Skandapurana 5.178

Sūta said: / Likewise, there is another auspicious triad of Puṣkaras there, / in the sacred field of Hāṭakeśvara, destroying all sins,

at the sight, touch, or glorification of which, O best of the twice-born, / sin is destroyed just as darkness is by the sun. / All sacred fords purify through bathing and giving, without doubt; / yet by merely beholding Puṣkara, one is freed from all sins.

The seers said: / A sacred ford named Puṣkara is renowned in the three worlds, / which was created there by Brahmā and measures only a yojana.

North of the Candrabhāgā river as far as the Sarasvatī, / and south of the Karatoyā—this is the boundary of the triad of Puṣkaras.

Yet previously, O Sūta, it was told by you to us as being situated in the sky. / This is our curiosity, O Sūta: how did it come there / to the sacred field of Hāṭakeśvara? Therefore, you should explain [it].

Sūta said: / This which has been spoken by you, O fortunate ones, is true. / Listen attentively, O best of brahmins, to what concerns that sacred field. 7

Having bowed to the self-manifest one, I shall declare it completely in full detail. 8

As Brahmā, who has the unmanifest birth, was residing in the world of Brahmā, / the divine seer Nārada, the sage, having wandered through the three worlds, arrived. 9

Having bowed to his feet with his head, he sat down before him. 10

Brahmā said: / Why, my child, have you been seen [only] after a long time? Where have you come from now? / Where have you wandered? Tell me, my child; tell me the reason here. 11

Nārada said: / I have just now arrived from the mortal world in haste, O lord, / in order to worship your feet; I swear to you in truth. 12

Brahmā said: / Tell me the report that arises from the mortal world. / What are the kings like there? What are the best of brahmins like? / And what sorts of conduct prevail there now? 13

Nārada said: / Kali has now arisen in the mortal world, O best of gods. 14

The kings have abandoned the right path, devoted to greed, / and, utterly merciless, torment the people for the sake of wealth. 15

They are devoid of heroism, violaters of others' wives; / they worship neither brahmins, nor gods, nor even spiritual teachers. 16

Brahmins are sellers of the Veda, devoid of purity, / attached to accepting sinful gifts, devoid of the twilight prayers, utterly merciless. 17

They are constantly engaged in agriculture, tending cattle like vaiśyas. / All the vaiśyas have met with ruin upon the surface of the earth. 18

Śūdras constantly desire righteousness; śūdras perform austerities; / shameless, they all deride the practices that sustain the world. 19

Men on earth form friendships only with whoever / has wealth in his house and likewise youthful women. 20

In the hearts of widows, of those observing vows, and of all ascetics, / great desire resides; they stand outside the observance of their vows. 21

The sacred fords are falling into ruin, frequented by sinful people; / terrified of Kali, they are all fleeing in the ten directions. 22

Because I stayed there in the Kali age, O Grandfather, 23

[I saw that] in the Kali age, women especially are wanton, longing for pleasures, / quarrelling with their husbands, devoted to sorcery; / they observe vows in vain, having cast aside obedience to their own husbands. 24

Kali was made exceedingly strong by the granting of your boon. / Whenever a fight occurs among mortals, an itch arises in my heart. 25

Whether in heaven, at the head, or in Pātāla, at the feet, / or now in the mortal world, [such conflict] has been seen by me many times: 26

between mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law, and likewise between fathers and sons, / especially between kinsmen, and likewise between masters and servants, 27

between thieves and kings, and especially between husbands and wives. / Moreover, the clouds yield little water, and the earth produces little grain; 28

likewise the cows give little milk, and in the milk there is no ghee. / Thus, watching their conflicts day and night, 29

I wandered through the mortal world, and for that reason have returned after a long time. / I shall go back there once again; a great itch has arisen. 30

Having heard those words of Nārada, the Grandfather / became perturbed in his senses with anxiety on account of Puṣkara. 31

My sacred ford renowned by the name Puṣkara on the mortal plane / will surely meet with destruction, overrun by the Kali age. 32

Therefore, I shall take it elsewhere where Kali is not found, / so that I may release my own sacred ford Puṣkara there. 33

When the Kali age has arrived, terrifying to all living beings, / let all the sacred fords especially go there; 34

and when Kali has passed, they will go back to their own place, without a doubt. 35

Having thus resolved in his mind, the Grandfather then, / having meditated himself, spoke respectfully to the lotus residing in his hand: 36

Fall, O lotus, onto the surface of the earth where Kali is not found, / so that I may bring my own sacred ford Puṣkara to that very spot. 37

