Skandapurana 5.177

Lakṣmī said: / Thus, O all-pervading lord, sovereignty was obtained by me by worshipping Gaurī, / as well as supreme good fortune, difficult for all women to obtain.

Yet, O Supreme Lord, no child was obtained by me, / even when such good fortune and such youth were present.

I was burned by that sorrow; day and night I had no happiness. / Then, after some time, Durvāsas, the best of sages,

came to the palace of the ruler of Ānarta to receive honor, / and to take clay for the observance of the four months of the rainy season.

Then, duly worshipped by the king of Ānarta, / having offered the water of welcome and the honey-mixture, [the king] bowed down and spoke:

‘Welcome to you, best of sages, and welcome again to you! / In this world there is none more fortunate than me, nor any like me.

Those two feet of yours, covered with dust, have been cleansed by my hair. / Therefore tell me, sage: what shall I do for you who have come to my house today?

I would even give my kingdom; what to speak of other things?’

Durvāsas said: / ‘I shall perform the Cāturmāsya observance in your palace, O king, / [and] the gathering of clay; so let service be rendered to me.’ / Having agreed with ‘So be it,’ the best of kings said to me:

‘Service must be rendered to him constantly, O fair-faced woman, / until the Cāturmāsya vow, preceded by the worship of the deities, [is completed].’

Having said ‘Very well,’ everything was carried out by me, / every duty worthy of service, like a daughter [serving] her father.

When the four-month period had passed and the sage was about to depart, / he, well pleased, spoke to me: ‘Daughter, what can I do for you?’

Then that blessed one was addressed by me, repeatedly bowing down: / ‘I have no offspring, O holy one; because of that I burn day and night.

Even though such a king exists and my youth is in its prime, / tell me the truth, best of sages, by which offspring may be mine,

by a vow, a religious observance, by gifts, or by fire-offerings.’ / Then, having meditated for a very long time, he said to me, smiling as it were:

‘In another birth, daughter, Gaurī was worshipped by you / with heated sands when the time of death had arrived.

Through devotion to her, though you have obtained a kingdom, you are afflicted by burning heat, / because Gaurī was made by you with heated sands.

A deity does not reside in wood, nor in stone, nor in clays; / a deity resides in devotion, united with the application of mantras.

Conjoined with the devotion of feelings and by the employment of mantras, / the Goddess, summoned by mantras, was worshipped by you with sand.

Therefore this burning sensation is ever present in your body. / For that reason, having fashioned Gaurī of gems in five lumps, / install her in the sacred field of Hāṭakeśvara, O woman of lovely face!

Then, when the sun is in Taurus, carefully place above her / a water-dripping device, flowing day and night.

Then, just as coolness comes to her, / so too your burning heat will be pacified day and night.

At the end of the burning heat, conception will occur; then you will obtain a son / capable of bearing the burden of the kingdom, valorous, celebrated in the three worlds.

Any other lovely woman here who will worship her thus / in the month of Jyeṣṭha, she too will prosper just like you.’

Lakṣmī said: / ‘Then that blessed lord of sages was addressed again by me: / “I have no attachment to human existence; great detachment has arisen [in me],

seeing the life of all embodied beings to be like the rushing torrent of a river. / Therefore tell me, fortunate one, some supreme vow

by which, being properly observed, human birth will not recur, O good twice-born.” / Then, having meditated for a very long time, he said to me, O supreme lord:

“There is, daughter, a sacred vow that brings great delight to Gaurī, / by which, when properly observed, a woman attains divinity.

That Great Goddess called Gomayā was fashioned indeed of cow dung; / hence all those [women] attained Goloka, O woman of excellent complexion!

Perform that [vow], auspicious one, by which you will attain divinity.” / Then that sage was asked again by me, best of gods:

“At what time must it be performed, and by what rite, O good sage? / Tell me everything in detail, so that I may perform it.”

Durvāsas said: / “In the month of Bhādrapada, during the dark fortnight, on the third day, / having risen in the morning, one should then chew the tooth-cleansing stick.

Then, having taken the resolve of fasting, / uttering the name of Gaurī with a mind purified by faith,

and then, when night arrives, having fashioned four Gaurīs / made of clay—listen with one-pointed mind to how they should be:

One Gaurī should be made of five lumps, as described. / As each watch of the day arrives, one should perform worship to them; / learn from me the mantras for each of them separately:

‘O Goddess born in the house of the Himālaya, beloved of Śaṃkara, / born from the womb of Menā, accept this worship, homage to you!’

Then one should offer incense, and camphor along with faith, / and prepare a lamp with red thread and with ghee.

Having worshipped with jasmine flowers, one should place sweetmeats as food-offering; / having covered it with red cloth, and having offered the water of welcome thereafter,

the tooth-stick should be of the tree of which the flower is used; / with a citron fruit, with devotion, [one should offer] to her with this mantra:

‘Carefully one should offer the water of welcome, accompanied by perfume, flowers, and unbroken grains of rice: / “O Goddess beloved of Śaṃkara, auspicious daughter of the Himālaya, / accept this water of welcome offered by me, homage to you!”’

One should partake of that very [offering] for the purification of the body. / And at the end of the first watch, having worshipped Ardhanārīśvara,

one should worship with fragrant flowers with devotion, O Pārvatī, using this mantra: / ‘She who abides as the left half of Hara's body, / may that Goddess accept my worship; homage to you!’

