Skandapurana 5.140

Sūta said:
Likewise, there is also another deity there who grants sweet food, / from whose mere darśana a man obtains sweet food.

In the past, O best of the twice-born, there was a king known by the name of Vasusena, / renowned as the ruler of Ānarta in the Bṛhatkalpa.

He was endowed with great sovereignty, possessed elephants, horses, and chariots, / was one who conquered enemy factions, was radiant, generous, an enjoyer of pleasures, and self-restrained.

At a solstice, at a vyatīpāta, during an eclipse of the sun and moon, / and on various other festival days, with great devotion,

he would give diverse gems to the twice-born: / sapphire, large sapphire, coral, crystal, and so forth,

rubies and pearls indeed, especially corals, / vehicles of elephants, horses, and chariots, and diverse clothes.

He would not give grain to anyone, O best of brahmins, / nor water especially, considering it exceedingly easily obtained.

Then, having ruled for a long time and seen the sons born of his sons, / he met the law of time at a certain turn of time.

And then, his son known as Satyasena, endowed with valour and magnanimity, / was consecrated in the kingdom by his ministers.

Vasusena too, having attained heaven by the power of his giving, / wearing celestial garments and adorned with celestial jewels,

attended by apsarases and mounted upon an excellent aerial chariot, / roamed through all the worlds at will, overcome by hunger.

His mind distressed by thirst, and with a parched mouth, / he saw no one else there in heaven eating,

nor attached to drinking, nor [did he see] grain or water.

Then, having gone to the thousand-eyed one, O best of the twice-born, / with a body seized by hunger and thirst, he stood with his face turned downwards in shame, and said:

"No one here is seen afflicted with hunger and thirst / except me, O best of the gods; therefore, tell me, what is this?

This hell has appeared before me in the form of heaven! / What use are these ornaments, garments, aerial chariots, and the like?

For me, afflicted with hunger, O lord of Śacī, this heaven / is declared to be equal to fire, and it remains [so] in my mind.

Therefore, grant me a favor so that hunger does not torment me; / otherwise, O best of the gods, cast me quickly into the Raurava hell!"

Indra said:
O king, you indeed are not worthy of hell; / countless gifts were given by you at all times.

Yet, O king, food was never given, nor was water, / thinking of it as nothing at all, because it was so easily obtained.

One should always give water with food, and food with a sacrificial fee, / if one desires perpetual satisfaction in this world and in the next.

Therefore, O king, you are seized by hunger even in heaven, / adorned with excellent ornaments and mounted on an excellent aerial chariot.

The king said:
Is there any means here, whether divine or human, / by which my severe hunger and thirst might be destroyed?

Indra said:
If any son of yours constantly gives water to brahmins / and always gives grain, then satisfaction will arise for you;

otherwise, O best of rulers, not even on a single day / can there be acquisition of what was not given by you. This truth is spoken by me.

Even that son of yours, O king, gives neither water / nor grain to the twice-born, following your path.

At that moment arrived Nārada, the best of sages, / from Brahmaloka, where those two, the king and the lord of the gods, were staying.

Then Śakra rose, and filled with joy, / offered him the guest water according to the prescribed rules, and respectfully said:

"From where have you arrived, O leader of brahmins, and where are you bound now? / For what purpose, and if it is not secret, tell me now."

Nārada said: / "I have come from Brahmaloka and am headed for the surface of the earth / for the purpose of a pilgrimage to sacred fords, O Śakra; there is no other reason here."

Sūta said: / Hearing that, the king was delighted and said to that lord of sages: / "Bestow favor upon me, a wretched person, O best of sages!

You must tell my son, the king on the surface of the earth / known as the ruler of Ānarta, [named] Satyasena, O lord:

'I saw your father at the abode of Śakra, / his limbs overcome by hunger and thirst, wretched at heart in the midst of the gods.

Therefore, if you are my son, [and] you uphold the truth, / then give abundant grain and water in my name.'"

Consenting with "So be it," Nārada, the best of sages, / took leave of the thousand-eyed [Indra] and set out for the surface of the earth.

Then, wandering in due course through the sacred fords, that virtuous twice-born / reached the region of Ānarta and approached Satyasena.

Then, duly worshipped by that king, the sage / respectfully conveyed his father's message to him in private.

Hearing that, King Satyasena was afflicted with grief; / having taken leave of that best of sages after worshipping him according to the rules,

he then daily fed a thousand leading brahmins / with sweet food, out of great devotion for the sake of his father.

He likewise established cisterns for distributing water, especially in the summer season, / setting aside all other religious duties, O twice-born; / and while that king was living in this manner, / there occurred a dreadful drought causing the destruction of all crops.

For twelve years the lord of the thirty [gods] did not release / water onto the surface of the earth; all creatures were tormented by hunger.

Then, owing to a lack of food, he could no longer give grain / to the brahmins for the sake of his father, as he had before.

Then the father of that king, his limbs overcome by hunger / and wearing exceedingly dirty garments, spoke to his son in a dream:

"Though I have you as my son, my son, / even while residing in heaven I stand distressed with hunger and thirst; therefore give food / along with water in my name, if you are born of me!"

Then the king, overcome with sorrow from seeing the dream / and because of the lack of food, held counsel with his ministers:

"I shall propitiate the one whose banner bears the bull for the sake of grain; / you must carefully maintain the protection of the kingdom at all times."

Then, having come right here and installed the Great Lord, / he propitiated him properly with vows and observances.

Then, at the end of a year, the blessed Śiva became pleased with him, / and said, "I am the granter of boons; ask whatever you desire."

The king said: / "For the sake of food this ritual was performed by me, O god of gods! / Therefore quickly grant me food in infinite quantity, O bull-mounted god!

Likewise, let rain fall across the whole surface of the earth, / by which grain and water may now be produced!

Let there be inexhaustible satisfaction, by your grace, / for my noble father dwelling in heaven, O best of gods!"

The Blessed Lord said: / "Before long there will be abundant rain on the surface of the earth, / and all kinds of food will come to be on the earth.

Therefore go to your own home right now, O king of kings; / by my word, this shall happen without a doubt.

And whoever, rising in the morning, properly gazes / upon this liṅga of mine that was installed by you, O king,

will surely obtain sweet food as delicious as nectar / in birth after birth always, by my word, O best of kings."

Having spoken thus, the Blessed Lord then disappeared; / that king also returned to his own place filled with great joy, / and ruled his kingdom free of thorns.

Sūta said: / Even today in this Kali age, when this terrible epoch has arrived, / whoever rising in the morning gazes with devotion upon that [liṅga] which gives sweet food,

attains sweet food if he desires it, O twice-born; / or, if he is desireless, he reaches the abode of the trident-bearing god.

Thus ends the one hundred and forty-first chapter, entitled 'Description of the Māhātmya of Miṣṭānnadeśvara' in the Māhātmya of the Hāṭakeśvara Sacred Field, in the Nāgarakhaṇḍa, the sixth [part] of the eighty-one-thousand-verse collection in the glorious Skanda Mahāpurāṇa.