Skanda Purana 5.11

The seers said:
How was King Camatkāra freed from leprosy, O Sūta's son?
How was austerity performed by him, and for how long a time by that ruler of the earth?

Which brahmins indeed were those by whom Śaṅkhatīrtha was pointed out
for the release from disease of that noble-minded, suffering one?

Which one is that Śaṅkhatīrtha? In what place is it situated?
And what is its power? Relate it all in detail without omission.

Sūta said:
I will tell you this captivating tale
that takes away all sins, O brahmins, concerning King Camatkāra.

He wandered to all the sacred fords, Prabhāsa and the rest, in their entirety,
an ascetic of restricted diet, taking his meals from begged food,

continually questioning eminent physicians about remedies,
and also knowers of mantras about mantras, constantly for the destruction of the disease.

That tiger among kings obtained no desired mantra, nor medicine,
nor sacred ford by which the destruction of the disease might come about.

And then that best of kings attained supreme detachment;
alone, with mind and self restrained, in that most holy sacred field,

splendid with all creatures, he made his dwelling for a long time,
eating withered leaves and fruits, always sleeping at night upon the ground
beneath one tree after another, free from pride and egoism.

Then, after a few days, as he was wandering, the ruler of the earth
saw many excellent brahmins engaged in pilgrimage to sacred fords.

Then, having bowed to those brahmins seated on the ground
adjacent to the hermitage of Viśvāmitra, he spoke full of humility:
The king said:
“By name I am Camatkāra, a king born of the solar dynasty,
the ruler of Ānarta, afflicted with leprosy, O best of the twice-born!

Is there any means here, whether divine or human,
or medicine, or mantra, by which leprosy is alleviated?

Taking pity upon me, speak, O best of the twice-born,
to one whose body is seized by leprosy and who has fallen into extreme distress.

Or if you do not know, I will abandon my body here,
having entered fire or water, or having consumed poison!”

Hearing those words of his, all those best of the twice-born,
filled with compassion, then spoke to that lord of the earth:

“O tiger among kings, not far from this place there is
[a sacred ford] known as Śaṅkhatīrtha, bringing about the destruction of all diseases.”

Men afflicted with disease, one-eyed, blind, and dumb, / deformed in limb, having extra limbs, ugly, and with distorted faces—

even they, having bathed there while fasting, at the beginning of the dark [fortnight] of Caitra, / when the moon is in Citrā, become instantly free of disease.

We have seen by the hundreds [those] with the radiance of twelve suns, / shaped like Kāmadeva, endowed with splendor and strength.

The king said: / How should I know Śaṅkhatīrtha, O best of brahmins? / And how did it arise? Tell me in detail.

The brahmins said: / Long ago, on the surface of the earth, there was a foremost sage named Likhita, / the son of the sage Śāṇḍilya, endowed with austerity and strength.

Then his younger brother was born, named Śaṅkha, a knower of the law-books, / who lived on tubers, roots, and fruits, always established in austerity.

Once upon a time, Śaṅkha went to Likhita's hermitage / in search of sweet fruits, tormented by intense hunger.

Finding the hermitage of the great-souled Likhita empty, / he then took fruits, thinking them to be his own.

He ate many ripe and sweet [fruits]. / In the meantime, Likhita arrived accompanied by his disciples.

Seeing Śaṅkha holding the fruit, he said in anger:

O sinner, you have taken fruits not given by me! / Why, in the manner of a thief, did you not consider the consequences?

Śaṅkha said: / What you have declared is true, O best of the twice-born. / The fruits were taken here in your lonely hermitage.

Therefore, mete out to me the proper punishment born of theft, / so that this world and the next may bring happiness to me.

Then, seized by anger, taking Śaṅkha’s hand in his hand, / he instantly cut it off, even though restrained by the ascetics.

Though his hand was severed, Śaṅkha performed exceedingly severe austerity; / having returned particularly to his own hermitage, he [did so] once again.

Then, after some time, Mahādeva, being pleased with him, / appeared and addressed that lord of sages, Śaṅkha.

Maheśvara said: / O sage, O great-hearted one, you have performed what is difficult to do! / Choose from me a boon desired in your heart.

Śaṅkha said: / If you are pleased with me, O God, and if you grant a boon, O Lord, / let both my hands become as they were again, O best of gods!

Likewise, let this sacred ford bear my name, O best of gods, / renowned in all the worlds, removing all sins of men.

Whether one is deformed in limb or with extra limbs, or even afflicted with disease, / if he takes a ritual ablution here, may he quickly become completely renewed!

