Skandapurana 5.1

Om, homage to Puruṣottama.
Now begins the sixth [section], the Nāgarakhaṇḍa, in the Skandamahāpurāṇa.
Vyāsa said:
May the matted hair of Dhūrjaṭi lead to your victory,
wherein the Jāhnavī even today causes the illusion of a single grey strand.

The seers said:
Why, O high-minded one, is the liṅga of Hara worshipped
specifically by gods and demons, leaving aside the rest of his limbs?

Therefore, O mighty-armed one, you ought to tell this properly
in full now, O Sūta, for our curiosity is indeed great.

Sūta said:
Great is this burden of a question which has been uttered by you;
nevertheless, having bowed to the self-manifest one, I shall proclaim it.

In the country of Ānarta there is a forest, a shelter for sages,
charming to all living beings, whose trees bear fruit in all seasons.

There is a lovely hermitage frequented by gentle creatures,
filled with ascetics, radiant with the sound of the Vedas,

frequented by brahmins living on water, living on air, eating fallen leaves,
using teeth as mortars, and using stones as pounders,

devoted to ritual ablution and fire oblations, intent on recitation and daily study,
forest-dwellers, triple-staff ascetics, and haṃsas and kuṭīcaras,

snātakas, disciplined ascetics, and practitioners of the five fires.
Then, after some time, the blessed destroyer of Tripura,

tormented by separation from Satī, wandering here and there,
arrived in that forest frequented by gentle creatures,

where mongooses play delightfully together with snakes,
lions with elephants, cats with mice,
and crows with flocks of owls, entirely free from enmity.

Then the blessed Rudra, seeing that hermitage,
entered naked, taking a skull-bowl to seek alms.

Then, beholding the form manifested in his limbs,
never seen before, all the ascetic women fell under the sway of desire.

Abandoning household chores and attendance upon their elders,
standing here and there, they conversed with one another.

A certain fortunate woman embraced him;
trusting, [she pressed herself] against all the limbs of that great-souled ascetic.

Likewise, other women filled with fascination, running in all directions,
were seen looking at him with wide-open eyes:

some with their limbs half-anointed, some with collyrium in only one eye,
with hair half-tied up, and others leaving their children behind.

Being thus gazed upon by the enamoured women, Maheśvara
wandered along the main road, calling out, "Give alms!"

Then those sages, seeing him thus unclad,
arousing passion in the women, their eyes red with anger, said:

"Since our hermitage has been mocked by you, you wicked one,
therefore let your liṅga immediately fall onto the surface of the earth!"

At that very moment, that liṅga of his fell upon the earth;
and having split the surface of the ground, it entered Pātāla.

He too, bereft of his liṅga and filled with shame, Maheśvara,
took shelter in a deep cavity and entered it in the form of an embryo.

Then, due to the falling of the liṅga, terrifying portents
heralding fear for the three worlds occurred everywhere, O best of the twice-born.

Mountain peaks crumble, meteors fall even by day,
and all the oceans gradually abandon their bounds.

Then all the hosts of gods, their minds terrified with dread,
led by Śakra and Viṣṇu, went to where the god Pitāmaha was.

Having bowed down and praised him with hymns derived from the fine scriptures,
they spoke to him who is seated on a lotus throne, the creator in the three worlds:

"What is this, O Lord, what is this topsy-turvy state that has arisen,
by which the entire threefold world has been thrown into distress?

Signs like those of the cosmic dissolution are seen, O lotus-born one.
Will there now be untimely destruction?

O knower of mantras, the refuge of all gods, mortals, and Daityas
whose bodies are afflicted by fear, the grandfather of all the worlds!"

Hearing those words of the gods, the four-faced one,
having meditated for a long time and understood through his divine eye, spoke:

"This is not the time of cosmic dissolution now, O best of the gods.
Listen to the reason from which these great portents have arisen:

The liṅga of the god of gods, the spear-wielder, was caused to fall
by the great-souled seers through a curse in the land of Ānarta, on account of their wives.

Because of that, this threefold world, with all that moves and is still, has become agitated.
Therefore, let us go there, where the god Maheśvara is,

so that, at our word, he may quickly set that liṅga [in place] again.
Otherwise, untimely destruction will visibly come to pass
for the entire three worlds as well; this that I have spoken is true."

Then all the hosts of gods, headed by Brahmā and Viṣṇu,
the Ādityas, the Vasus, the Rudras, the Viśvedevas, and the Aśvins,

hastily went to where the god Maheśvara was,
lying asleep within a pit, enveloped in great shame.

The gods said:
"Homage to you, O Lord of the god of gods, who grant fearlessness to devotees!
Homage to you, O support of the universe, whose crest is adorned by the moon!

