Skandapurana 5.107

The seers said: / The sacred fields numbering sixty-eight, O son of Sūta, / which were mentioned by you, tell us those very ones by name. // 1

And likewise the other sacred fords that exist on the face of the earth, / tell those in their entirety; for great indeed is our curiosity. // 2

Sūta said: / The sacred fords mentioned by you, O best among the twice-born, / and likewise the sacred fields on the earth numbering sixty-eight— // 3

All those terrified sacred fords have entered Rasātala, / O tigers among sages, in this sinful Kali age. // 4

This very same thing was formerly asked of Parameśvara by Pārvatī, / which has now been asked of me by you, O twice-born, concerning pilgrimage to sacred fords. // 5

Formerly, the god Maheśvara was seated on a peak of Kailāsa, / sitting on an excellent throne together with all the hosts of Gaṇas. // 6

When the immortals had come in order to pay homage, / and when all of them had returned to the abode of heaven, O leaders of brahmins, / the Goddess, seated on half of his seat, spoke this word: // 7

The Goddess said: / O god of gods, Mahādeva, whose crown is washed by the Gaṅgā, / tell me the māhātmya of the sacred fords, if I am dear to you. // 8

There are three and a half crores of sacred fords here on the surface of the earth; / tell me now, O god, by number and by name. // 9

The many sacred fords and sacred fields, O Lord, / tell of them, O Lord of gods, and that which is easily accessible to embodied beings; / and by merely reciting all the sacred fords, their fruit is attained. // 10

Īśvara said: / The word tīrtha, O woman of shapely hips, is applied to acts of righteousness, / and to all abodes of righteousness; listen to the truth with an attentive mind: // 11

Mother is a sacred ford, father is a sacred ford, the company of the virtuous is a sacred ford; / so too is meditation upon righteousness, as well as restraint and observance. // 12

The sacred narratives told of celestial seers, O woman of shapely hips, / and the dwelling places of good leaders of sages and of the gods, O beloved, // 13

and pure regions of the earth are declared to be sacred fords. / Merely by seeing them, remembering them, and bathing in them, / living creatures are freed from sins, even those born of a hundred lifetimes. // 14

Likewise, sinners and betrayers of trust— / even all of them are liberated in the same way merely by plunging into them. // 15

Thus sins go to destruction, O woman beautiful in all limbs; / even the sin that embodied beings might incur here through the slaying of a brahmin, / that too undoubtedly perishes through contact with a sacred ford. // 16

Even the skull of Brahmā that clung to my hand in former times / fell off through contact with sacred fords and by plunging into them. // 17

Therefore, in all sacred fords and in temples, / one should bathe with devotion in one's heart, not straying to anything else. // 18

The fruit of all [sacred fords] is truly obtained by men who bathe where / my sanctuary is, O large-eyed woman, destroying all wickedness, / and granting the desires of men, and especially of women. // 19

This is my most secret [teaching], O Goddess, perpetually maintained; / it has not been told to anyone by me, not even to the king of gods when he asked. // 20

Because you are dear to me, O auspicious one of lovely face, it is indeed told: / sixty-eight sacred fords should be visited with devotion by mortals. // 21

Those very sanctuaries of mine destroy all sins; / they grant desires, O woman of shapely hips, undoubtedly through my power. // 22

Whatever desire a man may focus upon in that sacred ford, / if, having performed his bath, he then worships the god Maheśvara, // 23

having contemplated merit in their minds, those men who have worshipped Hari— / let alone seeing and touching them, O woman of shapely hips— / even by remembering them, men are freed from previously committed sins. // 24

These gods, Indra and the others, in those sacred fords, O fair one, / attained heaven after worshipping me, and likewise others, Nārada and the rest. // 25

I shall tell them to you in detail, one by one; / listen to them by name, O ruler of gods, remaining with a focused mind: // 26

Vārāṇasī, Prayāga, and another, Naimiṣa, / the most meritorious Gayāśiras, and holy Kurujāṅgala; // 27

Prabhāsa, Puṣkara, and another, Viśveśvara, / Aṭṭahāsa, Mahendra, and that which is Ujjayinī; // 28

Marukoṭi, Śaṅkukarṇa, the excellent sacred field Gokarṇa, / Rudrakoṭi, Sthaleśa, and delightful Vṛṣabhadhvaja; // 29

Kedāra, and likewise the sacred field Madhyamakeśvara, / the sacred field Sahasrākṣa, and another, Kārtikeśvara; // 30

and likewise Vastramārga, and Kanakhala is remembered, / celebrated Bhadrakarṇa, and likewise that called Daṇḍaka; // 31

and the sacred field named Tridaṇḍa, and likewise Kṛmijāṅgala, / the sacred field Ekāmra, and likewise the sacred field Chāgalaka; // 32

Kālañjara, O ruler of gods, and another, Maṇḍaleśvara, / Kāśmīra, Marukeśa, and very beautiful Hariścandra; // 33

Puraścandra, Vāmeśa, and Kukuṭeśvara, / Bhasmagātra, then Oṃkāra, Trisaṃdhyā, and Virajā; // 34

Arkeśvara, Nepāla, Duṣkarṇa, Karavīraka, / Jāgeśvara, and likewise, O Goddess, Śrīśaila, the best of mountains; // 35

Ayodhyā, Pātāla, and the great Kārohaṇa, / the holy river Devikā, Bhairava, and the eastern ocean; // 36

Saptagodāvarī tīrtha is likewise proclaimed, / and another, Nirmaleśa, and very beautiful Karṇikāra; // 37

Kailāsa, the bank of the Jāhnavī, Jalaliṅga, and Vāḍava, / and Badarī, the best of sacred fords, and likewise Koṭitīrtha; // 38

the Vindhya mountain, Hemakūṭa, and Gandhamādana, / and the sacred field Liṅgeśvara, and likewise Laṅkādvāra. // 39

Naleśvara, Madhyeśa, Kedāra, Rudrajālaka, / Suvarṇākhya, O fair-thighed lady, and also another, Ṣaṣṭikāpatha. (40)

Thus ends the one hundred and eighth chapter, named “Description of the Sixty-Eight Sacred Fords,” in the māhātmya of the sacred field of Hāṭakeśvara, in the sixth Nāgarakhaṇḍa, in the Skanda Mahāpurāṇa consisting of eighty-one thousand verses.