Skandapurana 5.229

Sūta said: / When that best of Dānavas, Andhaka, had thus attained the state of an attendant, / his son named Vṛka, devoid of enthusiasm for conquering enemies, 1

filled with great fear, entered within the ocean, an inaccessible fortress, / along with the surviving Dānavas, O best of brahmins. 2

Then Śakra, joyful in soul, bowed down to the bull-bannered Lord, / and having obtained his command, entered Amarāvatī. 3

And he ruled happily over the three worlds as well, O best of the twice-born; / and on the surface of the earth he once again received his sacrificial shares as was his due.

At that very time, however, Andhaka's son Vṛka / emerged swiftly from the ocean and came to Jambudvīpa,

considering the sacred field of Hāṭakeśvara to be holy and granting great success, / where austerity had been performed by his father, the wicked Andhaka.

He performed hidden austerity so that no one might know, / meditating with devotion upon the lotus-born [Brahmā], the best of gods.

For a thousand years he lived on water alone; for a second [thousand] / that lord of Daityas performed austerity while meditating on the Grandfather.

Then he became one who feeds on air for the same length of time, O best of the twice-born, / touching the surface of the earth only with the tip of his big toe, with senses conquered.

And when the fifth thousand was reached in this manner, O best of the twice-born, / Brahmā became pleased with him upon seeing his great austerity.

Then, having come to that pit, he said to him, O best of brahmins: / 'Hail, hail, Vṛka! Desist from this exceedingly fierce austerity!

Choose a boon, may good betide you, that is constantly in your mind.'

Vṛka said: / 'If you are pleased with me, O god, if a boon is to be granted to me, / then make me free from old age and death, O Grandfather!'

Holy Brahmā said: / 'By my grace, my child, free from old age and death / you shall become, there is no doubt; this that I have spoken is true.'

Having spoken thus, Brahmā vanished right there. / Vṛka too, his purpose accomplished, went to the home of his father,

to the mountain named Raivataka, radiant with the flowers of all seasons. / Going there and quickly holding counsel with his own ministers, / he then made a march against Indra, wishing for battle.

Indra too, learning of that mighty Dānava, / free from old age and death through the power of the Supreme Lord [Brahmā],

abandoned the city of Amarāvatī out of fear / and went swiftly to the world of Brahmā together with all the gods.

In the meantime, Vṛka arrived at the abode of the thirty [gods], / accompanied by his joyful army and retinue.

Then he took his place by himself upon that throne of Indra, / having received consecration from Śukra through a bath of flowers.

Consecrated by Śukra in the position of king of the gods, Vṛka / installed Daityas in the positions of the deities,

of the Ādityas, the Vasus, the Rudras, and the Maruts as well, / for the sake of the sacrificial shares, O brahmins, adhering to Śukra's command.

Thus ends the two hundred and thirtieth chapter, entitled "The Description of King Vṛka's Acquisition of Sovereignty," in the narrative of the One Who Lies on the Waters, in the section on the greatness of the sacred field of Hāṭakeśvara, in the Nāgarakhaṇḍa, the sixth [part] of the eighty-one-thousand-verse collection of the glorious Skanda Mahāpurāṇa.