Skandapurana 5.150

Sūta said: / When Andhaka, too, learned of that supreme lore obtained by Śukra / and the grace of Kelīśvarī, born of devotion and bestowing an increase of strength, // 1

and of his own invulnerability born of the boon of the Grandfather [Brahmā], / he then felt anger directed toward Maheśvara. // 2

And he sent a messenger to Mount Kailāsa: / 'Go, messenger, and speak now to Hara in my words: // 3

"Abandon this Śakra and dwell happily here on the mountain; / otherwise, having arrived swiftly, along with Kailāsa, along with your wife, // 4

and along with your attendants, having slain [you] in battle, I shall dwell happily in the Nandana grove. / I will destroy you; I swear by my own life." // 5

Thus addressed by the Daitya, the messenger went swiftly from there / and spoke to Śaṃkara in harsh words, in particular. // 6

Then the blessed lord whose banner is the bull, his mind seized by fury, / sent forth his attendants for the slaying of that evil-minded one: // 7

Vīrabhadra, Mahākāla, Nandi, as well as the Elephant-faced [Gaṇeśa], / Aghora, Ghoranāda, and the exceedingly powerful Ghoraghaṇṭa. // 8

And of each of these, other followers numbered ten million; / he sent them all forth for the slaying of that evil-minded one. // 9

Then, dispatched by him, those attendants with deformed faces, / filled with great joy, roared like storm clouds. // 10

Taking up weapons, they all went to fight where that city lay, / the city of Śakra seized by that mighty Dānava. // 11

Then, seeing the attendants arrived, those Dānavas took up weapons / and rushed out at once, eager for battle and exceedingly proud. // 12

Then a battle ensued between the attendants and the Dānavas / against one another, terribly fierce, in which death alone was retreat. // 13

Then all the attendants of Hara, defeated in the arena of battle by those Dānavas, / fled in fear in all directions, looking only toward Hara. // 14

Hara, too, seeing those attendants routed, marched forth in anger. / Seeing Hara, the Daityas then fled in the ten directions. // 15

Andhaka also, seeing Hara, advanced face to face for battle. / Then a fight took place between Andhaka and Hara, / just as there had been of old a great battle between Vṛtra and Vāsava. // 16

With discuses, iron tubes, iron arrows, javelins, swords, and clubs— / in this way the Dānava could not be slain by diverse weapons. // 17

Abandoning weapon-fighting, they engaged in arm-to-arm combat, / seizing hand with hand, striking with fists at that time. // 18

Then the lord of gods, pressed down and afflicted by the hold of the Dānava, / became completely motionless and fell into a swoon. // 19

Knowing that he had fallen into a swoon, Andhaka went out of the palace; / meanwhile Sthāṇu, regaining consciousness in a moment, took up his bow. // 20

Grasping an iron club capable of bearing great weight, the Lord, / having then reached the king of Dānavas, struck him on the head. // 21

He too struck the lord of gods forcefully with a sword; / then the god also recalled the Kaubera missile in that great battle. // 22

With that missile he struck the Dānava in the heart. / Then, struck by it, he vomited out a stream of blood, // 23

and fell face downwards; then he was pierced by the trident. / Fixed on the tip of the trident, the wicked one then spun like a wheel. // 24

Andhaka, seeing himself in such a condition, / then praised the god Maheśvara with fully eloquent words. // 25

Andhaka said: / 'Homage to you, the creator of the worlds, to Śarva, the embodiment of the three guṇas, / to the one who sits upon the bull, O you adorned with the crescent moon! // 26

Homage to the one who holds the skull-topped staff in hand, and homage to the bearer of the trident; / homage to the holder of the hand-drum, the bow, the skull-bowl, and the fire! // 27

To the destroyer of the body of Smara, to the one whose essence consists of the eightfold form, / homage to the one whose form is his own true nature, who is formless and multiform! // 28

To the destroyer of the head of Viriñci [Brahmā], to the author of creation, / to the perpetual dweller in cremation grounds, homage to the one whose form is Bhairava! // 29

You are all-pervading, the maker of all, and indeed the destroyer—none other. / You are the earth, and you are passion; you are light, and likewise darkness. // 30

You are the body of all beings; you are the soul [within them], O Maheśvara!' / Thus the king of Dānavas praised him, impaled on the tip of the god's trident. // 31

