Skandapurana 4.83.75

The queen said: / “Pay attention, O lord of the earth; I shall narrate in accordance with truth / the procedure of this observance, its fruit, and its presiding deity. / Formerly, before the wife of the bestower of wealth [Kubera], chief among fortunate women, by Brahmā’s son, / Nārada, this observance was proclaimed for one desiring a son. / And it was performed by that goddess, and Nalakūbara became her son; / by many other women as well, sons have been obtained through this observance and others. / Here Gaurī, knowing every ritual procedure, should be worshipped according to the rite, / accompanied by an infant nursing at her upturned breast. / On the third day of the bright fortnight of the month of Mārgaśīrṣa, upon a water-pot / having placed a copper vessel filled completely with grains of rice, / and placing over the vessel an unbroken, new garment, dyed with turmeric, / exceedingly fine, surpassing all others in fineness; / upon that, a handsome lotus opened by the rays of the sun; / upon the pericarp of that, fashioned of four gold pieces, / one should worship the image with devotion, with jewels, silken garments, and the like, / with delightful flowers of various kinds, with fruits, prominent among which are oranges, / with fragrant scents such as sandalwood and the like, camphor, and musk, / with food offerings such as sweet rice, and cooked foods of many varieties, / and with incense, prominent among which is agarwood, in a charming bower of flowers. / At night, a vigil should be kept, remaining awake amidst supreme celebrations. / In an altar fire-pit measuring one cubit, with the verse beginning with ‘Jātavedas’, / bathing [offerings] in clarified butter and honey, the twice-born priest knowing the mantras should make offerings, / using a thousand blossoming lotus flowers himself. / A brown cow that has newly calved, gentle-natured, and yielding abundant milk, / adorned with ornaments and possessing auspicious marks, he should give to the preeminent teacher. / The husband and wife, having fasted with devotion, adorned in new garments, / having bathed in the morning on the fourth day, honoring the teacher with reverence, / full of joy, with garments, ornaments, garlands, and priestly fees, / should offer that idol together with all ritual accessories to the teacher.”

The couple, performing the vow, should gladly pronounce this mantra: / 15
“Obeisance to you who know the regulation of the universe, O Ordainer, who bring about diverse things! / Pleased by this auspicious vow, grant a son who will continue the lineage.” / 16
Then, having fed thousands of brahmins with devotion, / one should indeed break the fast with the remainder of the eaten food. / 17
In this manner, O king, I wish to perform this vow along with you; / grant me this pleasure so that I may obtain the desired fruit.” / 18
Having heard this, the best of kings, his heart delighted, / observed it as a sage would, and indeed she became pregnant. / 19
Then Gaurī, pleased by devotion, was besought by the pregnant queen: / “Grant a son, O Mahāmāyā, who is directly born of a portion of Viṣṇu! / 20
As soon as he is born, let him go to heaven, and indeed come back here again; / exceedingly devoted to Sadāśiva, well-known over the entire surface of the earth; / 21
without drinking breast-milk, instantly having the form of a sixteen-year-old— / O Gaurī, act in such a way that my son will be of such a nature!” / 22
Mṛḍānī, greatly pleased by her devotion, replied to the queen, “So be it!” / Then in due time, she gave birth to a son under the constellation Mūla. / 23
Then she, beset by misfortune, was advised by her well-wishing ministers: / “O queen, if you care for the kingdom, abandon the son born under an evil constellation!” / 24
Hearing the words of the ministers, she, devoted solely to her husband / and skilled in policy, abandoned the son obtained in that manner. / 25
Having summoned a foster-nurse, that royal woman said this: / “In the great seat of the Five Mudrās is the Mother named Vikaṭā. / 26
Placing this child before her, foster-nurse, say: / ‘This infant was given by Gaurī; he is presented before you / 27
by the queen, who desires what is pleasing to her husband, impelled by the advice of the ministers.’” / Having heard what the queen said, she took the infant, radiant as the moon, / 28
and placing him before Vikaṭā, the foster-nurse went home. / Then that goddess Vikaṭā, having summoned the yoginīs, / 29

said: “Take the child quickly before the company of Mothers, / obey their command, and protect him with care!” / 30
At Vikaṭā's word, those sky-wandering yoginīs in an instant / carried him along the celestial path to where the Mothers headed by Brahmāṇī were. / 31
Bowing down, the host of yoginīs placed that child, radiant as the sun, / before the Mothers and reported what Vikaṭā had said. / 32
Brahmāṇī, Vaiṣṇavī, Raudrī, Vārāhī, Nārasiṃhikā, / Kaumārī, and also Māhendrī, Cāmuṇḍā, and Caṇḍikā, / 33
having seen that charming boy sent by Vikaṭā, / asked the child all together: “Who is your father, and who is your mother?” / 34
When questioned thus by the Mothers, he spoke nothing at all; / then that company of Mothers said to that circle of yoginīs: / 35
“He is fit for kingship, marked with great auspicious marks; / he must be taken back there at once by the yoginīs, / 36
where the great goddess Pañcamudrā dwells, granter of desires, / through whose service the fortune of liberation is not far off for mortals. / 37
In Kāśī, which yields auspicious birth everywhere, liberation is at every step; / nevertheless, that seat is truly superior, bringing about all perfections. / 38
Through service at that seat, this child in the form of a sixteen-year-old / will attain supreme perfection by the supreme grace of the Lord of the Universe.” / 39
Thus, accompanied by the blessings of the Mothers, he was immediately brought back / by the yoginīs, on the Mothers' word, to the place marked by the Five Mudrās. / 40
Having reached that great seat, having come here from heaven, / he performed extensive austerity in the divine Forest of Bliss. / 41
Because of his extremely intense austerity, his mind and senses motionless, / Umā’s husband became pleased with that prince. / 42
Śaṃkara manifested before him in the form of a liṅga, / and spoke: “I am pleased; ask a boon, O prince!” / 43
Skanda said: / Beholding before him the liṅga made entirely of light, embodiment of the Word,

