Skandapurana 5.238

Nārada said: / How is worship performed with the sixteen offerings? / What are those sixteen devotional states that are constantly [observed] during Hari's sleep?

Speak this in detail to me as I ask, O Prajāpati. / Having attained your grace, I shall become worthy of worship by the world.

Brahmā said: / Firm devotion to Viṣṇu should be cultivated according to the rule of the Vedas and treatises. / All this has the Veda as its root; eternal Viṣṇu is the Veda.

Those Vedas rest upon brahmins, and brahmins have fire as their deity. / The brahmin whose oblation is cast into the fire, always worshipping the deity in the sacrifice,

sustains the entire world, ever delighting in the worship of Viṣṇu. / Nārāyaṇa, remembered and meditated upon, is the destroyer of distress, sorrow, and other ills.

Especially during the Cāturmāsya, Hari enters the form of water. / From water foods are produced to satisfy the worlds.

Born from a portion of Viṣṇu's body, that food is regarded as Brahman. / Having offered that food to Viṣṇu, preceded indeed by invocation,

one is not overpowered by the impressions of rebirth, old age, and suffering. / In the beginning there was only a single Veda, originating from space.

Then the Ṛgveda obtained the designations of Yajus and Sāman for prosperity. / The Ṛgveda was stated first, and the Yajus begins with 'Thousand-headed' [sahasraśīrṣā].

This supreme great hymn of sixteen verses consists entirely of Nārāyaṇa. / Even by merely reciting it, the sin of killing a brahmin ceases.

A wise brahmin should first perform the ritual placement upon his own body as prescribed in the Smṛti, / and then upon the image, especially upon a śālagrāma stone.

Thereafter he should carry out invocation and the other rites in due order, / having invoked the complete form residing in the realm of Vaikuṇṭha,

shining with the Kaustubha gem, equal in splendour to ten million suns, / holding a staff in hand, accompanied by topknot and sacred thread, clad in yellow garments.

Especially during the Cāturmāsya, one should meditate upon Him as the great ascetic— / Viṣṇu in this form, who takes away the flood of all sins.

And one should invoke before oneself Him who is fixed in meditation, O best of the twice-born, / with the first verse uttered along with the syllable Om and the rest.

With the second [verse he should offer] a seat, accompanied by His attendants; / in his mind he should imagine golden seats for them.

Through mental contemplations joined with devotion, that becomes completely fulfilled. / Water for the feet should be offered with the third; a wise man should there remember the Gaṅgā.

Then water for respect should be offered to Viṣṇu with the rivers and the seven oceans; / sipping-water should again be offered to the Lord of the world with nectar.

Purification for a brahmin is said to be effected by three sippings, / with water that is in its natural state, free of foam and bubbles,

reaching the heart, throat, and palate according to their caste for the twice-born. / A woman and a śūdra are purified by touching [the water] once, at the tip.

Sipping-water should be offered with the fifth [verse] with a heart full of devotion. / Hṛṣīkeśa is won by devotion; through devotion He gives Himself.

Then, with fragrant waters mixed with all medicinal herbs, / [and] with the remaining waters in golden pitchers, he should perform the bath of the god,

with waters from sacred fords brought along in mind with faith. / A heap of jewels presented without faith becomes fruitless;

even water given with faith leads to infinity. / Especially during the Cāturmāsya, a person is purified through faith.

The bath should then be performed with the sixth [verse]; there should be sipping-water again. / And he should give two garments accompanied with gold, according to his devotion and ability.

The entire universe is covered [by Him], and Hari is covered by a garment. / Especially during the Cāturmāsya, the gift of a garment bears great fruit.

Sipping-water should again be offered to the ascetic in the form of Viṣṇu. / And the presentation of the garment is to be performed with the seventh [verse] for Viṣṇu, O lord of sages.

The sacred thread [is offered] with the eighth; hear that in its esoteric sense: / it touches like ten million suns and is likewise blazing with splendour.

When a brahmin is overcome by anger, it shines with the radiance of ten million lightnings; / through the union of the sun, moon, and fire, it is endowed with the three qualities.

Consisting of the three Vedas, it embodies Brahmā, Viṣṇu, and Rudra, and is the three worlds. / By its power, O chief of the twice-born, a human being is called twice-born.

