Skandapurana 5.24

Sūta said: / There, situated in that auspicious sacred ford, is another sacred ford named Viṣṇupada, / O best of brahmins, destroying all serious sins.

When the southern solstice has arrived, he who, with concentrated mind, / worships it and surrenders himself with full faith,

even if he dies during the southern solstice, / reaches that supreme abode of Viṣṇu; there is no doubt of this, O best of brahmins, through its power.

And likewise, when the northern [solstice] has arrived, having worshipped according to rule, / he who, concentrated, properly surrenders himself with devotion, / he too, reaching the holy abode of Viṣṇu, becomes happy.

The seers said: / How did the footprint of Viṣṇu, whose birth is unmanifest, arise there? / How is oneself properly surrendered there at the two solstices?

Tell all that, O son of Sūta, which fruit is obtained by men / when it is seen or touched, for our curiosity is indeed great.

Sūta said: / When Bali was bound by that mighty Viṣṇu, / then the three worlds, with moving and unmoving beings, were pervaded by [his] three strides.

The first stride was placed in the sacred field born of Hāṭakeśvara, / and the second in Maharloka by that great-souled one at that time.

When the discus-bearer made the effort for the third [stride], / then the cosmic egg was pierced, O best of twice-born, and attained lightness.

Then, when the cosmic egg was pierced by the tip of his foot, the clear water / reached the surface of the earth in due order by the tip of his big toe.

Indeed, that water, having then flooded the entire world of Brahmā, / resembling pure crystal, with a luster like jasmine and the moon, / filled with fish and turtles, crowded with hosts of crocodiles,

from then on she is remembered in the world as the Gaṅgā Viṣṇupadī, / bringing that sacred field, although already holy, to [even greater] purity.

Thus Viṣṇu's footprint came to be there, O best of sages, / destroying all sins of men; then she was called Viṣṇupadī.

Whoever, endowed with faith, performs a ritual ablution in it as prescribed / and touches that footprint of Viṣṇu, goes to the supreme abode.

Whoever performs a śrāddha there, fully endowed with faith, / having bathed in the water of Viṣṇupadī, obtains the fruit of a śrāddha at Gayā.

A mortal man who, having risen early in the month of Māgha, / constantly takes a ritual ablution there, obtains the fruit of Prayāga.

Or whatever man takes leisure here for a year out of devotion / and performs a ritual ablution there, attains liberation.

The man whose bones are cast into that water, / even if of sinful conduct, attains the supreme path.

Even birds, moths, cattle, worms, and wild animals / that have entered that water afflicted by thirst, devoid of devotion,

even they, freed from sin at the end of their bodies, go to the very difficult to attain / abode of the discus-bearer, which is free from old age and death.

What then of men endowed with faith who, when a sacred occasion has arrived, / give gifts to the best of twice-born, the brahmins who know the Vedas, O twice-born?

Regarding this, a verse was sung long ago by the great seer Nārada, / having observed the sin-destroying power of Viṣṇupadī:

"What [need is there] of vows, observances, diverse austerities, or sacrifices / performed, when the water of the Viṣṇupadī is present on the surface of the earth?

One mortal may perform a ritual ablution at all sacred fords; / one bathes in the water of Viṣṇupadī: for both, the fruit is equal.

One gives all gifts to brahmins; / one bathes in the water of Viṣṇupadī: that indeed is equal for both.

One man on earth may practice the five fires in summer, / dwell in the open air in the rains, and stay in water in winter;

another, having bathed in the water of Viṣṇupadī, touches the footprint of Viṣṇu: / both of those best among men are declared to be equal.

One may fast on alternate days until the end of his life; / one bathes in the water of Viṣṇupadī: the fruit is equal for both.

One man fasts for three nights [at a time] for a hundred years; / one bathes in the water of Viṣṇupadī: the fruit is equal for both."

Sūta said: / Having spoken thus, O best of twice-born, the best of sages, Nārada, / ceased speaking in the presence of many sages repeatedly.

Therefore, whoever desires his own welfare should with all effort / perform a ritual ablution there and touch the footprint of Viṣṇu.

The seers said: / As to what was stated by you, that one should dedicate oneself / at the footprint of Viṣṇu when the southern and northern solstices arrive,

tell [us] quickly, O Sūta, by what rite and with which mantras, / so that we may do all that endowed with devotion.

Sūta said: / When both the southern and northern solstices arrive, / having worshipped the footprint of Viṣṇu, one should recite this mantra:

"If my death should suddenly occur within six months, / let that footprint of yours be my goal; I have become your servant."

Having spoken thus to Hari, he should afterwards worship the brahmins; / then he should eat together with them; thereafter he attains the auspicious path.

Thus ends the twenty-fourth chapter, named 'Description of the Origin of the Viṣṇupadī Sacred Ford' in the Praise of the Sacred Field of Hāṭakeśvara in the Nāgarakhaṇḍa, the sixth [part] of the Skanda Mahāpurāṇa in eighty-one thousand verses.