Skandapurana 4.45

Skanda said:

Then that host of Yoginīs, casting its gaze from afar,

praised the creation of the long reach of their eyes as fruitful.

The flags of the celestial rows of palaces, with fluttering banner-cloths,

seemed to respectfully summon travelers standing afar on the road.

By the flashing rubies of the palaces, their rays expanding,

the sky, though deep blue, was seen as exceedingly bright.

Concealing their divine nature through illusion and assuming the attire suited to pilgrims,

the circle of Yoginīs entered Kāśī without distinct order.

One became a female ascetic; another became a woman performing austerities;

one became a maidservant; another, a woman fasting for a month;

one, the wife of a garland-maker; another, the beautiful wife of a barber;

another, skilled in midwifery; another, proficient in medicine;

and one became a Vaiśya woman, clever at buying and selling;

one became a snake-catcher; and another, a female servant and nurse.

And one was skilled in dancing, while another was adept in singing;

Another knew how to play the flute, and another became a bearer of the lute. // 8

Another knew how to play the mṛdaṅga drum; one was versed in the art of rhythm;

One knew the reality of magical arts; one strung pearls; // 9

Another knew the preparation of perfumes; one was an abode of the art of dice;

One was skilled in conversational wit, walking through the public squares; // 10

Expert in climbing poles, and another [skilled] in walking the tightrope;

One acted like a madwoman on the road, wrapped in rags; // 11

Another lived there in the city, bestowing offspring upon the childless;

And one interpreted the signs of the lines on the hands and feet; // 12

One captivated people's hearts through her skill in painting pictures;

Knowing mantras of subjugation, one wandered about there; // 13

One granted the perfection of magic pills, another granted the perfection of magical collyrium;

Another was expert in alchemy, another granted the perfection of flying sandals; // 14

She also taught the immobilisation of fire, the immobilisation of water, and the arresting of speech;

One granted the power of moving through space; another gave invisibility; // 15

One granted the perfection of attraction; another [the power of] eradication;

One bewildered the minds of youths through the beauty of her own limbs; // 16

One granted whatever was desired; one was skilled in the art of astrology.

Having assumed disguises and dialects of these and other kinds on all sides, // 17

The host of yoginīs entered every courtyard and every house.

Roaming about day and night in the city in this manner for a year, // 18

Those [yoginīs], wishing to cause obstacles for the king, found no vulnerability anywhere.

Then, having assembled together, all those yoginīs, their desires thwarted, // 19

Conferred and stayed right there; they did not return to Mandara.

Not having accomplished their master’s work, elevated by the honor of his assembly, // 20

Who, with an uninjured body, could dare to stand before their master?

Moreover, O sage, this was reflected upon by those yoginīs: // 21

‘We can live even without our master, but never without Kāśī.

A master, even when angered at a good servant, takes away only the livelihood; // 22

Kāśī, slipping from one’s grasp, takes away the four aims of human life.

Even today, beginning from that time, O great sage, // 23

The yoginīs do not stay elsewhere having abandoned Kāśī, though they roam the three worlds.

The evil-minded person who, having attained glorious Kāśī, endures [leaving it]— // 24

He indeed, in turn, is abandoned by dharma, pleasure, wealth, and liberation.

What fool, having reached Kāśī, would wish to go elsewhere, // 25

His mind turned to petty prosperity, [away from] the treasure-jar of liberation?

Even if Īśvara is turned away from us, through the merit of serving Kāśī, // 26

He will become favorably disposed; both [aims are accomplished] and we have fulfilled our purpose.

In only a few days, even the Omniscient One will arrive; // 27

For without Kāśī, the Three-eyed Lord finds delight nowhere else.

This Kāśī is a certain power of Śambhu, beyond the grasp of all; // 28

Only Śambhu himself could truly know its supreme joy.’

Having thus resolved in their minds, in the Bliss Forest of Śambhu, // 29

The host of yoginīs remained, concealed by a certain illusion.