The Lord said: / This sacred ford will indeed be known by your name, / destroying the sins of embodied beings from this day forth, O chief of brahmins.

Whoever, whether deformed in limb or with extra limbs, shall take a ritual ablution here / without food in the bright [fortnight] of Caitra, when the moon is in Citrā, / will undoubtedly become golden-limbed and radiant.

If he has desires, O chief of brahmins, meditating on beauty of form, [he will attain it]; / or if free from desire, he will go to the supreme realm, which is identical to Śiva.

When a śrāddha is performed here on the fourteenth day when the moon is in Citrā, / the ancestors will attain supreme satisfaction, O holy one.

This very day, O tiger among brahmins, is the auspicious end of the bright fortnight of Caitra; / in the afternoon, the moon will enter its conjunction with Citrā.

For one who is fasting there and has properly bathed, instantly / both hands will become beautiful, just as they were before.

Having spoken thus, the Lord then vanished from sight. / Śaṅkha, too, at the kutapa hour, then performed his ritual ablution there.

And then, at that very moment, his hands became as before: / resembling red lotuses, lovely, and marked with the sign of a fish.

The brahmins said: / In this way that sacred ford arose on the surface of the earth, O best of kings, / auspicious by the power of the god of gods who bears the crescent moon.

Therefore, O king of kings, you too perform a ritual ablution there / on the fourteenth day of the bright fortnight of Caitra, when the moon is in Citrā.

There is no doubt you will become freed from all diseases. / We shall show it to you when the stated time arrives.

Sūta said: / Then, after a few days, the beginning of the dark fortnight of Caitra arrived, / and the fourteenth day occurred when the moon was in Citrā.

Then those brahmins, taking the king along immediately, / wishing for his welfare, went toward Śaṅkhatīrtha.

Then, meditating in his mind on the destruction of the disease of leprosy, / he performed his ritual ablution according to rule, endowed with supreme faith.

Then, freed from leprosy, shining with the brilliance of twelve suns, / he emerged from that water filled with great joy.

Then, having bowed to all those brahmins who had mastered the Vedas, / with folded hands, he spoke these words:

Indeed, by your grace, O best of brahmins, I am freed / from the disease of leprosy, for which I was reviled by living beings for a great length of time.

Therefore I will not rule the kingdom, O best of brahmins; / at this very sacred ford I will now constantly perform great austerity.

This kingdom and country, and elephants, horses, and whatever else / belongs to me—let the best of the twice-born take that!

Showing the greatest compassion for my grace alone, / [pity] me, a miserable, devoted, and especially detached person.

The brahmins said: / We are not able to protect a kingdom, O best of kings. / Then what is the use of taking that which would lead to the ruin of the kingdom?

Long ago, Rāma, son of Jamadagni, gave the earth to us, / after ridding it of Kṣatriyas thrice-seven times, O best of kings.

Yet it was snatched away from us again by mightier kṣatriyas, / insulting all the twice-born with ease again and again.

The king said: / "I shall provide you protection, O best of brahmins; / even while engaged in austerity in this matter, you must have no fear whatsoever."

The brahmins said: / "If you indeed have faith born of charitable donation, / then build an excellent city right here in this most holy sacred field and give it [to us]

for all the chief brahmins, provided with ramparts and a moat, / so that, having bathed at the various sacred fords, we may live comfortably, / all observing the householder's duties, ever devoted to private Vedic recitation."

Sūta said: / Hearing that, the ruler of the earth, saying 'So be it,' was overjoyed, / and founded a great city in that place,

with a very high rampart and moats all around, / one krośa in length and width, delightful to the mind,

clean at the junctions of three roads and crossroads, adorned all around with flags, / with lofty, beautiful mansions covered everywhere in white plaster,

furnished with turrets and having many storeys, / filled with persons of true desire and praised by virtuous people.

Then, having filled all the houses, that ruler of the earth, / with gold, gems, pearls, and other objects,

to brahmins of noble birth, especially to knowers of the Vedas, / learned in scripture and self-controlled, endowed with faith,

according to seniority and excellence, having washed their feet, / bestowed it, O best of twice-born, in the manner prescribed by scripture.

Thus ends the eleventh chapter, titled 'The Description of the Gift of the City to the Brahmins by King Camatkāra' in the description of the origin and māhātmya of Śaṅkhatīrtha, in the Hāṭakeśvarakṣetramāhātmya of the sixth [book], the Nāgarakhaṇḍa, in the glorious Skanda Mahāpurāṇa, a collection of eighty-one thousand verses.