 5
Skanda said:
There are lakes and rivers here with holy waters, O sage,
and sacred fords in place after place inhabited by self-subdued sages, / 6
which produce visible results and possess great majesty;
yet not even a ten-millionth part of the celestial river is found there. / 7
By this very inference, understand, O pitcher-born one:
the Gaṅgā was borne upon his head by Śambhu, the God of gods. / 8
At the time of bathing in other sacred fords, the Jāhnavī is chanted by people;
apart from the river born of Viṣṇu's foot, where else is anything capable of releasing sin? / 9
The fruit of bathing in the Gaṅgā, O brahmin, is obtained only in the Gaṅgā,
just as the taste of a grape fruit is in the grape itself and nowhere else. / 10
Yet there is one means here, O sage, by which the complete fruit
of bathing in the river of the gods may be attained; it is an utter secret: / 11
To a devotee of Śiva, peaceful, devoted to the worship of Viṣṇu,
full of faith, orthodox, and desirous of liberation from dwelling in the womb, / 12
it should be told, and never to anyone else, by anyone, anywhere.
This is the supreme secret, destroying great sins, / 13
bestowing great welfare, auspicious, granting desires, supreme,
producing the love of the heavenly river, a continuity of Śiva's delight, / 14
the thousand names of the Gaṅgā, glorious among the king of praises...