You are the sacrifice, you are the vaṣaṭ-call, you are the waters, you are the earth, O all-pervading Lord!
By you was this entire threefold world created, with all that moves and is still.

You protect, O best of gods, and likewise you lead to destruction.
You are Viṣṇu, you are the four-faced one, you are the moon, you are the sun.

Without you, O Mahādeva, nothing exists here.
Even having committed a great sin, a man on the surface of the earth, O Lord—"

even by chanting your name, he goes to heaven, the abode of the gods. / From the chanting of "Mahādeva, Mahādeva, Mahādeva",

crores of murders of brahmins and crores of incestuous relations / are dissolved immediately, from the recitation: "Mahādeva!"

Just as the brahmin stands supreme among men, or the great ocean among rivers, / so do you stand in sovereignty over all the gods.

Just as the moon stands supreme among the asterisms, and the sun among luminous bodies, / so do you stand in sovereignty over all the gods.

Just as gold stands supreme among metals, and Nārada among the gandharvas, / so do you stand in sovereignty over all the gods.

Just as cultivated grain stands supreme among plants, and the golden mountain [Meru] among mountains, / so do you stand in sovereignty over all the gods.

Therefore, show grace to us and to all human beings, O all-pervading lord; / take up your own liṅga once again, O best of the gods.

Otherwise, O lord, the three worlds will surely meet destruction / if this liṅga falls and remains upon the surface of the earth, O master.

Sūta said: / Hearing that speech of theirs, the blessed lord whose banner bears a bull, / filled with modesty, spoke to all those gods who stood bowing down:

"Afflicted with the agony of separation from Satī, O best of the gods, / this liṅga was cast away by me under the pretext of the curse of the twice-born.

Who in the three worlds is capable of causing my liṅga to fall, / be it a god or even a brahmin? You too know this clearly.

Therefore, I shall not take up this liṅga from the earth's surface. / Deprived of my wife, what will I do with it?"

The gods said: / "She who was your beloved, named Satī, who previously died, O best of the gods, / has been born from Himācala in the womb of Menakā under the name Gaurī.

She will once again become your wife, O destroyer of Tripura. / Therefore, take up your liṅga and grant well-being to the gods."

The god of gods said: / "If from this day forward the gods and the twice-born / worship my liṅga with devotion, then I shall take it up."

Brahmā said: / "I myself will worship your liṅga, O Śaṃkara, / and so will all the other gods; how much more so mortals upon earth!"

Then, having entered Pātāla along with the gods, the Grandsire / himself worshiped that liṅga with devotion.

Immediately after him, Viṣṇu [worshiped it] with a mind purified by faith, / and likewise all the other gods headed by Śakra, filled with faith.

Then Mahādeva, well-pleased, spoke these words / to the Grandsire and to Vāsudeva who stood bowed in humility:

"I am greatly pleased with both of you; therefore, receive from me / the desired boon, O fortunate ones, even if it be very difficult to attain."

The two of them said: / "If you are pleased, O lord of gods, grant through your liṅga / an abode divided into three parts for both of us, so that there may be a shared dwelling in one place."

Sūta said: / Having agreed, saying, 'So be it,' the master took up the liṅga, / worshiped by all the lords of the gods, and installed it in its place.

Then, taking gold, the Grandsire fashioned a liṅga / of that very form and himself joyfully installed it there.

Then he spoke, O brahmins, making the three worlds resound / with a loud proclamation, while all the celestial beings listened:

"Indeed, this first liṅga was fashioned by me from gold (hāṭaka); / it will attain fame everywhere in Pātāla as Hāṭakeśvara.

Likewise, whichever other mortals out of devotion fashion liṅgas / from gold and other materials, and entirely of jewels, pearls, and precious gems,

and worship them at the three junctures of the day, leaving aside what is made of clay / and what is made of base metal, they will attain the supreme state."

Having spoken thus, the four-faced [Brahmā] went to heaven along with all the gods, / and the moon-crested lord went to Kailāsa.

For this reason, the liṅga of Hara is especially worshiped here / by gods and asuras, in preference to his superior limbs.

From that time forth, Brahmā himself and the blessed Vāsudeva / have taken up residence in that liṅga; therefore is that auspicious [symbol of] Śiva worshipful.

He who continually worships it with a faithful heart / worships those three: the three-eyed Rudra, Acyuta, and Brahmā.

Therefore, by every effort one should worship the Śivaliṅga, / touch it, look upon it daily, and praise it, O best of the twice-born.

Thus ends the first chapter, named 'Description of the Origin of the Liṅga,' in the section on the greatness of Hāṭakeśvarakṣetra in the Nāgarakhaṇḍa, in the sixth part of the glorious Skandapurāṇa consisting of eighty-one thousand verses.