Skandapurana 5.200

Viśvāmitra said: / Then all those brahmins, joining their palms in reverence, / uttered praise to the great-minded Bhartṛyajña and spoke these words:

As this has been stated by you: 'That twice-born who has been purified / is worthy of the ancestral rite, of a maiden, and of the drinking of soma,'—

how must the purification of such a person be performed? Tell us all of that: / of all Nāgaras, and of one who has gone to another country,

or of one born in another country, or born there again, / whose paternal lineage is unknown, desiring common standing.

Explain all this to us in detail, O noble-minded one.

Viśvāmitra said: / Hearing those words of the brahmins, O best of kings, / Bhartṛyajña then stated his well-considered view:

Bhartṛyajña said: / A great burden of inquiry has been raised by you; / nevertheless, having bowed down to the self-manifest [lord], I shall explain it.

One whose paternal lineage is unknown, who has come even from afar, / and desires common standing, proclaiming, 'I am a Nāgara,'—

purification should be granted to him by the foremost, tranquil, and auspicious twice-born, / having placed in front a vipra originating from Gartātīrtha.

If the twice-born do not grant purification to him when he begs for it, / whether through desire, anger, malice, or fear of loss of status,

the sin born of killing a brahmin arises for all of them there. / Therefore, when one has arrived even from afar in particular,

purification must be granted to him with effort by the best of the twice-born. / One who has attained the threefold purification that originates from my word,

he is to be known as a purified Nāgara, even if born in another country. / First, one should purify his paternal lineage; after that, the maternal family is prescribed.

Then his conduct: purified by these three, he is worthy of common standing.

For all vipras also, when the end of the year has arrived, / purification must be performed with effort for the purification of one's own standing.

For that purpose, at the end of autumn, in the auspicious season, O best of brahmins, / sixteen [brahmins] endowed with [mastery of] four Vedic branches are indeed to be seated,

all of them brahmins seated in front, tranquil, self-restrained, and with senses conquered. / Among them he should seat a vipra originating from Gartātīrtha.

In front of them, four auspiciously marked small seats are to be set, / arranged for the four branches [of the Vedas] up until [the month of] Kārttika:

the first for the Ṛgvedic scholar, another likewise for the Yajurvedic scholar, / another likewise for the Sāmavedic singer, and the fourth for the first [Atharvavedic priest].

Likewise, a fifth is proclaimed for the seal. / The Śrīsūkta, the Pāvamānasūkta, the Śākunasūkta, and that which has Viṣṇu as its deity,

the Pārāvatasūkta, along with the Jīvasūkta: / there the Ṛgvedic scholar should recite [these], and also other pacifying hymns.

The pacifying [hymn], the Śivasaṅkalpa, the fourfold Ṛṣikalpa, / the Maṇḍalabrāhmaṇa, the Gāyatrībrāhmaṇa, / and also the Puruṣasūkta and the Madhubrāhmaṇa— / there the Adhvaryu priest should recite the Rudra hymns endowed with five parts.

The Devavrata, the Gāyatra, and the Somavrata and Sūryavrata, / [the chants] ending at the twenty-first, and also the other, the Rathaṃtara,

the Sauvrata, the Saṃhitā of Viṣṇu, and likewise the Jyeṣṭhasāman, / and the Rudra hymns declared in the Sāmaveda accompanied by the Bhāruṇḍa chants—

there the Chandoga priest should recite [these], and whatever else may be pacifying. / And the Garbhopaniṣad, and also the Skandasūkta,

the Nīlarudra hymns along with the Prāṇarudra hymns, and others: / the nine Rudras and the Kṣurikā—the prime [priest] should recite these there.

Then, with the proclamation of an auspicious day, accompanied by sounds of singing and musical instruments, / wearing white garlands and garments, anointed with white sandalwood,

the person desiring purification should go there where those brahmins are seated. / Having bowed to them with his head, he who sits in the middle should then be addressed:

'Do pray on my behalf to all these best of the twice-born, / so that they may grant purification; please bestow this grace.'

Then the vipra originating from Gartātīrtha, standing bowed in humility, / should pray to the vipras for his sake, for his purification.

Remaining seated upon a hide of ox-hide, for that person who desires purification, / all the best of the twice-born should then be asked by him:

'This twice-born Nāgara has arrived from very far for the sake of purification. / Purification should be granted to him, if it pleases you.'

Then, either prohibition or permission must be pronounced by them by means of Vedic hymns, / not merely in ordinary words; this is my established decree.

And then, having looked upon the numerous Ṛgvedins and Adhvaryus thereafter, / and the Chāndogyas and the foremost ones in succession, O best of the twice-born,

if contentment of their minds arises, O best among the twice-born, / then [they recite] Vedic hymns and words that are gentle, highly auspicious, / dedicated to Varuṇa, dedicated to Indra, and yielding blessings.

[They recite] excellent mantra-indicators that cause growth and satisfaction. / If, however, mental satisfaction is not produced in them,

then [they recite mantras] sacred to Rudra, Yama, and especially Nirṛti, / or belonging to Agni, which are unfavorable and bring about destruction.

Now, those who might be foolish there and not devoted to reciting the Veda, / a gift of flowers should be declared by those best among brahmins when pleased.

When angered and devoid of satisfaction, a hiss must be made. / Thus in all matters, no decision should be made

with ordinary vernacular words, as common men do. / Likewise, at the conclusion of a decision, the wise arbiter,

when the decision of all emerges, should properly give three claps of the hands.

Thus ends the two hundred and first chapter, entitled “Description of the Determination of Queries of the Nāgaras,” in the Nāgarakhaṇḍa of the glorious Skandapurāṇa, a collection of eighty-one thousand verses, in the section on the greatness of the sacred field of Hāṭakeśvara.