standing, bursting through the seven netherworlds by immense grace, / 44
he bowed down on the earth like a staff and praised Dhūrjaṭi / with hymns addressed to the deity Rudra, practiced in other lifetimes, exceedingly delighted. / 45
Then the pleased Lord, the God of gods, Maheśvara, / satisfied with his austerity, he whose banner bears a bull, spoke: / 46
The God of gods said: / “Choose a boon, you who have performed austerity, whose body is afflicted by tapas! / By you, with this child's body, my mind has been won over.” / 47
Hearing Śiva's words repeatedly granting a boon, / his hair standing on end with joy, he requested a boon: / 48
The prince said: / “O God of gods, O Mahādeva, if a boon is to be granted to me, / then you should always abide here, you who remove worldly existence! / 49
Remaining in this liṅga, O Śambhu, fulfill the desire of your devotees; / even without forming the mudrās and even without mantra, O Lord, / 50
bestow supreme perfection here through sight, touch, and bowing! / Upon those who are devoted to this liṅga with mind, speech, and bodily actions, / 51
your favor must always be bestowed; this is my boon!” / Hearing that vow of his, the Lord in the form of a liṅga said: / 52
“Let it be so, as spoken by you, the heroic Vaiṣṇava son; / from a father devoted to Viṣṇu, King Amitrajit, you / 53
were born of a portion of Viṣṇu, O son devoted to my worship! / This liṅga named Vīravīreśvara, after your name, / 54
will indeed grant the cherished desires of devotees in Kāśī! / In this liṅga, O hero, I shall always abide from this day forth, / 55
and I will bestow supreme perfection upon those who take refuge, without doubt. / But no one in the Kali age will know my ultimate greatness; / 56
he who knows it through good fortune will attain supreme perfection. / Whatever is recited here, offered into fire, given, praised, or worshipped, / 57
and the restoration of the dilapidated, is the cause of inexhaustible fruit.”

Having obtained a supreme kingdom difficult for all kings to attain, / and having enjoyed vast pleasures, in the end you will attain perfection. / The charming city of Vārāṇasī is [famed] throughout the entire earth. / Even there, the confluence of the rivers [Asi and Gaṅgā] on the chest of Gaṅgā is meritorious. / Even beyond that, the sacred ford Hayagrīva is exceedingly merit-bestowing, / where Viṣṇu Hayagrīva grants whatever the devotee contemplates. / Far superior even to the Hayagrīva sacred ford is Gajatīrtha, / where by mere ablution one obtains the fruit of donating an elephant. / And more merit-bestowing than Gajatīrtha is Kokāvarāhatīrtha; / having worshipped Kokāvarāha there, a person incurs no rebirth. / Even beyond Kokāvarāha, near Dilīpeśvara, / is the most excellent Dilīpatīrtha, supreme and immediately removing sins. / Beyond that is Sagaratīrtha, near Sagareśa, / bathing where a person will not sink again into the ocean of sorrow. / And better than Sagaratīrtha is Saptasāgaratīrtha, / bathing where a person attains the merit arising from ablutions in the seven oceans. / Renowned beyond Saptābdhitīrtha is the sacred ford called Mahodadhi, / immersed in which once, a wise man burns up the great ocean of sins. / Beyond that is the meritorious Cauratīrtha, near Kapileśvara, / bathing where the sin of stealing gold and the like goes to destruction. / Beyond that, near Kedāreśvara, is the praiseworthy Haṃsatīrtha, / where, taking the form of a swan, I lead embodied souls to Brahmā. / Beyond that is the exceedingly merit-bestowing sacred ford of Keśava named Tribhuvana, / immersed in which mortals do not enter the mortal realm [again]. / And even greater than that is the Govyāghreśvara sacred ford, / where both attained perfection, abandoning their natural enmity. / Even better than that, O hero, is the sacred ford named Māndhātṛ, / where that king obtained the rank of universal emperor.

Even beyond that is the sacred ford named Mucukunda, exceedingly merit-bestowing, / bathing where a man is never overcome by enemies. / Beyond that, towering higher, is Pṛthutīrtha, the supreme means for attaining blessings, / where seeing Pṛthvīśvara, a man becomes a lord of the earth. / Beyond that is the sacred ford of Paraśurāma, bestowing great success, / where the son of Jamadagni was freed from the sin of slaying the kṣatriyas.