Skandapurana 4.51.4.6

4.51.4.6

tatropatiṣṭhatedyāpi uttareṇādikeśavāt .. 72 ..
ataḥ sa keśavādityaḥ kāśyāṃ bhaktatamonudaḥ ..
samarcitaḥ sadā deyānmanaso vāṃchitaṃ phalam .. 73 ..
keśavādityamārādhya vārāṇasyāṃ narottamaḥ ..
paramaṃ jñānamāpnoti yena nirvāṇabhāgbhavet .. 74 ..
tatra pādodake tīrthekṛtasarvodakakriyaḥ ..
vilokya keśavādityaṃ mucyate janmapātakaiḥ .. 75 ..
agaste rathasaptamyāṃ ravivāro yadāpyate ..
tadā pādodake tīrthe ādikeśava sannidhau ..76..
snātvoṣasi naro maunī keśavādityapūjanāt ..
saptajanmārjitātpāpānmukto bhavati tatkṣaṇāt .. 77..
yadyajjanmakṛtaṃ pāpaṃ mayā saptasu janmasu ..
tanme rogaṃ ca śokaṃ ca mākarī haṃtu saptamī .. 78 ..
etajjanmakṛtaṃ pāpaṃ yacca janmāṃtarārjitam ..
manovākkāyajaṃ yacca jñātājñāte ca ye punaḥ .. 79 ..
iti saptavidhaṃ pāpaṃ snānānme saptasaptike ..
saptavyādhisamāyuktaṃ hara mākari saptami .. 4.2.51.80 ..
etanmaṃtratrayaṃ japtvā snātvā pādodake naraḥ ..
keśavādityamālokya kṣaṇānniṣkaluṣo bhavet .. 81 ..
keśavādityamāhātmyaṃ śṛṇvañśraddhāsamanvitaḥ ..
naro na lipyate pāpaiḥ śivabhaktiṃ ca viṃdati .. 82 ..
.. skaṃda uvāca .. ..
ataḥ paraṃ śṛṇu mune vimalādityamuttamam ..
harikeśavane ramye vārāṇasyāṃ vyavasthitam.. 83 ..
uccadeśebhavatpūrvaṃ vimalo nāma bāhujaḥ ..
sa prāktanātkarmayogādvimale pathyapi sthitaḥ .. 84 ..
kuṣṭharogamavāpyoccaistyaktvā dārāngṛhaṃ vasu ..
vārāṇasīṃ samāsādya bradhnamārādhayatsudhīḥ .. 85 ..
karavīrairjapābhiśca gaṃdhakaiḥ kiṃśukaiḥ śubhaiḥ ..
raktotpalairaśokaiśca sa samānarca bhāskaram .. 86 ..

stands there even today, to the north of Ādikeśava. / Therefore, that Keśavāditya dispels the darkness of his devotees in Kāśī; / when worshipped, may he ever bestow the desired fruit of the mind. / Having worshipped Keśavāditya in Vārāṇasī, the best of men / attains supreme knowledge by which he becomes a sharer of liberation. / Performing all the rites with water there at the Pādodaka tīrtha, / upon gazing at Keśavāditya, one is freed from the sins of birth. / O Agastya, when Sunday occurs on the Rathasaptamī, / then at the Pādodaka tīrtha in the presence of Ādikeśava, / a man who bathes at dawn, silent, from the worship of Keśavāditya, / is freed in that very moment from sin accumulated over seven lifetimes: / "Whatever sin has been committed by me across seven lifetimes, / may this Saptamī of the month of Māgha destroy that along with my disease and sorrow! / Whatever sin has been committed in this lifetime, and whatever has been gathered in other lifetimes, / born of mind, speech, and body, and what is known and what is unknown— / thus this sevenfold sin of mine, O deity of the seven steeds, / together with the seven diseases, through my bath, destroy, O Saptamī of the month of Māgha!" / Having chanted this triad of mantras, having bathed at Pādodaka, / a person, having looked upon Keśavāditya, instantly becomes free of impurity. / Hearing the māhātmya of Keśavāditya endowed with faith, / a man is not tainted by sins, and he obtains devotion to Śiva. / Skanda said: / After this, hear, O sage, of the excellent Vimalāditya, / situated in Vārāṇasī in the charming forest of Harikeśa. / In the northern region, there was formerly an arm-born [kṣatriya] named Vimala; / though standing on a pure path, by the influence of past karma, / severely afflicted with leprosy, having abandoned wives, home, and wealth, / having arrived in Vārāṇasī, the wise man worshipped the sun. / With karavīra, hibiscus, gaṃdhaka, and auspicious kiṃśuka flowers, / and with red water-lilies and aśoka flowers, he worshipped the sun;