Skandapurana 5.116

The seers said: / She who was called Bhaṭṭikā of old by you, O son of Sūta— / why were the fangs originating from the serpent shattered from her body?

Was it the power of austerity, O son of Sūta, / or the power of mantra? This is our greatest wonder!

That even in a human body those [fangs] fierce with venom were shattered, / especially those of the serpents—therefore recount it all!

Sūta said: / Formerly, in her childhood while dwelling in her father's house, / that brahmin woman was afflicted with widowhood through the ripening of past actions.

Then, even in childhood, she listened to various sacred scriptures; / she undertook pilgrimages to deities and, composed in mind, bathed in the sacred ford.

Having gone there to the god Kedāra, always composed, / she rose in the morning and sang songs before him with devotion.

Then, drawn by their longing for that song, having come from Pātāla, / both Takṣaka and Vāsuki assumed the form of twice-born men.

She sang a great song there, adorned with all melodic patterns, / endowed with modulations, and radiant with the seven notes,

with pauses, tone-scales, and various classes of melodic figures, / with stringed, covered, solid, and hollow [instruments],

and with rhythm, tempo, action, measure, augmentations, and the like. / Though untaught in these elements of song, that brahmin woman / produced satisfaction in them purely through the purity of her throat.

Then, out of eagerness for her singing, all the inhabitants of that city / would rise in the morning and come to Kedāra out of curiosity. / But after some time, those two serpents, having raised her by force / in the sight of all the people, carried her off toward their own city.

Assuming their terrible serpent form that terrified people, / and wrapping her with the tip of their coils, they went down to the depths of Pātāla.

Then, having brought her to their home, afflicted by desire, they said: / 'O large-eyed lady devoted to dharma, be a wife unto us both; / for this purpose you have been brought to Pātāla from the surface of the earth.'

Bhaṭṭikā said: / 'Because you, O Takṣaka, have swiftly abducted and brought me, / a peaceful woman born of a brahmin line who cares nothing for the pleasure of love—

"Assuming a human form, you formerly approached me, / your mind and heart afflicted by desire; therefore, you shall become a mortal! 16

If by force you violate me, evil-doer, / this head of yours will immediately split into a hundred pieces!" 17

Hearing that immense curse from her, he was overwhelmed with fear; / standing with folded hands, he then sought to appease her: 18

"Bound by desire, I brought you here out of sheer delusion; / therefore, grant me favor so that my curse may have an end." 19

Sūta said: / Being thus appeased by that Takṣaka, the brahmin's daughter, / her eyes overflowing with tears, then spoke to that nāga: 20

"If you lead me back to the mortal world, Takṣaka, / there I shall bring an end to your curse; of this there is no doubt." 21

Meanwhile, learning that a human woman had arrived at their house, / brought by Takṣaka whose mind was afflicted by desire, 22

his wives, filled with great jealousy, / came with eyes red with fury in order to destroy her. 23

Then Takṣaka, perceiving their intention, / desiring an end to the curse and filled with fear for her safety, 24

remembered the lore named Vajrā. Thereupon, to protect her, he invested / her body with it; and just then a female serpent arrived. 25

Then, enraged, regarding her openly as a co-wife, she bit / the virtuous daughter of the brahmin, and her fangs were shattered! 26

Then the brahmin-born maiden, enraged at seeing her / acting out of feelings of rivalry and full of jealousy, cursed her as well: 27

"Because you regard me, who am blameless, as guilty, / therefore, wretched one, swiftly become a mortal woman, sharing in sorrow!" 28

Then that Takṣaka, best among nāgas, taking her, / released her at midnight in that sanctuary of Kedāra. 29

Then, standing with folded hands, he said to that lady: / "Virtuous one, grant an end to my curse, so that I may go to my own home." 30

Bhaṭṭikā said: / "O serpent, you will become a king in the country of Saurāṣṭra / on earth, named Raivataka, an eternal vessel of worldly pleasures. 31

And then, casting off your body in the sacred fields amidst the hermitage, / you shall attain your own abode through the power of that sacred field." 32

Takṣaka said: / "This beloved wife of mine has been visited with a curse by you; / let her be my wife even when human life has begun. 33

Grant this favor to me, miserable and begging: / may she have no union with any other man." 34

Bhaṭṭikā said: / "She will become the auspicious daughter of the ruler of Ānarta; / then, having attained marriage, she will be your wife. 35

Renowned as Kṣemaṃkarī, endowed with beauty and youth, / after enjoying many pleasures together with you on the surface of the earth, / the fair one will indeed follow you again to the other world." 36

Sūta said: / Being thus addressed by her, saying respectfully, "Forgive me," / he bowed down and then went to his own abode, delighted. 37

She too, when the end of the night arrived, stood before Kedāra / and sang that song again, supremely delightful to the ear. 38

Then hundreds of brahmins, filled with intense devotion to Kedāra / and wishing to see Kedāra, arrived there. 39

Seeing that Bhaṭṭikā, born of a brahmin, who had arrived, / filled with astonishment, they immediately questioned her: 40

