Skandapurana 5.239

Brahmā said: / But this lamp offered to Hari is superior to a lamp offered to me; for one who offers it, / residence in Vaikuṇṭha alone shall take place; my lordship is not to be desired. 1

Nārada said: / This lamp, offered with mantras by men in Viṣṇu’s temple, / always yields special fruit. How is it even greater during Cāturmāsya? 2

Brahmā said: / Viṣṇu is my eternal tutelary deity; Viṣṇu is always to be worshipped by me. / I always meditate on this Viṣṇu; for Viṣṇu is superior to me. 3

That lamp is dear to Viṣṇu, always removing sins, / and especially during Cāturmāsya, fulfilling all desires. 4

As Viṣṇu is pleased by a lamp, O dear son, / he does not grant such a boon even through thousands of sacrifices. 5

With little expense for the lamp, boundless is the fruit for men; / when Ananta’s sleep arrives, there is no counting the merit. 6

Therefore, when one offers a gift of a lamp to Hari / with wholehearted devotion and endowed with faith, one is not stained by sins. 7

Moreover, when the gift of a lamp is offered with the sixteen upacāras / to Hari in the form of an ascetic, the entire world is illuminated. 8

After the lamp, O Brahmā, the offering of food / must be made on the thirteenth lunar day with devotion by those established in the state of liberation. 9

Forsaking nectar, the gods too constantly long / for the food of the householder when they arrive at his house door. 10

Especially while Hari is asleep, an arghya offering with fruits / collected at that time should be given daily by men for Viṣṇu’s pleasure: 11

with betel vine leaves, and likewise with auspicious areca nuts, / with grapes, jambu fruits, and mangoes, with walnuts and pomegranates, 12

and indeed with citrons, one should offer the arghya with deep devotion. / Taking water in a conch shell, and an auspicious fruit placed upon it, 13

one should offer it to Keśava with this mantra, O best of brahmins. / A second sipping of water is to be offered after the gift of food. 14

Then one should perform the waving of lights, which destroys all sins. / On the fourteenth lunar day, one should bow down to Viṣṇu in the form of an ascetic. 15

On the fifteenth lunar day, circumambulation should be performed in all directions together with twice-borns. / The fruit that is attained through waters born of the seven oceans offered, 16

is attained through that offering of water to Hari by those dear to Viṣṇu. / And through four circumambulations, the whole universe, moving and unmoving, 17

is traversed, O best of brahmins, along with going to those sacred fords and the like. / On the sixteenth, one who best knows yoga should contemplate union with the god. 18

He should not then contemplate any form of himself or of Hari as separate; / because he has the nature of the formed and formless, the knower of yoga becomes visible. 19

When that is seen, action arising from real and unreal forms ceases. / He should contemplate the self in the midst of splendors, having the brilliance of the sun, 20

reflecting within himself: “I alone am always Viṣṇu.” / The twice-born obtains a Vaiṣṇava body and becomes liberated while living. 21

Especially during Cāturmāsya, the twice-born should become united with yoga. / This devotion is taught toward Hari, who bestows the path to liberation. 22

Thus ends the two hundred fortieth chapter, entitled “Exposition of Devotion Ending with the Contemplation of Union through the Gift of a Lamp and Other Rites,” 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. 240