Skandapurana 5.233

Brahmā said: / One should offer libations to the ancestors with a devout mind / at the conclusion of ritual ablution daily; while the god is concealed, it brings great fruit. (1)

Having offered libations there to the ancestors and gods at the confluence of two rivers, / and having performed rites such as recitation and fire offerings, one attains endless fruit. (2)

Having remembered Govinda, auspicious rites should then be performed; / this alone gives satisfaction to ancestors, gods, men, and others. (3)

Endowed with faith and righteousness, one should perform all rites / purified by the smṛtis here during Cāturmāsya, which is supreme in virtues. (4)

Association with the virtuous, devotion to the twice-born, propitiating the guru, gods, and fire, / the gift of cows, recitation of the Veda, right action, and speaking the truth; (5)

devotion to cows and devotion to charity are always the means to righteousness; / especially while Kṛṣṇa is asleep, observance of vows also yields great fruit. (6)

Nārada said: / What kind of observance is it, O Brahmā, and what is the fruit of that observance? / Speak that by which observance Hari becomes pleased. (7)

Brahmā said: / The restraint of the eyes and other senses in various actions / should be practiced by an educated man; from its practice comes great happiness. (8)

This is the destruction of the six enemies, the supreme subjugation of foes; / this indeed is the root of spirituality and the supreme cause of happiness. (9)

There virtues such as forbearance and truth always dwell, / all taking the form of discrimination; that is Viṣṇu's supreme state. (10)

Having done this, whatever other sacrifice is performed, fulfillment of duty is achieved; / it accrues to him and to his ancestors, by whom this state has been known. (11)

Meditating on that even for a moment, sin arising from hundreds of births / goes to ashes, duly destroyed through serving the taintless one. (12)

Day by day, the exhaustion of hunger, thirst, and the like shrinks away for him; / that yogin, constantly observant of vows, is distinguished while Hari is asleep. (13)

If a man does not devotedly engage in the practice of yoga during Cāturmāsya, / nectar has slipped from his hand; of this there is no doubt. (14)

By whom the mind, which always wanders among all desires, is restrained, / for him that very mind is the cause of knowledge and liberation. (15)

Effort in restraining the mind should always be made by a wise man; / when the mind is well restrained, all knowledge is certainly attained. (16)

That mind is to be seized with forbearance, just as fire is controlled by water; / through forbearance alone is all restraint declared by the wise. (17)

Truth alone is the highest dharma; truth alone is the supreme austerity. / Truth alone is supreme knowledge; dharma is established upon truth.

And non-violence is the root of dharma: contemplating it in thought, / and likewise in deed and in speech, one should then practice it.

Taking another's property is theft at all times for all men; / especially during the Cāturmāsya, the avoidance of property belonging to brahmins and gods [is enjoined].

And the performance of improper deeds must always be avoided by the wise. / The one who always remains untainted in all actions, O brahmin,

that yogin is great in wisdom, possessing the eye of wisdom, devoid of the notion of ego. / This egoism exists as a poison in the body of men;

therefore it must always be abandoned, especially while the God is asleep. / Through freedom from craving, a person should overcome anger and overcome greed.

His thousands of sins depart from the body in a thousand ways. / Having conquered delusion and pride through peace, the enemy [of passions],

peace is to be grasped through reflection, and likewise through contentment. / By means of straightforwardness, that lord among sages should restrain malice.

During the Cāturmāsya, the dharma of compassion [holds]; there is no dharma for those who harm living beings. / In all gifts at all times, one should shun malice toward creatures.

Wise men call this the root of thousands of sins; / therefore, with every effort, compassion for creatures must be practiced by men.

Hari is constantly present in the hearts of all beings indeed. / He alone is truly humiliated who causes harm to creatures.

That dharma in which there is no compassion is considered flawed; / without compassion there is neither discernment nor dharma nor true knowledge.

Therefore, with one's whole soul, the eternal dharma of compassion / should constantly be cultivated by people, especially during the Cāturmāsya.

Thus ends the two hundred and thirty-fourth chapter, entitled 'Description of the Glory of the Observances of the Rules of Cāturmāsya', in the narrative of the one lying on the couch, in the dialogue between Brahmā and Nārada, in the Glory of Cāturmāsya, in the Glory of Hāṭakeśvara Sacred Field, in the sixth Nāgarakhaṇḍa, in the venerable Skanda Mahāpurāṇa comprising eighty-one thousand verses.