"O beautiful lady, who was that nāga who came in the form of a brahmin? / Where were you taken by him, and why? Tell us! 41

Why have you been released again? Tell everything as it happened! / A very great curiosity has arisen in us concerning you." 42

Sūta said: / Then she related everything that had happened with Takṣaka, / the entire episode concerning the nāga, and the origin of the curses and the favors. 43

Meanwhile, her entire family arrived, / weeping piteously and stricken with grief, having heard that she had returned there. 44

Then her mother, her eyes overcome with tears, / embraced her, as did the other female friends with affectionate hearts. 45

Then, their minds filled with astonishment, hearing repeatedly / the news of what had happened in the world of nāgas, they took her to their own home. 46

Then all the citizens in that city said to one another: / "An improper deed has been done by this wicked brahmin, 47

in that a young daughter who dwelt in another's mansion was brought back by him! / There are indeed numerous women belonging to other brahmins too— 48

young, beautiful, and afflicted with widowhood. / This will become the precedent for all of them as well, / undoubtedly giving rise to miscegenation; therefore, let him be exiled!" 49

Then all those excellent brahmins gathered together / and spoke these concilatory words rooted in the scriptures to that brahmin: 50

"This daughter of yours, O brahmin, is young and endowed with beauty; / she was carried away to Pātāla by an impassioned nāga. 51

Though she will say, 'I was released faultless by that passionate one,' / this world will not believe it, even if she is declared pure. 52

Therefore, O best of brahmins, offer proof of purification to the lords of the twice-born, / so that, wise one, the women of others may not be ruined." 53

Saying, "So be it," he then questioned his daughter in private: / "If there is any fault in you, speak out! 54

If not, provide proof of purification for the satisfaction of the brahmins." 55

Bhaṭṭikā said: / "What you have said is proper, father, and so also what was said by the other brahmins. / Purification is proper for a woman merely from crossing the threshold, 56

how much more for one who has gone to another land with an impassioned man! / Therefore, having bathed in the morning, beyond doubt, I [shall enter] the fire..." 57

"Entering [the fire], I will give proof of purity beyond doubt to all the brahmins. / Here, after attaining purity from the fire, / I will cause [them] to take food and whatever else [they desire]."

Addressed thus by her, he then was filled with great joy. / Having risen in the morning, he arranged firewood outside the city.

Then Bhaṭṭikā too, having bathed, wearing white garments, pure, / together with all her attendants and her own family,

cheerful-faced, joyful, devoted to meditation on Viṣṇu, / went there where that immense mountain of wood stood.

Then, O best of brahmins, after kindling the fire herself there, / having circumambulated it thrice, she spoke with joined palms:

"If there is any fault born of desire anywhere in my body, even the slightest, / or one committed by force by that wicked Takṣaka,

or if another [fault] by any other person should exist, / therefore let this kindled fire burn me quickly!"

Having spoken thus, that virtuous woman then entered as if into her own mansion. / The well-kindled fire offering instantly became composed of water,

and the auspicious woman saw herself standing in the midst of water.

Then a great rain of flowers fell from the sky.

A messenger of the gods, seated in an aerial chariot, spoke these words: / "You are pure, O highly fortunate one, by your conduct born of your own body.

No other woman will ever be equal to you. / The three and a half crores of hairs that / exist on all the limbs of a human being at all times, O highly fortunate one—

among them, O virtuous woman, you do not have even a single sin anywhere. / Therefore go quickly to your own house accompanied by your kinsmen.

Perform meritorious deeds; worship Keśava. / And this place of your funeral pyre, filled with water,

shall become a sacred ford well-known in the world by your name. / Those who take a ritual ablution here on the sleeping and waking [days] of Hari,

they shall attain the supreme perfection, which is difficult even for the immortals to achieve." / Having spoken thus, the voice arising from the messenger of the gods ceased.

Then Bhaṭṭikā, overjoyed, bowed to her father [and said]: / "I will not go home; what shall I do at home?

Right here at my own sacred ford I will always worship Acyuta, / and I will practice austerity, taking food gained by begging alms.

Therefore, father, go home; I shall remain dwelling in front."

Then her father as well as those citizens, / greatly delighted, went home, praising her each in their own way.

By her an image of Trivikrama was first fashioned there; / afterward, having made an excellent temple [and] a liṅga of Maheśvara,

she then performed supreme austerity, taking food gained by begging alms, / praised by all the people originating from the city of Camatkāra.

Sūta said: / All this has been related to you, since I was asked, O best of brahmins, / how her body remained firm and impenetrable at all times,

against serpents and likewise against other weapons and the like, O brahmins. / And whoever recites daily this excellent narrative of Bhaṭṭikā, / no ill-repute arising from misdeeds shall befall him, O best of brahmins.

Thus ends the one hundred and seventeenth chapter, entitled 'Narration of the origin and māhātmya of Bhaṭṭikātīrtha' in the Māhātmya of the Hāṭakeśvarakṣetra, in the Nāgarakhaṇḍa, the sixth [section], in the Skandamahāpurāṇa of eighty-one thousand verses.