Skandapurana 5.208

Ānarta said: / Now, tiger among sages, tell me the entire māhātmya / arising from Śaṅkhatīrtha; great faith has arisen in me.

Ah, what a sacred ford, ah, what a sacred ford, known as Hāṭakeśvara! / And what an auspicious sacred field upon the surface of the earth, filled with all wonders!

I find no satiety at all, best of the twice-born, / as I listen to the exalted māhātmya that originates from this sacred field.

Viśvāmitra said: / In this regard, I shall narrate to you another ancient account, / the māhātmya of Śaṅkhatīrtha, as it came to pass upon the surface of the earth.

Formerly, there was another ruler of the earth, the king of Ānarta, / just as you are now on earth the protector of all the world.

Suddenly, he was afflicted with leprosy and became crippled in his limbs; / sonless, beset by enemies, and terrified was that best of kings.

Harassed on all sides by all the rulers of the earth, / and suffering the loss of his kingdom, he arrived at Mount Raivataka.

Even there he was constantly tormented on every side by thieves.

When he was deprived of elephants, horses, and chariots, and devoid of his treasury, / he then thought: 'What shall I do now?'

Even all his wives were forcibly carried off by robbers.

Reflecting thus, tiger among kings, on a sacred day of Viṣṇu, / he went to see the powerful Nārada.

There he saw Nārada, the best of sages, who had arrived / in the course of a pilgrimage to sacred fords out of a desire to see Dāmodara.

Bowing to him with his head, standing with folded hands, / and sitting down before him, he spoke these wretched words:

The king said: / I have been overthrown on all sides by enemies, best of sages; / then, having fallen from my kingdom, I have arrived here on this great mountain.

In the forest I am tormented on all sides by wicked robbers; / whatever little—horses, elephants, and the like—had come along with me,

all of that was carried off by robbers, along with my treasuries, wives, and wealth. / Therefore tell me, best of sages: a great world-weariness has come upon me.

Was there some very terrible sin of mine originating from another birth, / because of which, best of sages, I have suddenly reached this state?

Hearing those words of his, the lord of sages meditated for a long time; / having known [the truth] through his divine eye, he then spoke to the wretched king:

Nārada said: / Nothing vile was done by you in your previous body; / I have known everything, great king, by means of my divine eye.

Formerly, you were a king of the Lunar Dynasty / in the city named Siddhapannaga, a slayer of all enemies.

You performed great sacrifices with always plentiful sacrificial gifts, / bestowed great gifts, and honoured the best of brahmins; / by the ripening of that action, you attained kingship once again.

Ānarta said: / In this birth, O lord, I remember no misdeed committed; / then why has this sudden loss of my kingdom befallen me?

The life of a person bereft of fortune in this world comes to naught, / tiger among sages; indeed, I have realised this now.

A man bereft of splendour is dead; dead is a realm without a king; / dead is a gift [given] to one who is not a Vedic scholar; dead is a sacrifice without sacrificial gifts.

Even a relative turns away from a mortal bereft of fortune; / thinking, 'Surely he will ask me [for something],' having seen him, he goes elsewhere.

Just as now, having seen me, even those who were gratified by me / go far away, [thinking,] 'This man will beg from me.'

Abandoning a man bereft of wealth, even if of noble birth and excellent, / one's own kin goes elsewhere, like birds [leaving] a withered tree.

If a poor man comes to the house of the wealthy for some purpose or need, / they revile him; they do not come near him.

Even if a miser who is rich in wealth comes begging, / it will be in the minds of men: 'This man will give me something.'

'You belong to my ancestral lineage, and your father was always devoted to affection / for my father, but you are devoid of affection.'

Thus they speak in this world, standing in front of the wealthy; / even men of noble birth are seen [serving] sinners out of a desire for wealth. / For a poor man who rules a kingdom on earth,

there will only be the withering of his heart, great sage. / These two are sharp thorns that dry up the body: / one who, lacking wealth, still desires, and one who, lacking power, gets angry.

Those greedy for wealth frequent even a cremation ground at the arrival of night; / abandoning even their own progenitor, they constantly go very far away.

Even a complete fool becomes a scholar, even a low-born man becomes of noble family, / if he has wealth in his house; the opposite is true otherwise.

I am despondent with life now, best of sages; / therefore tell me why this poverty has come upon me,

and also leprosy has befallen me, and defeat by enemies. / Another birth was seen by you with your divine eye,

and you tell me that I was not touched even by the slightest evil deed. / Seeing this [present] birth, best of sages, I recall

that no evil deed was ever committed by me. / Then why, true sage, has this loss of my kingdom occurred?

Curiosity has arisen in me regarding this; therefore give me the conclusion: / Does an action, good or bad, that has been performed bear fruit or not?

Viśvāmitra said: / Having heard those words of his, Nārada, after meditating for a long time, / was overcome with supreme compassion, and then said with respect:

Listen, O King, I shall explain how purification will come about, / and how the regain of your kingdom will take place again.

In your land there is a sacred field of great religious merit throughout the three worlds, / known as Hāṭakeśvara; and there is an auspicious sacred ford there, / celebrated as Śaṅkhatīrtha, which destroys all sins.

Whoever performs ritual ablution there, endowed with supreme faith, / on the eighth lunar day of the bright fortnight, when the month of Mādhava arrives,

and when it falls on a Sunday, at the rising of the sun, / is freed from all leprosy and becomes like the sun.

Whatever desire one may contemplate, though most difficult to attain among all things, / one then obtains it beyond doubt after seeing the auspicious Śaṅkheśvara.