Then that lotus, dispatched by him, having wandered over the entire surface of the earth, / fell into the sacred field associated with Hāṭakeśvara, 38

having seen brahmins knowledgable in the Veda, devoted to their sacred recitation, pure, / and [seeing that sacred field] completely filled on all sides with their sacrificial rites and sacrificial surroundings, 39

with the courtyard of the sky pervaded in all directions by sacrificial posts and the like, / and by the resonance of the Ṛg, Yajus, and Sāma, and likewise by that born of the Atharvan. 40

With the circle of the directions thus pervaded, no other sound was heard; / and likewise in the great debates of the logicians, 41

and where explanations of all the Upaniṣads were being made in many ways, / sages were seen established in their observances: 42

eating once a day, taking no food, eating on alternate days, / others fasting for three nights, devoted to the kṛcchra and cāndrāyana penances; 43

others performing the great parāka penance, and likewise those who fast for a month; / others eating [only] what is crushed by stones, and likewise those who use their teeth as a mortar; 44

some eating fallen leaves, and great seers feeding on fruit. / Having seen such a sacred field endowed with various virtues, 45

it fell there upon the surface of the earth, knowing it to be holy. / From the place where it first fell, it bounced up again, 46

and [fell] into another, second place, O best of brahmins; / and from that place, the third beneficial lotus [fell] into a third. 47

Then a triad of chasms arose in those three places, / and in the chasms arose water, clear and resembling crystal. 48

At this juncture, the Grandfather himself arrived / at that place, O best of brahmins, for the accomplishment of a sacrificial rite, 49

having seen on all sides the sacred field named Hāṭakeśvara, / crowded with diverse brahmins who had mastered the Vedas and Vedāṅgas, / and likewise with many ascetics devoted to the practice of vows. 50

"Oh, what a sacred field! Oh, what a sacred field! Merit-giving, charming, beloved of brahmins! / Therefore I shall perform a sacrifice in this sacred field, the refuge of brahmins. / 51

And I will also bring that auspicious triad of Puṣkaras, / the elder, the middle, and the youngest, into these holy hollows, / 52

so that, when the Kali age arrives, it will not perish." / Having resolved this in his mind, and sitting down upon the surface of the earth, / 53

and having meditated for a very long time, he brought there / the supreme triad of Puṣkaras: the elder, the middle, and the youngest. / 54

Then, rejoicing in his heart, he said: "Indeed, this triad of Puṣkaras / has been duly brought by me out of fear of the Kali age. / 55

Those who bathe here endowed with supreme faith / shall attain supreme, imperishable perfection through my grace. / 56

And those with concentrated minds who perform a śrāddha on the full moon day of Kārttika / shall obtain the greatest merit, as if they performed it at Gayāśīrṣa. / 57

They will obtain a hundred times more merit than from the first Puṣkara. / I performed a sacrifice there at the first Puṣkara on the full moon day of Kārttika; / 58

and here at the second one I shall perform it on the full moon day of Vaiśākha." / 59

Having spoken thus, Brahmā then commanded the wind: / "O Vāyu, by my command, bring Puraṃdara at once, / 60

along with the Ādityas, the Vasus, the Rudras, and the host of Maruts, / with the Gandharvas, the World Protectors, the Siddhas, and likewise the Vidyādharas, / 61

so that I may have assistance in the entire sacrificial rite." / Hearing all of that, Vāyu went to the dwelling of Śakra / and recounted everything that had been said by Parameṣṭhin. / 62

He set out quickly to that place, together with all the hosts of gods. / Then, bowing down to Brahmā, he spoke these words: / 63

"Give your command, O Lord! Indeed, I have been summoned by you. / Whatever the purpose is, I shall do it; therefore, state it quickly." / 64

Brahmā said: / "O Śakra, the most holy triad of Puṣkaras has been brought here by me; / and out of fear of the Kali age, I shall establish it firmly. / 65

Having performed three Agniṣṭoma sacrifices on the full moon day of Vaiśākha according to the proper rites, / collect quickly all the materials needed for that purpose, / 66

and also the brahmins worthy of it, who have mastered the Vedas and Vedāṅgas." / Hearing this, Śakra respectfully said, "So be it," and in all haste / brought the materials and the best brahmins worthy of it. / 67

Then the great ancestor performed the sacrifice in accordance with the injunctions, / everything following the prescribed rule, along with complete sacrificial fees. / 68

Thus ends the one hundred and seventy-ninth chapter, titled "The Account of the Bringing of Materials and Inviting of Brahmins for Beginning the Sacrifice Preceded by the Origin of the Triad of Puṣkaras," in the Māhātmya of the Hāṭakeśvara Kṣetra, in the Nāgarakhaṇḍa, the sixth [part] of the eighty-one-thousand-verse collection in the glorious Skanda Mahāpurāṇa. / 179