Vyāsa said:

Having heard this, the sage asked the Six-faced Lord once again:

“What are their respective names? Speak them, O lord! // 30

And what fruit is born from worshiping the yoginīs in Kāśī?

On what sacred occasion are they to be worshiped, and how are they to be worshiped? Speak that!” // 31

Then, having heard this question regarding the yoginīs, the son of Umā

Replied: “O sage, I shall tell; listen attentively! // 32

Skanda said:

I shall declare the names of the yoginīs, O jar-born one,

Hearing which, the sins of embodied beings are destroyed in an instant: // 33

Gajānanā, Siṃhamukhī, Gṛdhrāsyā, Kākatuṇḍikā,

Uṣṭragrīvā, Hayagrīvā, Vārāhī, Śarabhānanā, // 34

Ulūkikā, Śivārāvā, Mayūrī, Vikaṭānanā,

Aṣṭavaktrā, Koṭarākṣī, Kubjā, Vikaṭalocanā, // 35

Śuṣkodarī, Lalajjihvā, Śvadaṃṣṭrā, Vānarānanā,

Bear-eyed, Squint-eyed, Large-snouted, Lover of Liquor,

Skull-in-hand, Red-eyed, Parrot-faced, Falcon-faced, Dove-faced,

Noose-in-hand, Staff-in-hand, Fierce, of fierce prowess,

Child-slayer, Destroyer of Sins, Kālī, Blood-drinker,

Fat-sucker, Fetus-eater, Corpse-in-hand, Garlanded with Intestines,

Thick-haired, Large-bellied, Snake-mouthed, having a corpse for mount,

Serpent-in-hand, Curlew-faced, Deer-headed, Bull-faced,

Gaping-mouthed, with smoke for breath, Upward-looking with one foot in the sky,

Tormentor, with withered gaze, Hollow-faced, Broad-nosed,

Lightning-radiant, Crane-mouthed, Cat-faced, Kaṭapūtanā,

Boisterous-laugher, Kāmākṣī, Doe-eyed, Deer-eyed.

Whatever mortal chants these sixty-four names day after day,

at the three junctures of the day, all affliction caused by wicked beings is quelled for him here.

Neither ḍākinīs, nor śākinīs, nor kūṣmāṇḍas, nor rākṣasas

cause distress to him who recites these names.

They bring peace to children, and they bring safety to fetuses;

they bestow victory in battle, in royal assemblies, and in disputes.

A devotee of the seat of the yoginīs will attain his desired perfection;

even when muttering other mantras at that seat, he will become an obtainer of perfection.

Through offerings, worship, gifts, and dedications of incense and lamps,

the yoginīs, quickly pleased, will grant his wishes.

Having performed the great worship there in the autumn season according to rule,

and having offered oblations, one who knows the mantras will attain great perfection.

Beginning on the auspicious first lunar day of the bright fortnight of Āśvina,

a man should worship until the ninth; he will obtain whatever he has contemplated.

Fasting on the fourteenth day of the dark fortnight, the best of men,

having kept vigil there, will attain great perfection.

With the names beginning with Oṃ and ending in the dative case, a devoted man,

performing a burnt offering one hundred and eight times for each name at night,

with bdellium mixed with ghee, in portions the size of a small jujube,

attains whatever perfection he may desire.

On the first day of the dark fortnight of Caitra, a pilgrimage there should diligently

be undertaken by meritorious people to pacify obstacles in the sacred field.

Whoever, through disrespect, does not make the annual pilgrimage—

the yoginīs dwelling in Kāśī cause obstacle to him.

Having placed Maṇikarṇikā in front of them, all those [yoginīs] stand in Kāśī;

by merely saluting them, a man is not afflicted by obstacles.

Thus ends the forty-fifth chapter, named 'The Arrival of the Sixty Yoginīs', in the first half of the Kāśīkhaṇḍa, in the fourth [section] of the glorious Skandapurāṇa containing eighty-one thousand verses.