Skandapurana 4.47

Skanda said:

Now, in the northern direction, there is the excellent pool named Arka,

There, under the name Uttarārka, the sun, garlanded with rays, resides,

scorching the mass of sorrows and sustaining the virtuous: the sun,

Uttarārka of mighty splendor, constantly protects Kāśī.

Listen, O you of noble vows, to the ancient story that took place there.

There was a certain brahmin named Priyavrata, born in the lineage of Atri,

who lived in Kāśī, of auspicious conduct, always fond of guests.

He had a wife named Śubhavratā, exceedingly charming,

devoted to serving her husband, and very skillful in household duties.

Upon her he fathered a daughter endowed with auspicious marks,

under the first quarter of the Mūla asterism, with Jupiter in an angle.

She grew in her parents' house like the moon in the bright fortnight,

beautiful, well-mannered, and bringing delight to her parents;

she became exceedingly skilled in cleaning the household utensils.

Just as that maiden grew up in her father's home,

so also did her father's anxiety increase all the more:

"To whom should this excellent, charming, well-featured girl be given?

Where shall I find an excellent bridegroom suited to her,

endowed with noble family, age, good character, sacred learning,

beauty, and wealth? Given to whom would she find happiness?"

As he was thus anxious, a very dreadful fever came upon him—

that fever called anxiety, which is not alleviated in men even by medicines.

Through the ripening of that Mūla asterism and through that fever called anxiety,

the brahmin attained death, leaving behind all his home and possessions.

When her father had passed away, that maiden's mother also,

Śubhavratā, abandoned the girl and followed her husband in death.

"This is the duty of a female companion: whether he lives or dies,

she who is bound by fidelity to her husband must always remain beside him alone.

Neither child protects, nor mother, nor father, nor relatives;

only service at the feet of the husband protects a woman."

Distressed with grief at her parents' demise,

Sulakṣaṇā performed the funeral rites, completed the ten-day period,

and fell into great anxiety, helpless and brought to despair:

"How shall I, alone, bereft of father and mother,

reach the far shore of the ocean of worldly existence, hard to cross, when womanhood is vulnerable to everything?

I was not given to any suitor by my parents;

then, ungiven, how can I freely choose another bridegroom?

Even if chosen, if he is not of good family, not virtuous, and not of good character,

or not independent, what good would come from choosing him?"

Reflecting thus, she who was endowed with beauty, nobility, and virtue,

though continually wooed again and again by many young men,

the maiden allowed none of them entry into her heart.

Having seen the demise of her parents and such parental love [cut short],

she reproached herself in many ways, and she reproached worldly existence:

"Those two by whom I was begotten and by whom I was nurtured—

where have those parents gone? Fie on the impermanence of embodied beings!

Alas, even the body is impermanent, just as happened to my parents before my eyes!"

Having resolved thus, that young woman, having conquered her senses and mind,

firmly adopted celibacy and undertook severe austerity

near the god Uttarārka, with her mind unwavering.

While she was practicing austerity, a small she-goat

came there every day and stood motionless before her.

Having eaten a little grass, leaves, and the like in the evening,

and having drunk water from that pool, it would return to its master's house.

Then, when five or six years had passed in this manner,

the god, wandering sportively, arrived there together with the goddess.

In the presence of Uttarārka, Sthāṇu [Śiva] beheld Sulakṣaṇā performing austerity,

motionless like a pillar, emaciated by austerity.

Then Śambhu was petitioned by Girijā, whose heart was filled with compassion:

"Favor with a boon this slender-waisted girl who is bereft of kin!"

Hearing the words of Śarvāṇī, Śarva, the ocean of compassion,

To her whose eyes were closed in deep meditation, Hara, the giver of boons, said:

“O Sulakṣaṇā, I am pleased; choose a boon, O woman of virtuous vows!

You have long been weary from your tapas; what wish of yours is there here?”