Did you not hear of it, O king, while living there in your own realm— / the māhātmya of that sacred ford—that you have come here?

Siddhasena said: / Tell me, O virtuous sage, how did the god Śaṅkheśvara come to be?

Nārada said: / I shall tell you this ancient tale / of how Śaṅkheśvara arose, and also Śaṅkhatīrtha, O king.

Formerly there were two brahmins, Likhita and Śaṅkha, / brothers learned in the Vedas, devoted to fierce austerity.

Then, after some time, [Śaṅkha] went to the hermitage of Likhita, / his elder brother, in order to pay him homage, O king.

He found the hermitage deserted, abandoned by Likhita.

Then he saw fully ripe fruits in that forest; / out of affection, thinking it his brother's hermitage, O king, he took them.

In the meantime, Likhita arrived there at the hermitage / and saw Śaṅkha holding a large fruit.

“What is this sin you have committed, O sinner, condemned by the virtuous? / A reprehensible act of theft has been done by you, in that fruits were taken!

By this deed your austerity will come to an end, / since you have engaged in an act of theft and been censured by brahmins!”

Śaṅkha said: / “An elder brother born of the same womb should be like a father: / so stands the well-known sacred tradition established everywhere in the world.

Has a son no right, then, O best of brahmins, to his father's property, / that you rebuke me thus with harsh words, O lord?”

Likhita said: / “No fault arises in any way for a son who takes, / while living together [with him], his father's property, without doubt.

But when a son or a brother who has separated takes property, / then he incurs the fault arising from theft—such is my view.

Moreover, a father may always take the property of his son; / for him there is no fault ever, even if [the son] is separated.

On this matter a verse was formerly sung by Manu, the author of the Smṛti; / I shall recite to you that statement originating in the Dharmaśāstra:

‘Three alone are declared to have no property: a wife, a servant, and a son; / whatever they acquire belongs to the one to whom they belong.’

Śaṅkha said: / “If indeed I have incurred such a grave fault of theft, my brother, / then punish me swiftly, so that my austerity may not be lost.”

Viśvāmitra said: / Knowing his resolve, taking up a clean blade, / the brother pitilessly severed both his brother's arms. / And that brahmin, though his hands were cut off and he was filled with agony,

considered it the grace of his elder brother, O king.

Then, knowing the sacred field called Hāṭakeśvara to be wish-fulfilling, / he went there, reached a certain body of water, and practiced austerity.

He slept under the open sky in the rainy season, took refuge in the water in winter, / practiced the five-fire penance in summer, eating only at the sixth mealtime.

Bathing the sun and the Sthāṇu [liṅga], before it chanting the Śatarudrīya, / chanting the Rudra mantras taught in the Sāmaveda, and chanting the Bhava-rudras, / the Prāṇa-rudras, and the Nīla mantras along with the Skandasūkta.

Then, at the end of a thousand years, Maheśvara was pleased with him; / he granted him darśana and spoke, together with the sun and the lords of bulls:

Maheśvara said: / “O Śaṅkha, I am pleased with you, my child, by this austerity, O one of noble vows! / Therefore tell me quickly what I may give you now.”

Śaṅkha said: / “If you are pleased with me, O god, if a boon is to be granted to me, / let both of my hands become just as they were formerly.

And you must always abide right here, O Lord of the foremost gods, / taking great compassion upon me in this liṅga, O god!

May this body of water on the surface of the earth become renowned / by my name among the people, as long as the moon, sun, and stars endure.

Whoever performs ritual ablution here, holding in mind some desired thing / difficult to obtain, let all of it be accomplished for him, O omnipresent Lord!”

The Blessed Lord said: / “Since I have appeared to your sight this day, / on the eighth lunar day of the bright fortnight of the month of Mādhava, O best of brahmins,

therefore, O highest of brahmins, I will certainly make my entry / into this liṅga of yours for one day; of this there is no doubt.

And on the arrival of that day, whoever performs ritual ablution / right here at this sacred ford born of Bhava, on a Sunday at sunrise,

and worships my form installed by you, O brahmin, / shall be freed from the disease of leprosy and shall go to my world.

Even at the end of life, O foremost of brahmins, from sin committed in ignorance / one will surely attain liberation by my word, O highest of brahmins.

Likewise, these two arms of yours that were cut off— / by ritual sprinkling in that planetary conjunction, both shall again become as they were.

This assurance of mine shall be yours right now, O brahmin: / having performed ritual ablution once again, then worship my form.

Others too who have suffered mutilation, when this conjunction of yours is present, / upon bathing and worshipping me, shall attain liberation, O brahmin.”

Having spoken thus, the thousand-rayed Sun disappeared from sight. / Śaṅkha too, having immediately taken a ritual ablution and worshipped the Sun,

as soon as he looked at himself, saw that he had his hands. / Looking at himself, he was filled with supreme wonder.

From that time forward, O king, having established a hermitage right there, / that best of brahmins performed austerities and attained the supreme goal.

Therefore, O king of kings, you too, having arrived at that conjunction in accordance with reality, / having taken a ritual ablution by that very procedure, worship the Sun.

And whoever hears this constantly or recites it before the Sun, / in his lineage too, a leper is never born.

Thus ends the two hundred and ninth chapter, named 'Description of the Origin of Śaṅkhāditya and Śaṅkhatīrtha', in the Māhātmya of the Hāṭakeśvara Field, in the Nāgarakhaṇḍa, the sixth [section], of the Mahāpurāṇa composed by Skanda consisting of eighty-one thousand verses.