Skandapurana 5.22

The seers said: / "As for that which was mentioned by you regarding the sacred ford arisen from Indra, / where Lakṣmaṇa was freed from the sin born of treachery to one's master—

how was Indra formerly freed from the very sin born of treachery to his master / at that place, and at what time, O son of Sūta?

Why was such an act committed against Diti by Mahendra, / by which her fetus was destroyed? Tell everything in detail."

Sūta said: / "From the right thumb of Brahmā, the lord of creatures Dakṣa was born, / and he begot fifty auspicious daughters.

And Dakṣa gave ten to Dharma, thirteen to Kaśyapa, / and twenty-seven to the Moon according to the celestial rite.

Aditi and Diti became the two principal wives / of Kaśyapa, O best of twice-born, always dearer than his own breaths.

Then he fathered upon Aditi the gods led by Śakra, / and upon Diti the mightier daityas.

Between them a great battle arose for the kingdom of the three worlds; / there those daityas were struck down in battle by Śakra.

Then Diti, overcome with grief, undertook an unsurpassed vow; / endowed with self-restraint and concentrated in mind, she stayed in this very sacred field for the sake of a son.

Then, at the end of a thousand years, Maheśvara was pleased with her; / he said, "I am well pleased; ask for your desired boon."

She said: "If you are pleased with me, O god crowned with the crescent moon, / then grant me a son mightier than all the gods, / who will enjoy the sacrificial share and destroy the pride of the gods,

one who cannot be slain in battle by all the gods together with Vāsava." / Having pledged "So be it," Hara vanished from sight.

And Diti conceived an embryo from Kaśyapa, the foremost of sages. / Then Śakra felt fear, having learned of that conception / as the noble Nārada, the chief of sages, told of it.

Then, forming a wicked intent to destroy that embryo, / he attended upon her day and night without wearying,

seeking a flaw, even a very subtle one, O brahmins; / but he found none at all in her, and nine months passed.

Then, when the tenth month arrived, bringing about childbirth, / she, weary from pregnancy, fell asleep at nightfall facing south.

Overcome by sleep, she became unconscious, / remaining motionless from the comfort of her feet being massaged by Śakra's hands.

Seeing her unconscious, Śatakratu let go of her feet / and entered her womb, holding a sharp weapon in his hand. / With that weapon, the lord of gods cut the embryo into seven pieces.

Then in an instant he saw seven boys with complete bodies; / thereupon Hari cut those seven too into seven parts each.

Thus forty-nine boys came into being right there. / Seeing them continuing to grow, Śatakratu became terrified / and quickly emerged from the womb before he could be noticed by Diti.

Then, in the spotless morning, when the sun's orb had risen, / Diti gave birth to the seven times seven boys.

Then the thousand-eyed [god] approached, enveloped in a foul stench, / devoid of splendor, his face withered, standing with head bowed in shame.

Seeing Śakra in such a state, bowed down, / standing at her side with his mind agitated by fear, Diti spoke with respect:

"Why are you dispirited, O Śakra, bereft of luster and brilliance? / Why does such a foul odor arise from your body?

Did you kill a brahmin, or a guru, or a child, / or a woman, on account of which the splendor born of your body is lost?

Were you struck with water from fingernails, or brushed with the wind of a winnowing basket, / or covered with dust raised by a broom made of goat-hair?"

Śakra said: / "True is this, O fortunate lady, which you have just spoken to me. / At night, doing evil, I entered your belly while you slept,

and the embryo, O auspicious lady, was cut by me forty-nine times; / just that many boys were born from it, each and every one.

Then I emerged in fear, unnoticed by you, O goddess. / For this reason, O blameless one, has loss of luster befallen me."

Diti said: / "Since you have spoken the truth before me, O lord of gods, / therefore ask from me the boon that is desired by your mind."

Śakra said: / "These sons of yours, O goddess, as they were being cut by me with a sword, / wept, and were restrained by me softly: 'Do not weep [mā rudanta]!' again and again.

Therefore let them be renowned as the Maruts in the three worlds; / freed from daitya nature, obedient to me, and dear to me,

they shall all enjoy shares of the sacrifice along with me. / Because this sacred ford was adorned by me with your boys,

it shall hence attain renown among many as Bālamaṇḍana. / And whichever pregnant woman performs ritual ablution [here] with devotion, / no afflictions will befall her embryo in any way.

And when the time of delivery arrives, she who drinks water / from this sacred ford will easily give birth to a son."

Diti said: / "For your destruction, O lord of gods, Hara was formerly implored by me: / 'O god, give me a single son who will destroy all the gods!'

And you have transformed him into forty-nine forms. / Since you have spoken the truth, so shall this come to pass."

Sūta said: / From then on, they became the Maruts, equal to the gods, / eaters of the sacrificial share, by the command of Diti and Śakra.

Then the thousand-eyed [Indra] said to Bṛhaspati, the teacher of the gods: / "How will the sin committed by treachery against a mother come to an end?"

Bṛhaspati said: / "Perform austerity right here, O lord of gods, for purification from sin, / at this sacred ford which destroys all sins, where the sin was committed.

Not by sacrifices, nor by charity, nor by resorting to other sacred fords / does sin committed through treachery against a mother perish, O Puraṃdara, / if you abandon this sacred ford, the refuge of your mother."

Sūta said: / Then the thousand-eyed [god] quickly established himself, / O best of brahmins, a liṅga named Sahasrākṣeśa.

He worshiped it at the three junctures of the day with flowers, incense, and ointments, / as well as other offering-honors, and various songs and dances.

Then, at the end of a thousand years, Maheśvara was pleased with him / and said: "I am a granter of boons; O Śakra, ask for your desire."

Śakra said: / "May the sin committed by me through treachery against a mother pass away, O destroyer of Tripura, / and likewise for other mortals who, endowed with faith, / worship you here with true devotion and concentrated minds after performing ritual ablution!"

Sūta said: / Having promised, “So be it,” Hara vanished from sight; / and Śakra, freed from sins, went to the abode of the thirty [gods].

Thus arose there that sacred ford, Bālamaṇḍana, / where men are freed from the sin of being treacherous to a master.

All this about the origin of Bālamaṇḍana has been told to you. / Now listen with reverence, best of brahmins, to its māhātmya:

He who properly performs a śrāddha there during the bright fortnight of Āśvina, / beginning on the tenth day up to the fifteenth lunar day,

obtains the fruit born of ritual ablution in all the sacred fords, / or indeed, O brahmins, through performing the śrāddha, the fruit of a horse-sacrifice.

At that time the thousand-eyed [Indra] arrives on the surface of the earth, / always to enjoy the portions offered by mortal beings.

As long as Śakra remains thus on the earth's surface, O best of brahmins, / so long indeed do all the sacred fords abide in that sacred ford.

Therefore, with every effort, particularly at that time, / having performed ritual ablution in that auspicious sacred ford, one should then worship Śakreśvara.

Here two verses were sung of old by the divine seer Nārada; / let all the sages listen to both as they are recited by me:

“Having performed ritual ablution in Bālamaṇḍana and then beholding Śakreśvara, / when the five-fold Śravaṇa arrives in the month of Āśvina, / that man is freed from all sins committed on earth from birth until death.”

This is true, O best of brahmins, by the power of that sacred ford.

Thus ends the twenty-second chapter, titled ‘Description of the Māhātmya of the Bālamaṇḍana Sacred Ford,’ in the Māhātmya of the Hāṭakeśvara Sacred Field, in the Nāgarakhaṇḍa, the sixth [part] of the auspicious Skanda Mahāpurāṇa consisting of eighty-one thousand verses.