Hearing Śambhu's words that showered nectar from his mouth

and assuaged intense torment, she opened her eyes.

Beholding visibly before her the three-eyed god intent on granting a boon,

and the goddess standing at his left side, she bowed with folded hands.

While the slender-waisted maiden was pondering, “What shall I choose?”

just then she caught sight of the wretched she-goat before her.

“In this world of living beings, what man does not live for himself?

He alone lives who lives for the sake of helping others.

By this [creature], who witnessed the course of my tapas for a long time,

I was attended; therefore, I will ask the Lord of the Universe for a boon for her.”

Having reflected on this in her mind, Sulakṣaṇā addressed the three-eyed god:

“O Mahādeva, storehouse of mercy, if a boon is to be granted to me,

then let this wretched young female goat first be shown grace.

Owing to her animal nature she knows not how to speak at all, yet she is tender in her devotion to me.”

Hearing this speech distinguished by benevolence toward others,

the Lord who dispels the distress of the bowed was exceedingly pleased with Sulakṣaṇā.

Then the God of gods said: “Look, O Goddess, O daughter of the Mountain King!

Such is the intellect of the virtuous, exalted by aiding others.

They are fortunate throughout all worlds, and they are the refuge of all virtues,

who strive with their whole being for the sake of helping others.

Accumulations of all possessions never endure for long anywhere;

helping others alone endures for a very long time, my beloved.

Blessed is this Sulakṣaṇā, worthy of an act of grace.

Tell, O goddess, my beloved, what boon should be given to her, and what to this she-goat?”

The holy Goddess said:

“O Maker of the makers of all creation, omniscient one, dispeller of the distress of the bowed!

Let Sulakṣaṇā of virtuous conduct and auspicious resolve become my companion,

even as Jayā and Vijayā, and even as Jayantikā,

Śubhanandā, Sunandā, Kaumudī, and Urmilā,

as Campakamālā, as Malayavāsinī,

as Karpūralatikā, and as auspicious Gandhadhārā,

as Aśokā, Viśokā, and Malayagandhinī,

as Candananiḥśvāsā, as Mṛgamadottamā,

as Kokilālāpā, as Madhurabhāṣiṇī,

as she who is a treasury of prose and verse, as she who understands what is unsaid,

as she who knows hints from the glance of an eye, as she who fulfills wishes,

and as she who captivates hearts with song—even so let this Sulakṣaṇā be!

She will be very dear to me, since as a girl she has remained celibate.

Adorned with divine limbs in this very body,

bearing divine garments, divine fragrance, endowed with divine wisdom,

holding a waving flywhisk, let her abide forever near me.

And may this she-goat become the daughter of the king of Kāśī here;

having enjoyed worldly pleasures here, she will attain unsurpassed liberation.

For she bathed in this Arkakuṇḍa in the month of Puṣya, on a Sunday,

before the sun had risen, her mind undisturbed by the cold.

Through that merit, let this bright-eyed creature become a princess,

by the power of the granting of your boon, O Viśveśvara, O Lord!

Let the name of Arkakuṇḍa become Barkarīkuṇḍa;

her image shall be worshipped here by mortals.

In the month of Puṣya, on a Sunday, for the god Uttarārka,

that annual pilgrimage must not be omitted by those desiring the fruit of Kāśī.”

Having brought to pass everything that was spoken by Mṛḍānī, the omnipresent, all-pervading Lord,

Viśvanātha, unperceived, entered his palace.

Skanda said:

The māhātmya of Lolārka and Uttarārka, O twice-born,

has been related to you, O fortunate one; now hear about Sāmbāditya!

Having heard this sacred, auspicious narrative of Lolārka and Uttarārka,

one will not be overcome by diseases, nor is one afflicted by poverty. (60)

Thus ends the forty-seventh chapter, named 'Description of Uttarārka', in the first half of the Kāśīkhaṇḍa, in the glorious Skanda Mahāpurāṇa consisting of eighty-one thousand verses. (47)