Then with devotion one should offer aloe wood as incense, O auspicious one, / and sweet pastries as food-offering, and the water of welcome with a coconut.

It should be offered with this mantra, and partaking of that very [offering] is prescribed: / ‘The two supreme lords who abide as Ardhanārīśvara,

may my water of welcome be accepted, O two deities, and may you bestow all happiness!’ / When the third watch arrives, one should worship with centifolia roses.

One should worship the two deities Umā and Maheśvara with this mantra:

"May the two deities Umā and Maheśvara, who are endowed with creation and dissolution, / accept this worship offered by me with devotion."

Then incense made from bdellium [should be offered], and an offering of food consisting of ghārikā cakes, / and an arghya with nutmeg, and that very [nutmeg] is traditionally taught as the food to be consumed.

Then an arghya is to be offered with devotion using this mantra: / incense with powdered knots [of ginger/turmeric], and an arghya consisting of a madana fruit.

That very [fruit] must be consumed thereafter for the purification of the body.

"O deities Umā and Maheśvara, bestowers of the pleasure of all desires, / having shown the greatest compassion, accept this arghya of mine!"

When the fourth watch has arrived, having worshipped that Gaurī of the five balls / with bhṛṅgarāja with devotion, using this mantra:

"O ruler of gods, who consist of the five forms that are declared as the five elements beginning with earth, / accept [my] worship! Obeisance be to you!"

For the food offering, one should devoutly present cakes fried in ghee to the Goddess, / incense with knot-powder, and an arghya of madana fruit; / that very [fruit] is to be consumed, and this is remembered as the mantra for the arghya:

"May the goddess who consists of the five elements and abides in fivefold form, / that ruler of the gods, accept this arghya offered by me!"

Thus that entire night should be spent before them with the sounds of songs, musical instruments, and the like; / one should not sleep at all.

Then in the clear dawn, when the orb of the sun has risen, / having bathed, one should devoutly worship a brahmin along with his wife,

with garments and ornaments according to one's means, O princess; / and food consisting of sweet rice should be offered to Gaurī, O fair-smiling lady!

Then, having brought a female elephant or a mare, O slender-waisted lady, / and having placed that group of four Gaurīs upon it,

with the sound of songs and instruments, accompanied by the chanting of the Vedas, / one should cast them into a river, a pond, or a step-well,

with true devotion using this mantra; I speak this to you, O beautiful woman:

"You were invoked by me, O Goddess; you were worshipped by me, O auspicious one! / For bestowing good fortune upon me, depart as you please."

Lakṣmī said: / "Thus, O Lord, that tṛtīyā was observed by me as described, / when the month of Nabhasya arrived, with supreme devotion, O all-pervading one!

And likewise when the second arrived, and especially the third: / as I looked at dawn, the group of four Gaurīs, / which had been worshipped by me, had turned into jewels.

When I set out towards the riverbank intending to perform the immersion, / that ruler of gods appeared and spoke to me:

'Do not, O daughter, [throw] my four forms into the water here! / Reflect upon my words, and having heard them, act accordingly.

Install [them] in the sacred field of Hāṭakeśvara; do not throw [them away]! / Thereby it will become imperishable, and benefit all women.

Ask for any boon; worshipped here, I grant it.' / When the daughter of the mountain, the ruler of gods, was worshipped, she was addressed by me:

'If, pleased, you grant me a boon, O Goddess, O ruler of gods, / then may I never be born in a human womb!

May Viṣṇu be my husband, ever the bestower of eternal desires! / I desire no other thing, not even sovereignty beautified by heaven.

And whatever other woman performs this vow with concentrated mind, / just as satisfaction arises through all vows, O Goddess, so may it arise

for her through this single one, O Pārvatī!' / Having said to me, 'So be it,' Gaurī then disappeared.

And that Goddess, that group of four Gaurīs, / was installed by me there in the auspicious sacred field of Hāṭakeśvara, O Lord.

By that power, you, O Supreme Lord, were attained by me as husband, / eternal, imperishable, and always attentive to my face.

All this which I was asked has been told to you, O Lord of gods! / By this truth, O Lord of gods, I touch your feet."

Sūta said: / Having heard those words of hers, the wielder of the conch, discus, and mace, / smiled and, overjoyed, spoke to that Mahālakṣmī, / repeatedly embracing her as she rested upon his chest:

"Well done, well done, O fortunate lady! True is this that was spoken by you. / Though knowing it, you were questioned by me, O fair-complexioned lady!"

Sūta said: / All this that I was asked has been told to you, O best of the twice-born: / how Gaurī became four-armed and [worshipped as] five balls.

And whatever person reads this with devotion, having risen in the morning, / will not be abandoned by Lakṣmī, nor will they encounter misfortune.

Therefore, with every effort, this auspicious narrative / concerning Gaurī, which has been recounted by me, should be read, O brahmins.

Thus ends the one hundred and seventy-eighth chapter, entitled "The Description of the Māhātmya of the Origin of Pañcapiṇḍikā Gaurī," in the Māhātmya of the Sacred Field of Hāṭakeśvara in the Nāgarakhaṇḍa, the sixth [part] of the eighty-one-thousand-verse collection of the glorious Skanda Mahāpurāṇa.