Sūta said: / Hearing this hymn of his, Maheśvara was well pleased; / then, in joy, he spoke to that foremost of Danu's sons impaled on the tip of the trident: // 32

The Blessed Lord said: / 'This is no warrior's vow, O Daitya, that out of oppression by an enemy's hand / words of conciliation are spoken, especially by one of Daitya birth!' // 33

Andhaka said: / 'I am despondent, O best of gods, resting upon the tip of your trident; / therefore kill me, so that the end of my agony may come swiftly!' // 34

The Blessed Lord said: / 'There is no death for you, O Daitya; somehow it was considered by me, / and therefore [you are] held thus in the air, having been pierced in the chest with the trident. // 35

Therefore, freed from sin now, become one of my attendants, / having abandoned the nature born of Dānavas, endowed with supreme faith!' // 36

Andhaka said: / Gone is my demonic nature; now I will be your servant, / there is no doubt. I swear by my own self on truth.

Śaṃkara said: / I am pleased with you, child; speak what you desire! / Ask, and I shall give it, even if it is very difficult to obtain.

Andhaka said: / Whichever mortal, having fashioned an image of you in this very form, / with my body pierced on the point of your spear, establishes it upon the earth,

to him liberation must be granted by you at my word, O best of gods! / Saying 'So be it,' the Great Lord released him from the tip of his trident, / reduced to mere bones, with an emaciated body, resembling Cāmuṇḍā, O twice-borns.

Then, having attained the status of an attendant, he produced delightful singing / before the god of gods, and especially before Pārvatī.

Because his humming like a bee brought delight to the ear, / he was therefore named Bhṛṅgīriṭi by the enemy of Tripura.

Having thus attained the status of an attendant of the trident-bearing god of gods, / he became trustworthy in all tasks, entirely devoted to him.

From that time onwards in this world, the Great Lord, the god of gods, / is established on earth by people in that very form.

Supreme, extraordinary perfection is attained here by his grace. / Now, at a certain time, a king fell from his kingdom,

renowned here by the name of Suratha, born of the Solar dynasty. / Then, approaching Vasiṣṭha, his own family priest, / having bowed down, his eyes filled with tears, he said:

"Though you were present as my protector, O brahmin, / the kingdom of me, an unfortunate one, has now been forcibly seized by enemies.

Therefore, grant me your favor so that I may be reinstated in my kingdom / once more by your grace; I have no other refuge."

Vasiṣṭha said: / "If it is so, O great king, go swiftly at my word / to the sacred field of Hāṭakeśvara, which grants all perfections.

Having installed the Great Lord there in the form of Bhairava, / with the body of Andhaka pierced on the tip of the fierce spear raised in his arm,

then worship him, O king, with the Nārasiṃha mantra, / with red flowers, incense, and red unguents.

Then, having attained true courage, endowed with splendour and valour, / you will undoubtedly slay all your enemies by his grace.

You must worship the Lord endowed with supreme purity; / otherwise, you will encounter obstacles. This is the truth spoken by me."

Then, having heard his word, that king went quickly. / There, in that sacred field, he installed the god Bhairava.

Then he worshipped him with devotion using the Nārasiṃha / mantra, restrained and devoted to celibacy.

Then, at the conclusion of ten thousand [recitations] of that mantra, / Bhairava was pleased and spoke immediately afterwards.

The venerable Bhairava said: / "I am pleased with you, O king, worshipped with this mantra; / therefore, ask whatever is desired, so that I may grant it all."

Suratha said: / "My kingdom was seized by enemies; by your grace, O lord of gods, / let it become mine once again, free from enemies!

And whatever other man coming here should worship you in this manner / with this very mantra, to him perfection should be granted by you, O lord,

at the end of a thousand [recitations], O god, just as to me, O lord of gods!" / Promising him "So be it," Hara vanished from sight.

Suratha too regained his own kingdom, having slain his enemies in battle.

Thus ends the hundred and fifty-first chapter, entitled 'Description of the Māhātmya of the Sacred Field of Bhairava', in the Māhātmya of the Sacred Field of Hāṭakeśvara in the Nāgarakhaṇḍa, the sixth [section] of the glorious Skanda Mahāpurāṇa, in the compendium of eighty-one thousand [verses].