By birth one is born a śūdra; through the rite of passage one is called twice-born. / The capacity to curse and grant grace, as well as anger and benevolence,

and pre-eminence in the three worlds arises only from the brahmin. / There is no relative equal to a brahmin, there is no refuge equal to a brahmin;

there is none equal to a brahmin in the three worlds, moving and unmoving. / When the sacred thread has been offered to the friend of brahmins, while the god Janārdana is asleep,

the entire world becomes filled with Brahman, of this there is no doubt. / And with the ninth, anointment should be made for the embodiment of sacrifice.

By him by whom Viṣṇu, the teacher of the world, is anointed with fine yakṣa-paste, / by him indeed this world is gratified and perfumed with fame.

Attaining divinity as the sun in the world through his splendour, / the giver of sandalwood paste rejoices in the world of Brahmā and other realms.

Men who behold Viṣṇu delightful with sandalwood anointment / do not go to the city of Yama, especially during the Cāturmāsya.

With the tenth [verse] there is worship with flowers, and worship with devotion likewise. / And Lakṣmī always resides continuously in flowers. / No flaw arises for Lakṣmī who goes everywhere: / just as all-pervading Viṣṇu is not touched by faults,

so Lakṣmī, all-pervasive, is never deprived of her chastity. / In all images and in all beings continually,

worship with flowers is prescribed among humans, gods, and ancestors. / He by whom Hari alone is worshipped with flowers together with Śrī,

by him the world from Brahmā down to a clump of grass has indeed been worshipped. / Therefore, one should always worship Viṣṇu with pure white flowers,

especially during the Cāturmāsya, filled with devotion and ever pure. / If worship with flowers is properly performed with devotion by men, O brahmin,

whatever desire one meditates upon, its attainment is continuous. / If others also bow down to Viṣṇu adorned with flowers,

imperishable worlds belong to them as well; during the Cāturmāsya the fruit is greater. / With the eleventh, offering of incense should be made to Hari as an ascetic.

'Divine essence of trees, rich in scent, excellent fragrance, / to be inhaled by all gods: may this incense be accepted!'

Having recited this mantra, one should daily offer auspicious incense made from aloe to the Lord; / during the Cāturmāsya it yields great fruit.

With camphor, sandalwood flakes, combined with sugar and honey, / accompanied by jatamansi roots, when the god is asleep, O best of men, 48

the gods are pleased through their sense of smell by the auspicious incense that captivates the nose. / On the twelfth lunar day, the gift of a lamp must be made by those desiring liberation. 49

The lamp is foremost among all rites, the lord of lights; / the lamp is for destroying masses of darkness; the lamp grants splendor. 50

“Therefore, by the gift of a lamp, may Janārdana be pleased with me.” / This mantra born from the Purāṇa, combined with a Vedic verse, / employed fully in the gift of a lamp, destroys evil. 51

Whoever makes the gift of a lamp in front of Hari during Cāturmāsya, / his mass of sins is burned away in the twinkling of an eye. 52

Sins roar and the sinner fears only so long, / so long as a radiant lamp is not placed in Nārāyaṇa’s abode. 53

Even from the sight of the lamp, every accomplishment belongs to men. 54

Whatever desire one intends when having a lamp offered to Hari, / that very desire is accomplished without obstacles, with supreme virtue, while Ananta sleeps. 55

Likewise, for the five deities situated in a pañcāyatana, / the gift of a lamp offered during Cāturmāsya yields great fruit. 56

Viṣṇu alone, the granter of liberation, is pleased when perpetually meditated upon, worshipped, and praised. / Whatever is desired and whatever is auspicious in the home should be given by the best of men for the sake of liberation. 57

Thus ends the two hundred thirty-ninth chapter, entitled “Description of the Authority of Austerities, the Sixteen Upacāras, and the Greatness of the Lamp,” in the Great Purāṇa of Śrī Skanda, in the collection of eighty-one thousand verses, in the sixth Nāgarakhaṇḍa, in the Greatness of the Field of Hāṭakeśvara, in the narrative of Śeṣaśāyin, in the dialogue between Brahmā and Nārada, in the Greatness of Cāturmāsya. 239