Skandapurana 4.7.74.4

4.7.74.4

sitā'site saricchreṣṭhe yatrāstāṃ suradurlabhe ..
yatrāpluto naraḥ pāpaḥ paraṃ brahmādhigacchati .. 46 ..
kṣetraṃ prajāpateḥ puṇyaṃ sarveṣāmeva durlabham ..
labhyate puṇyasaṃbhārairnānyathārthasya rāśibhiḥ .. 47 ..
damayaṃtīṃ kaliṃ kālaṃ kaliṃdatanayāṃ śubhām ..
āgatya militā yatra puṇyā svargataraṃgiṇī .. 48 ..
prakṛṣṭaṃ sarvayāgebhyaḥ prayāgamiti gīyate ..
yajvanāṃ punarāvṛttirna prayāgārdravarṣmaṇām..49..
yatra sthitaḥ svayaṃ sākṣācchūlaṭaṃko maheśvaraḥ ..
tatrāplutānāṃ jaṃtūnāṃ mokṣavartmopadeśakaḥ..4.1.7.50..
tatrā'kṣayyavaṭo'pyasti saptapātālamūlavān..
pralayepi yamāruhya mṛkaṃḍatanayo'vasat .. 51 ..
hiraṇyagarbho vijñeyaḥ sa sākṣādvaṭarūpadhṛk ..
tatsamīpe dvijānbhaktyā saṃbhojyākṣaya puṇyabhāk .. 52 ..
yatra lakṣmīpatiḥ sākṣādvaikuṃṭhādetya mānavān..
śrīmādhavasvarūpeṇa nayedviṣṇoḥ paraṃ padam..53..
śrutibhiḥ paripaṭhyete sitā'sita saridvare..
tatrāplutāṃ gāhyamṛtaṃ bhavaṃtīti viniścitam.. 54..
śivalokādbrahmalokādumālokavarātpunaḥ..
kumāralokādvaikuṃṭhātsatyalokātsamaṃtataḥ..
tapojanamaharbhyaśca sarve svarlokavāsinaḥ..
bhuvolokācca bhūrlokānnāgalokāttathā'khilāt..56..
acalā himavanmukhyāḥ kalpavṛkṣādayo nagāḥ..
snātuṃ māghe samāyāṃti prayāgamaruṇodaye .. 57 ..
digaṃganāḥ prārthayaṃti yatprayāgānilānapi ..
tepi naḥ pāvayiṣyaṃti kiṃ kurmaḥ paṃgavo vayam .. 58 ..
aśvamedhādiyāgāśca prayāgasya rajaḥ punaḥ ..
tulitaṃ brahmaṇā pūrvaṃ na te tadrajasā samāḥ .. 59 ..
majjāgatāni pāpāni bahujanmārjitānyapi ..
prayāganāmaśravaṇātkṣīyaṃte'tīva vihvalam .. 4.1.7.60 ..

where the white and the black [rivers] flow, best of streams, difficult to reach even for the gods, / immersed in which even a sinful man attains the supreme Brahman. / 46
The sacred field of Prajāpati, hard to attain for all, / is obtained through masses of merit, not otherwise through heaps of wealth; / 47
where, having come, the holy river of heaven meets / the auspicious daughter of Kalinda, who subdues the Kali age and time. / 48
It is celebrated as Prayāga because it is superior (prakṛṣṭa) to all sacrifices (yāga); / those who perform sacrifices return again, but not those whose bodies are moistened at Prayāga; / 49
where Maheśvara himself is visibly present with trident and chisel, / instructing creatures immersed there on the path to liberation; / 50
where there is also the Imperishable Banyan Tree, whose roots reach the seven realms of Pātāla, / climbing which the son of Mṛkaṇḍu lived even at the cosmic dissolution; / 51
he is to be known as Hiraṇyagarbha in person, assuming the form of the banyan tree; / by feeding brahmins near it with devotion, one shares in imperishable merit; / 52
where the Lord of Lakṣmī in person, coming from Vaikuṇṭha, / in the form of Śrī Mādhava leads mortals to the supreme abode of Viṣṇu. / 53
The two excellent streams, the white and the black, are celebrated in the Vedas; / it is certain that those who plunge into them, having bathed, become immortal. / 54
From the realm of Śiva, from the realm of Brahmā, and from the excellent realm of Umā, / from the realm of Kumāra, from Vaikuṇṭha, and from Satyaloka on all sides, / 55
and from Tapoloka, Janaloka, Maharloka, all the dwellers of the celestial realm, / from Bhuvarloka, Bhūrloka, and the entire realm of the Nāgas, / 56
mountains headed by Himavat, trees such as the wishing trees, / all come to Prayāga to bathe at daybreak in the month of Māgha. / 57
Even the maidens of the quarters pray to the breezes of Prayāga: / ‘They too will purify us; what can we do, being lame?’ / 58
The dust of Prayāga and sacrifices such as the horse sacrifice / were weighed in the past by Brahmā: they were not equal to its dust. / 59
Sins that have reached into the marrow, even those accumulated over many lives, / are worn away and greatly shattered merely by hearing the name of Prayāga. / 60